Chapter Fourteen
Re-Interview
Team Two
I t wasn’t that they didn’t think Greyson did a good job in interviewing Johnie Baker, it was just that the man’s guard was likely up the second Greyson came into the room. He was the mob boss, and no one liked tangling with that viper.
Well, Emma did.
He was sexy.
So, this time, they opted to find him at his place of employment, and catch him as he ran out to get some coffee at the place across the street.
“Good call. Caffeine and cigarette break,” Chris stated. “Want to grab him now or later?”
“Let’s let him get his coffee. Why really ruin his day?” she asked jokingly.
He laughed.
“Clearly, you’re the nice one.”
Oh, she wouldn’t bet on that. Vegas had made her maternal and mean. Two very dangerous things when it came to her family and their wellbeing.
When the man exited the café, he lit up and headed back toward his office building, carrying a coffee as he smoked. When he rounded the corner, he walked right into Chris’s much bigger body.
“Uh, excuse me,” he stated.
Then he saw Emma.
“Oh, shit! Not you too!”
“Yeah, I get that a lot,” Emma said, as Chris grabbed his smoke, snapped it in half, and tossed it on the ground. “Here’s the one thing you don’t really know about the Crofts,” she stated. “Greyson is the nice one.”
He swallowed.
“Here’s the funny thing, Johnie, my BFF here, Christopher, is going to hurt you. I’m not even going to pretend. See, my husband came home with information from you, but I think you left some out.”
“Like?” he asked, as Chris stared at him.
“You said Michael Skinner was hitting it with Libby, the missing and likely deceased woman.” Emma made sure it was nice and loud. “You neglected to mention that you weren’t only working with her but having ‘fun’ with her.”
He looked around in a panic.
They weren’t alone.
“Oh, don’t worry about all the people with cameras following us. It’s just the media. Watch this…. What do you mean you had sex with that dead woman?” she said so loudly that people stared.
“SHHHHHHHHHH! That sounds like I was fucking a corpse!”
She laughed and leaned against the wall.
“Yeah, I know. Perception is important. Now spill it, or I’m sending my husband back after me to clean up this mess. I don’t want to have all of the fun.”
He swallowed.
“Okay, we were an item, but so was Libby and just about every other man. She was freaking miserable in her marriage. We’d sneak away on our lunch break and have a nooner.”
“Yeah, okay, we know that. What we really want to know is where the hell you came up with all that money? We have your financials.”
He moved toward her in anger. It was clearly written all over his face.
Chris grabbed him and shoved him into the wall.
“I’ll call the police!”
“We’ll be out in thirty minutes. The lawyer I can afford compared to yours is nothing. Trust me.”
He swallowed.
“Okay! Just stop okay?”
She waited for it.
“Libby had a big client. He came in, left her a shit ton of money to invest. We did. Only, we told him he didn’t make as much money as it did. We skimmed off the top. We kept a little finder’s fee. It happens a lot in our business. You’ll find it with your investment people too.”
“My brother-in-law handles our money. We trust him. I’ll make sure my husband yanks any money he gave you.”
“Come on! I have to make so much a month, or I lose my job!”
“Then you want to tell us who that client is. Maybe he killed her.”
“It was Tristan Bauer.”
Emma smiled.
That was Emily, the work friend’s husband.
Well.
Well.
Well.
That was a fun little fact.
She pulled out her phone to show Johnie a picture of the man. It happened to be the one she snapped the first day as they went back to interview the wife.
“Him?”
He nodded.
“Well, thank you for that. It explains a lot.” And it did. Emma knew that something was up. He’d made a call to someone, and that someone was likely behind the death of Libby Raye. They were getting closer.
She could smell it.
“You won’t tell him it was me, will you?” he asked. “I need my job.”
Chris began laughing his ass off.
“I’d be worried. EMBEZZLEMENT?” he shouted really loudly, and again, people looked.
Emma knew their fun was over. They’d gotten one hell of a lead on this one, and this was going to be huge.
She could feel it.
“Let him go.”
Johnie Baker took off like a bat out of Hell to escape their company. The second he was gone, Emma started laughing her ass off.
“Oh, that never gets old. I’m glad you’re my partner. We have WAY too much fun together,” she stated.
Oh, he was aware.
As they headed back to their ride, there were reporters around it. The second they were closer, the questions began.
“Mrs. Croft! Are you having a sexual relationship with your bodyguard?”
She didn’t speak.
“Are you having some orgy?”
Still, she didn’t speak.
Chris helped her up into the vehicle.
When he got in, they’d said something that upset him. It was clear from the look on his face.
“What did they say to you?” Emma asked, as soon as he was in the privacy of their ride.
“They asked about my ex-wife. She’s been talking shit to the press.”
Chris left it at that.
Emma hated that woman’s guts. Here was the proof.
“I wish she would have stayed in Florida. She’s telling everyone I’m impotent in the sex and love category.”
