Dimitri smiled at the man. “And she says I’m the good one. I think you’re the true softie.”
“Emma had a point. Everyone we’ve crossed paths with has mattered. Sam does too. He deserves a family.”
“I agree.”
Sam came running in.
“She said I can wear jeans and just the jacket!” he said excitedly.
Greyson handed him the money. “I guess you know her better than I do.”
Sam smiled. “Want to bet on something else?” he asked.
“I bet you can’t help Emma without complaining once.”
“What’s the money on that one?”
“Twenty bucks, but you have to put your money on the line. One complaint, and I get it back.”
He stared at it.
“No tricks?”
“Nope.”
“I’m in.”
The kid took off to go spend time with Emma. It was exactly what Greyson had wanted.
“You’re sneaky.”
“I didn’t run the FBI office on my charm. I do know how to do this kind of thing on the DL.”
Dimitri laughed.
He certainly did.
The gate alarm sounded.
“Oh look, it’s Chris’s truck. Is that a naked Natasha sitting in his lap?” he teased, trying to rile the man up.
“Screw you. I hope you have girls—lots of them.”
Greyson laughed and followed the man out. When they got outside, Chris was helping Natasha out of the ride.
“Sorry I’m late,” she said, kissing her brother and rushing past him to get to the house.
“Wait!”
She ignored him.
Dimitri remembered when he had some control. Apparently, those days were over.
“Did she just blow me off?” he asked.
Greyson snorted. “Yep.”
“Chris.” Dimitri said his name with no animosity, but no warmness either. It was dead neutral.
“Before you say anything, yes, we stayed at my place, and yes, we had sex.”
Dimitri closed his eyes.
“Don’t lose it,” Greyson warned. “You have to walk Katerina down the aisle in a little bit.”
“Oh, I won’t lose it. I just want to know one thing.”
“What?” they asked together.
“Why does everyone seem to want to remind me that there are men fooling around with my sisters?”
Greyson fought a smile.
“We’re also staying there tonight.”
Dimitri stared at him.
“And the next few nights.”
“Why?”
“We’re moving in together.”
Greyson was pretty sure that Dimitri was going to hit the ground with a massive coronary.
Or kill the man.
He didn’t move.
“That is NOT happening.”
Chris’s body language said it all. He was ready to fight over this one. That was surprising, since he was pretty laid back when it came to lots of things. The only person he got this possessive of was Emma, and that was because he loved her.
Greyson got it.
Someone, whether he knew it or not, was in love.
Chris stood his ground.
“It is happening. Natasha won’t stay in the same room with me here at Terrace Glen. So, in order to have her with me, we have to go elsewhere.”
Dimitri wasn’t angry about the sex part. He figured it would happen one day, but he was worked up about them staying outside Terrace Glen’s walls.
That was a death sentence.
“Oh, okay. So, when Tony Mays finds your place and kills my sister…?”
Chris was confused.
Greyson told him what happened the previous evening in the ladies’ room.
“Shit! Is Emma okay?”
“Yeah, she is. Kat too,” Greyson stated.
“When are we going to find him and kick his ass?” Chris asked.
“Not today. Today is about Curtis and Kat. They get their wedding, and we jump back into the swing tomorrow.”
“Okay, I see your point about not sleeping elsewhere.”
“I don’t like the idea of my sister shacked up with a man who isn’t her husband,” Dimitri said, “BUT, she is an adult, and I’m going to let her decide. At least you can’t knock her up.”
Chris laughed.
“What?”
“I’m going to try.”
Dimitri got red.
“Not really, but that was for the time I came here and you kicked the shit out of a wounded man. I always pay it back, but it isn’t always right away.”
He sputtered.
“I figured you went there, so why not really make it uncomfortable?”
Greyson did laugh, but he opted to step in and help the guy out. He got it. If he had to sleep away from Emma, he’d be cranky and break any rules he could to get to her side.
“Curtis and Kat are leaving on their honeymoon after the wedding. He wants to move them back into the house. He likes the love shack, but he wants the baby to be inside, away from the pool,” Greyson stated.
“Okay, and?” Chris asked.
“You and Natasha can use the pool house as your little love nest.”
Dimitri stared at him. “Whose side are you on here?” he asked.
“Neither. I’m enjoying the show.”
Greyson heard the buzzer on the gate. “Maybe that’s Paris and Tessa,” Greyson offered.
When they headed toward it, it was indeed the couple. Dimitri let them in, and they got out of their vehicle as soon as it was parked.
Greyson was happy they were back. He was excited to hear all about the IVF.
Well, not all about it.
He just wanted them to be happy.
When Paris got into his chair, Tessa was at his side. She was wearing a pretty dress, and Paris was in a suit.
“How are you both?” Greyson asked, hugging them one by one.
Tessa shrugged.
“We’re good,” Paris offered, covering for his wife. He knew she wasn’t holding up under the pressure.
“Well, if you’re available, we need your help on a new case we pulled and some therapy for a new family member.”
