Chapter Nine
Julie Pierce’s
Apartment
Sunday
Afternoon
A fter all the distractions, they were finally at Julie’s apartment. Inside the building, she used a key to get in. Both men stared at her. Greyson gave Dimitri the look, so he handled it.
“Uh, where did you get the key?”
“When I found out it was her apartment, I talked the landlord into letting me stay here since Julie was missing. He needed the rent, and I needed a place to lay low.”
“And he just said yes?” Dimitri asked.
“I can be very convincing,” she said, inviting them into the tiny cramped space.
“Well, this is it.”
Both men walked in and looked around.
The place was pretty much what they expected. In fact, they didn’t doubt that the whole building was pretty much the same. This neighborhood was definitely the place someone who was hooking would call home.
They could hear the moaning through the walls.
“Ambiance,” she said, knowing what they were thinking. A part of her wasn’t happy that the two men were there. Marissa felt like they were judging her sister.
They didn’t get it.
Julie had a rough life, and so did she. It was better to live in a dive than on the street.
Dimitri didn’t want to break the news to Marissa, but the place reeked of drugs. Someone had been smoking heroin in there. He’d bet money on it.
Then again, the whole damn place might be doing it for all he knew.
Still, his gut told him there was definitely something there. They just had to find it.
Greyson gave him a look. “El Diablo?” he asked, also picking up the scent.
Dimitri was pretty sure that was it. He could detect the heroin, cocaine, and marijuana smell lingering in the fabrics.”
“What’s El Diablo?” Marissa asked.
They didn’t answer her.
It looked like Julie was not only into prostitution and possibly a sex slave, but she was doing some big-time drugs.
“Search,” Croft said.
Dimitri figured as much. Out of his pocket, he pulled a pair of black leather gloves.
“Uh, are you afraid to leave prints?” Marissa asked.
“No, I don’t want to be poked by a needle and get HIV,” he answered.
She stared at him. “What? A needle?”
“We can smell drugs.”
She laughed. “My sister wouldn’t be doing drugs. I have been staying here, and I haven’t found anything that says she was.”
They figured as much.
Greyson nodded at Dimitri. They now had to look in the places a person wouldn’t look. This was normal for them.
Dimitri flipped the couch.
“Hey!” she objected.
“I’ll put it back,” he said, seeing a cut in the fabric. Pulling a small flashlight out of his pocket, he pointed it in the hole.
Pay dirt.
He found something.
“We were right,” Dimitri stated as he carefully pulled out the packets.
Greyson took them and stared at them. “El Diablo.”
Marissa was getting pissed. “What is that?”
Dimitri explained. “In Vegas, one drug isn’t enough. People are so addicted to heroin, that they become immune to the effects, so they have to up the game.”
Greyson dumped them into the sink. “Yeah, so they make cocktails of other drugs.”
“Like?” she asked.
“Heroin, cocaine, and marijuana,” Dimitri offered. “Or you can call it El Diablo. Once you start that, you’re done. There’s a short period before you turn up dead.”
She gasped. “No! My sister wouldn’t…”
He pulled a used needle from behind some books on the shelf.
“They hide needles with some of the drug still in it in case they need a fast hit. Your sister was using, Marissa.”
She was horrified.
“Oh, Julie, what have you done?” Marissa asked, staring at the needle in his hand.
“Grey, be careful. We don’t need to get stuck. I’d like to live a long time,” Dimitri stated.
Marissa got offended. “I’ll search then if you’re afraid to do it.”
He stared at her. “Your sister was a hooker, and she was using drugs. Who do you think gets HIV? Librarians from books? I’m sorry if that bothers you, but we’re a little late to be living in fantasy land. She was doing shitty things. We protect ourselves.”
“Well, we couldn’t all have pristine lives.”
He snapped.
Dimitri moved toward her and grabbed her by the arms. “You know nothing about my life. All I’ll say is it made this look like a carnival. I didn’t have a choice. Your sister did. So stop being insulted by fact.”
Greyson touched his arm. “Hey, it’s okay. You take the bathroom. I have this room.”
Dimitri dropped her arms like they were coals.
“Good idea.”
He left and slammed the door.
Marissa angrily stared at the bathroom door.
“He’s not the enemy. You should remember that. He’s going out on a limb here as we try to find your sister.”
“I appreciate it. He’s just so…”
“Stubborn? Listen, he’s Russian. It goes with the territory. You two need to be apart.”
Contrary to what he thought, she wanted to be close to him. When she kissed him…
Yeah, she had it bad.
And that pissed her off.
“Back off, okay?” Greyson asked.