She was horrified.
“I’ll kick her ass.”
“It’s fine,” he said.
Oh, but it wasn’t.
Grabbing him by the front of the shirt, she planted one on his mouth. It was deep, it was a full-on kiss, and she didn’t hold back. When she set him free, he was grinning.
“I think that beats the hickey Greyson had. Can I have my gum back?” he asked.
She took it out of her mouth and handed it to him. He began chewing it as the media took pictures.
Chris pulled away, laughing his ass off.
“You’re a menace, but you’re a good kisser. When I was dying, I didn’t get that kiss! I feel cheated. You were holding back,” he teased.
She laughed and gave him a fist bump.
“Maybe next time.”
He was horrified, and yet, his interest was piqued at the same time. He was a man. He couldn’t help it.
“Emma!”
“What?” she asked innocently.
Chris wasn’t going there. If he did, he’d laugh his ass off. He knew better. Instead, they’d work.
“Where to?” he asked.
“I don’t have information on Tristan Bauer. We have to head in and do some research. Plus, I think we gave the media enough to talk about. Let’s go back to the love shack.”
He could do that.
Being inside…it was a safer bet.
* * * G R E Y S O N C R O F T * * *
He really hated getting his hands dirty, but sometimes, you had to bite the bullet and take care of business yourself.
This was one of those times.
All those years ago, when he was a green as grass detective, he had a really good partner.
Quinn Harrell.
He taught him everything he knew, and some of the not so legit things along the way. Then he left to work for the LVPD, and Jeffrey Raye missed his guidance.
Well, now, they were going to take a walk down memory lane, and bad shit was coming.
When Jeffrey needed information on Poppy, and he’d found that this specific detective had worked her mother’s case, it had made his day.
He’d called him, and his old friend Quinn was more than willing to shoot the breeze.
Only, that was before Poppy Wayne saw the original file on his desk.
See…now he had a problem.
Quinn Harrell, his old partner, might spill that Jeffrey had been there to talk case with him.
That was an issue.
While it pained him, Jeffrey was going to have to handle this loose end. In the process, he might get lucky and catch a rat.
At the door, he waited for the man to let him in. Hopefully, he hurried. He couldn’t be seen there.
That would be bad.
Very.
Very.
Bad.
As the man opened the door, he was so damn happy to see him, and that made this even worse.
He liked Quinn. The man was a decent guy, and he’d been a good friend. Only, this was about every man for himself, and Jeffrey had a lot to lose. There were so many secrets that he couldn’t get caught up in this.
“Come in!”
He did just that.
Inside, his old partner was jabbering on and on about something or other, and Jeffrey was only interested in one thing.
“Did this woman come to see you?” he asked.
Jeffrey crossed his fingers.
“Yeah, she said she was working that cold case you asked about. I thought it was odd, but who knows?”
“She’s the woman’s daughter. The one who found them.”
Quinn shook his head.
“That’s too bad. She didn’t say that she was her child. I remember her. It was a sad day.”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
“Why did you need information?” Quinn asked.
That didn’t matter.
Poppy had been there, and that meant making sure no one tied him to this case.
“She’s trying to make some waves.”
He laughed.
“Damn women. They should stay at home and take care of their family. When will they learn?”
Yeah, on that, he agreed. He’d been married. He totally got that. Maybe had his wife been a wife, she’d still be alive.
“I told her all I knew,” Quinn stated.
Jeffrey sighed.
He pulled out a pair of gloves and put them on as the older man watched him in confusion.
“I’m sorry, buddy. You were a good friend, and I hate that I have to do this.”
“Do what?” Quinn asked.
Jeffrey pulled his gun, and on it was a silencer.
Quinn stared at it.
“What are you…?”
He didn’t get to finish. Jeffrey Raye put a bullet in the man’s head, ending his life.
“Rest in peace,” he stated, getting up, wiping the arms of the chair down, and turning up the heat in the place. It would screw with the TOD.
Then he headed out.
Well, that was one less loose end.
And one less way Poppy Wayne could get to him. For now, Jeffrey Raye knew the truth.
He was untouchable.
And in Vegas, that was the most important thing.
* * * G R E Y S O N C R O F T * * *
Poppy’s Apartment
She knew someone was following her. Poppy could feel it. She also suspected it was the tail Dimitri had put on her. There was no way he was going to let her wander around without some security.
He was worried.
So was she.
Now, all that she really wanted was to go into her apartment, get her spare gun, and then pack another bag. As soon as that was done, she was out of there.
Dimitri was getting a roommate for the next few days until they found who was stalking her. She was shit scared and that the commissioner had that file on his desk…
Was this a cop doing this to her?
Did the commissioner have one of his goons playing with her?
Knowing him, it was a distinct possibility.
Unlocking the door, she headed in and could smell the blood. It stopped her in her tracks.
