Chapter Nine
Park
W hen Dimitri pulled up to the park, so Poppy could take a few moments to regroup, he helplessly watched as she suffered. Without saying a word, Poppy got out and headed toward the bridge that went over the small pond. She stood there looking at the water, and he didn’t know what to do.
He wasn’t sure how to make her feel better.
This was out of his element, and he knew it.
Dimitri wanted to ease that pain, give her some peace, and soothe that hurt in her heart, but he wasn’t sure how to even go about doing that.
Did he reassure her?
Did he tell her the pain would go away?
All Dimitri knew was he knew what it felt like to feel that kind of pain.
As she stood there, he watched her checking out the ducks that were floating by and the babies following them. It was spring in Vegas, and that meant a rebirth.
For the few and lucky.
Heading over to a vendor selling coffee, he bought two and returned to her side. When he arrived there, he knew she was crying.
“Are you Poppy or Detective Wayne?” he asked.
“Is there a difference?” she asked.
“Yes, there is. Poppy would want me to comfort her and hold her. Detective Wayne would want me to let her work through it on her own. Unfortunately for me, they look the same, so I have to ask.”
When she didn’t laugh, Dimitri felt like he blew it.
Then she took the coffee.
“It’s Poppy.”
Dimitri took that as his invitation. Resting his arms on the metal rail beside hers, he gave her what she needed.
Someone to listen.
“I’m sorry it hurts after all these years. I’m sorry that it never healed, and this person has made it come back. If I could go back and change it, for you, I would.”
She believed him.
It was sincere.
“It stings. I wish my mother had made better choices in her life. I wish she put her kids first, but I remember all the visitors, the ‘uncles’, and the way we pretended we were okay. We weren’t.”
Dimitri understood that too.
“I wish my mother made better choices too,” he admitted. “Mine left me with a monster and I became one. That’s why I have to put Sam and Petra first because children shouldn’t be punished for their parents’ mistakes.”
“You’re not a monster,” she stated without even looking over at him.
Well, that was debatable, and he knew it.
“Ehhhh.”
There were days when he believed that, and days when he couldn’t be told otherwise. It was a tossup.
“We’ll get through this,” he offered. “We’ll make it through to the other side, and it will get better. I promise.”
She hoped he was right.
“Can I hold your hand?” he asked. “Can I be there for you when you need me to?” Dimitri asked.
God.
She needed that.
“Yes, please.”
“Who do you want to talk to next?”
“My father.”
Oye.
This was going to be a bad one. He could already tell. Dimitri wanted to talk her out of it. He wanted to tell her that it was a horrible idea, and not to torture herself. When he was feeling this low, he instinctually wanted to hurt himself for being ‘bad’. Surely, that was the reason his mother had abandoned them.
It had to be him.
Talking her out of it would be the smart thing to do.
Only he didn’t.
“Then who?” Dimitri asked, hoping there would be an opening where he could distract her with someone other than her possible biological father.
“I want to talk to my mother’s boss. In fact, we should start there.”
Hallelujah.
They’d escaped that one. Dimitri let out a sigh of relief when she changed her mind.
“Whenever you’re ready, we can go.”
She looked at her watch.
“You promised to meet Emma for lunch. We have to do that first.”
He turned her, so she was facing him.
“I’ll cancel. If you’re not up for it, they will understand,” he promised. It looked like Emma would have to ‘check out’ his girl at a later date.
It only took her a moment to contemplate it.
“No, I need to be cheered up. If anything, they will do that. Your family is amusing.”
He was aware, and he’d share them with her, so she didn’t feel so damn alone in life.
Dimitri got it.
He understood the pain of not having anyone to call your own. His life had been fraught with that.
Until now.
His phone chimed.
Pulling it out, it was a picture of Chris’s neck. Under it, it said three words.
‘Hickey. Checkmate, Commie.’
He began laughing.
When Poppy glanced over at him and stared at him like he was insane, he handed it to her.
She stared at it.
“Who gave him the hickey?” Poppy asked. “What am I missing?”
“It was likely Emma. I’m sure there is a very funny story to go with it too. There always is. Don’t tell him I laughed. The best part of dealing with Chris is to play that I’m disinterested or irritated by it. That blasé response makes him insane. Between the two of us, I really like him, and I find him incredibly amusing.”
She laughed.
Finally.
“Now I have to find a way to get even. This can’t drop here. If I didn’t hit back at him…he’d think something was wrong.”
“Your family is crazy.”
Yes, yes, they were, and he loved it.
Dimitri Gideon definitely had a family, and in that moment, he’d share it with her.
“Wait until lunch.”
She smiled and took his hand.
The storm had passed.
“We have a few minutes until we have to leave. Would you care to walk the long way back to the vehicle?” he asked. “It’s spring. I’d like to enjoy it.”
“I think I’d like that,” Poppy stated.
He squeezed her hand, and they began walking. At a food dispenser, he bought her a cup of cracked corn to feed the ducks. While he held her coffee, she fed them, only to have them come out of the water, and follow her down the pavement.
Dimitri laughed.
“Well, it looks like you made friends.”
She laughed as one pecked at her boot. Dimitri grabbed some more corn and tossed it into the water, so they’d go back where they’d come from.
“Thank you for saving me from the ducks,” she teased. “They looked sketchy. I think one was a pickpocket.”
He made her badge appear.
“Oh, look at that. They aren’t the only ones who can do that,” he teased.
She laughed.
“Out of the frying pan and into the fire.”
He handed her back her coffee.
Then, he went with the moment, remembering he was courting this woman. Since she was Poppy and not the detective, it felt right.
