Chapter Eight
Financial Services
Tuesday Morning
W hen they arrived at the business, everyone was more than happy to help Greyson Croft and his son, Curtis Croft. When they strolled in, there was coffee, danish, and people bending over backward to make sure they were well taken care of there.
Why?
Money talked.
In Vegas, while they were pariah, they were still filthy rich pariah. He might be considered dirty and crooked in that town, but when it came to businesses wanting him to invest, or give them the Midas Touch, they were all on board.
Like now.
So far, it was looking promising. Greyson was hoping that their stop there would be a productive one.
As they sat in the waiting area, Heath stood behind Curtis and Greyson, giving people the evil eye. If anything, for Greyson, it was laughable.
Here was a big man wearing a shit ton of riot gear. There was no doubt or mistake that he was there for one purpose and one purpose only.
Protection.
Who, in their right mind, was going to go anywhere near them?
“What are you looking at?” Heath growled at some guy who was walking by.
The man hauled ass.
“I like having you around, Heath. They see you and scurry. Dimitri lost his edge. People stopped running. That was probably thanks to the miscreants of Vegas. They think he’s past his prime.”
“Well, they’re idiots. You never underestimate a killer. You never know when they will snap.”
He was spot on there.
Dimitri might look tame with his wounded arm, but he was anything but. He could turn on a dime and bite you in the throat when you least expected it.
Well, not him.
Dimitri liked him.
The rest of Vegas?
Ehhhh.
As a woman came their way, Heath put his hand on his gun. She looked nervous as hell to even approach them.
Greyson was good with that.
“Mr. and Mr. Croft, you can come this way. Mr. Baker will see you now. He’s cleared his schedule to work on your new stock portfolio.”
Yeah, they bet.
And to make one hell of commission, he was sure.
Greyson and Curtis followed after her with Heath following up at the rear. Inside the office, the man stood and offered them a seat.
“Mr. Croft, your security can stand outside. I assure you that confidentiality and safety are our number one concerns.”
“Thank you, Mr. Baker. Heath, watch the door. No one comes in.”
“On it, Mr. C. Shout if you need me. I’ll bust down the door.”
Mr. Baker stared at him as if he wasn’t sure if the man was serious or…
“Thank you, Heath.”
After the man closed the door, they got down to business.
“Why are you here, gentlemen?” he asked. “I hear you want to open up some investments for your family.”
Greyson pulled a check out of his pocket. He’d filled it out that morning.
The man stared at the number.
It was an obscene number.
“I would like to open a trust fund for my granddaughter and one for my child.”
Since the word was out, he’d use this to his advantage.
“I see. I can help you with that.”
He went to reach for the check and Greyson put his hand on it. “BUT, I want some help with other things too. These are things that you, and only you, may be able to help me with.”
Mr. Baker looked confused.
“What?”
“I’m looking into Libby Raye’s disappearance.”
He looked surprised.
“I don’t know how that is relevant to you wanting to build a portfolio for your child and grandchild.”
Curtis went there.
“What my father isn’t saying is if you help us, you get the money and the prestige of saying you got Greyson Croft to invest with you. If you don’t help, we walk, and that check goes with us. It’s fairly simple.”
Croft waited.
“Are we on the same page?” Curtis asked.
“I don’t think I can…”
Greyson slid the check back toward him and went to stand. He knew how to play this game. Money, in Vegas, like almost everywhere, spoke.
“Wait.”
Greyson smiled.
“Yes?”
“I worked with Libby. She and I worked on a lot of joint accounts together. She was good at her job.”
“And?”
“One might even say that she was TOO good at her job, Mr. Croft.”
Interesting.
“What does that mean?”
“The bosses loved her. She was the golden child. She touched an account, and it got her clients money. People were jealous.”
“Like?”
“Like everyone—me included. That’s why I worked with her. That’s why I wanted in on that action.”
Croft knew the man was in a precarious position. If he didn’t tell him everything, he’d look guilty.
If he did…
Yeah, he was screwed.
“Since you worked with her, can you tell us what was her last day of work like?” Greyson asked.
He thought about it.
“She was here until five, she headed out, and she told me she had a fun weekend planned. That’s it.”
“With her husband?”
He laughed.
“He had aspirations of moving up the cop ladder. He pretty much worked all the time, weekends included. She let him do his thing, and he let her do hers. As long as the money came in, neither complained.”
“Who was her biggest competition here at the office? Was it you?”
“Nah, not me. It was Michael Skinner.”
“Who is he?”
“He’s now the head of our division. Only, that’s not all,” he said, lowering his voice.
“Yes?”
“They had a holiday party incident.”
Greyson lifted a brow.
Was this man saying what he thought he was saying?
“As in what?”
“Too much alcohol, a coat closet, and people gossiping about it for weeks afterward—that kind of incident. Need I go more into detail?”
“No, I think I can patch that together in my own head without anyone giving me clues.”
The man leaned back in his chair.
“It was wild.”
“Anything else?” he asked. “Other than that?”
He thought about it.
“Honestly, that’s all I know. Libby was pretty, and she wasn’t afraid to use that. She used her sexuality to get clients, and she wasn’t ashamed of it. You could tell. She had that way about her that men just liked her.”
Greyson got that.
Emma had that lure, but she didn’t use it to get ahead. She was simply beautiful.
And he was simply lucky.
“Libby used what the good Lord gave her—or that’s what she told me. Was everything that people said about her true? I have no idea. All I know was I was sticking to her like glue to do my job.”
Greyson slid the check toward him.
“That’s all we needed. Now, let’s talk investments. I want to make sure my granddaughter has a nice little nest egg when she’s out of college. Same for my son. How can I make this grow?”
The man took the check, and they got down to business.
The money business.
* * * G R E Y S O N C R O F T * * *
Dimitri drove them to the home owned by the detective who worked her mother’s case all those years ago.
“What do we know about him?” he asked, trying not to focus on the scent of her perfume as they were side by side in the front seat.
“That he was forty at the time of the crime, his partner is long since dead, and he’s retired. That’s all I could find out. If I dug too much, it would be suspicious,” she stated.
He got that.
Some things required a light-handed search instead of a full-on treasure hunt.
“Do you do this often?” she asked.
“Help investigate? Or drive gorgeous women around?”
She laughed.
“Investigate.”
