Great.
Only, the other option hurt her too.
“Is it fair to saddle him with me? Is that the kind of life he deserves?”
“Poppy, he’s crazy about you. His heart is already yours. When you truly love someone, you don’t worry about sex.”
She wished.
“Greyson and I have had to slow down on the sex front. I can’t move like I used to. It isn’t fun when you waddle.”
Poppy listened.
“He still loves me. You have to trust him. You have to see the man he is, hand him your fears, and trust that he’s going to protect you.”
It was so damn hard.
“If I can’t get back to who I am, it will all go away,” she stated. “It always does. I’ve lost everything.”
Emma reassured her.
“You don’t know that. One day, you might wake-up and want to be touched again. You are assuming the worst. Baby steps.”
She wiped her eyes on her sleeves and tried to believe the woman beside her.
Suddenly, a third person opted to give his opinion.
“Cuddling is nice,” Heath stated, feeling sorry for her. While he’d been angry before, he wasn’t a cold person. The woman was genuinely sorry.
Everyone deserved a second chance.
EVERYONE.
They stared at him.
“I don’t know him as well as Mrs. C does, but I can tell you that no decent man is going to rush a woman who was hurt. He won’t do it. Dimitri isn’t the cheating type. You can tell. He pined away for you for three months. I know, since I had my ass handed to me in the gym constantly.”
She listened.
“Do you think?”
He nodded.
“He wanted you back. That should tell you everything. He knew what happened, and he still suffered without you. Go with that.”
That helped.
“You’re right. I’m sorry. It’s just since it happened, I feel like I’m out of control.”
And that was why Emma wanted her to work.
That would help.
“It’s okay, Poppy. You were the victim. We just got the blowback, and Dimitri will forgive you. Give him time.”
She would have to trust them.
“Can we work? I need to focus on anything else.”
That they could do.
Emma picked up her cell and called Riley. She left him a voicemail message to give her a callback. She hoped it didn’t take long. They needed those files.
When Emma hung up, Poppy was watching her.
“What?”
“I miss that.”
“What?” Emma asked.
“I miss being a cop. It was stability, and it was what I knew how to do. When I’d go to work, I didn’t have to worry. I just did what I was trained to do.”
Emma understood it.
Here was her proof that Poppy wouldn’t be able to color outside the lines like they did. She’d need her job to stabilize her. Emma hoped Dimitri was ready for that.
“You should go back.”
“Do you think that’s a possibility? Please don’t blow smoke up my ass. Give it to me straight. I know you said people are being asked back, but me?”
Emma didn’t doubt it could happen.
Raye’s dirty deeds were going to come out, and when they did…yeah, he’d pay.
“Riley’s file was cleared. He had an excellent attorney.”
She laughed.
“That’s ironic. I can go back to work if I can pay for an attorney that I can’t afford because I’m out of work.”
“We will give you legal help, Poppy. See? You’re doing it again.”
She stopped talking.
“I am?”
Emma sighed.
Heath helped her out.
“You are part of the family,” he stated. “That’s what she’s telling you. If you need a lawyer, you’ve got one. You’re safe here, and you don’t need to stress. You aren’t alone anymore.”
She blinked.
“I’m sorry. I’m so accustomed to being on my own.”
“And that’s why Dimitri flipped out,” Heath stated. “You’re not alone. You’re a team player now.”
She saw that.
“Can you hook me up with your fancy lawyer?” Poppy asked, trying it out. No one in her life had ever been there for her before Dimitri and this family. It was weird, and it was nice.
Emma smiled.
“Yes, we can. Delilah helped her husband get back to work, and she’ll help you based on the fact that anyone Raye harassed has been given a second chance to prove it was him, not them. Do you want to work for Dimitri or work as a cop?”
“Just between us?” she asked, needing that privacy until she could talk to Dimitri about it.
At some point.
“Yes.”
“I want to be a cop. I love Dimitri so much. God! I love what he did for me, and how he nearly died trying to save me, but my job is who I am. Does that make me bad?”
Emma patted her hand.
“No. It makes you honest.”
She had some advice for Poppy.
“Take that route with him. Dimitri knows when you’re not being truthful. He can smell secrets a mile away. He’s the king of them.”
She planned on being honest from here on out. She planned on sharing what she was feeling. By just coming back, she was seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. All that was left was regaining his trust.
“I need to make him see I won’t run again. I was scared. Raye terrorized me. He told me he was going to keep coming for me until I died. He threatened all kinds of things.”
Yeah, and not only directed at her.
“He promised I was going to be raped, again and again, until I got that women didn’t deserve a badge. Here I was, Emma, just lying there in that hospital bed, post-rape kit, and…”
She got it.
Emma really did.
Yeah, he didn’t deserve his job. Emma was glad he was gone, and Vegas could fix itself. They’d take him down as a private citizen too.
He was a dead man walking.
