“I want him disemboweled by the light of the full moon, but apparently, my wife has said no.”
Chris coughed into his hand. “Pussy whipped.”
Emma reached to the front seat and really slapped him hard.
“I saved you! Hands are not for hitting!”
She rolled her eyes.
“I might have an idea,” stated Dimitri.
“What?”
“He has a really special painting in his office at his warehouse. It was his first…acquisition. I know. We stole it for him.”
“Uh, cut out the details,” Greyson stated. “I don’t need to hear all of them.”
Dimitri grinned ferally.
“Let’s borrow it to send a message.”
Greyson started laughing. “You think a painting makes up for him trying to kill my wife? Do you know me at all?”
Emma waved at him in the rearview mirror.
“I’m not finished. If you think that’s all I can muster, you haven’t gotten to know me at all.”
Oh, they knew him.
“What then?” Chris asked.
“Then we send it back to him with ‘YOU’RE DEAD’ on it.”
Okay, this was getting better.
It was closer to how he felt.
“If you want to keep the wolves at bay, Grey, you need to keep them off your heels. You’re the head boss in this shithole,” Dimitri stated.
Croft was aware, but that was getting harder and harder, without breaking the law outright.
Emma…
She didn’t like when he killed people.
Emma went to say something, only she was cut off.
“We have to retaliate. This is all over the news. The other little mob wannabes are going to be watching to see what you do. If you don’t retaliate, they will start taking shots at you, thinking you’re still a cop inside. Justice on the other side means something completely different.”
“How will they know I did anything if I just steal a painting?” asked Greyson. Maybe he was new to this, but it didn’t make sense.
“We’ll burn the place down right after we steal it, and then deliver it to his front door. After the deed is done, I’ll make sure word travels like wildfire that you’ve retaliated.”
Chris continued laughing.
“Natasha is good at things like this.”
Chris stopped laughing the second her name came up.
“What?”
Dimitri tried not to smile. “My sister isn’t only good at blending in, my friend. She’s been known to seduce, get in, blow the joint, and get back out without anyone even suspecting her.”
“Stop.”
“What?”
“Seduce? Blow the joint? NO! Just NO!” It was putting horrible pictures in his head. Ones that had no business being there. Chris wanted to believe that Natasha was sweet, gentle, and a little lamb.
This painted a totally different picture.
“What do you mean no?” Dimitri asked. “It’s her job, Captain. Like you did yours today, she’ll do hers tonight.”
It was official.
He was going to have one hell of a stroke.
“You’re not sending her in to do that. You’re not going to make her blow anything up, and you sure as hell are not having her seduce anyone.”
He began sputtering like a teakettle about to blow.
There was profanity peppered with outrage.
It was funny.
In fact, it was so funny, that Emma had to hide her face in Greyson’s neck to keep him from seeing her laugh at the whole thing.
What Chris didn’t realize was this was a test. Dimitri did the same thing to Curtis, but it was based on his weaknesses. Curtis had been a push over. He’d been out of control to see if the younger man would stand up to a bigger force.
He passed.
He’d defended Kat.
Now Dimitri was testing to see if Chris would protect, watch, and take care of Natasha like she deserved.
“It’s her job.”
“NO.”
“Well, since I’m the boss, I get to say what the employees do.”
“I quit. Now pull over, because I’m going to kick your commie Russian ass back to the fucking motherland.”
“She goes.”
“You’re dead. You’re not sending her in to do something like that. She should be home tucked into bed, dreaming about…”
“About what?” Dimitri asked.
“Happy things for once in her life. I’ll do it. I’ll go and steal the painting, blow the place up, and come home. She is not risking her life.”
He did pull over.
Dimitri parked the car in a parking lot and faced the man.
Chris braced for it.
Dimitri kissed him on the mouth.
“JESUS! You’re out of your freaking mind. I am not into men!”
Everyone started laughing.
It was clear that Chris didn’t know what the hell was going on in the car.
“What? Are you all crazy?” Chris asked. “What did I miss?”
“You passed,” Emma stated, congratulating him with a pat on the back.
Dimitri started the vehicle back up.
He was satisfied with the outcome.
Chris, like Emma had promised, was a decent man who deserved a shot with Natasha.
Dimitri could relax.
“I needed to see if you would protect Natasha, or if you were just after her for sex.”
He sputtered even more now that he knew the man was screwing with him.
“I’m going to have a stroke. Here’s the proof. It’s that or I have a concussion and am really in a hospital bed.”
“Be glad he didn’t punch you. He tried to kill Curtis for being in the same bed with the woman—dressed,” Greyson stated.
“So she doesn’t have to do it?” asked Chris. “Does this mean she is off the hook?”
Dimitri laughed even more.
Chris didn’t like the sound of that.
“Oh, she’s still doing it, but because you’re so worried, you get to go with her. The two of you will steal the painting, burn that place down, and get back in one piece.”