She fought her irritation over the entire situation. This was getting them nowhere.
“I didn’t find anything,” Dimitri said, heading out of the bathroom. “It’s all the normal girl things. You know, like makeup and lotion.”
He glanced over at Marissa.
“Before you bitch at me, I’m not saying she was sneaking around and frequenting drug stores because she had a makeup habit too.”
She rolled her eyes.
Greyson knew they were going to explode all over the place. Apparently, the kissing earlier didn’t make him less edgy.
That was going to complicate things later.
“I don’t see anything here that indicates she was forcibly taken from here,” Greyson offered.
“I can ask the neighbors,” Dimitri offered.
They might be taking that route.
“Yeah, birds of a feather,” he said. “They are likely hookers. That might work.”
Marissa stared at Greyson. “How did you know they were all prostitutes?”
“They flock together for a reason. If the cops come, they are alerted, and more will get away than caught. They mix in with regular citizenry.”
“I already talked to them,” she said.
“And?”
“That’s where I got most of my information. I told you about the madam, and that’s why I headed there. If anyone here was working for the pimp, they didn’t bring it up. I heard madam, and started working that angle.”
Dimitri lifted a brow. “Did you now?”
“Yeah, I did. I’m a proactive kind of girl. I can’t sit around and judge people.”
Greyson saw the look on his face, and he stood between them. This woman was pushing Dimitri’s buttons, and she was walking a dangerous line. At some point, he’d snap.
Again.
Greyson had to get him out of there. “We should head out. We have a case to work and from here on out, until we get more, it’s a paper trail.”
She didn’t like that.
He didn’t care.
“Marissa, try and stay out of trouble,” Croft suggested.
“I can help out…”
He cut her off.
“We’ve poked a lot of hives today between Emma at the strip club, and us coming here. Don’t ask questions. Just stay in and use your head. Women are disappearing, and that’s not good for anyone with ovaries.”
She didn’t say anything.
Greyson didn’t do drama. His wife was pretty grounded, so he was leaving any further commentary to Dimitri. He’d worked with her, and hopefully, he could handle her.
Greyson left.
Dimitri didn’t hesitate. “He’s right. Stay in, be smart, and maybe look around in here for a clue. We found drugs in two minutes.”
“I looked.”
“Again, we found drugs in two minutes. Maybe you should look again.”
She crossed her arms.
As he approached the door, he stopped.
“Be at Aquarius tomorrow morning. You’re back on hostessing duties.”
“You’re pissed again.”
“You have that effect on me. I have to go. I need to get back to the house. Emma and Greyson need me.”
She got it.
He had family.
“If you need me,” he said, scribbling his number on a card, “You can reach me on my private line.”
“Are you sure there’s not something between you and Emma?” she asked. “You’re really close.”
He lifted a brow. “I’m pretty sure I’d know if there was something going on. I don’t sleep walk. Why?”
“Just an observation.”
He didn’t get where she was taking that. Dimitri didn’t see what his relationship with Emma had to do with anything. She was simply someone he loved.
She was family.
Marissa figured she should offer up the olive branch. They were working this case, and she didn’t have to pay them. It was time to use some charm.
“Thank you for today. Even if I made you mad.”
He sighed.
Dimitri didn’t want to be frustrated with her, but he was. He also didn’t want to be angry, but she pissed him off and made him incredibly horny at the same time.
He was irritated with his lack of control.
“I’ll be there tomorrow for work,” she said, following him to the door.
When he turned around, she practically walked into him, and Dimitri didn’t think it was accidental.
She stared up at him as he caught her.
His eyes dilated at the contact.
Dimitri tried not to let it affect him. It was so damn hard since he was thinking about what happened earlier. There was no woman who turned him on, pissed him off, and made him insane quite like her.
There was a spark there, and he didn’t doubt it would lead to a nuclear explosion.
Marissa took a chance and touched his cheek. “Thank you for everything. I don’t mean to be a bitch. I’m worried about Julie, and it’s consuming me. You have to understand that.”
Oh, he got it. She was leaning against him, and her mouth was inches from his. Earlier, she’d kissed him first, so he wanted to show her what lived in him.
Marissa needed to see the darker side of him, if she was going to play these games.
So, he took her mouth.
It was heated, wild, and filled with driving need. He left nothing to the imagination as he nearly lit them a flame with lust.
This was who he was.
Marissa fell into the kiss, and she held on for the ride. It was like nothing she’d ever felt before. The man was intense, and she wondered what it would be like to get beneath that veneer.
He was so careful.
Protected.
Guarded.
She was curious. It made her want to pick his defenses apart to see the man beneath. She was no stranger to sex, and this man made her want to roll around and have fun.
