Chapter Ten
Florist
W hen they arrived at her mother’s old employer, Poppy read up on the information in the file. Greg Townsend, the owner, had been her mother’s boss. He owned the florist, and he might know something about what had happened to her mother.
They hoped.
“She loved it here,” Poppy stated.
That was the truth.
Her mother loved flowers, and nothing made her happier than being around them. That was why she was named Poppy, and her sister Daisy.
“Are you ready?” Dimitri asked, hearing the nerves in her voice. Only, she had to face them.
They’d do it together.
“Yeah, I am. I hope we get something. I really want to put their murder to rest. I want to give them justice, so I can finally have peace.”
He did too.
For her sake.
Before he got out, she touched his arm. “We have to cancel any dinner plans you made for tonight. I can’t do it.”
He didn’t move.
Instead, his heart skipped.
“Why?”
“Dimitri…it’s two in the afternoon, and I’ve eaten enough for three weeks. I will explode. It won’t be pretty.”
That helped him relax.
In fact, he laughed.
“The tiramisu was over the top, huh?”
“Yes, as was the lobster, all that butter, and the bread. I love bread. It doesn’t love me.”
“I like feeding you.”
“Why? So I can’t run away but roll?” she asked.
He found that amusing.
“It’s sexy when a woman really eats food and enjoys it. I know what a luxury decent food is, and I enjoy having it.”
“Oh, I enjoy it, but my ass…”
He stopped her.
“I already told you that I love your ass. You don’t see you how I see you.”
She stared at him like he was crazy.
“I don’t?”
“You have these really sexy curves. I want to run my fingers over them.”
“I have an ass.”
“Well, I would hope so. That would make sitting awkward.”
She laughed.
“I don’t get you.”
“For your information, Detective, I happen to like women who are curvier. If I had to pick an ass out of a catalog, that one right there,” he said, pointing at hers, “would be my first pick. It’s perfect.”
“I don’t get you and your family.”
He shrugged.
“I can ask them about your ass if you really want me to discuss it. Chris will be more than happy…”
“You heard about my mother. Why would you want to be with me? You’re Dimitri freaking Gideon. You can have any, or every, woman in Vegas, and Reno too. Why are you here with me?”
“I like your ass.”
She laughed.
He didn’t.
What she didn’t get was that he wanted her because she made him feel good. He loved when she had tasted her lunch and then, immediately, fed him some.
It was automatic.
It was a couple thing.
Dimitri had never had that connection with anyone, and it made him so very happy.
When he finished his wine, before their waitress could return, she handed him hers—to share.
It was intimate.
As they ate dessert, he fed her, and she had her hand on his thigh. He was Dimitri Gideon, but to her, he was just a person. No one ever saw him as one of those.
He was a weapon.
He was a killer.
He was soulless.
Poppy made him feel alive, and he loved her for that. Yes, he was already crazy about her. She saved him. She told him off. She joked with his family. She fit.
Now he had to find a way to get her to move into his very chaotic life.
“Yes, so you’ve said about my ass repeatedly,” Poppy stated. “All I’m asking is no more food today. I really can’t do it. I have food impulse control issues.”
He understood.
She’d been in a foster home, like Sam. When they first dropped him around food, he gorged—afraid it would disappear. Dimitri understood what she was saying.
It was mind over matter for her.
So, he’d give her that.
“What if we don’t do food tonight? What if I have something less food-y planned and more date-y?”
“Are those legit words?”
He grinned.
“Yes. Do you dance?”
“Uh, yeah, like a cat on a hot tin roof.”
He grinned.
“Sexy. Do you howl too? I do like a woman who howls like some animal.”
“You’re too much, but yes, I’ll do something less food-y and more date-y.”
“Deal, babochka.”
He was a handful, and she was beginning to believe that he was well aware of that too.
She snorted and hopped out.
As soon as he reached her side, Poppy was done messing around, and she was back in Detective Wayne mode.
The switch was flipped.
Dimitri knew it was very common. He’d seen Emma do it all the time. By the time they crossed the parking lot and to the shop, she was a cop.
It was sexy.
As they headed inside, Dimitri looked around. There were lots of flowers and an older man behind the counter.
“Excuse me,” she called.
“Yes?” he inquired. “Are you looking for flowers?” he asked, looking up.
Then he gasped.
“Eloise.”
“No, I’m Detective Wayne,” she said, showing him her badge. “I am here about the murder of Eloise Wayne, my mother. Maybe you can help me.”
He stood up.
He had to be about sixty.
“You’re Poppy. You look just like her. She had the same long hair.”
“Yes, I recall. What I don’t recall is what happened to her. Someone killed her, and we’re working a cold case.”
He sat and closed his mouth.
“I don’t recall.”
Dimitri listened.
“Was someone bothering my mother?” she asked, trying to get anything she could out of the man.
“I don’t recall,” he said again, much to Poppy’s displeasure.
“Was she dating anyone?”
“I don’t recall. It was a while ago.”
Poppy was getting nowhere.
Dimitri headed toward the man. He pulled out his wallet and placed it on the counter.
Poppy watched him.
Then he took out his gun and placed that beside it.
“Here’s your choice,” he said, the accent out. “You talk and get paid, or you don’t talk, and I shoot you between the eyes.”
He looked skeptical.
He pulled a silencer out.
Even Poppy stared.
Jesus.
That was…something.
The man started talking like he was a truck-sized hole in a dam.
“She was dating a few guys. Eloise liked to be surrounded by men. The more they told her she was pretty, the happier she was.”
“Did anyone bother her?” Poppy asked, trying again to get the answers she needed.
“I didn’t get into her business, but there were two names she brought up all the time when she was talking about the men who were in her life.”