“Seriously?”
“Tag, my friend, you are it.”
He couldn’t believe it.
“What the hell happened to me?” Chris asked, closing his eyes. “I was, at one time, someone who would be horrified at the mere thought of doing something like this. Now I’m going to do it, and not at gunpoint.”
“Are you in?” Dimitri asked.
He thought about Natasha, and the idea that she’d be all on her own, and it didn’t sit well with him.
In fact, he was sick to his stomach.
“I’m in. I’m going to break into private property, steal a painting, and commit arson with a woman I plan on taking out on a date.”
Emma was laughing so hard, she was close to tears. It was about time someone realized what her life was like. She was married to the head of the crime syndicate in Vegas.
She’d been a damn cop.
Fate was a bitch.
“This could be your date,” Dimitri offered. “It would speak to her on some level.”
“Shut the hell up,” Chris grumbled, putting his sunglasses back on his face. “Just shut up.”
“The family that commits felonies together, stays together,” Greyson teased.
Chris didn’t know what to say.
It was clear.
He was out of his damn mind.
* * * G r e y s o n C r o f t * * *
Terrace Glen
The family was waiting for them when they arrived. The visual on the news had everyone freaked out. They were waiting to see for themselves that Emma was okay.
When she was helped out by her husband, there was a collective sigh of relief.
Steele reached her first and gave her one hell of a hug. Over the last few weeks, she’d been helping him come to grips with his new life at Terrace Glen.
<
br /> Losing her would damage him.
“Emma! Are you okay?” he asked, touching her cheek with his ruined fingers. They were still crooked from where Dominic’s thugs repeatedly broke them.
“I’m good, Steele. Chris saved me from the big bad bullets.”
Chris pointed at the two gay men. “If you try to kiss me, I’ll punch you both. I don’t care if Emma gets mad and makes me eat bran as punishment. I’m not pussy whipped by Greyson’s wife.”
Oh, they all knew that was a boatload of lies.
Chris was just as bad as Greyson.
And Dimitri.
“I mean it. I will hurt all of you.”
Katerina giggled. “What?” she asked, when Dimitri stared at her. “I pictured him kicking all of your asses. The baby made me do it.”
The Russian shook his head.
It was hard not to laugh.
“We need to head inside and get to work. We have a mission for tonight.”
Curtis looked confused. “Uh, interviews?”
Emma shook her head, but she didn’t say anything. That spoke louder than anything she could have told them.
They all looked worried.
“Uh oh.”
Dimitri pointed at the house, then the gate—where they could see the reporters, and finally, the vans not far off into the distance.
“Not here.”
They got it.
Once inside, in the comfort of the living room, it was time to talk as a family.
Dimitri hit the button on the security screen, and outside, there was a loud screeching noise.
They watched as the reporters and vans scrambled.
“We are clear,” he stated.
Greyson smiled. He loved watching the people running when they dropped some tech on them.
“Well?” Curtis asked. “What’s the plan?”
Oh, this was going to be fun.
“We’re going to send all the little mob bitches a warning,” Greyson stated, as he tucked his wife beneath his arm. “If they think coming at me or my wife is a good idea, they’ll see I’m not messing around.”
The team got comfortable. There was no doubt that any plan was going to need some research.
Dimitri pushed a button on the security console and the blinds began lowering in the room.
This was new.
“Wow. We’re really going to do something bad,” Curtis stated.
“Pull up this address,” Dimitri stated.
Curtis did as he asked as the man rattled it off.
On the screen, there was a building. It was non-descript and surrounded by other buildings just like it. From the road, no one would think anything of it.
“Inside, if memory serves me correct, is Mays’s warehouse. He stores everything here from extra cash, some guns, and a shitload of drugs. They’re shipped in from Mexico in collectables.”
“Collectables?”
“Piñatas.”
Greyson stared at him. He wasn’t sure if Dimitri was telling them the truth or yanking his chain.
“Seriously?”
“Yep. Customs has yet to figure it out, so…”
Greyson shook his head.
They were idiots.
That would have been the first thing he looked inside when it was coming across the border. Call him crazy, but that seems pretty damn obvious.
You stuffed piñatas.
Drug bosses lived in Mexico.
One plus one equaled two.
“Once inside,” Dimitri offered, “there are a set of metal stairs, and they lead to an office where he keeps all of his paperwork. That’s where you’ll find the painting and some other things.”
“And we know this how?” Curtis asked.
Kat patted him on the leg and winked at her husband-to-be. It was clear she was telling him that she’d been the one to get the intel.
“Ohhhhh, never mind.”
Dimitri looked around at the faces in the room. Steele and Dante were curled into a corner of the couch, Chris was pacing, Natasha was drinking a bottle of water as if nothing was happening, and Kat and Curtis were listening.
This was his family.
He had to trust them.
“Our team worked for Tony Mays for a little while. We stole for him, we took care of his issues, and I killed for him.”