“You’re beautiful,” he said. “I love watching you smile. I’ve never seen anyone lovelier.”
She blushed.
“Thank you.”
Leaning down, he picked a tulip from the flowerbed and handed it to her.
“Two lips for my Poppy?” he teased before stealing a kiss.
When he pulled away, she laughed.
“Oh, I see what you did there, slick. You’re a dangerous one,” she teased. “Oh, and now I have to arrest you for picking flowers in a public park.”
He held out her handcuffs.
She laughed even more.
“Someone has very light, sticky fingers.”
“You don’t say, Detective Wayne. Many have commented on that, and yet, I’m not in jail. Interesting.”
She snorted.
Dimitri held her hand and they headed back to the ride.
“What if I had a way to help you find out who killed her, but it wasn’t exactly legal.”
She looked over.
“What do you have in mind?”
“If you wanted to retest the DNA in that file, how hard will it be to get it done?”
“It’s a cold case. There’s a line of them before it. They do it methodically. Since they all deserve justice, that case has to wait its turn. DNA tests take months, and they cost the city a ton of money. I’ll be retired before it goes through.”
Yeah, he was aware.
Fortunately for her, he had money, and Greyson had connections. It wouldn’t take that long for him to get it done, and for Dimitri to fund it.
“What if I could get you that DNA in a matter of days, and then you wouldn’t have to wait until you retired?”
She stared at him.
“How the hell can you do that?”
Dimitri told her his plan, and how it involved more than just him, but also his family.
“Are you insane?”
“Apparently.”
“Dimitri…”
“Let’s go have lunch, and talk it out with Greyson and Emma. If they agree, I’ll handle it.”
She couldn’t believe it. This man was willing to go above and beyond for her. He was willing to break the law, and she was going to let him do it.
That said it all.
She was crazy about him.
“Don’t stress it, Poppy. I know what you’re thinking,” Dimitri stated.
“Oh, do you?”
“It’s illegal.”
She gave him a kiss, catching him off guard. It took him a second, but then he was very much engaged in the kiss.
Slowly, she pulled away.
“Yes, two very sexy lips,” she said, setting his mouth free from hers.
It took him a second.
“Babochka,” he whispered. “I didn’t say we were doing it yet,” he offered. “That may be premature.”
She touched his cheek.
Oh, kissing this man would NEVER be premature. She had faith in him.
“That’s simply for offering and giving me hope. Without hope, there’s nothing to believe in. I needed that today, so the kiss isn’t because of the plan, but because you offered me that elusive feeling of hope.”
He stared down into her eyes.
He was aware of how precious that emotion was. She gave him hope.
“Thank you for that gift,” he said. Then he knew they needed to get the day going.
Or he’d stand there all day and kiss her.
“Let’s go. I have to harass Chris. My day is about to get better,” he stated. Only, he knew that wasn’t possible. He’d been kissing Poppy. His day was already at the pinnacle.
She went with him, a new spring in her step.
Poppy’s fingers were crossed.
And she prayed.
* * * G R E Y S O N C R O F T * * *
He watched them.
When the man kissed and touched her, he was enraged. He was furious that she was, once again, nothing but a whore.
She was exactly like Eloise.
That pathetic bitch was always flaunting her sexuality, doing different men, and never getting it.
She never saw him and his devotion.
Well, that was about to end.
This woman was going to pay for it and pay for it soon. This asshole may have hidden away his woman, but he’d make sure she was his in the end.
Then, he’d teach her a lesson.
One that this bitch would finally learn.
* * * G R E Y S O N C R O F T * * *
Peter’s Café
The Las Vegas
Strip
When Dimitri and Poppy showed up, the rest of the family was already seated. Chris was beside Emma, his arm over her shoulder, and he was smiling like he’d gotten lucky.
Oh, this man was trying to bait him, and he wasn’t afraid to let him do it. His best friend seemed really calm.
Dimitri could tell that Greyson was trying not to laugh at the look on Chris’s face.
“Where’s Curtis?” Dimitri stated. “You had better not be alone.”
He laughed.
“Gee, thanks, Mom. Want to hold my hand as I go take a leak?” he asked.
Dimitri lifted a brow.
“Uh, no, I do not. There seems to be a little too much touchy-feely going on in this family,” he said, pointing at Chris’s neck.
Emma laughed.
“Seriously. Where is he?”
Greyson knew he was worried about the boy. They all were. The whole family could be in danger at any moment.
“Curtis wanted to run some errands instead of lunch. He’s avoiding you.”
Dimitri sat after pulling out Poppy’s seat for her.
“Pardon?”
“There’s trouble in paradise,” Greyson stated.
He sighed.
Oh, hell.
Here it went.
“It’s going to be about sex, isn’t it? You’re going to ruin my day by talking about him fornicating with my sister, aren’t you?”
Greyson laughed.
Emma joined in as Chris was still smiling.
“First, let him get it over with. He’s going to explode,” Dimitri said, pointing at Chris.
“Sex booth, porn shop, hickey.”
He laughed.
“Set up, never going to be real, and you likely asked Greyson’s permission first. I know him, her, and you.”
Chris scowled.
Dimitri winked at Emma.
“Hey, Poppy,” Emma said. “I apologize in advance. They are jackasses. They think it’s funny to act like cavemen. If they get bad, just beat on them. It works for me,” she stated, elbowing Chris to prove her point.
“Ouch! Do it again.” Chris teased.
She laughed.
“I’ll keep that in mind, Emma, but today I needed to laugh, so thank you.”
Chris rubbed his side.
“Someone is cranky he isn’t sporting this sexy new hickey,” Chris teased, wiggling his eyebrows at the Russian.