At that moment, Poppy began backing out of the apartment, and out into the common area. There was no way she was going in there alone.
As she stood there, Poppy must have looked petrified, because the guy who saved her bacon the other day was there in seconds.
“Miss Wayne, what’s up?”
“I don’t have my gun. The commissioner took it, and when I went inside, I smelled blood. Something is in there.”
He pulled his gun.
“Do you have a spare for a girl?” she asked. “I’m really good with them.”
Ilan was aware.
Sam had told him about the kill shot to Viktor Marchenko, and how she didn’t bat an eye at making it.
He pulled his backup piece from the back holster.
“Let me go first. I’m your security. Then we’ll call Dimitri. Okay?”
She nodded.
“Hand on my lower back, and stay out of my range,” he said with his Russian accent.
Clearly, Ilan was NOT messing around.
At that moment, she was damn glad he wasn’t either. This was some scary shit.
They climbed the stairs to Poppy’s place, and the unlocked the door. Ilan pushed it with his toe, and he smelled it too.
He lowered his voice.
“Good job coming out.”
“No gun. I’m not crazy. I want to live. You don’t play hero when you can’t defend yourself.”
He pushed the door the rest of the way open, and they went in, Poppy having his back. At the kitchen, she noticed it.
“There’s a butcher knife missing,” she whispered, keeping her voice low in case there was a crazy still hanging out there.
Okay, that was good to know.
Ilan knew what to watch for with a crazy hiding there. They entered the living room, and nothing was there.
“Anything out of place?” he asked.
Poppy looked around.
“No.”
That left the bedroom and bathroom.
Heading toward the bedroom, he kept his body in front of hers. Poppy had never been so happy to have a stranger with a gun in her presence.
He toed open the door, and nothing popped up. They went in, and that’s when he saw it.
“Jesus,” Poppy stated, looking at her bedroom wall.
There was an eviscerated cat nailed to the wall above her bed. Beneath it, there was an ominous message.
‘This is what happens to easy pussy. You’re next, Eloise.’
Poppy wanted to cry.
Ilan cleared under the bed and in the closet. He did the bathroom next, and no one was there.
“I’m going to call Dimitri,” he said, making the call and speaking in rapid Russian.
She heard him. In fact, Poppy heard most of what he said.
Ilan had just told Dimitri that the killer was getting closer, and to get there fast.
Poppy wanted to be sick.
So, she was.
* * * G R E Y S O N C R O F T * * *
When Dimitri got the call, again, they’d missed Brent by minutes. The neighbor said he’d already left for work, and he wouldn’t be home until later.
He would have to make a mental note to get to the man’s house earlier in the morning or back tonight. He was in the middle of making the plans when he got the call from Ilan.
Dimitri answered, and immediately, he wanted to be ill.
When he hung up, his face said it all. Tessa knew that something bad had gone down. If his face didn’t give it away, the way he gunned it and then drove out of there like a bat out of hell said it all.
“What’s wrong?” Tessa asked, holding on for dear life.
“Poppy stopped at her house to get a bag, and her mother’s killer left something for her.”
“What?”
He told her.
Well, shit.
They needed to get there, and fast.
* * * G R E Y S O N C R O F T * * *
When he pulled up to Michael Skinner’s home, the man was there. Not only was he there, but so was some girl who was half his age.
He should be ashamed of himself.
When the woman opened the door, Greyson shushed her, and he walked in to find the man sitting at his breakfast table eating.
“Lulu, what the hell are you doing?” he called.
Greyson walked around the corner with Heath behind him, Lulu in tow.
“Hello, Michael.”
The man stared at him.
“Oh, fuck.”
Greyson laughed.
He took a seat at the table and placed his gun beside what had to be Lulu’s plate. The silencer was already on it.
That said it all.
“What are you doing here? I don’t gamble, and I keep my nose clean in Vegas. I couldn’t have done anything to make you angry.”
Greyson didn’t look away.
“Oh, don’t bet on that,” he stated.
The man swallowed.
“Heath, sit Lulu down. If she moves, or if she screams, silence her.”
The man pulled his gun and held it to her head.
“On it, boss.”
Greyson knew his security would handle it.
“Mr. Skinner, it’s been brought to my attention that you’re an asshole, but we’ll deal with that later. I’m here about Libby Raye.”
“What did her asshole husband say I did? I told him years ago that I didn’t touch her.”
“We have pictures of you at a Christmas party.”
Okay, they didn’t, but when in Vegas, never show your cards on a bluff. This was his hand, and he was going to play it to the best of his ability.
He looked nervous.
“I suggest you tell me the truth. I don’t like when people lie to me. It makes me…bitchy.”
The man weighed his options, all of them being the gun beside Greyson.
“It only happened one time. I got drunk, she slapped me, and I had sex with her. She was a better fuck than my wife.”
He picked up the gun and shot a hole in the man’s wall next to his head.