No one looked surprised.
No one reacted.
Chris simply kept pacing.
“Well, we’ll get it done,” Dante stated. “I’ll go. I’m good at night time exercises. If you need me to, I can get inside that building.”
Dimitri shook his head. “You’re not going in, Dante.”
“Who is?” he asked. The only other person who was qualified to sneak around at night would be Greyson, and they couldn’t let him do it.
That was handing him over to the police.
The woman calmly sitting there raised her hand.
“She’s right. It’ll be Natasha.”
Dante stared at her. “Uh, okay.”
“I have it, Dimitri,” she stated. “Like always?” she asked, making sure she knew exactly what he wanted her to do.
Chris stopped pacing and was watching her. He was stirred up like a hive of hornets. The more he thought about this, the less and less he liked it.
“What will you need?” Dimitri asked.
“Tell me about the security,” she asked.
Katerina turned around to face her sister. She’d normally be the one who did this, but with baby on board, she knew her brother wouldn’t allow it.
She was secretly grateful.
She wanted Sadie to be born.
“He’s going to have around three guards, and they will all be carrying guns. It’s nothing high tech. He has basic security.”
Natasha was listening.
In her head, she was working out her plan. On the screen, Dimitri had up the blue prints.
How he got them…?
Yeah.
They weren’t going to ask.
“If you can cut the wires, you can get in. Tony isn’t wealthy enough to go high tech, and he doesn’t want the place to stand out. DEA sniffs around warehouses that look like well enforced crack dens.”
Chris began pacing again.
His heart was pounding.
Not because of what he was going to do, but because he didn’t want her hurt.
“I’ve got the basic gear. I just need to make sure I’m not seen. I’ll get the painting. Do you want me to deliver it?”
He shook his head. “Bring it here. We’ll take care of it. Greyson and I will make the drop.”
Now Emma didn’t look happy.
“What?” she asked.
“Well, Natasha is more the lifter, and Katerina is the one who would take the next step, but she’s with child.”
“I can still do it, Dimitri,” she offered.
Curtis began sputtering. “NO, you cannot! There is no way you’re taking our child out there to get hurt. We talked about this, Kat.”
She patted his cheek.
She had promised she’d cut back until their child was born. It was the least she could do.
“I mean it, Anfisa.”
Her heart melted. “Yes, my love.”
“Welcome to my world,” muttered Chris. He almost wished Natasha was with child, just so she’d be safe.
Then he flushed thinking about it.
The idea filled him with heat and lust.
Chris prayed he wasn’t bright red.
Then again, the fury likely had that covered already. His blood pressure was definitely up.
Greyson spoke up.
“There’s nothing to worry about.”
“Famous last words,” Emma stated.
“That’s funny since no one has shot at me today,” he stated. When she laughed, he knew he’d made his point.
They needed to trust him to run their family.
“We’re just going to drop it onto the man’s doorstep,” Greyson offered. �
�No one will expect me to do my own dirty work. We’ll jam some cameras, screw with the guard dogs, and be home before anyone is any the wiser.”
Emma knew this was a bad thing. With each felonious act, Greyson would be sucked under into that seedy life, but he’d given her an out once.
He’d told her to decide, and she went with it.
“Do it,” she said. “I support you.”
He left a kiss on her lips. “I love you, kitten.”
She loved him too.
This was her husband, and he had a right to protect his family. This was Greyson being Greyson.
If their roles were reversed, he’d be standing beside her taking on the world. What right did she have to stop him?
None.
They were a couple.
‘Til death do they part.
“I can handle it, Dimitri,” Natasha stated. “This will be easy.”
Chris wanted to weep.
Whenever someone called a mission or case easy, they went to Hell seven ways to Sunday.
This was going to blow up in their faces.
He could tell.
“After you get in and ransack his personal space,” he offered, “I want you to burn the place down.”
And now Greyson understood why the other mob assholes would take it as a warning.
They were shutting down his drug operations in Vegas.
Ouch.
That was going to sting.
Croft loved it.
“I can do it. It won’t take much to burn it down. I’ll need a couple explosives, a detonator, and…”
“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph,” muttered Chris.
“Are you okay, Captain?” she asked, turning to face him as he stood not too far from her.
Dimitri was as amused as one could possibly be. While Natasha didn’t understand why the man was pacing, sweating, and looked like he was about to stroke out, he did.
“I’m fine.”
“He’s your partner for this expedition,” Dimitri stated. “You and the captain are doing this one TOGETHER.”
“Oh.”
Then she really understood.
“Ohhhh.”
Dimitri wouldn’t let her have a relationship with anyone who wouldn’t have her back. If Chris wanted to take her on that date, he was going to have to jump through some hurdles.
This being a HUGE one.
Chris stared at her and he almost wanted to beg.
Lost Justice (Croft Family Mob Series Book 2) Page 16
