She glanced over at him. “You’re bossing me around now too?”
“Nat should go. She was there. Let her fix it.”
Emma got it.
This was something that had to be between them, and she’d help him later if he needed it.
Nat headed out of the room.
“Are you going to freak out?” Greyson asked.
“About the gun?” he inquired.
“Yes.”
“No, we have guns pointed at us all the time. I’m going to freak out about something totally different.”
“What?” Greyson asked.
“Christopher Ford is worthy of my sister, and I’m going to have to watch another one stumble through the whole relationship thing.”
Everyone there laughed.
Except him.
When he got to his room, he began stripping out of his gear. He was irritated.
Not with Nat.
Not with Dimitri.
With himself.
For some damn reason, he couldn’t let the whole thing go. He’d used his bare hands to kill a man, and that didn’t sit well with him, at all. All the while he was telling the family, he wanted to put his fist through a wall.
He was beyond irritated.
In fact, it was killing him, so he needed to get away from their speculative stares.
When he walked out of the bathroom, naked except for his cargo pants, he wasn’t alone.
“Natasha.”
She was standing there.
“Captain.”
“You pop in here a lot.”
Shit!
That sounded bad.
Natasha knew what he needed. Instead of bailing, she walked right toward him, jumped up, and wrapped her legs around his hips.
Then she assaulted his mouth with her own.
Chris held on through the storm as her mouth tore his defenses to shreds. All he could think of in that moment was the woman plastered to his body.
He wanted her.
God!
He really wanted her.
He began moving her toward the bed, so he wouldn’t drop her when his brain went numb. They tumbled onto the mattress and still she didn’t let up.
Natasha was tangled around his body, kissing him as if her life depended on it.
He wasn’t stopping her.
They rolled, they fought to be on top, and finally, she managed to end up above his body.
Chris’s hands were in hers, and they were pinned above his head.
Then she broke the kiss.
Chris couldn’t think.
His brain was fried. As she licked her lips, staring down at him, he was pretty sure he was going to say something stupid.
“Thank you for saving me.”
“Anytime.”
Yep.
There it was.
Her laughter filled the room.
“I look forward to our date tomorrow, Captain. I hope this gives you something to dream about tonight.” She wanted to replace that horrible sound of bone popping when he broke the man’s neck with something that would give him much better dreams.
Chris looked forward to it too.
And the after party.
He was having one hell of a time not thinking about Natasha naked in his bed.
Beneath him.
Above him.
He wanted her all over him.
“I can’t wait.”
She lowered her mouth again, and this time she slid across his body, inciting a moan from him. She was rubbing wantonly against his rock-hard erection.
It was hard not to react.
It had been months.
Years.
Eternities.
Chris couldn’t remember when he had sex last. Jacking off had become his middle name, and something he did to take the edge off. Well, the edge was back, but he wasn’t going there. The next time he came, it was going to be with her.
He’d save all that pent-up frustration to rock her world. Natasha deserved it.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said, softly kissing him on the lips. “Goodnight, my hero. I hope you’ll think about me.”
He wanted to laugh.
How could he not?
With that, she pushed off his body, tossed that sexy long red braid over her shoulder, and headed out.
Chris watched her ass as she left.
He couldn’t help it.
In those cargo pants, she looked like a sexy cat burglar. Chris almost wanted to follow her.
Almost.
Instead, he stared at the ceiling and thought about the woman who had just left.
Tomorrow, he was taking her out.
But was he ready?
Chris had better find the answer, and fast.
Chapter Ten
Friday
Ten P.M.
G reyson and Dimitri were up next. When they left the secure compound, Croft knew his wife was worried. He couldn’t blame her. If the situations were reversed, he would be pacing like a madman too.
Who was he kidding?
She wouldn’t be going.
In the back of their nondescript ride, there was a stolen painting, and all they needed was for a cop to pull them over. Commissioner Raye was likely lurking around with his dirty cops.
“Calm down. I can outrun them.”
Greyson began laughing.
“There’s nothing calm about this whole situation.”
Dimitri pulled out his silver cigarette case and handed it to the man. “You need one of these. We can’t be jittery when we walk up to the door.”
He popped the case open and pulled one out. Dimitri flicked his lighter with one hand.
“Thanks.”
Then he grabbed one himself.
“You’re nervous?”
“Yeah, but not about this. This is the job. This won’t fail. I can do illegal in my sleep.”
Greyson wasn’t sure what was bugging the man, but he looked like he needed a friend.
“Then what is?”
“Will Chris Ford hurt my sister?”
Greyson figured it was going to be about this. What else could be up in Dimitri’s world? He had everything under control like always.