That piqued both of their interest—the case for Tessa, and the therapy for Paris.
“What’s up?” Paris asked.
They told him about Sam.
“Oh, absolutely. I can get to know him and do the therapy on the DL. He won’t even know.”
Tessa didn’t say anything.
“Are you up for the case?” Greyson asked.
“Sure,” she said. “Is Emma inside?” Tessa asked. It was clear she didn’t want to talk to them.
It put Greyson on edge.
Something was up.
“Yeah, she is. Go on inside.”
When she was gone, Paris sighed. “I’m sorry, but she’s really upset.”
He told them what she’d overheard the doctor say, and from the looks on their faces, they got it.
Paris and Tessa weren’t going to have a kid.
Not by Paris.
“I’m sorry, son. I wish there was some way I could go back and take that bullet for you. If I could, I would.”
He thanked him. “Anyway, this case…”
Paris didn’t want to talk about it, so he changed the topic to something less upsetting.
Death.
Greyson told him about it. “So, if you and Tessa are in, I could use her help with research and yours with pointing us in a direction.”
Maybe this was what they both needed. A distraction would be welcome right about now.
Well, until Paris could come up with a solution to help Tessa.
“We’re in. Tessa will be okay once she’s not focused on having a baby. Just tell me that you’re not going to drop the bomb that you two are pregnant.”
“We aren’t, or not to my knowledge,” he offered. “Emma hasn’t told me we are, and I’m sure she would.”
There was that.
Paris could relax.
Dimitri was about to say something when the gate buzzed again. He didn’t recognize the vehicle.
Then he did.
“Cops.”
“What the hell do they want?” Greyson asked, as the three of them headed there. When they got there, a detective they’d never met before was standing there. He was in typical cop gear, a blazer, and flashing his badge.
“Yes?”
“I’m Detective Riley Henderson with the LVPD.”
“Okay, and?”
“I work for the homicide division.”
Again, he waited.
Greyson didn’t flinch, even though he immediately thought about Thomas Christ sending people to harass them.
“What do you want?”
“I’m here to bring you and your wife in for questioning,” he offered.
Greyson laughed. “For what exactly?”
“The murder of Tony Mays. He was found bludgeoned to death last night in his home. You and your wife were heard threatening his life at the gallery last night.”
Clearly, this man didn’t know that Tony Mays sent one of his goons to abduct Katerina.
And he never would.
Why give them ammunition?
Dimitri pulled out his phone and began dialing.
“Do we really need to do this? I wasn’t anywhere near Tony Mays last night after the party. I came here, I made love to my wife, and we went to bed.”
“I’m just doing my job, sir,” the man said. “I have to cover all my bases. You and your wife know that. If you come down and answer my questions, I’ll get you out of there for your son’s wedding as quickly as possible.”
He was being too nice.
Greyson suspected a trick.
He stood there watching him.
“Are you coming in or do we have to make this a spectacle?” Detective Henderson asked, pointing to the media behind him and flying overhead.
“I’m calling the attorney,” Dimitri said. “Say nothing to them until she arrives. I’ll pull all of our security discs and have them copied for the Detective.”
Greyson couldn’t believe this.
Oh, he’d wanted to kill Tony Mays, but now it was out of his hands.
Someone beat him to it.
And they were framing him.
Again.
Chapter Nineteen
LVPD
Homicide
Interrogation
G reyson wasn’t shocked that they assumed he’d killed Tony Mays. That badass reputation was exactly the impression he wanted all of Vegas to have of him, but in this case, he didn’t do it. He wasn’t the one who took the man’s life.
That was the irony behind it all.
Oh, he wanted to do it, but this particular crime wasn’t on him.
While he’d love to kiss the person who had ended that asshole’s life, it only made his life that more difficult. They were in the middle of trying to figure out who had killed Dalton Harding, and now the one suspect they knew would lead them to the killer was in the morgue.
Great.
This was going to suck.
As they rode to the precinct, Greyson made sure they took the limo. He wanted every cop there to know he could buy and sell them without batting an eye. This face to face meeting was nothing to him, but to Emma, she would have to face people she’d worked with, who she had once called family, and now who had turned on her like rabid dogs.
He knew what was coming.
He expected it.
Greyson could take the heat.
Emma…?
Croft was worried about her.
As she sat beside him in her mother of the groom dress, she didn’t look afraid.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked.
“How pissed I am that I’m going to miss the wedding,” she stated. “There is no way in hell this is going to take an hour. They are going to bring us in, separate us, and then try to get us to trip ourselves up or implicate each other.”
He was aware.
“Say nothing without our attorney in there. They will be recording everything we say. Got it?”
“They will be gunning for you, not me,” she reminded him, in case it had slipped his mind.
“I’ll stick close to her,” Dimitri said. “Once they let her out, I’ll be all over her.”
At least he had that.
This was going to suck.
“Why the hell couldn’t Tony Mays get himself killed on a workday?” she asked.
Greyson laughed. “He was an asshole to the end.”