“Who?”
“Brent and Lewis. No last names. One came and picked her up after work once.”
“Who?”
“Brent.”
Poppy made notes.
It was better than nothing.
“Thank you,” she stated.
Dimitri pulled out some money and paid the man. He tucked the gun and silencer into his pocket.
“I left the names outside in the ride,” Dimitri stated. “My bad.”
That was fine.
She’d head out.
“Thank you for your help,” she offered the florist. Then, Poppy headed out.
Dimitri pulled out a crisp one-hundred-dollar bill and handed it to the man.
“Give me a long stem rose,” he said.
The man handed it to him.
“Thank you,” Dimitri said, heading outside after Poppy. “I’d keep this little visit to yourself, or I’ll be back. You wouldn’t want me popping out and putting a bullet in your brain, now would you?”
The man rapidly shook his head.
Dimitri touched his finger to his lips in a ‘hushing’ motion.
“Good answer.”
Then he was gone.
Outside, when he saw her, Poppy was not that far away as she looked at the file on the hood of the car.
As Dimitri stepped off the curb, he heard the gun of the engine. It was out of place in the parking lot. He turned, just in time, to see a car barreling through the parking lot and right at him.
Well, shit.
Before he could move, he felt the hit as Poppy reached him and shoved him out of the way. Dimitri hit the ground and watched as Poppy was in the path of the car.
He went to get up.
Only he knew it was too damn late.
Poppy saved him, but at what cost?
Her life.
* * * G R E Y S O N C R O F T * * *
He wanted to kill the man so damn bad. When he saw him coming out with the flower for her, he knew he had to end him.
The second he stepped off the curb, he gunned the engine and took his foot off the brake.
He hauled ass right at him.
Then he saw her move.
She shoved him out of the way, and there was no possible way he could miss her.
He was about to kill her.
And there was nothing he could do about it.
* * * G R E Y S O N C R O F T * * *
Dimitri was up, but he’d never get to her soon enough. Just as he was about to jump into the path of the car, he watched someone slam into Poppy and take her down.
Dimitri dove at her, trying to stop her fall.
He caught her as Ilan Hyde rolled, pulled his gun, and fired five shots at the back window of the car.
It sped off around a corner.
Poppy opened her eyes and saw Dimitri staring down at her. She thought she was dead.
“Are you hurt?” he asked, touching her cheek with his big, warm palm.
“I’m okay, what hit me? It felt like a truck.”
“One of my security guys.”
Oh, Dimitri was pissed.
She’d nearly been flattened. It looked like Ilan was getting one hell of a bonus. He’d saved his woman.
“Mr. Gideon, those gunshots will bring the cops. You had better get Miss Wayne out of here ASAP.”
“I am a cop,” she said, as she was pulled to her feet.
“Yeah, seen with me,” he offered. “How do you think that’s going to go?” he asked as a crowd had already begun to form around them.
He had a point.
Dimitri tucked her into the vehicle.
“Ilan, thank you,” Dimitri stated.
He saluted and spoke with his Russian accent.
“Just doing my job, sir,” he said, hopping into his own ride to escape the mess that was coming.
Dimitri got them out of there.
“How’s your arm?” she asked. “Did I land on it?” she asked.
He lost it.
“What the hell were you thinking?” he asked, glancing over at her. “You could have been killed saving me! Are you out of your damn mind?”
She stared at him.
Was he yelling at her?
Was he pissed that she’d saved him from being a pancake on the hood of some maniac’s car?
Oh, it was on.
Her temper flared too.
“Yeah, to save you from being killed, Mr. Gideon!”
He sputtered.
“I don’t need you to save me.”
She pointed at his arm.
“Really, Romeo? Really? Can you sit there and say that to me? Have you lost memory of that week?”
He nearly lost it.
“Romeo was Italian. I am NOT Italian. I am anything but Italian!”
She laughed.
“That’s all you got?” she asked. “Well, I didn’t see that one coming, Rasputin.”
He tried to relax, but it wasn’t easy. If he didn’t, he risked scaring the girl. That didn’t sit well with him.
“That’s better. At least he was Russian!”
She snorted.
“Seriously, how’s your arm?”
“Not nearly as sore as I am—sore as in pissed, not in pain. I bought you a rose, and I landed on it.”
She tried not to laugh.
“I’m being serious.”
“It was a really pretty rose,” she offered, “and I would have really liked it too.”
He calmed down.
“Don’t save me.”
“Oh, well, okay. Next time, I’ll let someone smear your sexy face all over the hood of a car. Why the fuck not?”
“You think my face is sexy?” he asked.
She laughed.
“Until you scowl. Like now. Then it makes me laugh. Put it away, Dimitri. You’re not scary.”
He was calming down.
His heart had been pounding a million miles a minute.
She’d almost been smooshed by a car. First, that horrified him because she was his. Secondly, because he hadn’t been paying attention. He’d been focused on only her. Thankfully, Ilan had dropped Chris off and made it back to following them.
“That had to be your merry attacker,” he stated, deciding to not focus on what could have been.
“I didn’t get a good look at the car. I was too focused on a Russian hood ornament.”
“Funny.”
“Hardly,” she stated. “It was terrifying,” Poppy stated, as she reached over and took his hand in hers.
He squeezed it.
They both needed it.
“It was a white, nineteen eighty-five Cadillac Eldorado with no plates, and tinted out windows. It was likely stolen. You should call it in to check.”
Poppy pulled out her phone and did just that. When she finally hung up the phone, he’d been right.
“It was stolen a couple hours ago.”
“It looks like your stalker is not happy.”
She was aware.
“He nearly got me.”
Dimitri said nothing.