Michael jumped.
Lulu cried.
“Is she the woman you left your wife and kids for?” he asked, pointing at the mousy blonde who was now weeping like a baby.
“Yes.”
That was misfortunate.
“Lulu, honey, you broke up a home. That’s being a house wrecker. That’s very naughty.”
Heath screwed the silencer on his gun.
She began begging for her life.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Croft. I’m sorry. He said he’d take care of me. I didn’t…I didn’t think…”
“She just pissed herself, Boss,” Heath said. “Want me to kill her now or later?”
“In a bit, Heath.”
She kept crying.
“My wife sent you, didn’t she?” Michael asked, getting more and more nervous.
“No, but the need to find your ex-sister-in-law certainly brought me to your door. What did Jeffrey Raye say to you?” he asked, looking for that next lead.
He hesitated.
“Really, Michael? Is he more of a threat than me? I hope not. That makes me want to up my game. You don’t want that. Trust me.”
“He said that I was to stay out of the mess. He gave me some money NOT to help my wife find her sister. WHICH was good for me. I wanted out of that marriage.”
“Do you like your kids?” he asked, setting him up for the next part of his plan.
“Yes.”
“Do you see them?”
“NO! My cunt ex-wife…”
He picked up his gun and shot a hole in the wall on the other side of his head.
Lulu whimpered.
“I don’t like that word. I especially don’t like when a man uses it in the direction of a woman who birthed his children. Am I clear?”
The man nodded.
“Mr. C, can I kill him? Someone called my sister that word once. It took them a month to pick him out of that wood chipper. I can get us one real fast. The neighbors won’t even know it’s a body until the bugs come.”
“Maybe,” Greyson said, trying not to laugh. He loved Heath because he was always willing to play along. Then again, from the look on his face, he may not be playing along. He might be telling the truth.
Who knew?
Whatever it was, it served its purpose. Michael Skinner looked scared.
“So, you had sex with Libby. Was it consensual?”
He looked uncomfortable.
“Was it?” Greyson asked again.
“No.”
Heath growled.
“Why are you with this scumbag?” Heath asked Lulu. “You let that worm bone you? Have you no dignity? Oh, I forgot. You broke up a marriage cuz you’re a homewrecker.”
She whimpered.
Heath wasn’t the only one who was disgusted. Greyson was too.
“So, you raped your sister-in-law, and your brother-in-law tells you not to help your wife when the victim of your traveling penis disappears. Is that right?”
“Yes.”
Greyson leaned back in his chair.
“You realize, you are our biggest suspect, right? You are currently at the top of the list.”
“I was with Lulu the day she disappeared. I was getting a blowjob at my office. Ask her.”
Oh, he would.
“Heath?”
He put the gun to her head and there was the audible click of the safety going off on his gun.
“If you lie, you die, Lulu. My finger is the truth detector, and you don’t want to BS my boss.”
She nodded.
“Did you give this asshole a blowjob on the day his rape victim disappeared?”
She nodded.
“He was with me all day at work. He didn’t leave. We had sex in his office later. He videotaped it.”
Greyson was really grossed out by this man. He was the scum of the earth.
“And a perv. Awesome.”
The man sat there.
Greyson called Lulu over so he could really end this man’s reign of stupidity. While he thought he was a scumbag, and the world could do without him, he had two kids.
“Say goodbye to your lover, Lulu.”
She dropped to her knees and begged for her life.
“Please, Mr. Croft, I was only with him because he takes care of me. I didn’t know he raped her. I swear.”
“You broke up a marriage.”
She cried.
“I’m so sorry. I’ll never do it again!”
Yeah, he somehow doubted that, but she wouldn’t do it here in Vegas.
“Here are your choices. You grab your bag, you pack your shit, and you get on a bus out of Vegas. I mean WAY out of Vegas, and you never look back, or I kill you. Decide.”
He’d never kill her, but he knew she wasn’t a die for the ‘ill-gotten gains’ kind of girl.
She’d bail.
Greyson would bet big money on it.
“I’m gone. He has a small dick and I haven’t had a decent orgasm in months. I’ll leave right now.”
He laughed.
“Well, that says it all when your side piece thinks your gun is too small for the holster,” he stated.
Michael went red.
“Good choice, Lulu. I’d be more selective who you let fuck you. He’s a rapist. Keep that in mind.”
She looked relieved.
“Yes, Mr. Croft.”
“Heath, take her upstairs and have her pack. She goes in those clothes. A little humiliation will do her good.”
She raced up the stairs with Heath following her.
Meanwhile, Greyson dropped the butt of his gun onto the man’s phone.
It shattered it.
Now, it was time to get down to business.
“What do you think happened to Libby?” Greyson asked. “Since you worked with her, and you talked to her husband, why don’t you give me some insight?”