“I’m not an investigator,” he admitted. “My job is to solely back up my partner, so that’s what I do. I’m glad you’re a cop. You’ll have to run this one. While good at evading the law, I’m not really adept at working within the legal parameters—if you know what I mean.”
She laughed.
Good to know.
“So it’ll have to be good cop and no cop. I won’t pass as one.”
She snickered.
“Oh, because I was going to let you hold my badge and play cop.”
He grinned.
“Prickly. I like it.”
She tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear and could feel his eyes on her, despite the fact that he was supposed to be driving the vehicle.
It made it hard to breathe.
“Hopefully, he can tell us why this case stalled or tell us why it’s never been solved?”
“I hope so, Poppy. I hope that you get the answers you need to have peace.”
“I just hope I don’t die.”
It sat there between them.
Dimitri knew he couldn’t let her worry about that. His job wasn’t as a cop, but it was as someone who did protect people for a living.
He was damn good at his job.
So, Dimitri took her hand in his and held it. He wanted to reassure her.
“I’ll keep you safe. This is what I do for a living. Put your faith in that, okay?”
What choice did she have?
Poppy wanted to discuss anything but that.
“What are we doing tonight? If the plans call for something fancy, I have to head to my place. I only brought one dress.”
“I can take you there if you need something from your home. As for fancy, not particularly. I have something fun planned, but first, we have to get through today.”
Yeah, she was aware.
It brought up one more question.
“Should you be playing bodyguard? You can’t move your arm too much.”
He laughed.
“I’m driving with it. That constitutes using in, Detective Wayne. You have nothing to worry about.”
“I’m just concerned.”
Yes, he could tell.
Instead of arguing, Dimitri kissed her knuckles.
“And it’s appreciated. I’ve been working on getting it to a point where I can function without pain.”
“Does it hurt?” she asked. Poppy appreciated that he was out with her when he’d only been shot a little over a week ago.
“I can get it this high without pain. I’ll be good. I can shoot with my other hand if need be.”
“Jesus. I hope there are no guns involved.”
He laughed.
“Focus on something else and let me do the security thing. This is my job.”
Poppy was trying not to think about how he’d just kissed her fingers. It gave her that warm fuzzy feeling in the pit of her stomach, but he was still holding her hand.
It was intimate.
“You could tell me about tonight. I’m curious by nature,” Poppy admitted.
Yes, he could see that.
Emma was just like that.
And Chris.
Greyson too.
It was a cop trait.
“To answer you, I was planning for some dinner in the penthouse, but nothing fancy. I like to relax when I’m not on duty. Did I misstep?”
“No, I just assumed.”
“Unfortunately, last night was bad.”
She looked over.
“I see.”
“Stop. I meant that Marie was right. You’re already in the news.”
That had her attention.
“What?”
“I take it you don’t watch the cheesy news stories that talk shit about us.”
“Uh, no. I like my news in the form of legitimate sources. I like reality.”
“Then don’t search my name.”
She stared at him.
Then her phone on her lap.
Then him again.
“I think you know what this means. Now I have to search it.”
He laughed and set her hand free.
This was part of the test. If she was going to be part of him, she’d have to hold up under that scrutiny. She’d have to be tough enough not to give a damn about what they said about her or him. They talked a lot of smack about their family.
She searched his name and pulled up the first link.
“Oh, Jesus Christ,” she mumbled.
“Uh huh. Enjoy,” he stated.
Somehow, she doubted that she would.
Poppy read the article.
‘The most eligible, criminal bachelor in the city has been spotted cozying up to a mystery woman. Dimitri Gideon, strong arm for Greyson Croft, the mob boss, was seen in his bar locking lips with some beauty. His criminal, vile ways seem to be nothing to this woman, as she sits in his lap and ignores that he’s dangerous, soulless, and a killer. It makes us wonder what kind of woman she is beneath the pretty face.’
“Oh, come on.”
She closed the link.
“Well, that’s shitty.”
He didn’t say anything.
“I can’t believe this. What is wrong with people? How do they make up shit like this and malign people’s lives?”
His heart skipped.
“I’m sorry they posted that. It’s why I thought dinner inside was a better option. I don’t want you to be targeted.”
“I’m sick over this.”
He knew she would be.
He was a criminal.
“I can leave you alone. If it’s too much for you to carry, I get it. It’s why I don’t date.”
She looked over.
“What?”
“You’re a cop. I get it. I should have had our drink in the back room. I apologize.”
He got chilly.
Poppy could almost feel it.
“Dimitri, I’m not mad about being seen with you. Are you out of your mind?”
He glanced over.
“Then what?”
“They called you vile, soulless, and horrible things. I’m mad about that. I don’t care if they tell the world I was kissing you. I know you’re not any of that.”
He laughed.
“I’m all of that.”
“Hardly. Stop pretending.”
Oh, he only wished, but clearly, the woman needed to see what he was really like. She was wearing rose-colored glasses and didn’t see the truth.
He was dangerous.
Without warning, Dimitri pulled over, slammed the car into park, and grabbed her by the blazer. Staring deep into her eyes, he saw no fear.
“Trust me, Detective, I am all of those things. I am a killer.”
She blinked.
“Never.”
His found her mouth, and he kissed her with everything he had. Dimitri dropped the veneer of gentlemanly ways and gave her a little look at who he really was.
Wicked.
A thief.
Dangerous.
He left nothing standing in his wake of that kiss, and he didn’t give her a chance to control it. This moment was all his.
Dimitri burned it to the ground.
When she moaned, he set her free, and finally, her eyes flickered open.
“Wow. You are the ninth-grade, tongue-wrestling champion. We need to head to my place, so I can get you my ribbon. You won.”
He laughed.
That was NOT what he was expecting.
“I don’t know what to do about you, Miss Wayne. I’m confused as hell.”
“Well, I’m just overheated. That should be illegal.”
“What?”
“You kissing people should be illegal. I think you melted part of my brain.”
He laughed.
“That’s what I’m talking about. I thought you’d be upset. I’m a criminal.”
“Ehhh…it’s perspective,” she said, licking her bottom lip. “You’ve killed, but so have I. You’ve done questionable things, but so have I. I just wear a badge. I lie to criminals, I manipulate the situation, and I twist it around to trip them up. I’ve put lots of people in jail. I’m sure some were likely not as guilty as I made them out to be. My job is to get a confession and find a killer.”
His heart skipped.
“It doesn’t bother you?” he asked. “I need this honesty.”