“Clearly.”
Dimitri held onto the disc in his pocket. “The cameras show you coming home and riding into the gate. The house cameras show you entering, and even going upstairs. They show you coming down this morning. You’ll be fine.”
“Do you have the garage cameras?”
“Yep. Everyone was present and accounted for…” With the exception of Chris and his sister. Well, hopefully they didn’t go there.
He’d kill this detective without even batting an eye if he even tried to go after Dimitri’s blood.
“We’ll be fine,” Greyson stated. “We didn’t kill anyone.”
This time.
As they pulled up to the building, the media was there. It was one hell of a clusterfuck. They were everywhere, and they were screaming questions as Dimitri, Emma, and Greyson exited the vehicle.
Of course, this time, it wasn’t about her dress. It was if she and her husband had hired the hit against a fellow mob man.
Well, it looked like the police were playing dirty.
They were siccing the media on them.
Well, she could play dirty, too, especially if it meant protecting her cave-Croft.
“We didn’t kill anyone,” he stated.
Okay, that was a lie, but in this case that was the absolute truth. They could set up a polygraph and ask him.
They’d all pass on this one.
At that moment, Greyson was beyond irritated at the person who was trying to take them down.
They’d pay too.
In time.
So, after exiting the limo, they worked their way through the crowd. Greyson on one side of his wife, his arm over Emma’s shoulders to keep her safe, and Dimitri in front of them, shoving his way through the crowd. When they finally reached the building, Detective Riley Henderson was waiting there for them to arrive.
“Emma.”
“Hey, Riley. I’d like to say it’s a pleasure, but this is a freaking witch hunt, and you know it.”
The man said nothing.
His opinion didn’t matter.
In their world, it was all about what you could, or couldn’t, prove.
“If you’ll both come this way. I have to separate you when I ask the questions—but you already know that since you were cops.”
Greyson said nothing.
“I’m going to talk to Mrs. Croft first. Your attorney is already in the room, and she’s ready to chew my ass apart for doing this on the day of your son’s wedding.”
She laughed. “I knew I loved Delilah. She may be my new favorite person.”
He stopped at a door. “Mrs. Croft, here you go. I’ll be back in a few minutes to begin.”
She went in and he closed the door behind her. “Mr. Croft, if you will, follow me this way.”
They went into another room, and he took a seat.
“I’ll be back as soon as I’m done with Emma.”
“Do I have to tell you that if you pull anything shady my lawyer will own this building and all the jobs in it?”
Riley laughed. “She already told me she’d own my boxers if I crossed the smallest line. I think I know what I’m doing.”
Greyson sat.
When the door closed, he waited patiently.
It didn’t take long before there was a knock. Greyson knew who it was going to be before he even stuck his smarmy face in the door.
&nb
sp; Thomas Christ.
Great.
They were trying to rattle his cage so he’d slip up. Well, he had news for them. It wasn’t going to work. Greyson was cool, calm, and collected. At one time, he’d been hell in an interrogation room, and even deadlier when handling idiots.
This was going to be his win.
“Hello, Mr. Croft. We meet again.”
He took a seat.
“By all means, Mr. Christ, make yourself comfortable. This is your house.”
The man opened his captain’s jacket and took a seat. “Yes, it is, isn’t it?”
Greyson watched him carefully. He trusted this asshole about as far as he could throw him.
“So, your wife and I go way back.”
Greyson saw the blinking light on the camera, and he knew the man was trying anything to get him to screw up. They were going to use his wife to rattle him.
Nope.
That was not going to happen.
He was leaving today, and he was going to regroup and make them pay at a later date.
“So I hear.”
“We worked and played together.”
Greyson tracked his motions with his silver-y eyes. Greyson imagined they were filled with disdain, and he hoped the man could see it.
Emma was off limits.
For everyone.
Clearly, this hired dick didn’t get the fucking memo. Well, it was time to play the game.
“Can I pull out my phone?” Greyson asked, not giving him, or the cop sitting in the corner any reason to go for their sidearms.
He wasn’t stupid.
They’d shoot him and claim he had a hidden gun.
“Sure, you can. Is this the part where you want to share pictures of your naked wife?”
Greyson laughed. “Oh, we can share—but never MY wife. Your days with her are LONG gone.”
Greyson pulled up the file on his phone. It was the one that Chris had found on Dimitri’s top secret equipment.
“Thomas Daniel Christ, born February tenth.”
The man lifted an eyebrow.
“Yeah, you’re right. You and Emma did work together, but there’s a few discrepancies in the files here, and the ones from Philadelphia.”
A silence filled the air.
It was charged with anger—from Greyson, and from the man who wasn’t going to be getting away with any BS.
“And they are?”
“You have disciplinary marks in your file. It seems, Tommy, you have an authority issue. You were busted for taking bribes, demoted back to street cop, and had to leave the force. So, this makes me wonder how much tapdancing and burying of your file Commissioner Raye did.”
Lost Justice (Croft Family Mob Series Book 2) Page 33