“My brother-in-law mentioned one name. When he called and told me not to help my wife, he asked if she ever mentioned an Elaine Beasley.”
“And that is?”
“I have no idea. That’s all he ever said to me. I swear. I know nothing else.”
Heath came downstairs with Lulu schlepping her own bag. That said it all. Heath was a gentleman beneath the scary façade. That he wasn’t helping her said it all.
He was disgusted too.
“I called her a cab to the bus terminal, boss. I can have the guys follow her to make sure she gets on that bus. One wrong move and she’ll have a bullet to the brain.”
“Do it.”
He knew there were no guys to follow her, but Heath was good at this kind of thing.
Greyson handed her four hundred bucks.
“Buy a one-way ticket to anyplace but Vegas. I will know where you went. If you contact him, I will make sure you are walking down the street one day, and you die.”
She wiped her eyes and looked scared shitless by that, and Greyson was glad. This hussy needed a ‘come to Jesus’ talk.
“I won’t! I swear!”
He believed her. She was terrified.
“Go! Get out of my face before I change my mind and you and your lover end up in the same grave.”
She raced out of there.
“Make sure she gets in that cab,” Greyson stated, glancing over at Heath. “I want her out of here before…”
He let it hang to terrorize Michael.
Heath gave a two-finger salute and then followed her outside.
Greyson leaned back.
“What do I do with you?”
“Please don’t kill me! I’m sorry! I’ll change! I’ll fix my shit!”
He laughed.
Oh, he somehow doubted that, but that was on this man, not him. Greyson could scare him, but he couldn’t make him be a decent human being.
As for killing him…
Yeah, he hadn’t planned on it.
Greyson was particular about crossing that line. This man wasn’t worth it.
“I’m about to be a father,” Croft said, picking up his gun. “I couldn’t imagine leaving my kid behind, or my wife. So, we are going to work this out.”
“Okay. What?”
“You have two choices. You help pay for the kids you made, or you die. I will call your ex, and I will ask her randomly if you have done your duty as a father. That includes seeing those boys, paying for their needs, and being a man.”
He didn’t speak.
“If she tells me even once that you didn’t show for a visit, or you welched on buying them school clothes, or braces, I’m going to send Heath to put so many holes in you that the rats won’t be able to find a fucking organ to eat.”
The man began crying, and he should. He’d been a bastard to his own kids. Greyson had no sympathy for him. Mercy…that was another thing. Those boys, despite this man’s shittiness, still deserved to see their father.
That was all that saved him.
“AM. I. CLEAR?”
Michael Skinner nodded.
“Your ex has a direct line to my phone.”
The man looked skeptical. So, Greyson proved to him that he wasn’t screwing around with this one.
He called Abby.
“Miss McCoy, I have spoken to your husband. He’s going to be helping you out with those boys. I know you don’t need him to, but he’s decided that he wants to, right?”
He put his phone down so the man could talk to her.
“Abby, it’s me.”
“What do you want, Michael?” she asked.
“I’ll help with the braces. I’ll pay for them all. I want to see the boys.”
“No, that’s not fair. I’ll pay half. They are OUR boys. I’ll pay my fair share.”
“Can I see them?”
Greyson smiled.
“Yes, the divorce agreement says Wednesdays and every other weekend. You can stick to that.”
Greyson was glad they were behaving like adults.
“That’s very kind of you, Abby. Oh, and if he tries kissing your ass to get back into your life, let me know. I’ll shoot him myself.”
“Yes, Mr. Croft.”
“See you at work on Monday.”
“Yes, sir!”
She sounded happy, and her dirtbag ex looked as miserable as sin.
His work here was done.
Greyson hung up.
“Now, let’s review this, shall we?”
He pushed play on his phone, and it replayed the man’s confession of him raping his sister-in-law. Clearly, it caught him off guard.
Why he was shocked? Greyson didn’t know. He was a mob man. Of course he was going to play dirty.
Michael Skinner looked horrified.
“I have enough cops on my payroll that Jeffrey Raye doesn’t control, that this will get you put in jail for a long time.”
He understood.
“If you mention to him I was here, or you gave me Elaine Beasley’s name, you will go to jail or die.”
Heath came in.
“I ripped out his security camera’s boss,” he said.
“Good. Get the DVR too. When we leave, I want no trace of us ever being here.”
He did what was asked of him.
Heath smashed it and pulled out the hard drive. In fact, he made it one hot mess.
“Michael, it’s been a pleasure. I’m sorry about your girlfriend breaking up with you. That sucks. I’m sure you’ll stick to the single life for a while,” he stated. “Your boys should come first.”
“Fuckin’ A, boss,” Heath stated. “When you make kids, you should take care of them, right?”
The man nodded enthusiastically.
Well, it looked like he’d at least try, and that was a small victory.
Together, Heath and Greyson headed out, and once in the vehicle, Greyson began laughing his ass off.
“She pissed herself, huh?”