“I don’t think he’d hurt anyone intentionally. Chris doesn’t have a mean bone in his body. Can he be a dick? Hell yeah. When I first came to Vegas, he hated my guts. I grew on him, and vice versa.”
“If he hurts her…”
“We’ll both kick his ass, IF it’s intentional,” Greyson added. “We can’t tear the family apart over this.”
He didn’t have to say more.
Everyone knew Emma loved Chris. To her, he was blood. If something went down, it had to be handled the right way. Blowing up Vegas and destroying the family wasn’t going to be the way to do it.
“I love her.”
“I’m sure Natasha knows it, too, Dimitri. She’s a grown woman. It’s time to let her use everything you’ve taught her and go out on her own.”
He knew he was right.
“Honestly, Chris is likely to drag his feet on anything that has to do with sex or a woman. It took him two weeks to work up the nerve to ask her out. At this rate, if he falls in love, he’s going to propose right about the turn of next century,” he teased.
Dimitri snorted. “Here’s a secret.”
“What?”
“I like the man. I think he’s really good for my sister, and I love that he’s part of the family. I like keeping personal and professional in the same box.”
Yeah, he could tell.
“It’ll all work out.”
Dimitri hoped so.
“Thank you for letting me vent,” he said, as they both blew out a stream of silver smoke.
“You’re welcome. Now what’s our plan?” Greyson asked. He knew as long as he was with Dimitri, he wouldn’t have to go there. The man would have already planned this out.
“First, we have to neutralize the dogs, next, place this on his door, and
then let the fun begin,” Dimitri stated.
That they could do.
It was a pretty simple plan, and Greyson could get behind that.
Pulling into a shadowy lot, they hopped out, geared up, and got ready to roll.
Dimitri had the devices they needed, and he was going to make sure the man knew they were done screwing around.
“What if he’s up?” Croft stated.
“Oh, that’s half the fun,” he replied.
Greyson wasn’t nearly as amused by any of this. What he wanted was to be home with his wife, trying to make a baby.
Now that was fun.
Dimitri needed to learn the difference. The potential of being shot dead did not make for a good time. Someone was a little out of touch with reality.
Through the dark they moved, right to the man’s home. Fortunately, he wasn’t rich enough to have gate security—only the dogs. Before they could start barking, Dimitri hit the button.
They went to the ground in a submissive position as they covered their ears.
Step one.
Slowly, they moved toward the house. There were lights on inside, and they knew Tony Mays would be home. Dimitri had someone watching the place.
Oh, this would be priceless.
Shortly, someone would be coming by to tell him his building was nothing but ashes, and he would see this.
He’d know the truth.
The family wasn’t going to put up with any of his bullshit. There was law in Vegas, and it was Croft. This would send a message to all the other minor mob bosses that thought they could take down the family.
At the door, Dimitri placed it on the mat.
He nodded at Greyson to get going.
He did.
When the man was in the clear, Dimitri knocked and took off running. He had just cleared the trees when the door opened.
There was silence.
Then a howl of anger.
Yeah.
Tony Mays got it.
This shit was not going to fly.
* * * G r e y s o n C r o f t * * *
Friday
Nearly Midnight
When her cell phone rang, it was two minutes to twelve and they’d just gotten into bed thirty minutes before. Greyson had just returned from his little ‘delivery’ and they were cuddled together talking about what had gone down.
Greyson reached for her cell and handed it to her.
“I don’t recognize it,” she offered.
He answered it and put it on speaker. “Greyson Croft.”
“Hello, Mr. Croft. My name is Bryan Calhoun.”
He looked at his wife. “Yes?”
“Mrs. Croft prepaid for some food for a little boy named Sam a couple of weeks ago.”
“He can’t be out of money already,” Emma stated.
Greyson wasn’t aware of any of this but he wasn’t shocked. This sounded exactly like something his wife would do for a child. She loved being kind.
“No, ma’am, he’s not. There’s been an issue, and I thought you and your husband might want to know.”
She sat up. “What?”
“They found Sam’s body in an alley. They think his foster mother’s boyfriend beat the hell out of him. He’s a mess. The ambulance just took him away, and I thought…I mean…he’s only a kid, ma’am. I feel bad he was hungry and I never knew. He’s a good kid. He’s been helping me out here. I didn’t know who to call, but the boy shouldn’t be alone.”
Tears filled her eyes.
Poor Sam!
“Thank you, Mr. Calhoun. You did the right thing.”
“Let me know if he’s okay,” Brian said. “He’s a good kid and he deserves better than that asshole abusing him.”
She hung up.
Emma didn’t have to say a word.
Greyson was up, and he was calling Dimitri to meet them at the driveway. “Get dressed, Emma. We’ll go.”
She sniffled her way through the process, and when she was done, her husband took her hand.
“We’ll make sure he’s okay.”