He knew the truth.
The person driving wasn’t after her.
That was aimed at him.
And he was fine with that. Let him try.
Then he’d die the most painful of deaths.
* * * G R E Y S O N C R O F T * * *
Jeanette Weis’s
Home
When Emma and Greyson pulled up, there were two ladies relaxing on the front lanai of the home. They were drinking margaritas, and they didn’t look to have a care in the world.
“If I ever get like that,” Emma said, “Shoot me. I never want to be a desperate housewife.”
He laughed.
“I have some seriously bad news for you, honey. People make you the pinnacle of that status. They all want to be you and married to me. Ironically, the money is yours.”
“Ours.”
He gave her a kiss.
She smelled like him, and he was getting all possessive. Now that the fear was over, he planned on playing catch up from his downtime.
“I think you should go bra commando more often. I like to see some sexy kitten nips.”
She snorted.
“That’s the zipper from the body armor. I’m not cold, but thanks, I think.”
He grinned wickedly.
Greyson was her sexy pirate, and it felt good to have him back in his behaving badly state. She liked him like that.
As they hopped out, one of the women catcalled and whistled at them.
“God! I hope that was at you and not my ‘nipples’,” Emma stated.
He laughed.
Oh, he was sure it was.
“Hello, ladies, can we talk to you?” Greyson asked, as they reached the lanai.
“Greyson Croft, you come on over here and have a drink. Then you can ask me anything you want as I stare at that fine hunk of man.”
Emma let him be leered at. So far, it hadn’t pissed her off. When it crossed a line, she’d blow. If it got them some information, she’d pimp him out.
It wasn’t like his attractiveness was a shock.
She’d do him.
Oh, wait…
Emma just did.
“We would like to know which one of you is Jeanette Weis?”
“I am, Mr. Mob. Take me in. I wouldn’t mind being manhandled by you.”
“Well, ladies, my wife wouldn’t like that.”
They both laughed.
“Screw her,” the big blonde one said.
And that was the fastest crossed line she’d ever seen, and she was going to assert her dominance.
Emma walked over and grabbed both margaritas and tossed them, and the glasses, into the shrubs.
“HEY!”
She spun a chair and sat on it. Only after pulling a gun out of her purse and slapping it on the table.
“Screw her, huh?”
That shut them up.
Fast.
“Stop looking at my husband, blondie. I’ll cut your eyes out and sew them to your shirt.”
She swallowed.
“Sorry.”
“We need to ask you some questions about Libby Raye. Start talking,” Emma stated.
They looked confused.
“Did they find her?” Blondie asked.
“What’s your name?”
“Marcella.”
“Marcella Lamb?” Greyson asked, taking a seat beside his wife.
“Yes, why?”
“We already visited your house. We were told you were her best friend.”
“Well, yes. I was.”
“What happened the day she went missing?” Emma asked them.
They both shrugged.
“We met for brunch, and she never showed. We were there, and then Emily showed up, and then no Libby. We waited, we called, and she never showed.”
Jeanette agreed.
“We called her for two days.”
“When did you call the police?” Emma asked.
“We didn’t. We called her husband. He was the one who handled it. He was a captain on some police force. We didn’t see the need to call it in.”
Emma continued, “Was anyone bothering her?” she asked. “Anyone at all?”
Marcella shook her head.
“Not that we knew of.”
“We heard that she was into other men than her husband,” Emma stated. “Is that true?”
They didn’t speak.
“What?” Emma stated.
“We heard she cheated on her husband, but that was through the grapevine. What happens in Vegas…”
“Doesn’t apply to your marriage or when you live here,” Emma stated.
They laughed.
“Uh, that’s easy to say when that fine piece of ass is your husband. Mine is a bald accountant. If his wallet wasn’t big, I wouldn’t let him stick his dick near me.”
Jeanette agreed.
“Mine lasts fifteen seconds and calls me ‘Jeanie-poo’. I haven’t gotten off without a vibrator in nine years. I switched out his Viagra with Melatonin, so he falls asleep. You have it easy.”
Greyson laughed.
Yeah, only, that was still no reason to cheat.
“I’d love him if he was bald, and he only lasted nine seconds. That’s not important.”
They both laughed.
“Right, says the woman whose clit gets a workout probably three times a week.”
Emma laughed.
“A day. Sucks to be you two,” she stated.
They were well aware.
“So why was Libby playing in someone else’s pasture?” Emma asked.
“Have you seen her husband?”
“Yeah, he’s a troll, and I wish he’d go back under the bridge, but she had to marry him for a reason.”
They shrugged.
“We have no clue. We just got together a few days a month and got shitfaced drunk on margaritas at brunch. One time, she talked about the most amazing orgasm she ever had. We knew it wasn’t Jeffrey. She once showed us a picture of his dick. It was tiny.”
Emma laughed at that one because, honestly, she couldn’t help herself. He was a tiny-dicked weasel.
Greyson gave her a look.
“What? Like we thought it wasn’t? Give me that one at least.”
He shook his head.
“Thank you, ladies,” he said, using the term loosely. They were staring at his crotch, and thinking God knew what.
Emma got up and headed for their ride. It appeared that they’d gotten everything they could out of Libby Raye’s friends.
Greyson followed behind his wife, and when they got into their ride, he laughed his ass off.
“I can’t wait to see him and tell him there’s a picture of his tiny dick in circulation,” he said, “and I will too.”
She snorted.
“Well, that got us nothing.”
“Yeah, I know. Let’s head home. Chris might have found something on the people we gave him.”
Emma hoped so.
They had gotten some good leads, but now they were running out of anyone to interview.
No one knew what happened to Libby Raye.