“Oh, yeah, and from the smell of it, that wasn’t it. You scared the shit out of her. Literally. I feel bad for that cab driver. He’s going to have one hell of a smell going on in his back seat.”
He laughed.
“It’s a skill. As a Fed, I was able to really screw with my agents. I miss that part most of all.”
“What if he calls the cops?” Heath asked.
“Well, Heath, then I guess he’s going to have to die. I’ll give him enough rope to save himself or hang himself. It’s up to him.”
“You’re a nice mob boss, boss.”
He gave him a pat on the back.
“I have my moments, Heath, but thank you. That means a lot to me.”
“Where to?” Heath asked, smiling like a lunatic as he drove them away from the man’s home.
“Let’s get back to the penthouse. I need to find out who the hell Elaine Beasley is, and why Jeffrey Raye was worried about her.”
That seemed to be the big question.
And Greyson Croft wanted answers.
* * * G R E Y S O N C R O F T * * *
Poppy’s Apartment
When Dimitri finally arrived there, he rushed inside to find Ilan standing there.
“Where is she?”
“She was in her bathroom as she puked, but now I think she’s in her bedroom staring at the message.”
Poor Poppy.
Dimitri was so damn sorry that he hadn’t been there to protect her from what happened. That broke his heart. He didn’t want her to hurt.
Ever.
Heading into her bedroom, the first thing he saw was her, and then the wall. It pissed him off.
She looked so lost.
Poppy was just sitting there. Her face was pale, and she wasn’t moving.
“Moya lyubov',” he said, kneeling in front of her. When she didn’t respond to being called ‘my love’, Dimitri became even more worried. “Poppy, babochka.”
She continued to stare at the message and dead cat.
“I lost my job, Dimitri,” she whispered. “He took my badge and my gun. He said my whole career was going to be reviewed. I have nothing now.”
Oh, Dimitri knew why. He would bet his whole bank account on the fact that the man saw her kissing him on the front page of that rag tabloid.
“Because of me?”
She nodded.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Poppy.”
She began crying.
“Please get me out of here. I can’t even be here. This is ruined too. I have nowhere to run.”
He helped her up.
“You have me. I’ll keep you safe. You can stay with me for the rest of your life.”
She sobbed.
“I don’t know how to do anything but be a cop, Dimitri. If I can’t be a cop, what am I?”
He soothed her.
“I’ll have to leave Las Vegas and find a new job. I’m going to have to go far away to find another cop job—if I even can.”
Oh, he did NOT like that.
“Let’s worry about that after we get you out of here,” he said.
“Tessa, can you search it for anything we can use to figure out who did this?” he asked.
She’d been standing there silently watching the whole thing play out. Dimitri was clearly in love. She could see it on his face. She knew that if Poppy was his, she was also the family’s too. It was going to be about protecting her.
“Yeah, I’ll get on it, Dimitri.”
He believed her. He not only liked Tessa, but he trusted her.
“Ilan, help her. I’m taking Poppy home. She’ll be with me.”
He patted his boss on the back.
“On it, sir.”
He led Poppy out, and to his ride. He helped her into it and buckled her seatbelt. Gently, he took her face in his hands. “We will be okay. You will be fine.”
She just nodded.
“Sure.”
He hated that she was suffering.
For now, Dimitri needed to get her somewhere safe. He needed to get her somewhere that she could grieve for what was wrongly taken from her.
The woman he loved needed to mourn.
And he would be there for her.
* * * G R E Y S O N C R O F T * * *
Oh, that asshole was with her again. He couldn’t believe it! All he wanted to do was get to her, take her, and teach Eloise a lesson.
And now he couldn’t.
Every time he tried to get to her, he was right there, making it almost impossible.
He had to die.
It was as simple as that, and he was willing to do whatever it took to get her. Deep down, he knew his time and chances were running out.
She’d been delivered back into his life, by miracle, and now she was slipping away.
No.
Fucking.
Way.
He was going to have to do something drastic. He’d lost Eloise once, and it wouldn’t happen again.
He was going to have to make his move.
Soon.
This man, the Russian, had to go.
* * * G R E Y S O N C R O F T * * *
Sky Villa
Dimitri’s Condo
When Dimitri got her up there, Poppy was a mess. She was crying, sobbing, and really weeping up a storm. Dimitri got her into his condo, and then into the bathroom.
He filled his big tub with water and lots of Epsom salts. Gently, he stripped her down and then helped her into the water.
Kneeling beside the tub, he held her hand. As she wept, he was there for her. He didn’t speak, he didn’t try to make her feel better, all he did was let her mourn.
When the tears stopped, he waited.
“I’m okay,” she whispered. “I’m sorry. I’m usually better than this. It’s been a bad week.”
He understood. Until her, he’d been having a horrible life—where he’d wanted to give up. That she hadn’t yet was a testament to her strength.