She rolled down her window and two people were passing by the vehicle.
“I just kissed Dimitri Gideon.”
He laughed.
“With tongue.”
The two older women looked horrified.
“I think he played with my tonsils too.”
He laughed even more.
Poppy rolled up the window.
“Next question?”
“You don’t have tonsils.”
“I know. I had them out as a kid. More proof that my statement was not a lie. To know that means you tried to play with them. Oh my God! I get it now. That’s tonsil hockey!”
He touched her face with his hand.
“Tonight, we’ll have some time alone to talk and get to know each other. Before, I have a surprise for you.”
“What?” she asked, staring into his eyes.
“A massage.”
She smiled.
“Are you giving it, or am I?”
It caught him off guard.
“Your mind goes right to the gutter. I find that oddly sexy in a woman. Who knew?”
He did.
God!
Dimitri knew she was perfect for him. That little kiss of humor made his day, and it kept him on his toes. He liked that, a lot.
She winked.
“Whew.”
He set her free and pulled back onto the road. His lips tasted like her and he was having a difficult time thinking straight.
“Let’s get this interview done. I’m distracted.”
Yeah, so was she.
When his phone chimed, Dimitri hit the navigational screen to connect the call.
It was Emma.
“Hey, Dimitri.”
“Are you okay? Do you need me, Emma? I can be there quickly,” he said.
Poppy watched the switch being flipped. He’d gone from sweet, gentle, and focused on her to focused on Emma. It was interesting to watch.
“I’m good, but Chris wants to know something.”
“What?”
“Knock knock.”
He didn’t know where this was heading.
“Who’s there?” he asked.
“Theodore.”
He was really confused.
Poppy helped him.
“Theodore who?” she asked.
“Theodore wasn’t open, can we kick it in?” Chris said, laughing his ass off.
Poppy began laughing.
Emma too.
Dimitri stared at the man’s face on the screen as he shook his head.
“Why Emma chooses you to be her security is beyond me. She’s insane. I could get her someone who won’t be ridiculous every day.”
Chris laughed.
“You have your best friend, and I have mine.”
That was true.
Poppy watched the interaction. There was gossip about them, and this was contrary to what she’d heard. They were being funny and normal people.
“Besides, Commie, she thinks I’m sexy.”
Dimitri laughed.
It appeared that the man was in the mood to poke him. Well, he could play that game. As of late, he was letting Chris set the pace. They hadn’t talked about Natasha yet, but one day, they’d have to do it.
“Does she now, Christopher?” he asked. “Funny, I’ve been in a tub naked with her. Have you?”
Chris mumbled something.
“What was that? I couldn’t hear your answer.”
“I said I hate you.”
Emma laughed.
“What do you need, Emma? I hope it wasn’t to let him bother me.”
“Actually, I was checking in. I called Greyson, but he’s not answering his phone. Do you know where he is? Not that I don’t trust him, but he and Heath…”
Oh, he got it.
Heath was a menace.
He liked him.
A LOT.
“Poppy, will you pick up my phone and open it?”
She did what he asked, and he placed his finger on it. Then it opened.
“Click on that app.”
She did.
“Type in Greyson.”
She did that, too, and his location came up.
“Where is he?” Emma asked.
She read it off.
“He’s still at the location. He likely turned his ringer off. Do you need something?”
“I’m checking in. We have a second interview. Talking to the Bauers has led us to one more lead, and you know I don’t like to leave any stone unturned.”
He was aware.
“Are you sure you’re up for it, moya malen'kaya lyubov'?” he asked.
Poppy listened.
Did he just call her his little love?
“Yeah, Dimitri, I’m good. YA lyublyu tebya. Bud'te v bezopasnosti, brat moy.”
Poppy felt like she was intruding on something so very personal. Clearly, by her calling him her brother, they were close.
“We’ll be safe. Where are you headed?” he asked.
Emma laughed.
“Come on, Dad. I have a trustworthy date.”
He snorted.
“Hardly.”
Dimitri didn’t like her out and about without a guard. Yes, Chris was there, but he was only one person, and they didn’t know what was going to happen with Babylon dead.
It was anyone’s game.
“Tell me, Emma, or I call your husband, leave some crazed message, and he goes caveman on you.”
“You wouldn’t.”
He picked up his phone.
“Try me, moya sestra.”
She smiled whenever he called her ‘his sister’. It made her want to behave.
“I’m going to ‘Trixie’s Boudoir’.”
“Uh, Em, that’s a sex shop.”
She laughed maniacally.
“My husband gave me the easy interview again, and now Chris and I are going to go in and find out if the people who work there have ever seen Libby Raye coming and going. Apparently, she liked it rough and wild.”
He laughed.
“Well, that should be interesting.”
Chris appeared on the screen again.
“Hey, I feel like I’m coming down with the sniffles. Would you like to trade?”
Dimitri laughed.
“Pass. You get Emma in the sex shop.”
Chris grinned and couldn’t help but snicker.
“What?” Dimitri asked. It was clear that he was missing something.
“Say that again and think about it,” Chris teased.
He did.
Then Dimitri stared at him—much like a big brother would when he’d found out something that didn’t sit right with him.
“Behave or I will hurt you.”
Chris laughed.
Neither of them believed that was ever going to happen. Not with Emma, and certainly, not with Chris.
The behaving part, or the hurting part.
“Well, thanks for the laughs,” Dimitri stated, ready to hang up.
“Wait,” Emma stated.
“Yes, moya sestra?” he asked.
“Chris and I were wondering if you and the detective would like to meet us for lunch. That’s why I was calling Greyson—not to tell him about the sex shop. You know how Chris gets.”
“Oh, I know.”
Chris kept driving.
“Do you have time to sit down for a family meal?” she asked. “You know how important that is for a family to connect.”
Dimitri knew what she was asking. It wasn’t about connecting as a family. Emma wanted to be able to check out the woman beside him to make sure she would suit him.
It made him love her even more.
“I would love to meet you for lunch. Since she’s my hostage, she’s coming too.”
Poppy laughed.
“Yay!”
“Where?” Dimitri asked. “Aquarius? The back room?”
Emma had news for him.
“We can’t go there. It seems someone was making out in a bar last night, and people are asking us who the mystery woman is.”
Oh, crap!
Yeah, he’d just warned her about that.
“Don’t worry. I handled it,” Chris stated.
