She understood where this was heading. When she and Greyson came together, he had worried that she wouldn’t be attracted to an older man.
The opposite was true.
She’d been very attracted.
There was something about that confidence and sexy gray hair at his temples. Some girls liked it.
She was one.
Apparently, Natasha was another.
“I’m not exactly suave, sexy, or her type. I picture her with someone more like her brother or Curtis—you know…younger than me.”
Emma took one of his hands in hers. “She’d be lucky to have you in her life. You, Mr. Ford, are a catch. If I weren’t madly in love with a caveman, I’d ask you out. You’re very sexy, and when you smile, it’s even more amazing. When in doubt, just flash those baby blues at her and grin. You’ll reel her right in.”
He smiled at Emma. “Yeah, yeah, you sweet talker. You just want in my pants.”
She snorted. “You found me out, Captain Ford,” she teased. It was common in their lives. That flirtatious teasing was nothing new. It would probably always be there too.
“Seriously, I don’t have much to offer her.”
“You have everything to offer her, Chris. What do you want with Natasha?”
“I want to feel.”
“Okay, so feel. You don’t have to commit to anything. It’s a date. You don’t have to marry the woman.”
He looked horrified.
“You are such a commitment-phobe.”
Yeah, well, Denise, the Devil’s spawn, had done that to him. She’d scared him off of women for ten years.
“Again, it’s just a date.”
“She told me she loved me.”
Emma blinked as she let that register. Someone moved damn fast. “Oh.”
“Yeah, oh. I’m not there. I don’t know if I can ever even get there. What if I never feel anything?”
“So, don’t say it if you don’t feel it. If she’s not the one, don’t lead her on.”
“I don’t know if she’s the one. I don’t know if Dimitri will even let me ask her out.”
She kissed him on the cheek. “That’s how I know he will. Curtis just snuck around with Kat, but you’re actually going to talk to him first, aren’t you?”
She knew him so well.
A part of Chris was happy about that, and a part mourned that Emma came into his life with a husband. Chris knew she would have been the ideal woman.
She didn’t scare the shit out of him.
Alas, fate had other plans.
“Yes, I planned on it. I don’t want the episode where he tosses me into the pool and tries to beat my face in to scare me stupid.”
She rested her head on his shoulder. She and Chris had one hell of a bond. It had everything to do with him filling the role her brother had once filled until his death. She trusted him.
“Good idea. Don’t piss the Russian off. No one likes when he goes off and starts cursing in his mother tongue. Who the hell knows what he’s saying? It could be a spell for all we know.”
Chris laughed. “Oh, it’s a curse all right, and we know who it’ll be aimed at.”
She patted his leg.
“Do you think she’d want to go out with me?” Chris finally asked.
She laughed. “Christopher, she stares at you like you’re the rising sun. I’ll bet my money on it.”
He thought about it.
“I don’t want to do the bet.”
She understood.
“I want this to be about her and me. I want it to be about us having a connection.”
“I think that’s best, but we still have that art opening this weekend. Why don’t you ask her to join you? I’m sure we can drop the security for a night. It’s not as if anyone has tried anything as of late. Plus, I’ll be there with Greyson. He’ll be all over me. I think you can have a night off.”
He stared at her. “Emma, we have a flower truck, three utility trucks, and some fake construction workers outside the house. We have a lot of people trying shit.”
Yeah, she was aware, but Emma really wanted Chris to go for it. Maybe a sexy babe would make him smile. As someone who loves him, that’s all she really wanted.
Chris deserved to be happy.
She snorted. “Yeah, but they aren’t trying to kill me. They’re spying on me. That’s a totally different ballgame. I’m not about to be abducted by the FBI.”
She had a point.
“Go shower, Chris, unless you’d like to take a swim with us.”
“Will you really be wearing that white bikini?” he asked, thinking back to Greyson’s request.
“Yes.”
He laughed evilly.
“If you provoke Greyson, he will retaliate,” she called as he walked toward the door.
Chris was well aware.
That’s what made it half the fun.
Boys should behave badly, and at Casa Croft, it happened all the damn time.
“I’ll see you at the pool, and, Emma?”
She glanced over. “Yeah?”
“Thank you. I appreciate the talk. It’s nice to have someone I can go to when I’m confused. Thank you for being my sister.”
She smiled. “Anytime, Christopher.”
He left.
As soon as he was gone, she heard the thud of someone landing on the mat behind her. It looked like someone was hanging out above them the entire time.
Yeah, she thought so.
“Natasha, you’re lucky I didn’t tell him you were there. Your lilac perfume gave you away,” she stated. “If he wasn’t so freaked out, he would have smelled it a mile away.”
“I’m sorry,” the woman said, moving closer. “I know I shouldn’t eavesdrop, but I wanted…”
What did she want?
Oh, yeah.
Him.
Natasha wanted the sexy man who made her heart do wicked things in her chest. She was tired of waiting for him to make a move.