“What can I get for you?” he asked, willing to do anything to help her. He hated watching Poppy hurt like this. It was breaking his heart.
“I hurt.”
“Where?” he asked.
She touched her heart, and immediately, he got it. She’d lost a part of herself. To prove that he understood, Dimitri gently kissed her chest above her heart.
“Better?” he asked.
She nodded.
“Where else?” he asked.
She touched her mouth, needing that tenderness. She was so tired of fighting and losing. Poppy had nothing left in her. She was empty.
Dimitri took that as his cue, and he kissed her there too. It was warm, deep, and heated her, and him, up.
When he set her mouth free, she stared up and into his aqua eyes. They were filled with love. Poppy needed that now more than ever.
“Heal me, Dimitri. I’m broken.”
God!
He’d been that for the longest time.
Standing, he pulled off his clothes and stripped down to be naked with her. When he dropped his boxer briefs, he was erect.
“Ignore him. He has a mind of his own. I’ll just hold you,” he offered.
Poppy loved that he wanted her. Broken, battered, and destroyed, he still wanted her. That astounded Poppy so much, that she couldn’t help but fall for him even more.
When Dimitri got into the tub, he was grateful he’d gotten one that big. There was plenty of room for both of them in it. Immediately, she went into his lap.
He held her.
And he kissed her.
Her body against his helped ease the pain for her. He was tenderly holding her. What Poppy needed was to forget.
So, she kissed him.
Dimitri was trying to be so good, but there was a naked, wet woman wiggling in his lap.
He moaned.
Poppy set his mouth free.
“Make the pain stop,” she whispered. “Make me forget. I need you, Dimitri.”
If that was what she needed, so be it. He’d do it. Pulling her mouth back to his, he dove in, trying to drain the pain from her body by way of her mouth.
He didn’t give up, but instead, fought extra hard to make her forget.
He’d do whatever it took.
He made love to her mouth, reveling in how her body came alive above him. She moved to straddle his hips, and he found his way into her body.
They both moaned.
Poppy was focused on him.
She stared into his eyes, trying to immerse herself in everything that made her feel good.
This man.
His touch.
His gentleness.
Then she began moving. Slowly, she rode him. Dimitri beneath her let her use his body to forget. Like once before, with Marissa, he offered a woman that solace.
Only this time, it was different.
Water sloshed over the sides of the large tub.
“I love you,” he said out of the blue.
She stopped moving and couldn’t breathe. Poppy hadn’t expected that. She knew he’d take longer—if he ever did get to that point, and that was fine.
But now, he’d said it.
“Dimitri.”
“I knew on the mountain. As you yelled at me on our way down, I knew in that moment that you would challenge me, and I would have to work for it.”
She let him talk.
“Then you came to see me and brought me a gift. It was bullets, and at that moment, you knew what would heal me. I needed to laugh. You gave me that. You bought me those to lighten the mood. No one has ever given me a gift but for Greyson and Emma. You gave me the gift of laughter.”
He wiped a tear from her eye.
“When you picked up that cupcake and walked out all riled up, Emma told me I was going to marry you. I told her she was right. I knew in that moment. You were the one.”
Poppy didn’t know what to say.
“She’s irritatingly right most of the time—it’s a mother thing, I guess.”
Her heart skipped.
“This morning, the ONLY thing that kept me from telling you I loved you was I wanted to see my children relate to you. They had to love you as much as I do since they come with me. They are part of me.”
Poppy didn’t move. His erection was throbbing inside her, and he was wild for her.
No one had ever been that wild.
“Then I watched you give Petra your necklace. She was this child that you had no attachment to, but you still gave her your necklace. I’ve never seen you take it off. It mattered to you.”
“It was the first thing I could ever buy myself.”
He knew it.
“Yet, you shared it with a child. You gave her your watch, and you gave her your things. She’s nothing to you, but you loved her when she needed it.”
“You’re wrong.”
He listened.
“She’s everything. She’s part of you. She’s a piece of a man I saved on that mountain. I knew, too, Dimitri. I was compelled to follow you up there. I’ve been compelled to be near you since. I didn’t help her only because of that, but she’s a child. She’s innocent. She’s been through so much, and if that necklace could bring her peace, then so be it. It was time to give it to her.”
He touched her cheek.
“I’ve been waiting my whole life for you. You are why I was alone,” he said. “I get it now. You are my future. I do love you, Poppy. It happened so fast. You stole my heart.”
“It happened a long time ago. We were always meant to be. Perspective.”
He smiled.
“Move into my home. Stay with me. Not just tonight, but because we are good together. We are perfect. Look how we fit.”
She hesitated.
“I can’t.”
His heart ached. For once, he wanted there to be no battle for him. He wanted an easy path filled with peace.
“Why, Poppy?”
“I need a job. I can’t let you take care of me. I have to have a job, Dimitri. It means everything. It’s all I’ve ever known.”