Dimitri could let that go, or he could make the man suffer. Oh, it looked like option B it was…
“Emma, want to make out?” he asked her without batting an eye.
“Oh, once you go Russian…”
Chris stared at her.
“Traitor. You just went commie on me. Ouch.”
Greyson laughed.
“Children, not in front of the guest.”
Poppy found it amusing. She liked watching Dimitri relax and be himself.
“I do have a question,” Poppy asked.
‘What?” Greyson asked.
“Why is it so quiet in here?” she asked, looking around. “I had lunch here once. It was packed and there was a twenty-minute wait.”
“I bought out the lunch space,” he said. “Peter likes me in here, I pay for the hour, and we get to eat without someone staring at us like people in a zoo.”
She didn’t get that.
That kind of money…
“That’s so weird to me.”
“You get used to it,” Emma said, as the waitress came over to take their order.
“Sheila, thank you,” Greyson stated. He glanced over at Poppy. “Do you like Italian?” he asked.
“Uh, yeah. Who doesn’t like Italian?”
Greyson was good with that.
It meant that this would be a customary lunch that he and his family shared often. Food was love, and he loved both of the men sitting there.
They were his brothers.
He ordered their food.
“Start us with the Bruschetta bar and wine. Emma will have some sparkling water.”
The woman hurried away.
“This is all so foreign to me.”
Emma laughed.
“Burger, bag, desk, while you work,” she stated. “I totally get it.”
“YES!”
Even Chris got it.
“We won’t get to eat dinner tonight since the family is doing a million things,” Greyson stated. “Oh, and Emma, we have a date.”
Dimitri stared at him.
“No, I have a date, and you have my kids—unless, by date, you meant babysitting.”
He laughed.
“Someone is getting married.”
They all looked at Dimitri and Poppy.
“Whoa, what kind of lunch is this?” Poppy asked. “He said lunch with the family. He didn’t say LUNCH WITH THE FAMILY,” she said in a mob accent.
Chris laughed.
“Marry me,” he said. “I dig the mob accent.”
Dimitri was appalled by that and kicked him under the table.
HARD.
“Shit! Jesus!” he muttered, rubbing his leg where the man’s boot had connected.
Dimitri gave him the look.
Emma was amused by the whole thing—especially since Dimitri rarely resorted to violence toward the family. That said it all about how he felt about the woman beside him.
It was time to watch her.
You know…to see if she’d fit in.
“Who’s getting hitched?” Chris asked.
“Riley and Delilah are,” Greyson offered. “He called me and needed two witnesses and we are it.”
They all stared at him like what he was saying was almost impossible.
“No way,” Chris said. “Delilah, as in ‘I eat cops for a snack’ is marrying Riley tonight?”
He nodded.
“So, he sprung it on me. That’s why I asked Paris and Tessa to babysit.”
Dimitri relaxed.
His date was still on after all. Paris was amazing with kids. He was really good with Sam, and he was fine with that.
“Thank you. I didn’t want to break my date.”
He pointed at Chris.
“I will kill you if you say anything.”
He snorted and tried to look innocent.
Sheila came back with five people, and they put down one hell of a spread. It was all kinds of bread and toppings to go on the buttery, toasted crostini.
“And there goes any hope of me fitting into these pants ever again,” Poppy stated.
Emma gave Dimitri a look.
“I think you have a great ass,” Chris said, beating him to the punch just to torment him.
Dimitri mumbled in Russian.
Poppy laughed.
She’d heard him. These people entertained her, and she wondered what it would be like to have that kind of family to protect you.
“Stop or I will hurt you and your mercy hickey.”
Emma cringed.
Chris got quiet.
Dimitri immediately sensed he’d gone too far. The look on Chris’s face said it all. His hand went to it, and his fingers lingered there.
Dimitri felt the whole mood shift, and he knew what he needed to do.
“Chris, I’m sorry. That was a cheap shot. I went too far, my friend. Please forgive me.”
Chris tried to rebound but it was so hard.
“It’s fine. I was provoking you. I got what I was asking for,” he admitted.
He sipped his wine, but it was clear it wasn’t good at all. Chris was hurting, and immediately, Dimitri wanted to protect him. This man had been so very close to Natasha, and he loved him.
Even though his sister was no longer with them, she’d left Chris behind, and it was his duty to protect him.
He was his brother too.
“What happened?” he asked, focusing on the man but speaking to Emma. He knew she’d tell him everything, and he needed to know about it.
Clearly.
“We ran into Denise,” Emma stated. “She brought up Natasha,” she stated.
That was all she had to say.
Greyson had clued him in long ago about what that woman had done to Chris. He hated her by proxy for hurting his family.
For hurting his friend.
Dimitri felt horrible.
He got it now. Emma had been fighting for his heart and defending him. He slid his chair over and put his good hand on Chris’s shoulder.
“My brother, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. Please forgive me,” Dimitri said.
Chris looked over, and Dimitri pulled him toward him. They rested their foreheads against each other.
“I love you. I’ll go kick her ass for you. I’m sorry.”
Chris fought it.
It was so hard.
“I’m okay now.”
Poppy watched them. What everyone said about them was so off base. They were compassionate people who loved each other.
She was compelled to help, and she believed she knew how to do it too.
“I’m free for that wedding if you’re still offering,” she said to Chris. “Honestly, it’s the best offer I had all day.”
Chris laughed as Dimitri looked horrified.
“I’ll pick you up at sex. I mean six.”
Emma laughed.
It had passed.
“Eat,” Greyson said, as he had his wine and bruschetta. “We should update each other about what we’ve learned this morning.”
Yeah, and change the topic to give Chris time.
Dimitri was good with that.