It appeared that she had disappeared without a freaking trace. They suspected her husband, but unfortunately, they needed proof.
Damn laws.
They always made it harder.
* * * G R E Y S O N C R O F T * * *
Brent Hedricks’s
Apartment
When Dimitri and Poppy arrived at the man’s apartment, they were both calmer. The near hit and run had rattled them both, but they were now focused on the two names that Greg Townsend had given them.
They didn’t have a ton of time for the day, and Dimitri didn’t want her anywhere near the man who ‘MIGHT’ be her biological father.
That wouldn't be a good interview.
So, he talked her into the other man, Brent Hendricks.
On paper, he seemed pretty harmless. He’d been a neighbor to Eloise, Poppy, and Daisy. He’d been her friend, and they were hoping to catch him at home.
“After this interview, I’ll drop you back at the hotel penthouse. I have a few things to handle before our evening.”
She was good with that.
Poppy wanted to get her hands on some more of Emma’s pretty smelling lotions, so she could get a sexy Russian to touch her.
Plus, she was maxed out.
It had been a long, shitty day.
The cop telling her that her mother was a whore, and both of them nearly getting run down. Hopefully, tonight would be an easy night.
She was praying for it.
“That works for me,” she stated. “I have a few things to handle too.”
“Like?”
“Wash my hair.”
He laughed.
“Really? Don’t women usually do that when they want to avoid a date?”
She sniffed her hair.
“I smell like Italian food. That’s what happens when you stuff it in.”
He laughed.
“Well, no dinner tonight. We’ll have a snack.”
She was good with that.
Poppy flipped through the notes.
“It says he’s in that apartment,” she stated, pointing at the one not far away.
“He’s never moved?” Dimitri stated.
She shook her head.
Poppy pointed at a red door not far from the man’s. It was where she’d lived, and her family died.
“That’s where we lived.”
“Poppy, I’m sorry.”
She shrugged it off.
“I’m a cop. I can do this. I can handle it.”
Dimitri hopped out and met her at her door. He held out his hand for her.
“You can lean on me.”
She took it.
“Thank you, Dimitri.”
Together, as a unified front, they headed toward the door to talk to the man who was once her mother’s friend. Poppy held her breath as Dimitri knocked.
No one answered.
He knocked again.
Secretly, she was hoping he didn’t. She wanted out of there ASAP. She wanted away from that place. It was filled with bad memories.
Dimitri looked at his watch.
It was still early in the day.
“What does he do for a living?” he asked.
Poppy thought back to the file that she’d left on the front seat of his car.
“I think it said he was an accountant.”
Dimitri got it.
“It’s tax season. He’s likely at work.”
Yeah, and she was glad.
“Can we go? I feel like puking,” she admitted.
Heading back to the car, he placed his arm over her shoulder and signaled to Ilan. They were heading out.
This place was hurting her.
And that was the last thing Dimitri wanted. For the rest of today, he’d help her heal.
* * * G R E Y S O N C R O F T * * *
Riley Henderson’s
Home
Tonight was the night.
Delilah Fleur was going to be marrying the best guy in the whole damn city. She was so freaking lucky too.
As she sat there, in his bedroom, she was getting ready. It occurred to her that she needed to call her partner to let him know that she was going to need some time off.
Finn would cover for her.
She knew he would.
As she dialed, she could hear Riley moving around in the spare bedroom next to hers. They’d decided to get dressed separately so they’d be surprised.
Delilah wouldn’t be walking down the aisle to him, so they wanted something sweet to remember it.
Riley wanted a white dress, and boy, was he going to get it. She was going to wow him.
When Finn answered the phone, she couldn’t hold back her excitement.
“I’m getting married!”
He paused.
“Uh, Dee, is that you?” he asked. “This has to be a prank call. You’d never say those words to me.”
She laughed.
“Riley proposed, and we’re eloping. You’re like family to me, and I wanted you to be the first to know from my side of our family.”
“So, one prenup coming up.”
“Finn.”
He laughed.
“Dee, you’re marrying a cop, and you’re marrying some man you’ve dated weeks. Maybe you’re moving too fast. We both know you have a shit ton of assets. You’re loaded. Why is he marrying you?”
She was appalled.
“Finn.”
“Dee, think about it. You make a lot of money every month. At least let me get a prenup together and run it over. I’ll witness it. You’ll be safe.”
“I am safe with Riley.”
He laughed.
“Yeah, said every couple who ever hastily rushed into marriage. I’m your friend, so I’ll be honest. You’re making a mistake.”
She thought about the video, his emotional request to her parents, and her brother.
Delilah didn’t buy that.
“Finn, that’s not nice.”
“We aren’t nice people, Dee. Why is a nicey-nice cop marrying a barracuda-like yourself?”
“FINN! I’m not having Riley sign a prenup!”
“I’m playing devil’s advocate. Think about it. You’re both opposites, and here he is, whisking you off your feet. I want you to be safe, Delilah. That’s all.”
“Pass on the prenup.”
He laughed.
“Oh, well, we’ll have this discussion later. I’ll make sure I don’t rub it in your face at your divorce.”
Here was the problem with attorneys.
They were cynical.
They’d seen it all.
Yet, with Riley, she saw hope.
“There won’t be a divorce,” she stated. “There won’t be that day, Finn.”
“We’ll discuss it when you come back to work. Maybe we can work out something. He’s a cop, so he’s not too smart. Maybe we can get him to sign something after the fact.”
“FINN!”
“Dee, let’s be realistic.”
“I quit,” she stated.
There was a pause.
“Pardon?”
“I’m leaving the partnership. I quit. Since you, who I thought was my friend, thinks this about the man I’m marrying tonight, you can have the law firm. I’m out.”
