He told her what he knew, and then everything that had transpired between them.
“Shit! That original skeleton was Steele’s father? They made a positive ID?” Emma was taken aback. That was the only victim on the list that Randall hadn’t give a name.
He nodded.
“Oh my God! Poor Steele! That had to be one hell of a shock!”
“It gets worse. Kat is tailing him. They’re at the Aquarius Club inside your hotel. Greyson and Curtis met with Chris Ford.”
He let it hang in the air.
Believe it or not, that helped her relax.
“It’s okay,” she said, smiling. “Chris is watching my back. He told me he’d buy me some time. We’re just going to have to be more careful. Now that we know the first body is Rutherford Bentley, we can work around not having the ME report.”
He wasn’t feeling so confident.
His gut was screaming.
In his past, people betrayed you. It was only a matter of time. He wanted to trust the people in Emma and Greyson’s inner circle, but that’s not how he lived his life.
He didn't trust easily.
In fact, he didn't trust at all. Well, until this moment. He let the Croft’s in, and so far, they hadn’t disappointed him.
So far…
“We’re good, Dimitri,” she reassured. “Chris won’t betray me. He’s a good man, and I trust him.”
“You don’t get it, Emma. You’re both working the same case. You’re bound to cross paths. Greyson is a very smart man, and he’s not going to miss that detail. He’s not head Fed because he looks good in a suit.”
“Should I be alarmed that you’re checking him out?” she teased, trying to lighten the mood.
“Emma.”
“I trust the people watching my back. Where does your allegiance lie, Dimitri? Where?”
“Randall told me to protect both of you, but specifically you. He made me promise that nothing would hurt you. That’s your answer. I work for both of you, but I have your back.”
She moved toward him. “We’ll be fine. Maybe Chris was just digging for dirt to bring back to me. He’s like my big brother. He won’t spill it—not today, at least.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“I’m really sorry that I put you in the middle of this. I know this has to suck for your team. All of you have been working nonstop. When this is over, and Dominic is in jail, we’ll all take one big family vacation. Maybe to an island where we can kick back and enjoy the peace. I’m sure Randall owned one somewhere.”
“He did, but we’re not a family, Emma. We’re your employees.”
She moved toward him and did something he didn't expect.
She hugged him.
“You’re very wrong there. If this has taught me anything, it’s who I can trust and call family. You don’t have to be blood to belong.”
He stared at her when she released him.
Dimitri didn't know when he’d been hugged last. Maybe it was his sister.
It was possible it was a one night stand.
He wasn’t sure.
What he did know was Emma shocked him each and every day with something new. He was always thrown off balance when she was around. He was growing attached, and Dimitri knew it was stupid on his behalf.
People died.
They left.
The ones you trusted hurt you.
It was only a matter of time before he would have to take his family and leave Terrace Glen. If Greyson found out about what his wife had asked him to do, it would be sooner rather than later.
Just then, his cell phone chimed.
“Shit! Your husband is coming home!”
Emma raced to her desk, closed up the folder, and placed it away with the many others on her desk. It was hiding in plain sight, and that was the best hiding place in her opinion. While Greyson didn’t go through her things, she wasn’t taking any chances.
“We should go down, pretend we’re having a drink, and wait for him, Emma.”
“Pretend? I really need one,” she stated.
He grinned. “That can be arranged.”
Calmly, they headed down. Dimitri still had that sick feeling in the pit of his stomach.
This wasn’t going to be good. He was smart enough to know it, but not to leave her side. That said it all.
He was smitten with this family.
God help him.
* * * Croft & Croft * * *
Greyson Croft was furious.
No matter how much Curtis and Chris Ford tried to calm him down on the ride home, he was a man over the edge. He was muttering, cursing, and his hands kept clenching into fists.
He was going to blow.
This was exactly what they thought would happen if Greyson flipped out. While they knew why he was losing it, they weren’t quite sure what had him ready to kill.
Was it that Emma was working the Marianna case behind his back?
That Dimitri was lying and helping her?
That Chris had promised to help her too?
There were so many reasons for him to snap—maybe it was a culmination of all of them.
He wasn’t big on lies, and at the moment, there were a shitload of them going on. The man was so pissed that he drove like a lunatic to get home.
Greyson Croft broke just about every vehicular law on the books, and then some. When he tore up the driveway, slamming the Challenger into park, both men inside knew the shit was about to hit the fan.
“Can’t you calm down and take a moment before you head in there?” Chris asked, feeling miserable. He’d promised Emma to buy her time, and instead, he’d tossed her to the wolves to keep her safe.
It was a shitty situation all around.
Chris wasn’t proud of the choice he had been forced to make, but he didn’t have a choice.
He had to choose, and his choice was for her to hate him, but still be alive. Chris couldn’t bear the idea that she could lose her life in all this mess. Greyson would hate him after the fact for not stepping in.
Hell!
He’d hate himself if she got hurt.