“After you tell me why Curtis and Kat are having issues. I might as well get it out of the way before I eat.”
“Your sister is internalizing.”
“Oh, well, that’s nothing.”
Greyson continued, “There’s no…intimacy.”
“Jesus. I was very bad in my last life,” Dimitri stated. “A horrible sinner that now I have to hear about my baby sister’s sex life.”
Poppy laughed.
“Sorry, the wine…I don’t normally drink in the middle of the day.”
Dimitri looked at Emma.
He needed her help to get through this.
“I let you name my child. That has to get me some help, doesn’t it?” he asked.
She sipped her sparkling water.
“You’re my favorite, so okay.”
Chris stared at her. “And after what we just did in that sleazy sex booth. Now I really feel cheap.”
She covered Greyson’s mouth.
“For the record, I already told Curtis how to handle it,” Greyson said, moving her hand away from his mouth. While he was worried about sex with Emma, he was still wildly turned on by what had been going on that morning.
Wife.
Sex shop.
The whole thing made him nuts.
So, he placed her hand on his lap over his erection. As if on cue, she moved closer.
“Good, because I have enough on my plate with children. I don’t think I can micromanage my sister’s marriage too.”
Sheila returned to the table to get their next course of food ordered for them.
“Mr. Croft, are you ready for the next selection?”
“We are. What are our choices?”
“We have filet mignon and asparagus risotto or lobster Fra Diavolo.”
Poppy stared at them.
This was insane.
The whole bruschetta bar wasn’t the meal?
Crap!
“How do you work after you eat that much food?” she asked honestly.
“We don’t always work,” Emma stated. “Swimming is fun. We have a pool on the roof.”
She didn’t understand any of this.
NONE.
“Filet,” she said, giving up. This was so out of her element. She wasn’t accustomed to any of this luxury. She didn’t eat in places reserved for only her. She didn’t have nine courses for lunch. She didn’t drink booze in the middle of the day.
“Are you okay?” Dimitri asked, sensing that she was struggling with it.
“Adjusting,”
Dimitri understood.
They all ordered, and their waitress headed toward the kitchen to put in their selections.
“I hit up the financial institution,” Greyson stated, sipping some wine. “I met with a Johnie Baker who pointed at Michael Skinner.”
Emma laughed.
“What’s so funny?” he inquired.
“Chris and I spoke to the Bauers,” she said. Then she told them what happened, the husband on the phone, and then the return visit. “Emily Bauer pointed us at Baker and Skinner, so you are likely on track.”
“Well, what a coincidence. I doubt that’s a big surprise,” Greyson said.
“We’ll run them later. Who do you have left?” she asked her husband.
“Well, we hit Marcella Lamb’s home before meeting you at the sex shop. She wasn’t home.”
“Well, she’s not off the hook. We need to know if they have anyone else attached to this that might point us in the right direction. Friends always know the gossip.”
They all agreed.
“I’m hitting up Jeannette Weis after we eat. Want to join me, wife?” he asked.
“Oh, together?”
Chris cleared his voice.
“Remember me?”
“Can you take the magic tablet and run them?” Emma asked. She gave him the look.
He got it.
She was going to get her Croft on. That was the other thing that best friends knew.
Chris grinned.
“Yeah, I can do that. You’ll be safe with Bugsy. I’ll catch a ride with Ilan,” he stated. He’d seen the man lurking outside the business.
Greyson snorted.
“Ahhh, but will I be safe with her?” he teased.
His wife was riling him up by tormenting him through his dress pants. It was hard to pretend he wasn’t turned on.
“Where is Heath?” Emma asked, looking around. “He’s normally all over us, and food.”
“He took Curtis back. I figured I was safe. I had to worry about our son.”
She was glad he’d taken the precaution. The whole family was still edgy.
“He’s going to be pissed he missed food.”
“I’ll bring him some,” Greyson said, trying not to moan as his wife rubbed his erection beneath the table. It had been so damn long.
“What’s the magic tablet?” Poppy asked. “I’m almost afraid to ask,” she stated.
Emma pulled it out of her purse, logged in, and turned it around so Poppy could see it.
“Why does that have the FBI emblem?” she asked, her brows crunching together in a worry line.
Emma laughed.
“It was acquired from the FBI…”
Emma let that hang, waiting to see what the woman would say about it. This was a test.
She was up to bat.
“Ohhhhhhhh,” Poppy said. “Are we going to jail? I don’t want to be someone’s bitch. I really prefer dicks.”
Dimitri started choking on his wine.
Emma gave her a fist bump.
“FINALLY! I’m not the only one who can do that,” she stated.
Chris slapped Dimitri on the back, and simultaneously, he raised his hand.
“About dicks,” he stated.
“Oh, you are one,” Dimitri said through his fit of coughing. “Trust me on that.”
Chris grinned.
The food came out, and it was on huge plates with so much food that Poppy knew she was going to be waddling to the gym before her date tonight.
How could she not?
“How do you all not gain four hundred pounds?” she asked, checking out the size of her steak.
“We have lots of sex,” Emma said, and once more, Dimitri choked.
She giggled.
“Oh, well, then count me in.”
Chris grinned wickedly, and stopped when Dimitri pointed, first at him, and then at her.
“BEHAVE.”
She winked at him.
‘I like her,’ Emma mouthed as Dimitri glanced over at her. It was true. Poppy Wayne was a decent person, and she fit in.
‘Me too,’ he replied, grinning like a lunatic.
Emma was happy.
“I didn’t learn a whole lot at the sex shop,” Emma stated. “The cashiers recall seeing Libby, and she ALWAYS paid with cash. Why do you think she did that?” Emma asked, already knowing the answer.