Dimitri stared at the screen.
“What did you do?”
“I told them you were with a transvestite, sorry, Detective,” Chris said. “I like to make Dimitri’s life hell.”
She laughed—not sure if he was kidding or not. With these three, she could see it would be hard.
“Yes, I can see that you do.”
Dimitri ignored him.
“Where, Emma?”
She told him the name of that little café. It would be perfect.
“Mac wants Italian.”
“We’ll be there. We haven’t done any interviews yet. We’re just arriving now at the detective’s place.”
“If you talk to my husband, tell him about our lunch date. I have a feeling I’ll be busy in the sex shop.”
Dimitri laughed.
“Get bubbles for our next little bath,” he teased, knowing it would make Chris insane.
And there was his silver lining.
Emma winked lasciviously at him.
“You know it, my sexy Russian tub mate.”
He winked back.
Chris wasn’t having any of that. Immediately, he flipped him off.
“You suck. Don’t poach my BFF.”
Dimitri didn’t let him say anything else. Quickly, and without warning, he cut off the call.
“You have an interesting relationship with Emma Croft,” Poppy said.
“It’s a difficult one to understand.”
“Are you sure you two aren’t an item? I’m not judging. I’m just not into weird sex triangles.”
He laughed.
Oh, he was saving that line for the next time Chris irritated the hell out of him. Dimitri was pretty sure he could work it into a comeback.
“We aren’t a couple, and we have never been one. It’s pretty cut and dry, Detective. The bottom line is that Emma is very important to me. She’s the only one who has ever seen through this. I love her very much. Is that going to be an issue?”
“Will you be naked in a tub again?” she asked.
He parked their ride.
“It was the day you brought me back. She was trying to get my temperature up. She was dressed.”
Poppy felt silly.
Jealous.
It was something she’d never felt before.
“I’ve never wanted to have sex with Emma. I just wanted her love, and I have it.”
This was uncomfortable for Poppy. What the hell was she supposed to say to that?
“You are a very different story, babochka. I do want to have sex with you.”
There went that heat again.
Poppy flushed.
What the hell was she supposed to say to that? God knew she wanted that too. She’d spent all night thinking about it. How could she not?
“We should go interview the man,” she stated, trying to change the subject.
He grinned.
It wasn’t lost on him that the woman beside him was blushing.
It was sweet.
Dimitri hopped out of the vehicle and came around to help Poppy out, but she’d beaten him to the punch. She was ready.
In fact, she was all cop.
The blush was gone.
It was sexy how she managed to flip the switch so fast and effortlessly.
Then again, Emma did the same damn thing.
Heading toward the door, she knocked. When it opened, there was a man standing there.
“Can I help you?” he asked.
“I’m working a cold case, and your name was in the original file. I was hoping I could pick your brain.”
She flashed him her badge but purposely didn’t give him her name.
“Aren’t you Dimitri Gideon?” he asked, pointing at the man behind her.
“Nope,” he said.
The man looked confused.
Poppy knew she needed to figure out a way to cover for him, or this would be over before it started.
“Actually, he’s my partner. We get that a lot,” she stated. “He uses it to pick up the ladies all the time. Boy, are they disappointed.”
The man laughed.
Dimitri gave her a look.
“Come on in,” the cop stated.
They headed in.
Poppy was glad the man was old, and hopefully, a little short of perfect eyesight. Had he not been, that last lie wouldn't have worked—at all.
“This case has been cold a long time,” he said, once she told him which one she was working on.
“It has,” she agreed, sitting down.
“I only worked it a short time,” Quinn Harrell stated. “It was put into a file rather fast.”
“Why?”
“It was a hot mess,” he stated. “What that animal did to that little girl…it was sick. I wanted to catch him, but it wasn’t happening.”
“Why?”
“The mother.”
“What about her?” Poppy asked, trying to figure out where he was taking this.
“It seems that Eloise Wayne was a little loose, if you know what I mean.”
Dimitri watched Poppy’s face.
She didn’t react.
That had to be hard for her, and yet, the cop was in control.
“Can you explain that to me?” she asked. “How did you come about that information?”
The older man leaned back in his recliner.
“We talked to the neighbors, and they said she had men coming and going all the time. She was big into sleeping around. It literally came down to twenty possible suspects. We had DNA, but that wasn’t big back then. It’s probably still in the basement in a box.”
Poppy made note of it.
She’d get that DNA—if she could.
“What else did you learn?” she asked.
“A friend of the woman said she didn’t even know who fathered her children. We found so much trace in that place that we couldn’t even keep up. She lived a loose life, and she died a whore.”
Dimitri wanted to protect her.
Only, she wasn’t reacting. She wasn’t shocked that the man had said that.
“Anything else?” she asked.
“Do you have the file? If I see the names…it’s been some time. I might need a refresher.”
She handed him HER file. It wasn’t set up like a normal one, and she prayed he didn’t realize that.
He pointed at three names.
“I’d look at them,” Quinn Harrell stated.
Poppy marked them.
“What about Daniel Stewart?” she asked. “What made him the main suspect?”
“The friend, Brent, pointed us at him. She was ‘dating’ him at the time. Only, he was married. He wouldn’t talk to us. He pointed us at a lawyer, and we moved on. I had seven other cases. You know how Vegas is.”
She did.
Only, that had been her mother and her sister, so someone had to make sure every stone was turned to find this maniac.
“What about Lewis Garrett?”
He laughed.
“He said he knocked her up, and she wanted child support, but he wanted a paternity test to prove the first kid was his.”
Her heart skipped.
Could that be the killer or her biological father?
Poppy pushed on.
“What about Greg Townsend?” she asked, trying to keep her composure.
“She worked for him. He had an alibi, so we let it go. Like I said…we were bogged down, and she stopped mattering. All I do know is that I didn’t have enough evidence. It eventually became unimportant.”
Dimitri hurt for her.
“I wonder what became of the first kid. It was a sad lot to be born into,” Quinn stated. “She likely ended up like her mother. You know how kids are when they see that shit. She’s probably hooking on the street.”
Poppy held it together.
How?
She had no freaking clue. Suddenly, she wished Dimitri had waited in the car. She didn’t want him hearing any of this. It didn’t paint her in a good light.
“I doubt that.”
“Why?” he asked.
“When you see what was done to them, it never lets you get past that. If anything, she’s still seeing it. She found them, and she likely has to carry that every day of her life.”
