Dark Justice (Croft Family Mob Series Book 1) (41 page)

“Yep.”

Dante shook his head. “How does one explain that away?” he asked. “That’s creepy shit. I mean, I’ll stalk, but take pictures? That’s crossing a line.”

Steele stared at him.

“Did you just hear what you said?” he asked, having some cereal. He was trying to build his strength back up.

“Yeah, and I’ll stalk you if need be, so keep it in mind.”

He continued to stare at him.

Dante justified it. “Really any of you are shocked? Like any man in this room wouldn’t do it? Look around. I’m the least crazy in this bunch.”

None of the men looked offended.

In fact, Greyson laughed. “I’d do it.”

Dimitri shrugged. “I stalk for a living. I followed Emma for weeks before she realized it.”

“HEY!” Greyson objected.

“There were no pictures,” he teased. “Relax.”

Somehow, that didn’t make him feel any better about the entire situation.

“How did he explain this to the cops?” Emma asked. “I don’t see it on the screen.”

He scrolled down and pointed it out. When he’d first seen it, the whole thing made him laugh. 

“Are you shitting me?”

Greyson was amused by the excuse the man had used.

“He told them he was working on a photojournalism book on the night life in Vegas?
WOW
. Cops will buy just about anything these days.”

She stared at him.

“Never you, honey. You were the best cop in the world. In fact, cops should wear Saint Emma medals.”

She laughed. “Great. Let’s add him to our list of fun for the day, and get ourselves moving. I’d like to be back here before midnight.”

Yeah, Curtis wasn’t letting this drop.

He was suspicious.

Something was going on.

He could smell it.

“Okay, what gives?” Curtis asked out of the blue. “You walked in here whistling when you couldn’t have had more than three hours sleep, you ate bran flakes without Emma forcing you at gunpoint, or with bribery, and now you’re kissing ass. You’re Greyson Croft. You don’t kiss ass. People kiss yours, so spill it. What the hell is going on?”

He wasn’t sure if Emma wanted anyone to know what they were planning. This was family, and after all, you could trust them to have your back.

Croft was leaving this one up to his Emma.

“Can I tell him?”

She shrugged. “Go for it. They’re all family.”

He was excited to say the words out loud.

“Emma and I decided to try and have a baby.”

Curtis dropped his glass, spilling orange juice on the table. “What?”

Paris and Tessa looked at each other as they fought that emotion. Both Emma and Greyson caught that look.

Emma had been right about what she’d told him. The couple was struggling with it.

They had to handle this. Before they headed out, Emma and Greyson were going to rectify this.

“Wait. You’re going to try and have another Greyson Croft?” Curtis asked. “Can the world handle that? Isn’t that like opening the seventh seal of Hell?”

“Yes, we’re going to try and it will be safe, Curtis, because this Croft-y bundle of joy will be half Emma. We all know which is the better half, and that’s going to make this baby amazing. I’m that damn lucky.”

Curtis still stared at him.

He wasn’t sure how he felt.

Dante hugged his brother. “I’m so happy for you. We’re going to be uncles!”

Steele smiled. “That’s awesome. I’m in for decorating a nursery and shopping,” he offered.

That alone made Dante and the Crofts happy. Steele was beginning to sound more and more like himself. He was fighting his way back.

In celebration, Emma kissed them both.

“Really, Emma,” Steele offered. “If you need anything, just ask. I’m there for you.”

She appreciated that.

“Since you offered…Steele, get me something on those autopsy reports,” she stated, patting his cheek.

He laughed. “Yes, ma’am.”

Dante kissed Emma. “You’re a brave woman letting him spawn. You should be looking at anyone with Croft DNA and running.”

She snorted. “I’m addicted to Croft. What can I say?”

Curtis still stared.

“What?” Greyson asked. “Why do you look weirded out?”

“You’re going to likely have this baby post our baby, so you’re getting your grandchild first, and a son or daughter second. Our baby will be older than his uncle. It’s insane.”

He left the rest out. He didn’t want to rain on their parade. Truth be told, he was little sad. He’d been their child, he’d been their only kid, sort of, and it worried him. Where did he fit now?

Instead of saying anything, he kept it to himself. Curtis needed to think on it.

Emma had already thought about that. “Maybe they’ll be close and they’ll always have a best friend. In life, family is the really important thing.”

She looked around at them.

Yeah, family was paramount.

Greyson grinned wickedly. “Vegas will be talking now.”

Curtis snorted.

Yeah, he wasn’t kidding.

Instead of dwelling on his worries, he did the right thing. Curtis got up, crossed to the man he called father, and hugged him. “I love you. I’m happy for you.”