“Delilah!”
“No, Finn, it’s better this way. Riley and I want to start a family. I was going to quit when I got pregnant, but since you ‘KNOW’ him so well, and he’s only after my money, this solves your theory. I’m quitting.”
“Dee, don’t do this.”
She hung up.
It was already done.
When she looked over, he was standing there in his boxers and nothing else.
“I’m sorry, but I heard through the wall. I’ll sign. Have him bring it over. I’ll sign it right now.”
She headed his way.
“No, Riley. No. We’ll just up my timeline. That’s all. We talked about me staying home and being a mother.”
“We did.”
“And that’s what I’ll do. We’ll find a place, somewhere that’s ours, and I’ll work for the Crofts. I can do it from home where I can watch our children.”
Riley watched her nervously.
He never once thought about a prenup.
“Are you sure, Delilah?”
She kissed him.
Her body melted into his, and they became one. Through the kiss, his heart thumped, and her hand sat over it. When Delilah pulled away, she stared into his eyes.
“I love you, Riley.”
Oh, he loved her too.
So.
Much.
“I love you, too, Delilah. I make more than enough money for us to survive. I’m not worried.”
Neither was she.
For the first time in her life, Delilah was willing to risk it all.
ON RILEY.
That was how she knew.
He was definitely the one.
* * * G R E Y S O N C R O F T * * *
Sky Villa
When Dimitri arrived back at the condo, the first place he checked for his kids was at his sister’s place.
They weren’t there.
Instead, he found his sister and Curtis, and they were spending the afternoon as a happy couple.
Clearly, whatever the man did, on Greyson’s advice, had worked. They looked calm.
Curtis was on the couch, cuddling Sadie, and he didn’t look like he was having a meltdown.
The baby on the other hand was.
“She sounds fussy,” he said, checking her out.
“Yeah, she’s not a happy camper,” Curtis said. “We’ve been trying to help her relax, but she’s stressed about something.”
“I don’t know what to do,” Kat said, starting to worry.
Dimitri’s sisters weren’t babies when he got them, but he did pick up a few things along the way.
“First, stay calm. Children are like wild animals. They can smell fear,” he teased.
“Really?” Curtis stated. “You’re going to get a sense of humor now?”
He laughed.
“Can I show you something?” Dimitri asked.
Curtis was at the point he could do freaking magic, and if it calmed Sadie down, he’d take it.
“Sure.”
He grabbed her blanket, placed it on the floor, and then held out his hands for the baby.
“Uh…are you leaving her there on the floor?” he asked. “That doesn’t seem…safe. What if we step on her?”
“Relax. It’s not for long.”
“Let him try,” Kat said. “Dimitri is really good with kids. They like him.”
Hesitantly, he handed Sadie to him.
Dimitri placed her on the blanket and wrapped her like a baby burrito. As soon as he tucked the blanket tightly around her, she stopped fussing.
Her legs and arms were secured, and she was content.
“What the hell?” Curtis asked. “How did you do that? What is this witchcraft?”
“I read once that babies feel like they’re falling. They go from being packed in like a sardine to being all loosey-goosey,” Dimitri stated.
It was funny to hear it from him.
“Did your brother, the killer, just say ‘loosey-goosey’ with a Russian accent and a straight face?” Curtis asked.
Kat laughed.
“It’s a weird day.”
Dimitri cuddled Sadie in his good arm, and he rocked her gently against his body. Immediately, she closed her eyes.
She was out cold.
“There you go. One tired baby burrito.”
“Jesus,” Curtis said, getting up and taking Dimitri’s face in his hands. He kissed him on the mouth.
Kat laughed.
“Mr. Croft, that’s so very inappropriate. You are not my type. For the record, Steele kisses better.”
Curtis laughed.
“I don’t know how you did that.”
“Kiss Steele? He actually kissed me, which seems to go on a lot with this family. No wonder the media talks.”
Kat giggled.
“Thank you, Dimitri.”
“You’re welcome, and to answer you, I had a library card when the kids were young. I read a lot of books on how to raise children. I’m a reader. I read every night.”
That didn’t surprise Curtis. Dimitri was self-taught and very intelligent. The man could pretty much talk about anything.
“Well, bless you, Dad.”
“I’ll kick your ass if you call me that again.”
Curtis grinned.
“Is she your daughter?” he asked, pointing at Kat.
Dimitri sighed.
Curtis smiled triumphantly.
“Dad it is. OH! Or grandpa.”
“Jesus. I’m going to hurt you,” he muttered. “I’m barely in my thirties. Shut up.”
Kat found that amusing.
“Anyway, how were the kids?” Dimitri asked. “By kids, I mean mine.”
They’d busted him enough.
“Petra was good. She actually gave me a hug today,” Kat said. “Of course I had a cookie at the time, so I’m not sure it would have happened without one.”
He laughed as he cuddled Sadie.
“You look good with a baby,” Kat stated out of the blue. “You should have some.”
He looked up at his sister.
“Okay, I’ll take this little bundle.”
Kat laughed.
“NOTICE neither of us stopped you. We’re tired. It’s week two.”
Dimitri laughed.
“Wait until she’s a teenager, and she strings all her bed sheets together and climbs out a window.”
Curtis laughed until Dimitri pointed at his sister.
“She didn’t.”
He nodded.
“Oh, shit! I need medication,” Curtis stated.
Dimitri knew that was the truest thing said by a father—ever. He’d needed it too. Cigars and bourbon worked miracles.
Since his kids were good, he’d talk to his sister about why he was there.
“Want to do a job?” he asked out of the blue.
She nearly jumped off the couch and onto her brother. She was that damn excited.