“He’s right, Grey. Think before you flip out. You can’t undo what you’re about to do,” Curtis stated. He was trying to slow the big man down until he could think this through. Greyson was notoriously known for losing his temper and regretting it after the fact.
If he charged in there, who knew what was going to happen?
It wouldn’t be good.
That was for damn sure.
“I’m going to make sure she never lies to me again,” he muttered, heading for the door. “She’s going to regret this.”
Both men stared at each other.
They were pretty sure Croft was going to be the one who regretted this. In fact, when this was over, they hoped that he was still going to be married.
That was up for grabs.
At this rate, his rage was eating away at the slim chance he was going to still have a wife.
As they approached the door, both men blocked his entrance.
“Out of my way!”
“Grey, think about this. Remember that time you saw Emma hugging Reese and you nearly lost her. That was NOTHING compared to what you’re going to do if you storm in there. Let her explain.”
“Shut up, Curtis, or I’m putting you up for adoption in the morning!”
He zipped it.
Somehow, he didn't think he was kidding.
“If I knew you were going to freak out this badly, I wouldn’t have told you,” Ford said, still in Croft’s way. He was big enough that he might be able to stop the man from going off the rails and hurting someone.
When he told him in the bar, he’d nearly flipped the table and wrecked the place.
This was bad.
Real. Bad.
“Take a minute to relax. You wouldn’t want to do anything rash, would you?”
He started laughing, and it was the scary laughter that proved that he was a man on the edge.
They rarely heard it from him, but then again, there was only one reason he’d ever been this far gone.
His wife.
The silver of his eyes was molten and burning in anger.
“Oh, I want to do something very rash. In fact, homicide might be on the agenda.”
They wouldn’t be surprised, and that was why they were trying desperately to slow him down.
“Move or I’ll kick both of your asses.”
Chris stood his ground, thinking he should protect Emma. After all, this was all his doing.
“Move!”
Curtis pulled him out of the way, just in time for Greyson to go through the door and into his home. Inside, he found his wife sitting in the main room with a glass of wine. Dimitri wasn’t far behind her, and he was watching him with no emotion on his face.
“Emma Croft, are you out of your fucking mind?” he bellowed, heading her way.
As soon as he approached, Dimitri moved in front of her to protect her.
“Move!”
“No, Greyson, I can’t let you hurt her.”
It enraged him.
It made his blood boil.
The fact that the man was standing between his wife and him was enough to push him further over the edge. He actually thought he was going to hurt a woman.
Did he know him at all?
This man was clueless.
Emma was the ONLY person who was safe in the room. He’d never hurt her, even when he wanted to shake some sense into his redhead.
When their security guy didn’t budge, it infuriated him adding fuel to the fire.
“Move, Dimitri!”
Just then, Kat rushed in and gasped.
Her brother glanced over, taking his eyes off Greyson for only a second.
That’s when he struck.
Greyson shoved him out of the way, trying to get to his wife. Dimitri, instead of staying out of the way, moved back in to the angry man’s path and swung.
It was a huge mistake.
Until that moment, Greyson wasn’t dangerous to anyone in that room, but then the tide changed. The simple fact that Dimitri would try to keep him away from Emma, and take a shot at him…it forced the barely restrained rage to flood from him.
He missed Greyson, but Croft didn't miss the Russian. His fist plowed into his face, knocking him back and into the wall.
Emma gasped, as Kat rushed toward her brother to stand protectively in front of him while he was down.
“You’re going to cost Emma her life!” Croft raged. “You should know better, Dimitri. Your job is to protect her, not to lead her into the viper’s nest!” he yelled, trying to get to the man.
Instead of letting him get another shot it, Chris Ford grabbed him. Curtis moved into the middle, knowing the man wouldn’t hurt him.
Or so he hoped.
Greyson wasn’t done.
He was far from finished. The rules had been broken, and with it, the trust. That’s what hurt him most.
He had trusted Dimitri Gideon with his life, his wife, and everything that mattered. Now that was destroyed.
When Dimitri got back on his feet, he pointed at him. “You, yourself, told me that he’s tracking everyone in this room. Yet you think it’s wise to let her chase him down?”
“I don’t tell Emma what to do. I simply protect her and make sure she makes it home. That’s my job, Greyson.”
That didn’t calm him.
In fact, it added fuel to the already raging inferno.
As he lurched toward Dimitri, Emma moved between them. She was taking a stand.
Enough was enough.
She couldn’t let her husband hit him again. Already, this had gone too far. The damage might be unrepairable and horribly timed.
She was pissed, and not at her husband.
“Don’t protect him!” he ordered, when his wife stood between the two men. “I trusted you. You lied to me. You tried to be deceitful, and that doesn’t work with a marriage!”
“Grey!”
“No! I protect what’s mine, and you’re mine, Emma! I won’t have your life risked! Not for anyone!” he raged, his skin flushing three shades of red.
“And I’m supposed to sit by while you risk yours?”
“Not my wife! You’re to be protected! I have very few things in my life that I cherish. You’re at the top of the damn list!”