Chris knew why.
“She didn’t want her husband to be able to trace it. She wanted her liaisons to be kept private. She definitely had some side action.”
They all agreed.
“Did they say anything else?” Greyson asked. He’d been busy protecting Chris while his wife did the interview.
“Nope. She came in alone, she left with bags of sexy loot.”
Emma pulled a tube of cinnamon lube out of her pocket and placed it on the table.
“Oh, Dante,” Greyson stated.
“It’s his favorite,” Dimitri added.
Chris looked appalled.
“Why did EVERYONE know about this but me?” he asked.
They laughed.
Even Poppy got into it.
“Let me postulate this with the clues I’ve been given,” she stated, pointing at the lube.
“Go for it,” Greyson stated.
“Your gay brother. Cinnamon lube. He likes that nice tingly warm sensation.”
Both Chris and Dimitri stared at her.
“I’m horrified,” Chris stated.
“I’m intrigued,” Dimitri added, grabbing the lube and slipping it into his pocket. “I’ll make sure Dante gets this,” he stated.
Emma laughed.
“Right…”
Dimitri winked at her, and then kissed Poppy on her very surprised and open mouth.
“So, we have some suspects to look into, and Chris will do the legwork. We’ll hit up the last two friends after lunch,” Greyson stated, getting them back on track.
Dimitri knew that it was time since they were done talking case.
“I need some help,” Dimitri said, as he shared his lobster with Poppy, and she shared her filet.
“With?” Emma asked.
“Tell them what you learned,” Dimitri said.
When she stared over at him, he gave her a reassuring nod to help her. Then, in Russian, urged her on, knowing Emma would understand, and maybe Greyson.
She got it.
They were friends.
Poppy told them everything, including what had been said about her mother—from the detective.
They all looked horrified.
“It’s not his fault. I didn’t tell him she was my mother, or Daisy was my sister.”
Emma shook her head.
“I’m horrified that you had to relive it, Poppy. For that, I’m sorry.”
Dimitri couldn’t love Emma more than he did at that moment. She was definitely the mother of this family and their core.
“What do you need, Dimitri?” Greyson asked.
“I want to break into the police station and steal the box with the DNA in it. If you can call in a favor, we could expedite this.”
“If the person’s DNA is on file,” Chris added, keeping it real. He knew the odds of it.
Yes, Dimitri was aware.
“That’s the big question when he brings up his plan?” Poppy asked. “No one here is going to say that it’s crazy or dangerous?”
They all shook their heads.
“Crazy is trying to do it during the day. We should do it at night,” Emma stated.
Poppy listened.
This was amazing.
“IF you can pull this off, what if you can’t get it tested?” she asked. “It’s a lot of risk for a possibly non-existent reward.”
“Blackhawk,” Chris said.
That was all he had to say.
Greyson pulled out his phone and dialed a number. When the man answered, his face came on the screen.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” Ethan offered. “Please tell me Vegas isn’t falling apart. I can’t come back there right now.”
He laughed.
“It is, but I need a favor. This isn’t so much about Vegas, but more along the personal lines.”
Ethan relaxed.
“What kind?”
“I need to get some DNA tested.”
“Easy.”
“I need to steal it first.”
He laughed.
“You may not borrow my wife. She’s up to her eyebrows in crazy with a case. She’s really busy.”
He only imagined.
“I have a thief. I need a lab.”
“I can make that happen. I’ll need a cop to make it look legit.”
They all looked at Poppy.
“We have one of those too.”
“Then you have your solution. Text me with a drop spot, and I’ll get an agent to do it. They’ll pick it up from your cop, and no one will be any the wiser.”
“Thank you, Ethan.”
“Don’t mention it. I mean it. Blackhawk out.”
The call went dead.
Poppy couldn’t believe this day.
“I don’t know which is more astounding. That I ate all this food, or you can call up Ethan Blackhawk on a whim.”
“Go with the food. Greyson and Ethan are friends,” Emma stated.
Sheila came back with staff to clear the plates from the table.
“Cheesecake or tiramisu?” she asked.
Emma wanted both.
“I’m feeding a baby. I get both.”
Greyson and Chris went with cheesecake since they’d had the tiramisu the last time they were there.
Dimitri and Poppy got one of each.
“I can’t hang out with you anymore,” she said. “My cardiologist won’t let me.”
Dimitri wanted to reassure her.
He slid his hand down her back and rested his hand on her ass. He realized when she figured it out. He leaned into her and whispered in her ear when everyone was distracted.
“I love your ass. We’ll work out later.”
That hung between them.
It made her draw up all kinds of sexy pictures in her mind. The room got hot, but she didn’t ask him to move his hand. She wasn’t an idiot.
Dimitri Gideon could touch her any day—in fact, all damn day.
“So who is going to pull this off?” she asked, trying to focus.
“Kat,” they all said together.
“Wait, didn’t she just have a baby?” she asked. “Isn’t that dangerous?”
“Yes, but breaking and entering is her thing,” Emma stated. “She’ll get in, get out, and never be seen.”
“This family…”
She didn’t have to say anything more.
It was self-explanatory.
It was freaking amazing.
* * * G R E Y S O N C R O F T * * *
Sky Villa
When Curtis finally returned home, his wife, Katerina, was putting Sadie down for her nap. She came out and she saw him standing there.
Her heart skipped.
“Hello, Katerina.”
“Curtis.”
“Where are the kids?” he asked, trying to ignore her curt reply and focus on what Greyson had said. He needed to make this all about her.
“Petra and Sam are with tutors at my brother’s condo. Dimitri had one arrive today who speaks Romanian and English for Petra. They are working, and Sadie is asleep.”
