Dark Justice (Croft Family Mob Series Book 1) (29 page)

“Okay. I can do that. You know me.”

Yeah, he really did.

He may have the name Christ, but this man…he was more the devil in disguise.

When dealing with Greyson and Emma Croft, you had to fight fire with fire.

Or one hell of a wild card.

Whatever you had on hand.

Chapter Sixteen

Sunday

Mid-Morning

Emma felt a million times better than the last two days. Having Chris back in their lives had fixed the holes that his absence had created. It was comforting to know that they were going to be all right.

All the way to the interview, they talked like they normally did—joking, laughing, and busting ass. Only, there was something she wanted to discuss.

It was time to point out the big pink elephant living at Terrace Glen.

“Can we talk about something private?”

He glanced over. “Yeah, I don’t like the sound of that at all. Is this conversation going to suck as much as I think it is?”

She laughed. “I don’t think it’s going to be bad.”

“Uh huh. Famous last words. I think Custer said that, too, and Robert E. Lee.”

It didn’t really matter. Emma knew they needed to have this talk.

“What’s with you and Natasha?” she asked.

“Oh, come on!”

“What?”

“Why are you bringing this up?”

Emma smiled. “Well, maybe since I can tell you like her. I see the way you check her out. You can pretend you don’t but for the record…I live in a house full of men. I know when that male interest is piqued.”

What was there to say?

“She’s beautiful.”

“Yeah, she is,” Emma stated.

“She’s not my type.”

Emma glanced over as they pulled into the parking lot. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“She’s not going to be interested in a man like me. I’m pretty simple, Emma. I’m rough around the edges, and Natasha is…”

“Is what?”

“Probably way out of my league.”

She punched him.

“Shit! Watch the arm! Dimitri nearly ripped it out of the socket yesterday!”

“I’ll do worse if you ever say shit like that again, Christopher. You’re a great guy! You have to stop putting yourself down.”

“I’m an ex-cop. I live in a place you bought me. I have no job to support myself, and every cop in Vegas wants me dead. Really? That’s alluring to women? Then I should have gone with deadbeat sooner. I might be getting laid a lot more than I am.”

She hit him again.

“I swear I’ll hit you back,” he said. “One more, and I’m slugging you!”

“Bullshit, and that’s why you’re a good man. You’d never hurt a woman. We like that in a guy. Plus big men are sexy.”

He stared at her.

“Did you just call me sexy? I’m oddly horrified and turned on all at once.”

When she went to hit him again, he was ready for it. Instead, he caught her fist and held her hand in his.

“You are a catch, Chris. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. If they say it, I’ll kick their ass for you.”

That touched his heart. It appeared they were going to have a heart to heart.

“I need to say something to you.”

“What?” she asked.

“Thank you, Emma.”

“For?”

“Loving me even when I made this a huge mess. I could have destroyed what we have, and I would hate myself for it. Thank you for trusting me enough to see past the surface and give me a shot.”

She removed the keys from the ignition. “You’re my brother, Chris. I’ll love you no matter what.”

For that, he was damn grateful.

“Want to kiss and make up?” he teased.

Emma was good with that. Careful of his arm and chest, she leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

“That was really sweet, Emma.”

Then she punched him.

“Jesus, you’re mean. What the hell does Greyson see in you anyway?”

“He likes redheads,” she said, opening her door. “Oh, and my unpredictability.”

Yeah, well so did he, so Chris got that.

As they crossed the parking lot, it was quiet. The apartment sat not too far away, and for a Sunday morning, Adam Price should be home.

They hoped.

The information they collected said he was a City of Las Vegas building inspector. He worked at night, making sure construction was staying on track.

“How do you want to play this?” Chris asked.

“Well, since we can’t go the cop route, how about we try the
‘Emma and Chris need answers to save your ex from dying’
route?”

“What if he just doesn’t give a shit?” Chris asked, as they climbed up the stairs and into the building.

She already knew the answer to that.

“If Greyson were in jail, I’d wait for him. I’d stay single until I got him out. He’s my soul mate.”

“Yeah, what’s that feel like?” he asked, tapping a mailbox with the man’s name on it. “I’ve never had that experience before.”

It looked like they were climbing stairs—five floors worth.

“It’s pretty awesome. My heart skips when he smiles at me, and the way he keeps me safe, holding my hand when we walk around—it makes me feel all tingly.”

Natasha made him feel that way when she was around. When he saw her, his palms got all sweaty, his heart raced, and his lower body came alive.

It scared the hell out of him.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure,” she said, as they climbed the stairs. “What’s on your mind?”

“About the Natasha thing.”

He was uncomfortable even going there. This wasn’t something you talked about with another woman. He was hoping Emma really did love him like a brother—oh and that she wouldn’t bust his ass.

“You can talk to me about anything, Chris. I promise I won’t make fun of you if you’re being serious. Is this one of those talks?”

“Yeah, it is.”

“Okay, shoot. I’ve got your back.”

What choice did he have?

“Do you really think she’d ever like someone like me? I mean, women generally aren’t attracted to me. I haven’t dated in…”

“Half past Denise?”

He snorted. “Yeah, just about there. I had a few dates where I couldn’t get into it, but now…I’m pretty much a hopeless case.”

Emma knew Chris wasn’t going to be happy unless he was working. She made a note to have a talk with Dimitri.

She had an idea.

Chris didn’t need to know she had anything to do with it. After all, if he did, he’d probably kill her.