“I’ll hire you.”
She laughed.
“I’m serious. We help people. I hired Chris. He works for me. Today, I hired Tessa. Why are you any different? Let me hire you. Come work for me and help us fix Vegas. I’ll pay you, and you can pay for half the groceries or the electric, or whatever. If it means that much to you, you can pay for whatever. I get that my money upsets you, but watching you leave here…that would break my heart. Take my job offer. There are perks.”
“Like?”
He grinned.
“You get to sleep and have sex with the boss.”
It made Poppy laugh.
“I like that perk. A lot.”
He wiggled his eyebrows.
She went serious.
“You have to treat me like an employee. You can’t treat me any differently than you would Chris.”
“I won’t. At work, it’s work. In here, you are mine. You are my love. You are my woman. In here, we are one.”
She went all mushy.
How could she leave him? She fell and fell hard.
“I’ll take your offer. I’ll take the job.”
That gave him peace. That elusive peace that had escaped him was now all his. Dimitri had found the woman who would silence the demons.
Here she was.
In the flesh.
“Let’s seal the deal,” he said, bringing her mouth down to his. He kissed her like a starving man. He devoured, as his hands played, toyed, and stroked.
When she pulled away, she was breathless.
“Seal the deal, Dimitri. Make me yours.”
He pulled himself up with her help. Picking her up, she wrapped her legs around his hips, and he carried her to the shower. Inside, he pressed her body to the wall.
His mouth devoured again.
The bites sent chills up and down her spine.
Poppy moaned in pleasure.
“Dimitri,” she whispered.
“Let me show you the perk that only you can have,” he whispered in her ear. “Let me show you how I will cater to my woman.”
“Yes, please.”
He found his way back into her body. He found his way back into that warmth, and he used the tiled wall to support her as he drove in and out of her body.
They both stared into each other’s eyes, neither looking away.
Her breath hitched.
The pain ebbed away.
The man she loved healed her. The part of her that was broken was healed with his touch.
She came and came fast.
Poppy shouted his name.
“Again,” he whispered, driving her back up. Her hands were in his hair, as their bodies stayed connected.
She begged for more in Russian, and it made him throb with such need.
He’d found his sweet prize.
After years of pain, he found his purpose.
“Oh, Poppy,” he muttered as she came again riding his erection.
It was so hard to concentrate on anything but that delicious building of orgasm in his body.
His whole self quaked with that need.
That heat.
That want.
Dimitri had never wanted anyone more than this woman right here. Not Anastasia, not the hookers, and certainly not Marissa Pierce. They all paled in comparison.
They weren’t his Poppy.
Through it all, Dimitri knew he wouldn’t last long. Sliding from her body, he stared into her eyes.
“I need you from behind. I need that sweet ass that makes me crazy!”
No one had ever wanted her like he did. At that point, he could have anything he wanted. She’d give him her heart from her chest if he asked her for it.
It was already his.
“Yes, Dimitri.” She turned, and his hands found her hips. He pressed her to the shower wall, and her body reacted to the chill of the tile.
She gasped when he found his way back into her body.
In her ear, he whispered in Russian.
They were words of love.
Adoration.
Happiness.
She gave him them back.
As the tempo built, and it was the sound of his wet flesh hitting hers repeatedly, they both shook. Reaching around, he found her clit and teased her.
“Oh, God!” she whispered, barely able to breathe. “I’m going to cum!”
“Fall, my love. Take me with you!”
And she did.
He exploded in pleasure as her body milked his. He nearly fell and would have had she not been there to let him lean. That was the story of their relationship. When he was weak, she caught him. She’d always catch him, and Dimitri finally had peace.
“I love you,” she whispered when the pleasure passed.
“I love you, Poppy.”
He didn’t move.
“And I really work for you?”
“I’ll have the official paperwork for you tomorrow. I have to print it out. Your salary will be there, plus the requirements.”
“What requirements?”
“We work out every day as a team. Basically, I like to kick the crap out of Chris. I’m sure he will not take it easy on you. You’re the newbie.”
“Good. I want to be an equal employee. No taking it easy on me. As of this moment, I am going to be your employee.”
“I promise I won’t be easy on you, but I meant what I said,” he admitted, turning her around. “Here, my beautiful Poppy, you are mine. You are my woman. Here, in our sanctuary, you will be everything I need.”
“And you will be all I need, Dimitri.”
He kissed her on the tip of the nose.
“Always. And for the record, you don’t get away without dates nights,” he said. “I want to woo my girl.”
She smiled.
That sounded amazing.
Dates with this sexy devil?
Hell, yeah!
“Deal.”
“What’s your middle name?” he asked, tucking her black hair behind her ears.
Sweetly, she did the same.
“Rose.”
“Well, Poppy Rose, this is the beginning of an amazing partnership.”
In that moment, she believed it.
Poppy could feel it.