It had been a while since she’d actually enjoyed that kind of intimacy.
When he was finished, he set her free.
“Listen to what we say. We’ll see you tomorrow,” he said, fighting the need to throw her down and take her. It wasn’t easy, but somehow, Dimitri found control.
It helped that Greyson was outside.
Alone.
He wanted to protect his family.
“Stay.”
He shook his head. “I can’t.”
What he wanted to say was he wasn’t ready. She twisted him up inside, going from angry to gentle, sweet to vicious, in a heartbeat. He couldn’t pinpoint her moods, and that made it increasingly hard for him to be careful. He didn’t know which personality was the real one.
He was worried.
“See you tomorrow.”
Then he escaped.
When he was gone, Marissa locked the door and leaned against it. He was a tough nut to crack, but now she wanted to do it even more.
Dimitri Gideon was a mystery, and she was going to figure him out.
No matter what.
* * * G r e y s o n C r o f t * * *
Across Town
Delilah Fleur’s
Office
He knew he was screwed seven ways to Sunday, so he didn’t call her. Instead, Riley rushed into the woman’s office, and was stopped by some male secretary who didn’t plan to let him anywhere near Delilah.
It pissed him off—not that he was doing his job, but that he looked like a model.
Of course he did.
“I need to see Miss Fleur, and I need to see her right now,” he said, getting impatient. Soon, he was going to flash his badge and do something drastic.
“She’s in with a client, and you can’t just come in here and demand to see her!”
He pulled his jacket back, and his gold badge and gun did nothing to persuade him.
“Do you have an appointment?” he asked. “If not, I can make one…”
“Which room?” he asked, pointing at the three doors in the plush office.
“Sir.”
“I’m going to kick them in and find her anyway, so you either point or I punch you in the face, too, and you’re going to be hideous.”
That seemed to work.
He was appalled, but he pointed at the one door.
Riley stormed toward it, and he didn’t even pause to knock. As soon as it was open, Delilah stood in shock.
“What are you doing, Detective?”
“I need to see you ASAP!”
She defiantly stood there and pointed at the man sitting in the chair. He was wearing a pricey suit, and there was no doubt that he was going to be paying her a shitload of cash to defend him.
Well, he was out of luck.
“Delilah! Now!” he stated.
This wasn’t going the way he planned. Riley didn’t know how much time they had. He kept thinking about how the captain and commissioner were laying out the man’s alibi for later.
They were going to kill her.
“I’m busy, Detective, and I don’t really appreciate you coming in here like this. I have a meeting with a client!”
“Well, say goodbye to him, and grab your things. We have to go!”
“Are you insane? I’m not going anywhere! I have to work! I have back to back meetings! Get out, Detective, or you’re going to need a lawyer.”
Well, that was it.
It was going to take some desperate measures to handle this, and Riley had to get it done. He moved toward her, and she stepped back.
“Delilah, I’ll explain. Trust me!”
She tried to get away from him, even trying to run around the desk, but he grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her out into the entryway of her office.
“We need to talk!”
She pulled, trying to get away from him. Yeah, she’d flirted earlier, but this wasn’t what she was expecting. The man was clearly insane.
“Let go of me!” she said, trying to get away.
Her secretary headed toward her. Riley growled at the secretary, and the man hustled out of reach.
“What the fuck are you doing?” she hissed. “Have you lost your mind?”
“You have to leave with me now. I have to get you somewhere safe.”
She stared at him like he was insane.
“Uh, no. That’s called kidnapping, and I’m not going anywhere with you!”
“Delilah, you have to come with me. I’m going to get you somewhere safe.”
“If this is some kinky pick-up attempt, I liked you better before you went all crazy,” she said, pulling away from him.
She tried to get away from him, but she was in four inch heels, and he was bigger than her.
He blocked her way.
“If you don’t move, I’ll kick your ass and own your badge. You’re making a spectacle in my office, and I need to work here. My partner will flip his shit if he sees this.”
Riley didn’t give a damn. This was about saving her, and if she’d just listen…
“Delilah, I’m being serious. You have to come with me! I’m not kidding! You’re in danger!”
“Yeah, from you, Detective Crazy!”
She tried to get past him, and he blocked her. She shoved him, and he stood his ground. The secretary stared at him.
“Should I call the police, Miss Fleur?” he asked from his safe spot behind the lobby desk.
“He held up his badge. “I am the freaking police! Now, Delilah!”
“Move or I’ll hurt you, Detective!”
“We’re leaving,” he said, moving toward her. “I’ll get you to my place, and we’ll…”
Yeah, that wasn’t happening.