Dimitri rubbed his chin with one hand and shook off his sister’s hand with the other. He was fine. That shot to the face was probably deserved. If he was in Greyson’s position, he likely would have shot anyone who came between him and a wife.
He got off lucky.
“You’re fired! Get out of my house!” he ordered, pointing at the door. “I won’t have people I don’t trust in our life, and this crossed a huge line. I put my faith in you, Dimitri. You betrayed it. You were my friend. That mattered to me.”
Dimitri didn't say a word.
He knew this was going to be the outcome. That was why he didn't get attached to people. Tides changed, and real fast. Before you knew it, you were asked to leave.
Dimitri had always been expendable, and that’s why he never stuck around. It hurt too much.
Just like this.
“Come on, Kat. We’re leaving. Let’s go pack up. Goodbye, Emma.” He patted her on the shoulder as he moved past her. Dimitri would miss her most. Emma was a sweet and kind person.
There world had too few of them.
Emma watched them heading for the door, and she couldn’t let this happen. It was all her fault. She started this, and she never thought Dimitri would carry the brunt of Greyson’s rage. She figured it would be her.
It wasn’t fair.
Like it or not, the two people walking away were important to her, and to Greyson. He was just too angry to see it.
“Stop!”
Dimitri wouldn’t have normally listened, but he thought back to that hug. It mattered to him. No one ever got close to him, but Emma wasn’t afraid to share her feelings. He owed her a moment to say what she was feeling.
“What, Mrs. Croft?” he said softly.
“You’re not fired. It’s not happening. Someone has to stop this insanity, and it’s going to be me.”
He didn't look at Greyson. His eyes remained on the redhead garnering all the attention in the room.
Both Curtis and Ford were staring at her like she was insane. Maybe she was.
“This is my home too, and you’re not being thrown out of it.”
Greyson was ready to erupt.
Not only had she tried to protect the man, choosing between them, but she just reversed his orders in a room full of people.
No one did that.
His head was going to explode.
Greyson pushed Chris off him, freeing himself from the man’s grasp.
In that moment, Emma had never seen her husband look that dark and dangerous. He was on the edge, and she didn't know if she could keep him from going over, but she had to try.
“Greyson, we need to talk.”
“You think, Emma? You’ve crossed a line.”
He began moving toward her, only he couldn’t reach his wife. Dimitri was back, and this time he had a gun pointing right at Greyson’s head.
“Don’t touch her,” Dimitri warned.
The room went dead silent.
There was no mistaking the outcome of that one single move. No one pulled a gun on Greyson Croft, and no one tried to stop him from reaching his wife. Yet Dimitri had done both in the span of minutes. The fury would only get worse, and they all knew it.
Emma knew she had to do something. Moving toward Dimitri, she touched his arm. “Please go out to the pool house, and take Kat with you. I need to defuse this, and this isn't helping. Greyson won’t hurt me.”
The man slowly lowered his arm. “As you wish, Emma. Let’s go, Katerina.”
She followed him out.
Greyson wanted to hurt the man. In that moment, he wanted to make the Russian bleed for dar
ing to come between him and his wife.
“We can’t resort to violence,” Chris said.
Emma spun, turning on him. “This is all your fault. I sat in your office today, and you gave me one hell of a lecture about always having my back. What did you do? Hours later, you ran to my husband telling him everything. I knew this would happen if he found out. I wanted to protect him, not cause him to have a huge stroke!”
Chris stared at her.
He saw this coming. The position he’d been put in offered no other outcome but this. He was going to be the bad guy for loving her enough to want to keep her safe.
“You betrayed me. I put my faith in you, and it tore my family apart. I never expected that to happen with you. I truly believed that you cared about us, and this is proof that I was very wrong.”
His mouth opened, but nothing came out. Is that how she saw what he did today?
Betrayal?
He saw it as love.
Chris Ford couldn’t handle the thought of Dominic Marianna getting to her. He wanted to wrap her in a cocoon and keep her safe for Greyson, Curtis, and even for himself.
This wasn’t betrayal.
This was his way of loving the woman before him and doing what a big brother did.
“I think you need to leave, Captain Ford. You’ve proved whose back you really have, and it’s not mine!”
Her words hurt.
They slashed at his heart, wounding him on so many levels. He no longer even deserved a first name basis. That stung.
After all, he’d put it all on the line for Emma and Greyson. When the whole town called them dirty, crooked, and on the take, he stood with them because his heart recognized what was building between them.
Now he was being booted out of their lives.
He got it.
This was the end of the road.
“Maybe, if that’s how you really feel about me, I shouldn’t be part of your life.”
“I think that’s for the best. I don’t want people I don’t trust in my home. Goodbye, Chris.”
That hurt.
It was as if a dagger was shoved into his chest, tearing his emotions to pieces. “Goodbye, Emma.”
He turned, heading out. A part of him hoped someone would stop him, like she stopped Dimitri, but no one did. Not even Greyson—so much for friendship and loyalty.
Justice is Dead (Croft & Croft Romance Adventure Book 7) Page 8