Greyson was too.

Kat hugged Emma. “Hurry up. I need to go shopping, and I’m not taking him.”

“Hey! I’m fun shopping.”

“For hours, looking at baby clothes?” Emma asked.

“Take her and Steele. I’m out.”

Emma was amused by the man.

Tessa got out of Paris’s lap and crossed to Emma. She hugged her. “I’m happy for you. I know you two are going to make a very sweet baby. I can’t wait to go to the baby shower.”

No one believed that.

They could hear the pain in Tessa’s voice.

Paris rolled over and stood up. He hugged the man he called friend and family. “Pick the kid a good name. Trust me on this. Some of us got screwed on day one.”

Greyson heard it in his voice too.

It was time to handle it.

“Can you both head up to my office? We have something to discuss.”

“About the case?” Paris asked, holding Tessa’s hand as she tried to keep it together.

“Yeah, it’s about the case.” He lied to get them upstairs and into a room alone with them.

They rolled out without saying another peep.

“What’s that all about?” Dimitri asked, moving toward them.

Emma told him. Since he was family, they all had to rally around and help each other out.

“That’s shitty. I knew a few military friends that had the same situation after being shot and paralyzed.”

“Yeah, but we’re going to fix that.”

Emma told him how.

Dimitri listened, and when she was done, he did something unexpected. He kissed her on the forehead like he’d see Dante and Curtis do.

For him, it was a risk.

When she didn’t object, and Greyson didn’t freak out, he figured he was good.

Okay, this was what family did. He added it to his list of things to make him more approachable like the Crofts.

Dimitri was learning.

“What was that for?” Emma asked.

“You’re both going to be good parents. You can tell by how you treat the people around you.”

“Thank you.”

“We’ll catch you at
‘Aquarius’
?” Greyson asked.

“Yeah, I’m going to get some work done regarding our little flower van this morning, and then I’m going to update our client. I’ll have lunch ready when you arrive.”

“For the record, Dimitri, you’d make a good father too,” Emma stated. “You’re good at taking care of people.”

He thought about it. “I already played dad. I think that’s the only parenting I’ll do in this lifetime, and it was plenty. Speaking of kids…where the hell is Natasha? I haven’t seen her since last night.”

Greyson grinned. Payback was a bitch. He thought the following Emma and stalking her crack was funny?

Well, so was this.

“Before we came down, when we checked, she was in bed with a naked Chris Ford.”

He stared at him.

“What?”

Dimitri had to have heard him wrong.

He didn’t want to hear naked man and Natasha’s name in the same sentence.

Ever.

Greyson grinned. “It looks like the parenting never ends, my friend. Good luck.”

“I’ll see you later. I’m going to go play daddy dearest. I have a girl to ground and a man to kill.”

Emma laughed.

“You are such a mean person at times, Greyson Croft. You just pointed Dimitri right at Chris.”

Yeah, he knew.

That was life.

“Let’s go play stork.”

Emma was good with that.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Dimitri always expected the worst in life. After all, it had proven him right so many times before now. It was hard to wake up and be an optimist when life had always let you down.

Yes, he was over protective.

Yes, he tended to be scary.

When you were raising sisters, barely a man yourself, you had to hold them to a higher standard.

He had been tough on Kat and Nat. He didn’t want them pregnant, unmarried, or in an abusive relationship like their mothers. He was trying to raise ladies, and he’d actually believed he’d managed to pull it off.

While Nat hadn’t been sexually molested by their father, she had spent most of her life in poverty, hungry, and neglected by her mother.

The woman got pregnant, gave birth, and then never had any attachment to her child. Natasha had it rough.

No one hugged her growing up, taught her that she had value, or said kind words.

She’d gotten used to being a doormat, slapped around, or invisible to everyone. When Dimitri had heard his father telling someone about how he had one more brat, he knew she needed to be saved.

He owed them.

So, when he found her, he bought her.

Yes, it was wrong.

He never told Natasha’s mother who he was. Instead, he approached her, told the woman he would give her money for her young daughter if she
‘forgot’
about her.

The sad thing was, she didn’t even hesitate. She believed that he wanted her for sex. Even thinking about that sickened him. Had he not done what he did, there was no doubt in his mind that Natasha would have been sold to some pervert down the road.

That was one of the things he never understood. How a mother could care so little about her child?

So, he took her.

She was scared at first, but then she came around. It helped that Kat was there with her. They bonded, both being girls, and Natasha eased into it. Honestly, it didn’t take Natasha long to realize they wouldn’t hurt her. A couple years had passed, and she began blossoming.