He grabbed her arm again, and she pulled back her arm and slapped him across the face.
Her administrative assistant gasped.
“What the hell?” Riley stated. “You just hit a cop!”
“And I’m going to kick you in the balls next,” she said, trying for it.
Well, this had escalated. The problem with the woman was she was too damn stubborn.
He had a solution.
Riley pulled out his cuffs, spun Delilah around, and had the perfect excuse to get her out of there.
“You’re under arrest for assault on a police officer!”
She couldn’t believe that.
“You are insane! You come into my office, disrupt my meeting, you provoke me into hitting you, and then you arrest me? This won’t stand up in court! I’m going to own your badge!”
As he tried to walk her out, she was stumbling in her heels. He had enough.
Turning her around, he tossed her over his shoulder and carried her out like that.
People were staring.
She was cursing and struggling to get off his shoulder. The entire time, she shouted for help, and he held out his badge to reassure the people he was a cop.
“She’s going to jail! Nothing to see!”
That pissed her off even more.
As Riley walked her out like that, her long legs flapping in the breeze, he kept his hand on her ass so she didn’t fall, she cursed his name and promised to rip him to shreds.
In the car, he dropped her into his front seat and buckled her in.
“I am going to own your job, your house, and your balls when we are done,” she hissed as he closed the door.
As soon as he got in, he took her face into his hands. “Listen to me for one goddamned second. If you’d stop arguing, and just focus on what I’m saying, you might live to see tomorrow!”
She stopped.
“Oh my god! You’re a serial killer, aren’t you?” she said, trying to get away.
“Delilah! Shut up! I’m not a serial killer! I’m trying to save your vicious, cop-hating ass! Now stop and listen!”
She did.
“I was at work, and I heard the police commissioner putting a hit out on you. Thomas Christ is coming to your house to murder and rape you. You’re coming with me, and you can have my fucking job. I can’t let that happen to you.”
She stared at him.
“What?”
“They’re going to try and slow the Crofts down! Something about a document.”
That was all she had to hear. Delilah thought about the file Greyson had given her.
She knew he wasn’t kidding. That file was not something Greyson would spread around. It had the potential to blow up and take the LVPD down.
“Riley, are you serious?”
He set her face free. “I’m not abducting you. I need to get you someplace safe before Christ gets you. I’m trying to save your freaking life.”
Now she felt bad that she hit him.
He started his engine. “The shit is about to hit the fan, and you’re on the list. Let’s hope your secretary doesn’t call the damn police.”
She turned. “Let me out, and I’ll call him.”
“Not if you’re going to try and spear me with those claws of yours. They’re wicked.”
“Riley, I’m sorry. I won’t hit you. Just let me free.”
He unlocked the handcuffs, and handed her his phone. Hers was still in her office.
Delilah called her office.
“Peter, I’m okay,” she said, as he frantically shouted into the phone. “I’m taking today off. Reschedule my appointments.”
She listened. “No, he’s not a crazy. I know him. Yes, I’m in a relationship with him. The detective gets a little lonely during the day and likes weird sex games.”
He stared at her.
“Really?” he said. “I save you and I get to be some perverted woman abductor?”
She tried no to laugh. “Yeah, it was some sick fantasy game of his. I’m safe. Just reschedule.”
Delilah hung up. “Okay, that’s done.”
“You told him I was a serial sex fiend!”
“Well, in my defense, I didn’t really have a choice, now did I? Had you called me, and calmly told me over the phone, I would have walked out of there. You carried me over your shoulder, Tarzan. Don’t blame Jane.”
“I can’t believe this.”
“YOU?” she asked. “Really? You just toted a well-known attorney who devours cops out of her office—during the day—and over your shoulder. You have more issues than people thinking you’re habitually horny.”
He was horrified.
“Let’s just get you somewhere safe. I need to figure out what the hell to do next. I just listened to my bosses talk about raping and killing you. I’m at a loss.”
So was she, but not for the same reason. It didn’t shock her that crooked cops wanted her dead. What shocked her was that this man, who didn’t owe her anything, was willing to save her.
He was her hero.
“Riley?”
“What?” he asked, before pulling away from the curb.
Delilah took a chance. She pulled him toward her with his tie and kissed him silly.
When he was set free, his eyes were big. He now knew where the habitually horny part came into play.
“Thank you. I owe you big time!”
He didn’t care about the debt.
It was the right thing to do.
“Let’s get you somewhere safe.”
“Where?” she asked.
There was only one place he could think that would keep the cops at bay.
“Terrace Glen.”