She went to walk past him.
“Are you divorcing me?” he asked out of the blue because he couldn’t avoid knowing anymore.
She stopped but didn’t turn around.
“What?”
“Have you fallen out of love with me, Anfisa?” he asked. “Please just tell me. I can’t take it anymore. You won’t touch me. You won’t let me touch you. You’re drifting away, and I don’t know what I did. I don’t know how to find my way back to you.”
She turned, and she was crying.
“You don’t love me anymore,” she whispered.
WHAT?
He was horrified.
“God! This is my worst nightmare. I’ve feared this,” Curtis said. “My gut was right. We are falling apart.”
So much for Greyson being right. It looked like he’d been wrong on this one.
“How do I reach you, Anfisa?”
“I feel broken.”
He remembered what Greyson said. Make it about her not him. Okay, well, that advice might still be relevant.
“Can you explain that to me?” he asked. “Can you help me understand so I can change? I don’t want to lose you, Anfisa. I want to be what you need, but you won’t communicate with me. Help me.”
She stared into his eyes, and she saw his worry.
God!
She was worried too.
“I look at Sadie and I think about how my sister died on the same day. I’m a horrible mother. I can’t even be happy. I’m just like my mother.”
Oh, shit!
That was one hell of a burden to carry, and he knew it. In fact, he hurt for her.
“Oh, Katerina.”
She kept venting.
Kat had to. It was all she had left.
“I hold this baby, and I don’t feel anything but sadness. I’m trying to be a good mom, but now I see why mine left. I’m just like her.”
And immediately, Curtis felt horrible that she was suffering alone. It sounded like grief and post-partum depression.
“Katerina.”
“I wanted to run away. I wanted to leave her. I feel like my life has disappeared.”
“Is that why you are so quiet?”
She nodded.
He moved toward her.
“Can I hug you?” he asked. “Can I hold my beautiful wife?”
She began sobbing.
Curtis picked her up in his arms and carried her to the couch. He held her on his lap and comforted her.
“I know next year when Sadie turns one, it’ll be on the day my sister died. I can’t even be happy. I was so happy to be having our child, and now…now I can’t even celebrate. I miss Natasha.”
He let her vent.
“I don’t want her to grow up and have her think I was like my mother. I don’t want to be that woman. I just don’t know how to get past this.”
“Is that why you’re trying to keep her all to yourself? You’re trying to get her to love you?”
She nodded.
“Oh, Katerina. You’re a good mom. You’re the best. She’s going to be so lucky to have you.”
“I wish I had her the day before Natasha died. I wish I had her the day after. Why that day?”
He got it.
The baby started crying.
She went to get up.
“Stay here.”
He placed her on the couch.
“But she’s crying.”
He went to the kitchen, he made a bottle of formula, and he headed into his daughter’s bedroom. It was filled with pink girly things, and it looked like a princess lived there.
One did.
The first Croft grandchild.
Seeing his child calling for them, Curtis scooped her up, and she kept crying.
When he placed the bottle in her mouth, she stopped. Curtis headed out and pointed at their bathroom. “Grab a book, some wine, and go take a bubble bath. I’m on duty.”
“I can’t drink.”
He smiled at her. “Anfisa, she won’t die if she has formula for one day. Pump and dump. It’s all good.”
She watched him and the baby. Sadie was drinking the whole bottle.
“Daddy has her. Mommy, go rest. You grew her. I can feed and burp her.”
“Really?” she asked.
“Yep. You need your old life back—even if it’s just a little bit.”
She got up, poured a glass of wine, and grabbed a magazine.
“Are you sure?”
Sadie finished drinking, and he put her over his shoulder and she burped like a little-stuffed piggy.
He laughed.
“Oh, me and my kid know how to bond. We like food. We’ll be fine.”
And he realized, they would be.
Curtis felt that connection to his child. He’d been wrong. It was there. She was cuddled against him, and she did love her daddy. Before, it had been the stress between him and Kat that scared him.
This…
This he could do.
Kat headed into the bathroom, filled the tub, and sank into the frothy bubbles.
It was only a matter of minutes before Curtis came in and she expected the worst.
“Is she okay?”
“She’s passed out on a food bender. I came to rub your feet while you soak.”
Kat stared at him.
He fished around for a foot and rubbed it.
“I would never divorce you, Curtis. You’re the only man I’ll ever love.”
He smiled at her.
Yeah, he saw that now. He could see that some of the weight was lifted off her shoulders just by telling him what was wrong, and he made a vow.
He’d make this better for his wife.
Somehow.
Someway.
He’d find a way to heal her heart.
“I’m sorry you feel alone. I’m sorry I didn’t realize it sooner. Tell me what you need, and I’ll do it.”
“I need my sister back.”
When she began crying, Curtis kicked off his shoes and climbed into the tub, clothes and all to hold her.
And he finally let Katerina mourn.
It was about time.
* * * G R E Y S O N C R O F T * * *
Commissioner’s Office
LVPD
In his office, he stared at the newspaper that was sitting on his desk. The front page was horrifying.
It said it all.
On it, his one detective, who had been offered a position as captain, was in a grainy snapshot making out with Dimitri Gideon. She was clearly well acquainted with him.
Well, holy shit!
Detective Poppy Wayne was taking a vacation from her job, and at first, he figured that she couldn’t take the heat of the cops on the crime scene.
Now he saw this.
It infuriated him and gave him one hell of an out. Oh, her mistake by fraternizing with a killer was going to be the way to break her.
Someone’s job was over.
HERS.
Heading out to his secretary, he stopped at her desk to give her the directive.