Dimitri understood.
He’d lived in the hell of some sick monster.
His father had created that hell.
Poppy wasn’t the only one with nightmares.
“Well, then bless her soul. This guy was a monster. He raped a six-year-old. I hope he’s dead.”
Poppy stood and shook his hand.
“Thank you,” she said, heading out. Honestly, she couldn't do it anymore. The pain was getting to be too much. She wanted to cry.
Dimitri followed.
When she got in the vehicle, he didn’t know what to say. He imagined…well, he knew what it was like to be the child of a monster.
“Poppy,” he said.
“It’s okay. She’s long gone. That was then, and this is now. I will get her justice and put it to bed.”
He couldn’t let it go.
Like he had to let her see all the ugliness in his life before her, she had to do the same. It had to be a two-way street.
They needed it for the foundation.
“You remembered it being like that, didn’t you?” Dimitri asked. “You remember the men.”
She laughed.
“Yeah, I do. As a cop, I get it. It could be anyone. I remember the men coming and going, and I remember sleeping at my friend’s house as much as possible to avoid it. Still, as the child, it stings.”
That was a lie.
It really hurt.
“What do you want to do?” he asked.
“I need to think. Can you take me somewhere quiet?” she asked. “I need to process everything I’ve just heard.”
“Certainly, Poppy.”
He started up the ride and headed out.
It was the least he could do.
For the woman he loved.
* * * G R E Y S O N C R O F T * * *
Trixie’s Boudoir
When they arrived at the sex shop, the place already had people streaming in and out it. They had plenty of cars in the parking lot, and the whole time, Emma was grinning like a lunatic.
Chris knew what was coming.
“You’re a sicko.”
She giggled.
“I can’t help it. I love tormenting the hell out of you, Dante, Dimitri…”
“We are NOT buying anything,” he stated right off the bat. “I’m not tasting anything, and you may not, under any circumstance, hold leather chaps to my body and tell me they should fit.”
She snorted.
“Or a thong. Or a strap on. Or anything else. In fact, you stay in the car.”
“Geez. You do it one time, and suddenly, it’s a bad thing,” Emma teased.
“I mean it.”
“Well, then I have bad news for you. I have a longstanding agreement with Dante that whenever I come into a place like this, I am to buy him cinnamon lube. He likes it hot.”
Chris stared at her like she was speaking a foreign language.
“I don’t understand why…”
She didn’t have time for him to come to the conclusion on his own. So, she told him.
There in the parking lot.
LOUDLY.
“Anal sex and cinnamon lube. Do you REALLY want me to describe it?”
When it dawned on him why the man really liked it, he went red.
“NO! God! That’s awkward. A month ago, he smelled like cinnamon. I thought it was gum.”
She giggled.
Emma was trying to distract him. She didn’t dare bring up sex and him having it ever again. There was too much Natasha tied up in that. Chris was covering for himself, and she’d keep it light.
“Let’s get this over with,” he muttered.
“Want to hold hands?”
“NO!”
“Can I put my hand in your pocket?”
He yanked on her ponytail.
“Brat.”
She snorted.
Once out of the ride, Chris was all over her. Emma knew that was about her being stabbed and him not being there to keep her safe.
He was overcompensating.
So be it.
She was fine with that. If that was what he needed to get through this, she’d suck it up. Besides, when wasn’t someone all over her?
Greyson.
Dimitri.
Chris…
At the business, he opened the door for her and pulled off his sunglasses to scan the area. Once inside, she merrily walked around the place.
Sex shops fascinated her.
Was it about sex?
No, because she and Greyson had a pretty exciting life without ‘aids’, but she loved checking out the things that people liked to kink up their relationships.
Everyone liked toys, and from the size of this place, Vegas was keeping the economy going.
Chris, on the other hand…not so much.
Sex shops made him nervous.
“We should get this over with,” he stated. “Ask and let’s go. This place makes me want to go to church to repent, and I haven’t done anything.”
She snorted.
“There’s a line. I have to wait. Just peruse and try not to look so frigid. It’s like being in here with Dimitri.”
He laughed.
Chris could only picture it.
He would pay good money for Dimitri to be trapped here in the sex shop with Emma. Then again, the way that sounded didn’t exactly make him happy.
He needed to suck it up.
As they walked around the place, of course, there were stares. Honestly, they ignored it most of the time. This was what happened when you were a Croft—or a Gideon. People watched the media and believed a good chunk of what they’d been told.
People were freaking sheep.
Here was the proof.
Still, Chris moved closer to Emma, protecting her with the bulk of his body. His arm was around her back, holding her to him by her hip.
He wasn’t taking any chances.
NONE.
As they were walking around a corner, to hunt down the cinnamon lube for Dante, Chris saw her and froze.
Emma stopped and looked up at him.
His face said it all.
She almost expected ten ninjas, a dinosaur, and two robots to be coming at them with lasers. That’s how horrified he looked.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
He didn’t get to reply.
Chris didn’t get to answer. Before he could even open his mouth, SHE spoke.
And by ‘SHE’ he meant his ex-wife.
Denise.
“Well, if it isn’t Christopher Ford in the flesh. You’ve been hiding from me in Vegas.”
Emma turned her head and saw the harpy.
Oh Christ!
This was going to be bad.
“Hello, Denise,” Chris said, trying to keep any emotion from his voice. This was the LAST person he wanted, or needed, to see.
What the hell had he done in that past life to deserve any of this?
Natasha, who wasn’t in love with him, and lied, had been blown up.
Emma nearly died.
And now his ex.
When Emma heard her name, immediately, she grabbed the hand that had been on her hip. She held it firmly in hers, giving him any reassurance that she could.
He tightly squeezed hers, and she knew this was his worst nightmare. It was something he never wanted to happen. Coming face to face with a woman who had lied to him for years by fucking anyone who would pull out his dick, she had damaged him.
Denise had been his pain and suffering for years—and still was.
“Excuse us,” Chris said, trying to walk around her. Only, she blocked him.
Some guy half her age came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.
Chris ignored it.
“I’m in here with my new boy toy. He likes to be spicy in bed. I’m sure you don’t get that.”
Emma could see the terror and pain.
Chris was hurting.
It pissed her off.
This woman had some audacity. She’d cheated on her husband, ran him through the ringer, humiliated him, and destroyed his faith in women. Plus, she was taking a shot at him as he’d just lost Natasha.