“Please don’t be kidding.”
He laughed.
“We need something retrieved.”
“Uh, what?” Curtis asked, wary of where this was leading. While he knew his wife would go back to work, he’d hoped it wouldn't be this soon.
Still…
As a man, he knew better than to say that out loud.
“A box.”
“I’m in,” she stated. “Tell me when and where. I can get into my gear right now…”
He stopped her.
“You have some time.”
“Uh, is that a good idea? You just had a baby,” Curtis stated. The word ‘gear’ drew up frightening pictures.
“I’m good.”
To prove it, she did a backbend and a handstand in front of the men, and she held it.
Dimitri believed her.
“I want to work.”
Curtis sighed.
“I’m outvoted. Where is this ‘box’?”
“In a locked room. We need you to break into the police lockup and steal some DNA.”
Curtis stared at him.
Did he just say the POLICE LOCKUP?
“No,” Curtis stated. “NO, NO, and NO.”
“What?” Dimitri stated.
“I said no. She’s not doing that. You’re not sending a CROFT into a police station to steal anything. Are you out of your mind?”
He laughed.
He’d thought the same thing.
“Oh, Curtis. Yes, yes, she is. She’s your wife, not your property.”
Kat stood there between them.
She saw the battle brewing.
“Can we talk alone?” she asked her brother. “I think Curtis and I should discuss this as a couple since we’re married.”
Dimitri was good with that.
He headed toward the door with Sadie.
“I’ll meet you upstairs. Emma will want to cuddle the burrito.”
He closed the door.
Curtis didn’t give her time to say anything. He was off on his tangent before she could open her mouth.
“Baby, I’m scared. That’s the police headquarters. You’ll be walking into the lion’s den, and now that you’re my wife, you’re a Croft. That’s an even tastier gift than a Gideon to those cops.”
“I’ve been in there before when Emma was trapped. I know my way in, and I know where the desk guards sit. I’ll be good.”
He didn’t like this.
AT ALL.
“I need to be part of the team. Dimitri…he trained us, and Natasha didn’t do the job. She raced out, and she wasn’t thinking. I am. I need you to let me do this to prove that I’m still the woman I was and that he still did a damn good job of training us. He’s not sending me in only for a box, but to make sure we’re still viable.”
Well, this was a shitty time for him to decide to audit his training techniques.
“Please, Curtis? Have faith in me. If you say no, I’ll stay home, but I need to be more than just Sadie’s mom and your wife. I need to be Kat.”
He got it.
For her, he’d give in, but he had a condition to this whole thing.
“If you let me be your backup outside.”
She kissed him.
It was warm, heated, and it reminded him of what they once had. Now, this was his wife.
She rubbed against him.
He got hard.
Kat let him go.
“So, I can do it?”
“Anfisa, I don’t own you.”
She loved him.
He’d helped her through all of this and he had faith in her. She headed toward the bedroom.
“Uh, our kid went that way.”
“I was going to help my husband get naked, so I could give him a blowjob.”
Well, that perked up his ears.
“Pardon?”
“Mr. Croft, we have no baby, and while I can’t have sex, you certainly can get off. Come into our bedroom. I’m going to make you cum.”
He jumped over the couch, and nearly slid into the wall, but he wasn’t missing this opportunity.
His wife was back.
Freaking Hallelujah.
* * * G R E Y S O N C R O F T * * *
Chris was pulling the details when Emma and Greyson walked in the door. Dimitri was right behind them, and he had a baby in his arms.
“Oh look, the killer found another kid.”
He laughed.
“I thought she was safer up here. I didn’t want her covered in blood. Curtis just told my sister she couldn't help us with our extrication plan.”
Emma cringed.
“When will that cave-boy realize that it’s only sexy in bed?” she asked.
“And cars.”
Chris pointed at him.
“Please tell me that you did NOT fornicate in my ride! I wax her and keep her clean. You have a vehicle that’s become a sperm receptacle.”
Greyson laughed.
“Uh, Croft Industries pays for that ride, and I’m a Croft. I can fornicate anywhere I want,” he said.
“Life is so unfair.”
“Gideon Inc. owns my rides,” Dimitri stated. “You can’t fornicate in those,” he added.
“Duly noted. Oh, wait…”
Emma giggled.
Her husband was incorrigible.
To change the subject, Emma dropped down on the couch next to Chris.
“Where are the kids?” she asked.
“Heath is up in the pool with them. He’s teaching them the proper way to do cannonballs. He said he’s babysitting tonight. He wants to make popcorn and play board games. He wanted you to let Paris and Tessa off the hook.”
Emma laughed.
“It looks like we, inadvertently, found ourselves a nanny.”
Greyson took a seat.
It appeared they did, but it could only be temporary.
“Well, since we’re bringing it up, let’s discuss it.”
“What?” Emma stated.
“We need a nanny. Dimitri has two kids, the Archers are having two—at least—and Kat and Curtis have one as well. We all have jobs. We’re on hiatus from Aquarius, but we have to go back at some point to help people in this city.”
He had a very valid point.
“We can use Heath for now,” Emma stated. “He really likes kids. He was one of eleven.”
They stared at her as she laid down on the couch and placed her head on Chris’s lap. He moved the tablet over for her.
“You’re shitting me?” Greyson said.
“That’s a lot of kids,” Dimitri stated. “His parents were saints. I did two teenage girls and drank.”
“Literally?” Chris asked.
“Nightly.”
Greyson was glad they were only having one at a time. While Paris’s children were technically half his, they were all of his to cluck over.
“We need someone who can protect them,” Dimitri stated. “The easiest way to get to us is our kids.”
He was right.
“Okay, hire someone,” Emma stated.