Emma patted the seat beside her. “I lied for you, and I did it to a man I respect.”
“I know.”
“What are your intentions?” she asked.
“I love him. I’ve known he’s the one since the minute I saw him. Only…”
“Only what?” she asked, as Nat played with her red hair.
“Dimitri said hands off. He meant it. I don’t think he likes Christopher.”
Well, he didn’t like Curtis either, and look how that ended up. Things could change, and she could help them along. If need be, Emma would take care of Dimitri.
The way to his heart was straight through anything involving his sisters’ happiness. He’d bend if it meant making Natasha and Katerina happy.
She had this under control.
Besides, Natasha needed someone to love her, and Chris needed someone to show him that not everyone was like Denise.
She took her hand. “I’ll deal with him. If Chris asks, will you be going out with him?”
She looked freaked out. “I don’t know how to be a date. What do I do? What do I wear?” The Russian was out in her voice. That meant one thing.
Yeah, the woman was freaked out.
She hadn’t lied about her feelings for the man, and that made Emma want to help her even more.
“You’ve never been on one?” she asked. “Ever in your entire life?”
She shook her head. “Dimitri didn’t let us date. He told us men were horrible animals and couldn’t be trusted. I’ve never been with a man.”
“Oh.”
Then she got the underlying meaning of that sentence.
“OHHH.”
Okay.
Someone was a virgin.
If she even hinted at that with Chris, he’d flip out and back out of a date.
Yeah, some things were left best unsaid until the heat of the moment. Once they were thinking about doing it, Chris could navigate that one on his own.
If she said anything…it would be awkward at best.
; “You should keep that to yourself. We can fake our way through this.”
“We?”
“I’ll help you.”
“Should I back away, or should I go for it?” Natasha asked, trusting the woman beside her. Katerina trusted Emma with every secret and fear. She had to be good if both of her siblings loved her.
Natasha was out of options. Christopher Ford wasn’t taking any of the hints. The last thing she could do was write on her forehead and stand in front of him until he got it.
“What do you want?” she asked.
“Him. I really want him with all my heart. When he holds me, I feel safe. I want what my sister has. Curtis treats her like…”
The words overwhelmed her.
“Go on, Nat.”
“Curtis treats her like she deserves it. I want to feel that way too.”
Emma understood.
Every woman wanted to feel like they were the center of someone’s world.
“I don’t know if I do deserve it. He’s reputable, and I’m the daughter of a slut.”
She touched her cheek. “You are worthy of love. We all are. Our pasts don’t make us. We make us.”
She wiped at her eyes. Emma always made her feel safe, and that was why she was trying to get the woman’s help. What did she know about men?
Nothing.
Emma was happily married. She had to have a clue.
“I say go for it.”
“Will you help me?” she asked, keeping the emotions from her voice. “My mother…”
She didn’t need to hear more.
Emma got it.
“Go grab your bikini. You know…the white one that is killer on you.”
It was the same one she had. It looked like Greyson was shit out of luck. Emma wasn’t going to sport the same one. This was about Natasha catching the sexy man.
She’d take one for the team.
Greyson would understand.
“Dimitri told me he’s burning that one. Apparently, you can see through it when it’s wet.”
Emma laughed.
Now she knew why Greyson wanted her to wear that one. Her husband was a perverted peeping Tom.
She loved that about him.
“Yeah, well, that’s why you need that specific one. Chris will be at the pool.”
“He’ll kill Chris.”
She laughed. “Yeah, no, he won’t.”
Natasha hoped the woman was right.
If she was wrong…
Christopher Ford was a dead man, and that would ruin Natasha’s plans of winning his heart.
* * * G r e y s o n C r o f t * * *
Greyson knew the man was coming from the alarm on his watch. The front gate was opening, and he figured that meant that Dimitri had a case for them.
He didn’t come home at this time unless there was something on the horizon, or they had trouble brewing in the city. Since he didn’t get a text to warn him, he could assume it was the first scenario.
Truthfully, he was grateful.
Greyson liked working on their cases. Call him crazy, but he enjoyed seeing his kitten handling a mystery. She was all feisty when she was driving the bus.
It turned him on.
When he’d first met her, one of the sexiest things, other than her beauty, was that she commanded her own office, and she ran it like she owned it.
Emma was sexy when she was bossy.
Sue him.
He liked a strong woman in the office, and a submissive one in bed.
When Dimitri headed his way, he wasn’t smiling.
That wasn’t a good sign.
Something bad had to be happening in the city.
Shit!
He’d really hoped it was a case.
A cranky Dimitri was always a bad day in the making. He’d sulk around and scare Curtis out of his mind. Well, that part was fun. He liked doing that too.
Greyson hoped he could talk him down off the anger. He thought about Chris’s bet, and how the man was likely going to do the right thing by asking Dimitri to take Natasha out.
Shit!
This was horrible timing.
If he even suggested a date, Dimitri would either have a stroke or kill Chris.
Neither was a good choice.