“We meet again, Denise,” Emma said, wrapping her arm around Chris’s waist and shoving her hand into his back pocket to show ownership.
There was no way this bitch was going to break him.
Not.
On.
Her.
Watch.
“Oh, yes, you. How’s the HUSBAND?” she asked Emma, and then went back to Chris. “Weren’t you dating that girl who was blown up? That seemed to be a drastic way to escape your bed.”
Chris wanted to escape.
Emma wanted to punch her in the face. In her head, she began weighing the amount of time it would cost her in prison, and if Delilah could get her out on some insanity plea—since she was pregnant.
“Greyson is around,” she stated, covering for Chris. Emma could tell he was struggling. She knew him. “So, while he’s off making millions, I’m here with Chris. We’re just shopping. It’s nice to meet your new guy. Can he legally be in here? Isn’t that pedophilia? Thank God I’m not a cop anymore.”
Denise bristled.
“Yeah, neither is he. All that corruption that took you both down,” Denise fired back.
Only, Emma wasn’t having it.
“Oh, let me guess, he needed his books paid for this semester and you were available.”
She laughed.
“You’re funny. My guy is legit. I don’t buy for a second that Chris Ford is your anything,” she said, pointing at her ex. “I had sex with him for years. Lights out, one position, and he was a snooze. He doesn’t do anything illicit. He doesn’t live on the wild side. He’s the reason I moved on to greener pastures.”
Oh, no, she didn’t.
Did this woman think she could come back to HER town and tear HER best friend apart like that in front of people? They had an audience.
Well, that made Emma want to level the playing field.
It was time.
She was going to school Denise no matter the cost.
Period.
Emma whistled.
The guy working the viewing booths looked over, hearing her. He jerked his head toward one of the viewing booths.
“Is our regular booth ready?” she asked, praying he kept his mouth shut. If he did, he’d get a huge ass tip.
He pointed at one.
Emma was grateful he was playing along.
Denise wasn’t buying it. Emma pointed at the sales girl who had moved closer to see what the ruckus was about.
Emma handled that too.
“Whatever she buys, put it on my tab. She needs to save her money for retirement. I don’t. We can’t have some old adulteress trying to mount half of Vegas to pay her rent. Prostitution is legal in SOME of Vegas. Not in MY city.”
Denise glared at her.
“Yes, Mrs. Croft,” the woman said.
She was getting a huge tip, too, since she was playing along with this whole farce. Meanwhile, Chris was not doing well. His hand was shaking, and she hoped it was out of anger.
Not fear.
She’d kick Denise’s ass for tormenting him.
“I suggest you head out of Vegas, Denise,” she stated.
“Why?”
“If you think I’ll let you try to make him miserable, you have another thing coming. You forget who else I share my bed with. Go ahead and mess with Greyson Croft, and see what happens. He loves this man. You’ll be destroyed.”
“I doubt that. I’m betting he doesn’t know that Chris is diddling his wife. I call your bluff.”
Well, then Emma was going to kick this one up a whole lot of notches.
It was time.
Emma pulled a shell-shocked Chris after her, and they went into the booth that the man had been saving for them. Chris sat, and Emma went into his lap. She shoved her credit card into the slot and then kissed Chris for all she was worth.
As the curtain closed, he pulled away.
His heart hurt.
As soon as they were ‘alone’ the tears came. They filled his eyes, and he looked so damn hopeless.
Emma held him.
This was the worst time for this to happen. It was the worst time for that woman to find him and rip what was left of that scab off his heart.
“I can’t do this,” he whispered, and he didn’t mean sitting in a viewing booth, as a porno played, and Emma sat in his lap. He meant the hurt.
It was overwhelming him.
Emma understood.
He didn’t have to say anything else.
“I have you, sweetheart,” she crooned. “I have you. I’m so sorry. I’ll get you out to the car.”
He rested his face on her shoulder as the porn-filled movie played. They didn’t even pay attention to it.
“I didn’t need this today,” he whispered. “I am barely functioning as it is. I didn’t need to run into her and have her flaunt her life at me. It had been my life until she took it away.”
She kissed his tears from his cheeks.
“I have you, Chris.”
“She’s the one thing that can break me every time. She’s my one secret shame. I am constantly reminded I failed, and that she cheated on me.”
Emma held him.
“I have you.”
“Then Natasha didn’t want to stay with me. What’s wrong with me, Emma?”
She held him.
“Nothing. You’re sexy, you’re sweet, and you’re a good man, Christopher.”
He let her sit in his lap as he struggled to pull it off. Chris didn’t know what to mourn more.
Natasha.
His life.
Or his dignity.
“I’m fine,” he whispered. “I’ll be fine. I just need to get out of here. I can do this.”
She knew that was a lie.
“You can’t let her win,” she said. “You can’t let that demon win.”
“Denise is a bitch. She’s always going to win, Emma. I can’t fight anymore. I’m depleted. I’ve been fighting for too long. I give up.”
Then she had to fight for him.
It was time to have that coming to Jesus talk, and ironically, it was in a sex shop while two people fornicated on the screen behind her.
Well, that summed up Vegas and her life.
“I wasn’t talking about letting Denise win. I meant Natasha.”
He stared into her eyes.
Chris couldn’t pretend anymore. It was time to come clean, and with the person he trusted the most.
“I’m so mad at her.”
“I know,” Emma stated. “I know what you’re feeling inside. I can see it on your face.”
“I want to rage around.”
Emma listened to him and the emotion in his voice.
“I want to… die. I want to give up and call it a life. I can’t do this, Emma. I have nothing left,” he whispered.
She held him.
“I have you.”
“This is my life. I have no one. I didn’t expect to run into her, and now I have to deal with it.”
Emma wiped his face.
“You have me. You have Greyson.”
“I know.”
But he didn’t.
Chris didn’t know if they really got how much he was hurt. Natasha knew he wasn’t the one for weeks. She knew he wasn’t what she wanted, and she led him on.
She betrayed his heart too.
Natasha was going to leave.
“We can’t go out there like this,” she said. “You know that bitch is going to be lying in wait. She’s going to want to see you come out of here all hot and bothered, or she’s calling the bluff!”
He stared at her.
“What?” he asked. “Please tell me you didn’t just allude to the fact that I had to get turned on, and by you.”
She snorted.