“I know a woman…,” Dimitri began, getting all of their attention.
He was the LAST person they thought to ask about a babysitter for their kids.
Dimitri laughed.
“Not that kind of know—as in the biblical sense. She worked for one of the mob men in Vegas. He met an untimely end when Randall was king.”
“How?” Greyson asked.
“I killed him,” he said, without batting an eye. “Anyway, I know a woman who was a nanny, but she was also trained to protect. She was lethal.”
“And we want a killer around our kids?” Greyson asked incredulously.
Emma and Chris both pointed at Dimitri, who was cuddling Sadie.
Greyson got it.
“Point taken. We interview her first.”
“She’s not in the country. I have to get her in.”
They stared at him.
He laughed.
“Okay, so she’s not going to be ‘legal’. We’ll pay her under the table. It’s not like people don’t do it every day. If you want the best, you find the best.”
He had a point.
Why not break the law?
It was expected of them anyway.
Dimitri knew it was time to give them his update.
“My case is a tough one,” he stated.
Emma was ready. She knew he looked a little too rattled when she saw him. Dimitri looked edgy.
“What happened?”
He told them.
“Holy shit!” Greyson stated. “You need to be on alert. You need to make sure you keep your eyes open. Maybe you should double up security.”
He shook his head.
“I’m ready now. That car was aimed at me. I think Poppy’s mother’s killer is gunning for me.”
They agreed.
“What do I do?” he asked.
“Stay alive.”
“I meant with investigating. This is NOT my thing.”
Greyson knew.
“You have to be getting somewhere. If he’s gunning, he’s watching her, and you’ve made him nervous. Just keep going at it, and watch your back.”
He could, and would, do that.
It was time to change the subject before Emma began mother-henning him.
“What did you find?” he asked Chris.
“Well, I found some interesting shit out, and I don’t know what to do with it.”
“What?”
“I ran the names you both came up with. First, I ran Johnie Baker.”
“And?” Emma asked.
He pulled up the information on the screen, so they could all review it.
“He’s clean. In fact, he’s squeaky clean—not even a parking ticket. Then I ran his financials through the internet and the FBI.”
He pulled up his IRS forms.
“He’s making that,” Chris stated.
It was a decent above average salary.
“Okay, and?”
He showed them the internet search. “Did you know you can run someone’s name on the internet and find out if they’ve ever filed for bankruptcy?” he asked.
He pulled it up.
And there he was.
“He’s flat broke.”
That was interesting.
“That was four years ago. Now look,” he said, pulling up the man’s tax returns from the previous year.
They studied it.
It didn’t add up.
“Wait,” Emma stated. “According to his taxes, Johnie got the new house tax credit, and he also he got the credit for solar panels…that takes money.”
It certainly did.
“Social media?” Dimitri asked.
They scanned it.
It was always a treasure trove of personal information by way of pictures, posts, or one-line messages.
That’s when they saw it.
“That’s a sweet ride for someone who was flat broke four years ago, and then came into some money.”
Yeah, he was aware.
“We don’t even own one of those rides,” Chris said, “And there’s a shit ton of money in this family.”
“Want one?” Emma asked.
“NO! Don’t buy me shit!”
“He can buy his own,” Dimitri stated. “He’s part owner of my company,” he added, not mentioning his sister’s name. “In fact, he’s pretty damn wealthy.”
“Oh, Jesus. I don’t need that.”
“Denise, eat your heart out,” Emma stated.
He grinned.
“Okay, I can use that. Bring on the babes!” he said, but no one there bought it. His hands were in Emma’s hair as she rested her head on his lap.
“And now I have to keep the gold digging hussy’s off of Chris too. My life just got busier.”
He leaned down and kissed her on the lips.
That’s when he saw it, peeking out from beneath her shirt. They had matching hickeys.
“Who bit my girl?” he asked, checking out her neck.
Greyson handled that one.
“That is a love bite from a horny husband. It trumps naked in a bathtub, and making out in a sex stall at a porn shop every time.”
She laughed.
It had been pretty damn hot.
Chris looked skeptical.
“I am pretty sure her putting her lipstick on my crotch wins,” Chris stated.
Greyson stared at him.
“Kill him, Dimitri.”
He went to hand Greyson the baby.
Chris laughed as Emma sat up and leaned against him to make sure neither man grabbed him. When they screwed around, shit got broken.
“Can we focus?” she stated.
“Okay, back to work,” Chris said, trying to forget he had money. It freaked him out. “Anyway, that’s not the best news of the day.”
“What is?” Greyson asked.
“Michael Skinner is.”
He pulled up the man’s picture, and they checked him out. Clearly, Chris wanted them to see something and they just weren’t. He was smiling like a lunatic.
“What?” Emma asked. “What is it that you know that we don’t know?”
“We know him.”
They all stared at him, waiting for him to tell them how they knew the man. He didn’t look familiar.
“How?” Greyson asked.
He pulled a picture up on the screen of Abby McCoy, and still, they didn’t connect the dots.
Emma didn’t get it.
“Okay, that’s Libby’s sister. Greyson and you talked to her at the bar. How do they connect?”
Chris pulled up her driver’s license from three years ago and Michael Skinner’s too.
They stared at it.
They’d never asked Abby her married name, and she’d never offered it up.
“Holy shit! They were married?” Emma asked.
The names and addresses matched.
Greyson stared at it.
Dimitri whistled.
“I don’t think that’s a coincidence. At all.”
Emma agreed.
“So, our missing woman worked with her sister’s husband, and some people say that she had some holiday sex in a closet with him?” Emma asked.
Greyson didn’t like this.
At all.