As proof that the universe liked to screw with people, Chris began heading their way, sporting his board shorts. He was looking all buff, and he was wearing his sunglasses.
The men were about to intersect.
“Hey! I need to talk to you when you have a moment. It’s kind of important.”
Dimitri glanced over. “Is it work related?” he asked.
“Not really.”
“Fine, but first, we need to discuss a case that’s come up. Then I’m free.”
Greyson handed them each a beer from the patio refrigerator. “What’s going on? Why do you look like you’ve lost your best friend and you want to burn down the city?”
Where to even begin?
Dimitri twisted off the beer cap and chugged the cold brew. He should start with the facts.
“I took a case, and I already regret it. I let my emotions get the best of me. What do I do?”
They stared at him.
That didn’t sound like Dimitri at all. Whenever he picked a soul to rescue, he was always stoked about it. He never regretted it. That wasn’t like him at all.
“Why do you look like you want to punch something?” Chris asked. “Why do you think it’s a mistake?”
Yeah, he dreaded this.
He told them. “The missing man worked for Tony Mays, and we’re taking the case.”
The beers paused halfway to their mouths.
They both knew that name.
Who didn’t?
Chris knew it because he’d been the homicide captain, and Greyson knew it because the douchebag was always trying to usurp the Crofts and become the main family in Vegas. They’d both crossed paths with the penny ante criminal.
Yeah, he was a pain in the ass.
“Come again?” Chris asked. “I know I didn’t hear you right. You couldn’t have possibly said we’re going to poke at a mob hornet’s nest.”
“I did. The woman came in, her husband is missing, and her and her children are about to be homeless. I felt…”
“You felt. That’s fine,” Greyson stated.
Dimitri was glad they understood. He really hated explaining his emotions. It always made him uncomfortable.
Chris wasn’t so sure any of this was fine. After all, if the mob wannabe was going to take a shot at them, it wouldn’t be at Greyson.
NO ONE was that crazy.
Tony Mays would go for…
Crap.
Emma.
“What are you worried about?” Greyson asked Chris.
How to put this nicely?
Oh, he knew.
“How bad is Tony Mays, and how bad am I going to get my ass kicked when he comes at us?” he asked. “On a scale of one to ten, Greyson a ten, where does this douchebag fall?”
Dimitri was staring at him. “You’re worried?”
“I’m going to be the one wearing the bull’s-eye, and I like to know what’s coming. Surprises are not my thing. The less of them there are, the happier I am.”
He wasn’t thinking about his own ass.
No.
He was thinking about Emma.
Greyson was waiting for the moment when Dimitri flipped out. He didn’t like anyone questioning him, let alone someone he had just hired.
The anger never showed.
It was a sign of Dimitri’s control, and how much he liked the man before him. Greyson now knew that Chris was never going to have an issue when it came to the job. Dimitri was respecting him in his own way.
He wasn’t freaking out but listening.
“He’s a bottom feeder who hires muscle. He owns a few strip clubs, a few bars, and mostly gets his income from loan sharking. He’s harmless to our family.”
Chris didn’t buy that for a
second, but it wasn’t his call. Everyone had the potential to be harmful to the family. Once you let ego in, you risked getting hurt.
“Okay, so why are you upset?” he asked. “You look all constipated and pissy.”
Dimitri stared at him. “Why did I hire you again?” he asked.
“Emma made you do it.”
Dimitri almost made a comment, but that was exactly what Chris wanted. He still didn’t have confirmation that Emma had been behind it, and Dimitri was protecting that for as long as he could.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Yeah, right. I’ll get it out of you yet. One day, you’ll crack.”
He took out his cigarette case and pulled out a smoke. He offered one to both men. They declined. “I was once a POW for about three months. I never cracked. You won’t get anything out of me that I don’t want to share.”
He believed him.
The Russian was a pain in his ass.
Greyson needed to reel this one in. “So, we take the case to help the woman. What are the plans? I’m sure you thought this one over as you were driving home.”
Had he ever?
“Tiffany Harding is going to be working at ‘Aquarius’, so we can go into her home, search around, and see what turns up. It’s likely that the man brought something home with him from work. It might give us a lead on where to head next. By we, I mean the bull’s-eye, and Emma.”
Chris snorted. “Gee, thanks.”
“You are welcome.”
“What do we know about Tiffany Harding?” Greyson asked, shaking his head.
“She said her husband was on the up and up, but we all know that’s going to be bullshit. You don’t work for the criminal element and stay clean.”
He looked at Chris.
“I’m clean,” the man stated. “I’ve never done anything illegal in my life.”
Dimitri started laughing. “You can keep saying that, but guilt by association, and the five trucks sitting outside this house says differently. You are neck deep in guilty, whether you like it or not.”
He had a point.
Still…
It was rude to point it out.
“Don’t be a dick.”
Dimitri was accustomed to the man but he wouldn’t let on that he really liked him.
Lost Justice (Croft Family Mob Series Book 2) Page 5