“Well, that’s pretty much what I meant. Let’s get you horny, Chris.”
His mouth hung open as she smiled wickedly.
“I do NOT like that look on your face. It’s going to get me killed. While you didn’t lie to her, and Greyson does love me, he’s not going to love that plan. No husband would. Are you absolutely insane?”
Emma pulled out her phone and called her husband again. This time, he answered.
“Hey, we’re heading to the next girlfriend on the list.” Then he realized she was in some weird place. He could hear moans and what sounded like someone having sex in the background. “Where are you, Emma?”
“I’m in a porn shop, in a sex booth, and watching a porno with Chris.”
“Pardon?” he asked.
She was watching Chris and his face said it all. He expected this to be the last straw. He expected Greyson to snap and end it.
Well, Emma knew her husband. This was NOT going to end the way Chris assumed. She knew Greyson. He genuinely loved Chris. While Chris was her best friend, he was Greyson’s brother.
Emma turned the volume down and put it on speaker, so he could hear.
She whispered so Denise the harpy wouldn’t hear them.
“WE ran into Denise as we were chasing a lead. Libby’s friend said she frequented this place,” she said, giving him the name of the shop. “So, we came in, and Denise was in here with her boy toy.”
“Okay. I’m with you so far. Why are you in a kink booth watching porn?”
Emma replayed what Denise had said and done to Chris, and she waited for her husband to flip his shit.
“Do you want me to show up?” he asked. “I’ll kick her ass for him. No one talks to my fucking brother like that, and in front of people. I’ll make her eat her words.”
And there was her husband.
Chris listened, knowing Greyson didn’t know he was eavesdropping. While he knew the man liked him, he didn’t know the depth of his attachment.
This said it all.
He had his back too.
Chris was appreciative of that until Emma kept talking, and he knew he was going to die right after Denise.
“I know this is going to be a weird request, but I need to make out with Chris to get him really riled up so we can walk out of here with him looking horny.”
Greyson laughed.
Chris swallowed.
“Do me a favor?” Greyson asked.
“Yes?”
“Take pictures of his horrified face.”
Emma laughed.
“Oh, that pretty much sums up his face right about now. If I wasn’t sitting on him, he’d try to climb out of here.”
Greyson hurt for the man.
He knew what betrayal felt like, and Chris was still recovering from losing Natasha. For him, he’d take one for the team.
“Do it. I don’t care what you have to do to save his heart. I’m good. Be careful and DON’T END UP IN JAIL!”
Emma snorted.
“Well, there went plan B.”
“I mean it. Commissioner Raye will have you dead before Delilah and I can get you out.”
“I hear you. I’ll keep it sexy not face-punch-y.”
“I love you both.”
Greyson hung up.
“See?” she said. “I told you he wasn’t going to get upset with you. Now, her? Yeah, she had better pray he never finds her. Greyson will make her life hell.”
He felt a little better.
“Now, let’s make out,” Emma said, grinning at him. “In my defense, when we were getting ready to enter the shop, you didn’t say I couldn’t do this.”
She had a point.
“I’ll add it to the list for the next one. Trust me.”
She laughed.
“This is the craziest shit you’ve ever come up with. The next time, you take Dimitri to the sex shop. I’m going to the library.”
“Oh, do you have a better idea?” she asked. “Want me to dial up a hooker for you?”
Crap!
He couldn’t let that bitch win, and he didn’t want syphilis either. Chris knew Emma would, and could, find a hooker.
She waited for him to decide.
“Okay, let’s do it.”
Emma assumed that was going to be his answer. She pulled a tube of lipstick out of her purse.
“Uh, that’s going to get all over me. I’m going to look like I was attacked.”
She lifted a brow.
“Seriously? That’s the point. Then there’s proof that my lips were all over your body.”
“Jesus. I’m going to hell,” he muttered.
Emma grinned as she slathered the sexy shade of burgundy all over her lips.
“Thank God you wore a white shirt.”
“Thank God I have a clean one in the car, crazy train,” he replied.
She wasn’t shocked. Still, she was going to make this moment all his—for her best friend and a man she genuinely loved so very much.
“Let’s kiss.”
Emma turned to straddle Chris’s hips. He held her in place as she kissed him.
That went on for a few minutes.
“Want to have sex with me?” she asked.
“I never thought I’d say this, but no. I don’t want to have sex with you.”
While he said it, his dick said otherwise. Emma found him amusing.
“Good. I’m so not wet.”
He laughed.
When her mouth went back to his, they continued kissing, and it wasn’t a light peck on the cheek. Emma gave, and Chris took.
It helped him fill that cold hole that life had put in his soul. While he could, he let Emma ebb into him, repairing what had damaged him.
Slowly, she set his mouth free.
“Want to roll around naked?” she asked.
“Getting there.”
She snorted.
When he opened his eyes, they were clearer. Emma could see most of the pain had left his eyes, and instead, the man she loved was back.
“Emma?” he asked.
“What?”
“Thank you.”
She rested her forehead against his. Emma got it. This man was her best friend. While Greyson was the love of her life, he was next in line.
“Anything for you, Chris. I love you. I’ll always love you,” she promised.
“I love you too,” he stated, meaning every word. Chris did, and nothing could change that.
Emma gave him a big kiss on his neck, just above his body armor. In fact, she gave him a freaking hickey.
He laughed.
“I am going to bust Dimitri’s ass over this one,” he stated. “For the rest of the month.”
She snorted.
“Go for it.”
Chris needed to know.
“Am I messed up enough?” he asked, pointing at his face and neck. “Did you coat me with enough lipstick for it to be believable?”
Oh, she wasn’t done.
“I apologize in advance.”
“For?”
Emma had bad news for him. She was about to really up her game when it came to proving that this man was hers. She’d told Denise that when they’d crossed paths shopping. She warned the woman weeks ago to stay as far away from Chris as humanly possible.
Now she was going to make sure the woman got it.
HE.
WAS.
THEIRS.
Chris was a Croft, and it was hands off. If she had to break the woman’s hands off, she would. This type of antagonization was NOT happening.
Emma reached down between them and tugged his shirt out of his pants in the front. Then she reached for his zipper.
“Uh, hello. What are you doing?”
“Dropping your fly. You know, like you got head and forgot to zip up.”
He stared at her.
“I have never loved you more than I have at this very moment.”
She winked at him.