“I want every case that Detective Poppy Wayne worked on in my office. I’m going to do an audit.”
“You saw the paper, huh?” she asked.
“Yes, I did, and so did most of the city. While she’s not named, we can’t have someone who is making out with Greyson Croft’s bodyguard.”
“Lucky her,” his secretary stated.
“WHAT?”
“Commissioner, he’s hot. Look at all that hair. You can’t blame the girl.”
No, but he could end her career.
“Get the files,” he said, running his hand over his bald head. Hair was overrated.
His secretary began pulling up case numbers on her computer.
“There are a lot of them, sir. It will take a while. I’ll have them all printed out and to you by the end of the day.”
Oh, that would be great.
“That’s fine. I have time.”
Commissioner Raye returned to his office, and he was thinking about the Crofts.
As always.
What the hell were the Crofts up to?
They were digging into his wife’s disappearance, and now they were cozying up to their armed gunman and his detective. Was this their way of infiltrating his office?
Oh, hell no!
He hoped they weren’t going to try and pull the same shit that they did with Riley Henderson.
That was NOT going to fly.
Not then.
Not today.
Not ever.
Well, he’d find a way to handle the detective and cut this one off at the pass. There was no freaking way he was going to allow that to happen.
AGAIN.
He’d find a way to terminate her.
Jeffrey would find a way to end her career.
And then he’d be free of one more snitch.
* * * G R E Y S O N C R O F T * * *
When they left Peter’s Café to head to their interview, Greyson was all stirred up. It had nothing to do with the case or the fact that they were planning to break into the police station, but everything to do with the fact that all through eating, his kitten had been toying with him.
He was hard.
Horny.
And needed his wife.
Only, he was thinking about her heart, and what could happen if he pushed her too far. Would the stitches tear? Would she have a heart attack?
Yes, the doctor said she was good to go, but there was that niggling fear that he could still lose her.
It scared him.
Glancing over at Emma, as he was driving, he noticed her nipples were more noticeable.
Was it because he was so damn horny?
“Are you wearing a bra?” he asked.
“No, I’m not. It’s in Chris’s pocket. Why?”
WHY?
Jesus, he was out of control. Already, he was thinking bad things, and they involved a naked wife.
He licked his lips.
Was it getting hotter in the ride?
He felt like his temperature was going up. Maybe he should put on the air.
When he did, Emma looked over at him.
“Uh, it’s spring not summer,” she teased.
“I’m warm.”
Come to think of it…he was right. Emma was all heated up after sitting next to her sexy cave-Croft through lunch.
Seeing it as a chance to stir him up, Emma began stripping out of her blazer.
Greyson was focused on her and the road.
His wife was taking things off, and while he wanted to be good, he wasn’t a saint—by no means.
When she unbuttoned her shirt a little, he saw the scar on her chest, and it ended his libido.
It stopped there.
DEAD.
He couldn’t do it. It had been quite a few days since he’d had sex, and every time he saw that wound, he became sickened by it and what might happen.
Greyson turned off the air.
Funny.
He was no longer warm but ice cold.
“Okay, what’s wrong with us?” Emma asked. “Why are you behaving like this?”
He pretended he didn’t know what she was talking about. In fact, he wouldn’t look at her.
“Grey.”
“I’m good, Emma.”
She looked at his lap.
The erection she’d worked so hard on through lunch was gone.
Tears filled her eyes.
“You don’t find me sexy anymore.”
He glanced over so fast he nearly gave himself whiplash in the process.
“WHAT?”
“You didn’t care if I crawled all over Chris, you don’t even get excited by me, and you just lied to me.”
She sat there and quietly sobbed.
“Oh, Jesus,” he said, heading for Sky Villa. They were half a block away, and they had reporters behind them. He pulled into security, and checked in.
“Welcome home, Mr. Croft.”
“I’m just switching vehicles. We have the media all over us.”
“Oh, no problem, Mr. Croft. Have a safe day!” the security guy said over the mic.
The gate lifted, and Greyson headed through to get them someplace where they could talk and have privacy. He could see Ilan’s car, and that meant Chris was upstairs in the condo.
It looked like they were going to have a parking garage intervention.
Greyson parked in the spaces for the penthouse, and he glanced over at his wife—making her the focus of ALL of his attention.
“Please don’t cry.”
She couldn’t help herself.
“I’m getting fat and you don’t want to touch me. How am I supposed to stop crying?”
He began panicking.
First, Emma wasn’t getting fat, and when she did get ‘fuller’ he’d be in his glory. The ‘fat’ she was referring to was Mac. It was his son.
“Emma.”
“You don’t touch me.”
“Okay, you’re right.”
She cried harder.
That was NOT what he’d expected. Normally, Emma was a very rational person, and this was clearly part hurt, part fear, and a whole lot of hormones mixed into one ugly mess.
“We’ll be getting divorced next!”
He wanted to puke.
Oh, God!
He needed a manual to go with this pregnancy. His wife hadn’t been weepy yet, but here it came.
“I feel horrible about you.”
She cried harder.
“NO! Wait! I meant, I didn’t protect you, and I’m afraid I’m going to hurt you if you’re not healed. I see that scar and I get panicked.”
She looked up with tears in her eyes.
“My scar?”
“On your chest where they opened you up. I can’t even say it without freaking out. You nearly died. I nearly lost you. I just picture your heart pounding hard from the sex and then you dying on me. One little thing, and I could lose you. I’m scared.”
She stopped crying and wiped her eyes.
Greyson was seldom afraid of anything.
It had her attention.
Greyson didn’t stop there. The cat was out of the bag, so he didn’t mind telling her everything.