One of her greatest gifts was that she loved to help people. Being neglected her whole childhood, she enjoyed taking care of people who were hurt.

And that was his fear.

She was focused on Chris Ford, and he didn’t want the man breaking her heart. He’d do anything to keep her safe too.

Even hurting a man who meant so much to Emma Croft.

Upstairs, he stopped at Chris’s room. It was quiet behind the closed door, so he gave it a light tap. Again, he didn’t want to walk into them having sex.

Just the thought of his sister in bed with another man freaked him out. It made his eyes hurt.

“Come in,” came the voice in a hushed whisper.

Dimitri held his breath as he opened the door. When he peeked his head in, he checked out the scene.

Yes, they were in bed together. Only, Natasha was asleep in bed, fully clothed, and Chris was staring at the ceiling. His arms were behind his head, and he looked like he was troubled.

That made Dimitri curious.

“Are you okay?” he asked, stepping into the man’s personal space.

“Yeah, I’m good. I just woke up. Natasha, as you can see, is exhausted. She just fell asleep. She was up all night watching over me while I was passed out. Is there any way she can sleep for a while? I don’t want to wake her up.”

“I need her to watch the house today.”

“I’ll take her shift. I’m up for it.”

Dimitri was again curious. When he slept with a woman, there was no attachment. He wouldn’t have offered to do anything for them. He wasn’t sure what the hell had gone on in the room.

It was interesting.

“How’s your head?” Dimitri asked.

Chris blinked a few times, trying to lose some of the fog that was still there from the residual effects of the pain pill, and sleep.

“I’m better, but still shitty.”

Yeah, shitty because he’d been kissing a beautiful woman, and now he wanted to run like hell.

It wasn’t like him to be a big, fat chicken.

“What did I miss at the party?” he asked, sitting up. “Did it go off without a hitch?”

Dimitri knew what he meant, and it wasn’t about dancing and fund raising.

Still…

He was focused on something else.

When Chris had sat up, the sheet around his waist revealed that he was wearing boxers.

Two dressed people did not equal a sexual romp. Dimitri knew he could relax. That helped lower his increasing blood pressure.

Really, he was surprised the man didn’t make a move on his sister. Natasha was absolutely gorgeous. While Katerina was the girl next door with the sweet smile, Natasha could melt a man with her cat eyes and long legs.

He’d watched her take down countless men using the power of her sexuality.

What the hell was wrong with Christopher Ford?

Was he gay? No, he couldn’t be. Dimitri saw how he was always checking out Emma.

“If you’d like, I can tell you about it over coffee. I have something to discuss with you anyway.”

Chris was good with that. He needed to get away from the sleeping woman. While he loved sharing a bed with her, he hated it too. The need to roll over and make love to her was growing, and he wasn’t ready.

In fact, he may never be.

Escaping and avoiding were his two new best friends. Until he could think it over, work out a plan, and see what was going on, he needed to regroup.

“I really need coffee and food. I feel like I’ve been in a battle and had my ass handed to me,” he said, dropping his legs over the side of the bed.

Dimitri grabbed him some jeans and a shirt. When he handed them to him, he noticed the man was battered and bruised. He also knew he put more than a few of those bruises there.

“I’m sorry about those,” he said.

Chris looked down. “It’s fine. Had I thought you’d screwed Emma over, I would have done the same. They’ll heal.”

Dimitri waited for him to dress. As they were about to leave, the man hesitated.

Instead of heading for the door, Chris climbed back onto the big bed.

Dimitri watched curiously. Natasha had been sleeping on her side, close to the edge. He actually slipped his arms beneath her and slid her gently toward the center of the mattress.

Then he tucked her in, much like a child.

Dimitri didn’t know what to think.

There was such gentleness there.

Chris brushed the hair from her cheek, and then left a kiss on her forehead.

“Thank you, Natasha. You’re a really good nurse. I appreciate you for taking care of me and keeping your promise,” he whispered.

Honestly, Dimitri was surprised.

This wasn’t some lecherous man wanting to jump his sister. He was caring and gentle. He was pretty much what Natasha needed.

While Kat was the chaser, Natasha would be the caretaker. She would let the man be himself, as she tried to patch him back up.

It looked like he’d done something right. There were two decent men for his sisters, and they were part of the Croft family.

He knew how lucky he’d gotten on this one.

Karma, in this case, wasn’t a bitch.

As they headed downstairs, Dimitri knew it was time to talk about what Emma wanted him to do.

He didn’t need additional help, but he wanted to make sure Emma was happy, and Chris Ford felt useful. He wouldn’t mind having the man around after what he’d just seen.