“Then he threatened all of you. He told me if I stayed with you, he was coming after you, Emma. He told me he was going to make sure you didn’t just get stabbed, but your baby was cut from your body.”
That pissed her off.
“Then he told me he’d kill anyone Dimitri loved, and I thought of his kids…”
Now she got it.
It made more sense. Poppy would have been safe, but she was thinking about Dimitri’s children and others. She didn’t want anyone to get hurt.
In her own way, Poppy was protecting them.
“You should have told us that. He thinks you left because he failed to keep you safe.”
Jesus.
That wasn’t even close.
Poor Dimitri.
“I know. I had just been raped, Emma. I wasn’t right in the head. Three months later, I know I should have stayed in that hospital bed and told Dimitri, but I knew what he’d do.”
Yeah, they all did.
He would have killed Jeffrey Raye in cold blood. From her standpoint, knowing how Dimitri was on the edge, Poppy had made the best choice.
Dimitri would have gone nuclear and that would have taken the family down.
As Emma was about to reassure Poppy, her cell phone rang, alerting her to a call from Riley.
“Hey, Mr. Cop!” she said, trying to shake off the anger of what Raye had done to their family, and what he still intended to do.
“I’m sorry, Em, I was on the other line when you called. I’m buried here. I’m handling about five cases, and we’re short-staffed.”
“It’s okay, Riley. We’re working a new case, and we need some help.”
“As in cop help, or as in family assistance?”
“The former. Can you get me some files that are related to a case we took on?”
Well, since he worked for them, yes, yes, he could.
“What do you need?”
She told him about the bodies in the bags.
“Well, those are my cases. I have the files on my desk, and I can make copies for you. Your case is related?”
“Yeah, we think we know who they might be.”
He laughed.
“I’ll be glad to close them. If you guys are working this, I absolutely can pass off some intel to you. I’m actually heading out to do some canvassing of a scene not far from there, so I can drop them off if you’re home.”
“If I’m home?”
She laughed like a lunatic. Like leaving the ivory tower was a possibility?
Right.
“Lockdown, huh?” he teased. “Does the boss man have you trapped inside that penthouse? Poor you.”
She snorted.
“Smart ass.”
“Yeah, yeah, I am.”
Emma had an idea.
“What’s Delilah doing today?” she asked, knowing they would need Poppy to sit down with her so she could get the ex-cop her job back too.
“Uh, she’s unpacking. Why?”
“Can you pick her up and drop her off here? We could use the help. We have a legal matter that needs her assistance.”
He was so glad Emma offered. Delilah would make him unpack if she wasn’t distracted. Leaving the law firm had been a hard pill to swallow and picking up cases made her happy. Until they were having a baby, he wanted her to be busy.
“She’d love to work on something. I’ll swing by and get her for you.”
“Thanks, Riley.”
He hung up.
“How about we start researching and handle the shitmess in Vegas?” Emma asked, knowing that it would be the first step in healing the woman beside her.
“I’d like that.”
“Then can you help me figure out a way to get Dimitri to forgive me?”
Yeah, she could do that too.
Willingly.
It was time to get back on track.
Chapter Seven
FBI Las Vegas
Tuesday Morning
Meeting
T he irony of returning to this building was not lost on him at all. Greyson couldn’t help but think about what life could have been like had he not been required to sacrifice his career to cleanup Las Vegas.
Would it have played out differently? Or would he have had to make the same choices?
Yeah, fate had been in control, so likely, he would have had to do it exactly the same way. In hindsight, he didn’t regret it at all.
In fact, he’d do it all over again.
Everything.
That meant even coming to the town. Now he saw that he couldn’t just pull up and leave. He had become so deeply ingrained in the city, that if he left, it would surely fall.
It wasn’t all bad.
He was wealthy, and he and Emma were making one hell of a difference in the world. That to him was enough.
It had to be.
The answer was clear. He couldn’t run from the inevitable. He had to stand and fight. YOU couldn’t go back and second-guess yourself. In fact, those who dwelled on the past were destined to be miserable.
Today was a new day.
Poppy was back.
Dimitri was a little better.
And they were on track.
As his limo pulled up to the building, there was the normal array of media there. Mostly the police beat, who focused on any police stories that happened around the area. They hung out there to get the scoop.
Well, today, they were in for one hell of a treat. He was going to sashay himself into the FBI building.
Not with a lawyer.
But with Nikita.
Oh, he could only imagine the stories they were going to come up with on this one.
“Want me to cuff you so you can really freak them out?” Nikita asked like she knew what he was thinking.
His face must have given him away.
“Well, while funny, my wife doesn’t like when I’m in handcuffs on the news. Call her crazy, but that tends to stress her out.”
She laughed.
“I bet.”
“How do you want to play this?” Greyson asked.
“I’ve worked out of this building,” she said, pulling her badge out from the inside of her blazer. She was wearing it over leather pants.