They had a case where the person who hired them had been the bad guy. Abby hadn’t hired them, but she was a link to her own sister’s disappearance.
And she hadn’t warned them.
“What would you do if your sister slept with your husband at a Christmas party and you found out about it?” Greyson asked Emma.
She stared at him.
Oh, that was easy.
“I’d kill her.”
Yeah, and that was a big problem for Abby McCoy. She’d just moved to the top of the suspect list.
And changed the game.
* * * G R E Y S O N C R O F T * * *
Dimitri’s Condo
Shower
He’d just finished shaving in the shower when he could see a pair of eyes watching him through the glass. Being a father meant never having private time alone. Honestly, Dimitri loved them so much that it didn’t matter.
Already, Petra was part of his heart. He couldn’t imagine a day without her. She was his.
So, whenever they could be together, he was good with that—including when he was showering.
“What’s up, Sam?” he asked.
“You have another date?”
“Yes. I’m taking Poppy out.”
Okay, that wasn’t the absolute truth. They were staying in and watching some movies and having popcorn, but the boy likely didn’t care how he was planning to romance a woman. To Sam, it was still yucky.
“Oh.”
Dimitri turned off the shower and towel dried himself as he watched the boy. Sam was stressing something.
He could tell.
“Where’s Petra?”
“Playing a game on my tablet. She’s learning the English words for colors. I downloaded some basic things that might help her.”
“You’re a good big brother.”
“Thanks, but I’m not really her brother. She’s your sister, so…”
Yeah, the more he saw Petra, the more he suspected otherwise.
“That doesn’t mean anything. You’re bigger than her. It’s your job to protect her. No matter what happens in life, you need to be there for her. You’re the man of the family after me. You protect your sister.”
Yeah, like he clearly didn’t do with Natasha. It still hurt his heart.
“Are you getting rid of us?” he asked.
Dimitri stopped drying his hair.
“What?” Was this the same boy who insisted he go out on his date just last night? Was this the same boy who told him to go and get the girl?
“Are you going to marry her?” he asked.
Dimitri had a hard and fast rule about raising kids. He didn’t lie. Okay, he lied about Santa, and he lied about other make-believe things, but not about important things.
Like this.
“I want to one day. I love her.”
Sam sat on the edge of the tub.
“I’m happy for you. If you have to give us up to get her to marry you, Dad, it’s okay. We can live with Emma or Paris. I totally get it.”
Clearly, he didn’t get it.
That was never going to happen. Dimitri would never put his needs first—not for a woman and NEVER over one of his children.
“Where did this come from?” he asked. “You said you were happy with me dating, and now you’re not. Talk to me, Sam. What’s going on in that head of yours?”
“Not everyone likes kids. What if she doesn’t?” he asked. “What if she doesn’t want us under foot? We’re not exactly…”
“You’re not exactly what, Sam?”
“Perfect.”
“To who?”
“The world. No one wanted me. Something has to be wrong with me, and no one wanted Petra. There’s something bad about us. Maybe adults can just tell.”
Dimitri wrapped the towel around his waist before leaving the shower, and then he went to his knees in front of the boy.
“First of all, you and Petra come first. If anyone were to say to me that it was you or them, I’d pick you every single time.”
“You’d be crazy to do that.”
NO.
He’d be a parent to do that.
“You aren’t garbage, Samuel. You are mine. I’m your dad, and I’m going to always be your dad. I am not giving you away because I find a woman. If Poppy can’t love you, I can’t love her. We are a package deal. We come as one really great present with all the fun that goes along with it. So, if I ever decide to marry her, or her to marry me, she has to know that there are some things that come first. You both.”
“But you like her.”
“Yes, very much. I’ve never liked anyone quite like I feel about her, but that’s nothing to how I feel about you. I love you. You’re my son. Petra…she’s my sister, but she’s going to be raised as my child. I will always love you both. When you need me, I’m going to be here.”
“I love you, Dad.”
Dimitri pulled him against him and hugged him.
“I can promise you that I will never let you go. When my brother took you, I came. I will always come if you call me, Sam. That’s a promise.”
“I have something for you.”
“What?”
“Here,” he said, pulling the pretty rock from his jeans pocket. “I let Emma hold this when she was hurt, and then she was okay. I found it the day I met her. I want you to hold it on your date. I want you to get lucky.”
He lifted a brow.
Sam stared at him when he realized what his father thought he meant.
“That’s so gross. I meant in getting her to like us. I want her to love us so you can love her. I want you to have someone who will love you as much as you love us.”
“You know how you said something was wrong with you and no one wanted you?”
“Yeah?”
“Fuck them. I got the best kid in the whole world, and I’m glad they didn’t want you, Sam. I got you, and that makes me so happy.”
“Language.”
Dimitri laughed when he said the same thing that he always said to him when he cursed.
Yeah, this was his boy.
“While Petra is playing, why don’t you come help me pick out something to wear to impress the babe?” he asked.
“I can do that. The ladies love me.”
“I can see why. You’re very charming like your father. You’re handsome like me too. One day, the ladies are going to be kicking in the door.”
Sam laughed.
“Unless they have a pizza, pass.”
He found that amusing.
Dimitri picked up his kid and carried him to his bedroom. After he helped him pick out his clothes, he laid with him on his bed and cuddled with him.
They talked about work.
School.
Father and son things.
Then a miracle happened—one in which Dimitri hadn’t seen it coming.
It was so huge, he’d figured it would take much longer to happen.
Petra entered the room, came to the edge of the bed, and wanted to join them.
She, for the first time, cuddled against Dimitri.
That was a huge present.
Dimitri patted his pocket.
“Sam, that rock?”
“I know. It’s pretty awesome.”
And his son was right.