“Grey, he’s just a child who was hungry.”
And he got it.
This was what his wife saw each and every day as she worked the streets as a homicide detective. Only this time, she’d fallen in love with a little boy.
At the driveway, Greyson explained.
“I’ll drive,” Dimitri said, squeezing Emma’s hand. “You sit in the back and relax.”
How could she?
How could she ever recover from this?
They’d left him in that shitty situation, even though he said it was one of the better ones. She was no better than the people who worked for child protective services.
She was worse.
Emma could have saved him.
Instead, she’d left him there.
Alone.
“Just get us there, and fast.”
Greyson helped her into the ride, and he mentally prepared himself for what was coming.
He knew they weren’t leaving there without Sam. They couldn’t. This was on them.
And Sam had paid the price.
Well, they were going to fix that.
Now.
* * * G r e y s o n C r o f t * * *
Tony Mays’s
Home
To say he was pissed would be an understatement. Tony was so irate that he was ready to kill.
There was no doubt in his mind that Dimitri and Greyson Croft were behind this. There was only one man who knew how much that painting meant to him.
His grandmother, bless her departed soul, loved that painting. She used to tell him when he was a boy if she had money, that was what she’d buy.
It was the painting she and her husband met beneath at a museum when they were young.
It was part of his family’s past.
Now it was destroyed.
“I want them dead!” he bellowed, as his men tried to calm him down.
“I thought the building fire was an accident. Fires happen, but this is proof. Croft and that Russian bastard did this! They did this to my business!”
No one said a word.
“I want him to suffer!”
“You can’t go after Greyson Croft, boss,” stated one of the bodyguards. It was clear by his face that he didn’t want to be the one who had to take on that chore.
No one wanted that job.
“NOT HIM! I want that Russian bastard handled. I want to make him bleed!”
“What do you want us to do?” asked the other bodyguard.
Tony Mays began pacing back and forth as he started to work out a plan in his head.
He needed something so atrocious the man would see that he wasn’t messing around.
Gina had been sitting quietly in the corner minding her own business. “Doesn’t he have a pregnant sister?” she asked. “I saw it on the news. It’s the one who is going to marry Croft’s kid.”
Tony stopped pacing.
“He does.”
“What if she doesn’t get to marry him? Wouldn’t that hurt both of them, but be a direct shot at Dimitri? Cut the baby out of her and mail it back to him.”
He headed her way.
And that was why he loved her.
She was a monster beneath the pretty wrappings.
Tony kissed her. “You get a present for being so smart, Gina, my girl.”
“Anything for you, Tony.”
He focused on the men. “There’s that gallery event tomorrow. We aren’t invited, but Croft is. He takes his family everywhere. So, I want you both to find someone to take out the pregnant woman or do it yourselves. Meanwhile, I’m going to make sure Gina and I have an alibi.”
“How?” Gina asked.
“I’m going to buy our way in, and the men are going to do all the dirty work.”
They didn’t look happy.
When no one moved, he became enraged.
“I said, find me someone who will take out Dimitri Gideon’s sister!”
&
nbsp; The men left the room.
“Gina, do you think this painting can be saved?” he asked, holding it in his hands.
“Oh, Tony, I’m sure it can. Don’t museums have people who restore things like that? Maybe you can kidnap one, and when he restores it…”
He kissed her. “You’re smart.”
She smiled. “Anything for you, Tony.”
At least he had one person who wouldn’t let him down. Gina was good at being his girl.
Now he was going to be good at being in the mob.
* * * G r e y s o n C r o f t * * *
Hospital
Again, they were at the ER, but this time, it wasn’t for his wife, but for a child they’d grown attached to during a case.
They had to get to Sam.
When they arrived, the nurses behind the desk wouldn’t give any of them any information. They were being tight lipped, and he didn’t let that stop him.
Greyson started doing what he did best.
He used his influence, money, and power to do what he had to do to see Sam.
At first, they were hesitant.
“What happened to him?” he asked.
“He came in with a broken arm, underweight, malnourished, and barely conscious.”
That pissed him off.
“We want to see him.”
“Sir, you can’t. Child Protective Services has been called. He has to be interviewed by them first, next the police will file a report, and then we can release him to a new foster home.”
Oh, like bloody fucking hell that was happening.
Sam wasn’t going to another foster home.
This had been a wake-up call.
He was coming home with them, or Greyson was going to raise so much hell, they’d all be in jail.
One way or another, Sam was not going to some shitty halfway house. He needed a home.
“We need to see him. I’ll clear your college debt, Nurse Simonson.”
The woman stared at him.
“All of it.”
That was enough to get her attention. “Seriously?”
Lost Justice (Croft Family Mob Series Book 2) Page 20