Curiosity was killing him.
“Aren’t you sweating in those?” he asked, pointing. “It’s summer in Las Vegas, and I’m dying in cotton. You’re wearing a cow.”
She smiled.
“Nope. I’m one cool cucumber.”
He shook his head.
Clearly.
“Today are you playing Fed?” he asked. “It’s hard to keep track.”
Nikita cleared that up.
“I’m whoever is paying me. I’m loyal to a fault, Mr. Croft. Don’t doubt that. When the CIA paid me, I worked for them. When the FBI stole me away, I worked for them.”
“And now?”
“Are you asking who is footing this bill?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“Technically, I work for the FBI. Actually, I work for the Blackhawks. Ethan signs my paycheck. I’m loyal to him.”
“And?”
“He wants you alive. So, I keep you, and Mrs. Croft alive. That’s my mission. Period.”
He was glad.
The more people watching over Emma meant she was safe, and that was his main concern.
“When this case is over?”
“I work for whoever pays me. When the FBI wanted me to play a stripper, I did.”
“About that.”
“Yes?”
“What are you doing messing around with Heath? I’m not sure that’s going to end well.”
When he said the man’s name, her face softened. It was clear to him that something was there.
But what?
It was hard to tell with this woman.
“Who’s messing around?”
That said it all.
Greyson got it. She wasn’t all leather pants, hair, and violence. Nikita was also a woman—attracted to a very large man who worked for him.
“When this is over, before you take your next job, see me. I might have something to offer you.”
She smiled.
Perfect.
Nikita liked the people who he surrounded himself with, and that would be a nice break. It wasn’t as much fun playing the law as it was playing the bad girl.
“Why Mr. Croft…I’m twitterpated.”
He laughed.
“Nikita, you’re an odd one.”
“Said every man before he ate my gun,” she offered, as she sat there smiling.
“You’re all kinds of wrong.”
Oh, she was aware.
“Ready to go raise some hell?”
Yeah, that didn’t make him nervous at all. For once, he’d be happy with a meeting that ended well without a building full of cops trying to shoot him.
Call him crazy, but he was tired.
“Yeah, get me into the building.”
When they got out of the limo, it got the attention he assumed it would.
Maybe that was an understatement.
It garnered a shit load of attention from the media, the Feds, and anyone else around them. It was clear that he was the last person they thought they’d see there.
Well, not in handcuffs.
They clearly had been betting that would be the outcome at some point.
As they made their way toward the building, the media swarmed, trying to ask him a million questions that were frankly, none of their business.
Nikita ran interference.
LIKE.
A.
PRO.
She elbowed, sidestepped, and took down a handsy reporter who got a little too close to Greyson’s personal goods.
It was priceless to watch.
Nikita was tall and reminded him of a ballet dancer, but with one hell of a chip on her shoulder.
Inside, they were met by Aria Goodwin. She was smiling and holding a cup of coffee for him.
“Aria,” he said, offering her a hug as he took the cup from her.
“Sir, it’s good to see you. Welcome back.”
He smiled.
“I miss working with you, Aria. What’s going on?” he asked, taking a sip of the coffee.
She nodded at Nikita in greeting and received the same back.
“Well, I’m filling your shoes. It’s not an easy job, either, sir.”
He was happy she was doing just that.
Had he picked an agent to move up and do his old job, it would have been her.
She was smart.
Loyal.
Determined.
She also had the same style he had and that was exactly what Vegas needed to keep it afloat.
The director in the FBI office couldn’t be a pussy. You had to have balls of steel, and this woman may come across as nondescript, easygoing, and not dangerous, but she was as tough as nails.
When the going got tough, Aria Goodwin got going.
“Congrats. I’m happy for you. I don’t know if being seen around me is a good thing,” he said, motioning toward the glass windows and the photo-taking animals.
They were snapping pictures left and right, as they stood there gawking.
It was like the whole world had flip-flopped overnight. Yesterday, he was public enemy number one.
Now?
The FBI was welcoming him back.
Yeah, that was going to be one hell of a news story and it was going to make Jeffrey Raye INSANE.
Perfect.
“Ethan sent me to talk to the new police commissioner and captain of homicide. He’s cleared the path for you to lose some of your gangster credibility.”
“Darn. I was liking it too.”
She laughed.
There was no doubt that wasn’t the case. Aria worked under this man, and he was a cop to his core. This had to be damn hard for him to pretend he was a bad guy.
Hopefully, it got easier for him, and his family.
They wanted him on THEIR team. Well, Ethan Blackhawk’s team.
That meant helping Greyson do the right thing—at any cost. Vegas was a problem, and she was sent there to fix it.
And she would.
“Anyway, the local police are in my office. Thank you for coming here. I felt it best we did this in the FBI territory since we would keep you safest here.”
No Justice_A Croft Mob Family Book Page 26