“Why don’t you ask her to dance tonight?” Emma offered. “If she says yes, she’s interested.”

“Really? I have to go?”

“Yes, I wasn’t kidding. If even Steele is going, then no one has any excuse not to be there. The family is making an appearance.”

“Well, I guess I can ask.”

“If a woman likes you, she’s going to dance pressed against you. She’s going to go fluid in your arms. If she’s got nine inches between you and her, she’s not having it.”

“This is totally weird getting advice from you.”

“Why?”

He didn’t say anything.

“What?”

“Okay, I have another confession.”

“What?”

“When I first met you, I was going to ask you out. I thought you’d be a good partner for me.”

Emma didn’t laugh.

He expected it.

“What?” he asked.

“I’ll tell you this because you’re my brother, but if you repeat it, I’ll kill you. Hell! Greyson will kill you.”

“Now I’m intrigued,” he said grinning.

“If I wasn’t married to my other half, crazy stupid in love with him, I would have said yes. I think we would have worked well together.”

He stared at her.

“What?” she asked, stopping outside Adam Price’s door.

“I don’t know where to store that in my head. Should I use it later for some totally inappropriate fantasy, or in the mushy part of my heart where I think you’re the best sister a man could have.”

She snorted. “I don’t want to know about the first one, and I’m praying it’s the second one.”

“In this fantasy…”

She stared at him. “Just keep it to yourself, or your mushy parts will be all over our house when Greyson disembowels you.”

Yeah, she was right about that. It was funny how Emma could make him feel better in minutes. There would always be that chemistry between them, even if it wasn’t meant to be. At least he had her love.

Chris was damn lucky.

“Okay, let’s get this done.”

Emma knocked.

They both went serious. Old habits die-hard. They immediately fell back into the jobs they didn’t have anymore. It was simply a part of them.

Once a cop.

Always a cop.

When the door opened, a man was standing there, and he looked like they’d woken him up.

“Yeah?” he asked, rubbing his eyes as he adjusted to the light outside in the hallway.

“I’m Emma Croft, and this is Chris Ford. We’re working on a case and need your help.”

He stared at her. “You’re not a cop anymore. I saw it on the news.”

Adam went to close the door.

“I was hired by Miranda Bell.”

That one sentence changed everything. It was the magic words to get into his kingdom.

“Oh my God! Come in! Would you like some tea? I don’t do coffee, but I have this special blend made with Rose hips and chamomile. It’s very soothing. I can make a pot really fast.”

“Sure,” she said. “I love tea.”

Wow.

This was easier than when they were cops.

Who knew?

As Adam rushed into the kitchen, he kept talking to them through the pass-through in the wall.

“Miranda said she was trying to find someone to help her, but I didn’t think she’d be able to afford you.”

Emma knew they didn’t take a fee. That was just wrong on so many levels. When someone needed help, you didn’t charge them.

“Yeah, we’re helping her.”

“Miranda has been working hard to save Seth for years. I tried helping at first, but the more I thought of him behind bars, the harder it got for me to handle it. I’ve had to cheer her on from the sidelines.”

Emma checked out the brown haired man. He was moving around his kitchen, efficiently placing cups and a pot on a tray.

“Yeah, it’s a sad thing. We want to do everything we can, and that means we need to talk to everyone in his life before it happened.”

He came in with mugs, honey, and sugar. “It’ll be done in a couple minutes. We can talk until it is. Feel free to ask me anything. I want you to get him off. I never thought this day would happen.”

“What do you think caused all of this?” Emma asked.

“I’ve been asking myself that for years. Seth was acting a little weird before he was arrested, but I think it was his grandmother’s death. She passed away the week before he was hauled in on the murder charges.”

Emma made notes. “I know you may not like the questions I ask, but it’s to save Seth, so I have to go there.”

He sat forward. “No! Ask. I meant what I said. I’ll do anything to help. I miss him. He doesn’t deserve to die like this. He was a damn good cop.”

Emma knew how hard it was to be a good cop in Vegas. When you were, it swallowed you alive.

Look at them.

“He was your lover?”

He laughed. “That sounds so tawdry. We met at a gay club, we hooked up on a really raunchy one-night stand, and we never stopped seeing each other. Was it love at first sight? Yes, for me.”

Emma continued making notes.

“Was anyone bothering him?” asked Chris. He recalled the case, but he wasn’t the captain then. He’d been a detective doing his stint in Vice.

“Uh, just about every cop who knew he liked men. You’d swear that straight guys think that every gay man is checking them out. Really, we aren’t. We have gaydar too, and we know when someone is into men or women.”

He looked at Chris.

“Hey, don’t look at me. I don’t care if you’re gay or straight. I like to judge people by their actions.”

“You’re safe, honey. You definitely like the ladies. You were checking out Mrs. Croft’s ass when you came in. It’s a dead giveaway.”

Chris’s mouth dropped open much to Emma’s amusement. “Yeah, he’s definitely straight, and he digs redheads.”

“Emma!”

She continued, “Any cop in particular who rode his ass, and not in the sexy gay way?” Emma asked.

“He never gave me names. When Seth would come home, he’d shower, have something to eat, and we’d talk about anything but cop shop. He had a hard and fast rule about not bringing his work home with him. We could talk about my job, you know…inspecting buildings, but not about what he saw.”

She got that.

They’d done that too.

It was a way to decompress from a long shitty day of dealing with crime, death, and anything else that popped up. A police officer saw a lot in the span of a day. Not all of it was happy and conversation worthy.