“You look too neat,” he said. “It looks like you did the mauling, and I sat here helplessly. That’s pretty much what she thinks of our whole sex life. You need to muss yourself up a bit.”
“Oh, I know.”
She turned around in his lap, still perched on his erection.
“Unhook my bra for me, Christopher.”
“WHAT?” he hissed.
“Trust me. Just do it. I have a plan.”
He reached beneath the back of the body armor, and somehow, he managed to unhook it. The whole process wasn’t easy.
Chris felt like he was invading territory that he had no business invading.
His hands were UNDER Emma’s shirt.
Christ!
As soon as it was unhooked, Emma removed it by pulling the straps off her shoulders and down her sleeves.
“I’m more turned on by that than anything,” he said, referring to how she did that magic trick. “If I could get my boxers off like that…”
She laughed even more.
While this should be awkward, it was funny as hell. This was more proof of how close they were as a team.
“Hey, question, and I know this is a bad place to be going there, but it just occurred to me.”
“What?”
“When I give birth to Mac, will you be in the delivery room with me, Dimitri, and Greyson? I want you there to see him born. You’re going to be a huge part of his life, and I want you to see it all.”
He stopped moving.
Emma turned.
There were tears in his eyes.
“I’m sorry. I was going to ask when we were alone, but it seemed like a good idea to ask you now.”
“Yes, Emma, I’ll be there. I won’t leave your side. I want to see him born.”
He gave her a soft, gentle kiss.
There was the Chris she knew and loved. Beneath that tough exterior, she knew the man was kind, gentle, and part of her life.
“Good. You can torment Dimitri. He’s going to be all kinds of uncomfortable.”
He laughed.
“My day is looking up.”
Emma was about to give him even more.
“How bad do you want Denise to suffer?” she asked, holding her lacy bra in her hand.
“Like she’s in the hottest pit of misery hell. I want it to make her so miserable she never forgets that I moved on, and I’m happy.”
She pulled a water bottle out and dumped some on his lap over his fly.
“Uh, that’s wet and all kinds of weird.”
She smiled and pointed from her crotch to his until he understood what she was doing.
“Oh,” he said, finally getting it. “Wow. You get really wet. Lucky Greyson.”
She snorted.
“Last thing.”
She dropped to her knees and pointed at him.
“Do not enjoy this,” she said, winking at him. Emma could see him throb beneath his pants.
His eyes went huge as that panic came back.
“What are you doing?” he hissed.
Emma smeared her lipstick over the khaki of his pants by where she would have had contact with his dick if any of this were real.
“Oh Christ! She’s going to eat herself alive,” Chris hissed in glee. “It’s totally worth having to jerk off to this later.”
She grinned at him.
“What happens in Vegas…”
Emma was glad he was smiling again. She had him stand up.
He did. It was a tight squeeze in there.
Emma tucked her bra into his one pocket and made sure it was hanging out the side. There would be no doubt that they had ‘fooled’ around in there.
She unbuttoned her shirt, and Chris watched.
He couldn’t help himself.
Then she buttoned it up, making sure to screw up a few of the buttons so she looked like she’d gotten redressed in a big hurry.
“Do I look like I’ve been used and abused?” he asked.
“We both do.”
She looked at her masterpiece.
Perfect.
He looked like he’d had some wild tryst in the privacy of some sleazy sex room.
She climbed back into his lap and shoved him against the wall with the back of the chair. She kept doing it, and he knew what it sounded like.
“Oh God! Christopher! Yes! Yes! Yes!”
He was laughing so hard that his eyes were tearing again. He was bright red from trying not to make a sound.
“Harder.”
She shoved him harder.
Emma was trying not to laugh too.
“Oh God!” he moaned, and she was the one crying now.
Then…
They stopped.
The store had gotten silent.
He held her on his lap and whispered in her ear. “You are officially my hero. I love you so damn much.”
Oh, she loved him too.
Here was the proof.
Emma shook the curtain a little to make it seem like they were getting dressed.
“I love you, Chris. You have me. I’ll always have your back. When bitches like that roll into my hood, I’ll kick their skanky asses back to the ghetto. You’re mine.”
He hugged her.
He felt better.
“Well, let’s do the walk of shame, you hussy.”
She winked at him.
When they came out, holding hands, Denise was standing there, and her mouth actually dropped open when she saw them.
“Oh, still here?” Emma asked, fixing her hair.
“Your lipstick is smeared…” Denise said.
Emma looked down at Chris’s pants. Gently, she rubbed her hand over the lip marks.
“We’ll have to get that dry cleaned,” she stated.
“Again,” Chris added.
Emma wasn’t done.
People were staring.
Well, it was time to stake the harpy through the heart and call it a victory.
“Anyway, I don’t know what you meant when you said it was lights off, one position, and boring as hell. I’m thinking it had everything to do with the woman he was fucking,” she said, loudly so anyone still in there would hear them.
Denise blanched.
Emma had her backing up.
“So, for the record, if it’s any of your business, he’s a really great partner in bed, in the car, in the shower, and all day when I’m bored.”
Denise continued to back up, and she kept moving.
Emma was a little shocked she had her this scared. The woman looked like she was about to race out of there.
“I concur,” Greyson said from behind them. “He’s great in bed. What happens at Castle Croft stays at Castle Croft. You know how we rich get bored and like to have fun.”
Oh, shit!
She recognized the voice.
Emma turned around, and her eyes went big. She knew he was checking out Chris’s appearance.
“Let’s go, Harry,” Denise said, hauling ass out of there to put distance between her and Greyson Croft.
In fact, everyone was gone.
As soon as she was gone, Greyson started to laugh. He turned Chris’s head and looked at the hickey on his neck. It was one hell of a love bite.
Emma really put her mark on this one.
Literally.
The man was smeared with lipstick on his neck, face, shirt, and pants.
“Dimitri is going to be jealous when he sees this. He only got to sit in a tub with Emma.”
Chris relaxed.
Emma laughed.
“That’s what he said.”
Greyson hugged Chris. He knew the man was freaking out that he was going to be in trouble.
He wasn’t.
Greyson got it. He understood why Emma had to protect the man beside him.
“Emma, go do your interview, and let’s get this done,” he stated, still not finished with Chris.
As a few people lingered, he gave him a kiss on the cheek and dropped his arm over the man’s shoulders.
“We have your back, Chris. I swear we do.”
Christopher Ford felt better.
Family had come through.
Once again.