He wasn’t as bad as he thought.

He’d tossed his career to help Emma, he’d made himself a target, and now he was gentle with Natasha.

He had redeeming qualities that Dimitri appreciated in a person. That spoke volumes to him.

In the kitchen, Chris sat.

Dimitri poured him some coffee as the man ate a muffin the chef must have just put out.

“We need to talk,” Dimitri stated.

Chris had a feeling. “If it’s about being in bed with your sister, I get it. Before you kick the shit out of me, it won’t be a fair fight.”

“Did you put your hands on her?” he asked.

“I kissed her. I didn’t do anything else,” Chris said with honesty. It was clear that Dimitri didn’t expect the truth.

It was all over his face.

“Here’s something about me, Dimitri. I don’t lie. I hate it. I was married to a woman who betrayed me with lie after lie. If you ask me a question, I’m going to either not answer, so as not to dig the hole deeper, or just tell you the truth. If it gets my ass kicked, so be it. I own my choices, and I do it with honesty. That’s the kind of man I am.”

He’d noticed, so he thought he’d try it out.

“Do you plan on having sex with my sister?” he asked.

“I don’t know. I’ve thought about it, but I’m not ready. I don’t want to hurt her, and I don’t want to get hurt. Until I can get past that, I’m not going to jump into something.”

That was interesting.

“Even though my sister is a beautiful girl? You’ll turn her down?”

“Woman. Your sister isn’t a girl. She’s a woman, and I’m a decade and a half older than her. I don’t know if that’s something that will work. Like I said, I don’t want to hurt either of us. This is going to take a lot of thought and not letting hormones make the decisions.”

Fascinating.

He could tell when people were lying, and this man wasn’t. Everything he said was full of honesty.

He appreciated that.

“Well, while you muddle your way through that quagmire, I have a proposition for you.”

Chris sipped his coffee and continued eating his muffin. “Yeah? I can’t wait to hear this.”

He assumed it would have something to do with Natasha. Chris hoped the man didn’t offer him money to stay away from her. While he didn’t lie, and he wasn’t impetuous, he didn’t like his hand forced. Chris liked to be the master of his own fate.

“I need someone to help with security here. I can’t be all over Greyson and Emma, keeping Kat on Curtis, and then Natasha babysitting the Archers and leave Terrace Glen unprotected.”

He told him about the van, the possibility of being recorded, and everything else.

“So, you’re asking me to babysit the house? Well, since I’m part of this, okay. It’s not as if I have anything else to do. That police ship has sailed.”

“Actually, you’ve misunderstood me. I’m offering you a job on my team.”

He stared at him. “What?”

“I need another person, and I’m offering you the opportunity to be that person. You’ll have to dress more business-like, keep your nose clean, and do the job.”

He stared at him.

“First of all, I know how to dress. I just rolled out of bed. Secondly, I’m the only one in this house who is clean,” he stated. “I don’t think I need to start whipping out examples on who’s broken the law and who hasn’t.”

Dimitri laughed.

He had a very valid point.

“As for taking care of business, I’ve nearly died being a cop. That’s the epitome of
‘doing the job’
.”

“So you’re in?”

“Emma put you up to this, didn’t she?”

While Chris Ford wouldn’t lie, Dimitri would. He wouldn’t hesitate either.

“No. I really need another body. With the family growing, and now Kat being pregnant, we’ll be down a person. I’m not putting my pregnant sister in harm’s way.”

He got that.

“Once Emma gets pregnant, we’ll need extra coverage for all the media events and parties too. You’ll have to have her back more than you do now. You’ll be assigned to her.”

He stared at the man. “Wait! Can you repeat that?”

He did.

“Emma is going to get pregnant?”

He told him about the conversation. The entire time, Dimitri could see the emotion in the man’s eyes. There was love there. Chris Ford loved that woman.

“Does that bother you?” he asked curiously.

“I love kids. If she has a baby, I get to be an uncle—of sorts. That’s a beautiful thing.”

It was true.

The idea that Emma was going to be a mother one day made his heart skip. She’d be perfect for it. He was proud of how far she’d come.

She was tough, and no longer broken.

Chris got what Dimitri was saying. The easiest path to take down Greyson Croft would always be Emma—and a pregnant Emma would be an even more devastating blow.

“If she’s out in the open, she’s in danger. If she’s with child, she’s in even more danger. I need someone with a vested interest in this family. That would be you.”

Dimitri was no fool.

He knew how to play this.

Chris loved Emma Croft. It was clearly on his face whenever he saw her. Her being in danger would freak him out.