“I want to touch you, Emma. I want to touch you so bad that I’m hurting, but I fear breaking you. What if I’m too rough? What if I do something and your heart…what if you die on me?”
She stared into those gray eyes.
They were stormy.
He wasn’t lying. He was being honest.
“Greyson.”
“I am very attracted to you. I just fear losing my wife. I came so close. It was so damn close, Emma. I watched them do chest compressions. I breathed for you, so I could give you my life to save you. I was so scared.”
She unbuckled her seatbelt.
“Oh, Greyson.”
“You felt me in the restaurant. You know I wanted you. Trust me. When I showed up at that sex shop, and Chris was covered in your lipstick, I wanted to toss you over my shoulder, get a booth, and show you how I felt.”
Her heart skipped.
“I just can’t get past that scar. I fear that first contact. I’m not always gentle, and what if I hurt you?”
She understood his fear.
“Why didn’t you just tell me?”
“Because you’d cry. Case in point…,” he said, pointing at her. “I didn’t want to upset you.”
She touched the scar on his face.
“I know how you feel. I came so close to losing you, Greyson. I saw you sitting in that chair, and they’d tortured you. They’d cut your handsome face. When I see it, I am reminded of it.”
He blinked.
“And then I’m reminded how lucky I got. They didn’t win. I did. I got you back, Greyson Croft. I got my husband back for a second chance. I celebrate that scar now. It means more time with you. Don’t let them take that from you. Don’t let Heath Spencer take your relationship away from fear. Then he’s won.”
He closed his eyes.
“I won’t break.”
Emma knew he was struggling, so she opted to help him. Reaching over, she grabbed his belt buckle and pulled it open.
He glanced down.
“Emma.”
She didn’t stop.
“I want my husband, and I’m going to have him,” she said, dropping the zipper to his pants.
Emma pulled him from his boxers and stroked him.
He moaned.
“I missed you,” she said, licking him like a lollipop. She let the warmth of her mouth do the talking.
That heat didn’t lie.
“Emma, I don’t think…”
She took him in her mouth and began working him hard. Greyson watched and couldn’t speak. While his brain was fighting it, his lower body was not.
In a matter of seconds, he was hard—just like the other night when she’d given him one hell of a blowjob.
Only now, he wanted more.
Emma wasn’t giving up. She worked him and didn’t stop for any of his begging.
Greyson moaned.
“Emma,” he said, his hands finding her hair. He slowed her down, his body on autopilot.
Emma didn’t stop. She kept working him until he shook.
He stared down at her as his erection worked in and out of her mouth.
“Oh Christ,” he muttered.
When she set him free, she stared into his eyes.
“I suggest you get in the back, or security is going to be watching my ass as I ride my husband.”
“Emma.”
“IN THE BACK.”
He stared at her.
She took his bluff. Emma pulled off her boots and began dropping her pants. When she pulled off her panties, he got that she wasn’t kidding.
He climbed over the seat and got in the very back of the Navigator.
Emma followed.
“It’s hot in here.”
She unbuttoned her shirt and unzipped the body armor.
He was forced to stare at the scar, and it terrorized him. Emma felt him losing his erection.
It was now or never. Emma was fighting for her caveman. She couldn’t lose him to that fear.
She slid him home.
“Close your eyes,” she whispered.
He did as he rested his head back. He felt Emma begin to move.
“Remember our honeymoon?” she offered.
“Yes, God! You were so beautiful. I can’t wait to marry you again and have another honeymoon!”
She rode.
He moaned.
Her breasts bounced.
“Touch me, Greyson. Keep your eyes closed and touch me,” she begged.
His hands found her breasts, and that familiarity was there. He touched soft skin and the fuller breasts that made him crazy before she was hurt.
She moaned.
“I’m going to cum,” she whispered.
And then she did.
Greyson opened his eyes and watched in fear, praying her heart didn’t explode or leak.
It was stupid, but he was terrified.
When she opened her grass green eyes, after floating up from the orgasm, she was smiling.
“God! I needed that. Well, since you’re not in the mood to have sex…,” she offered, beginning to climb off his dick.
He stopped her.
“You’re really okay?”
She picked up his hand and placed it over her heart. He felt the steady beat. Then it slowed to its normal rate. All the while, she was simply watching him.
“See? I’m good.”
Yeah, he could see that.
She went to zip up her body armor, and he stopped her. Greyson had to put his faith in his wife. She knew her own body, and she wouldn’t risk Mac. So, he opted to let her lead on this one.
He’d follow.
Willingly.
“Ride me, kitten.”
She grinned wickedly.
“Oh, and back to Chris. The lipstick marks on his crotch were OVER the line. I swallowed it for him, but now I’ll punish you for it.”
And he did.
Greyson made her ride and ride.
He held on for as long as he could. He watched her big, beautiful, bouncy breasts, and he enjoyed the way she struggled to make him cum.
She begged.
She pleaded.
And he just tormented her, making her stop so he could force her to have orgasm after orgasm by torturing her clit.
And in the end, when he couldn’t stand it anymore, only then did he make his kitten finish him off.
When he finally exploded, a guttural shout of her name, he poured into his wife.
She rested on him, her body spent.
Then he gave her a memento of that moment in their ride. He bit her on the neck, leaving a sexy red mark.
Yeah, and that was the king of all hickeys, marking his wife and proving that the king always got his queen.
It was a reminder of what they’d shared, and Greyson Croft wanted the world to see it. He wanted every man to know that she was taken, and no one could have her.
This woman was owned.
“You’re mine,” he whispered in her ear as she rested against him.
She didn’t argue.
Emma knew one thing.
Her sexy caveman was back, and the fun was about to begin.