Delilah was good with that. When she picked up his handcuffs and dangled them from her finger, she saw him blush.
Yeah, she’d be safe.
As long as Riley was near.
She had a hero, and for once, Delilah was good with that.
They weren’t alone.
As he pulled away, it was too late. There was a car behind him.
They’d been seen.
His partner had suspected something, and he’d been proven right. There definitely was something going on with his new partner.
And he’d found out his big secret.
“Well, well,” Lester said, pulling out. “Someone wasn’t sick at all. Looks like the gig is up. Riley has a girlfriend.”
Someone was screwed.
Big time.
* * * G r e y s o n C r o f t * * *
In the vehicle, Greyson said nothing. It was odd. Normally, the man was talkative.
“What?” Dimitri asked.
“What what?” he replied.
“I can hear the hamster running in the wheel. Just say it, okay? I know I shouldn’t have grabbed her like that. She just pisses me off and makes me insane.”
“I wasn’t thinking that,” he said, as the man drove.
“What were you thinking?”
“When you’re going to have sex with her because there is a shitload of sexual tension there, and it’s going to cause a boatload of issues while we work this case.”
He glanced over.
“I don’t know what you mean.”
Croft laughed.
“Dimitri, you had her lipstick all over your mouth. So, unless you’ve decided to try out women’s things, or you fell face first onto her mouth, you can’t bullshit me here.”
“Fine. I want to have sex with her.”
“But?”
“It’s complicated.”
“Oh, okay, well, I’m clearly too stupid to get the dynamics of a relationship between men and women. I mean, I am the married one.”
Dimitri thought back to the previous night when he needed them. He made one call, and two people came to his rescue. If they would be there for him then, why not now?
“I have a conundrum.”
“We call it a hard on for the girl, son.”
He laughed.
Greyson wasn’t saying anything he didn’t already know. Dimitri was edgy, stirred up, and off his game.
Why?
Marissa Pierce was an enigma, and not a good one.
“She makes me want to be angry and horny at once, okay? As I’m yelling at her, I want to throw her on the couch and…”
“So do it.”
“What?”
“It’s sex. What’s the hang up? You can buy it from a madam, but you can’t just dive in with a normal girl?” he asked. “This is far easier.”
He doubted that. This screamed of entanglement, and he didn’t know if that was the route he wanted to take. Yes, Marissa was gorgeous, and he was obsessed with her legs, but sex…it wasn’t always just sex. That was why he used hookers. He didn’t have to be anyone but some nameless man buying a night of pleasure.
“You’re over thinking it.”
He didn’t know.
“I feel off.”
“Like you’re having a heart attack off?”
“I’ll have you know, despite the eggs and bacon Emma made me, my cholesterol is excellent. I take a vitamin.”
“Pussy. Real men don’t take vitamins. I’m ashamed of you.”
“You take vitamins.”
“I’m FORCED to take them, or the kitten won’t let me pet her. I like when she purrs. I have no choice. You, on the other hand, have a choice.”
He snorted.
“I don’t know if I can do intimacy.”
“You have sex twice a week. Saturday and Wednesday. You can do intimacy.”
“You’re tracking my sex life? Isn’t that weird?”
“You don’t exactly hide it. You leave stressed, and you come back calm. I’m a man. I get it. You’re either out getting laid, or you’re out jerking off—and that you don’t have to leave the house to do.”
“I don’t…”
Greyson stopped him. “Don’t. I already have a wife who smells like your cologne, and those pictures in my head.”
“We cuddled.”
“Dimitri.”
“I spooned her.”
He pointed at him. “I will stop being your friend.”
That made him laugh even more.
“It’s different, and it freaks me out,” Dimitri admitted. “Like with an escort, it’s sex, and I’m done. This has the possibilities of entanglement. Our lives are a mess right now. Do I want that kind of thing looming over me?”
“Entanglement is a good thing.”
He wasn’t so sure.
“Emma made me insane when I first met her. She was defiant, she made me shout—a lot—and she pissed me off to the point I think I chugged wine right from the bottle during our first fight.”
He snorted. “Who’s the pussy now?”
Oh, he knew who was the boss.
“Seriously. What’s the worst that can happen? You can lose some of that sexual frustration. You’re a mess. Have sex, and don’t worry if you get attached.”
He had a point.
It wasn’t like he wanted to marry her. He was just obsessed with her legs.
And breasts.
And those kisses…
“Can I say something?” he asked.
“What?”
“You’re a bigger man than I am.”
Greyson laughed. “I’m aware. I outweigh you, and I pray to God you’re not comparing our junk. That’s awkward.”
He laughed even more.
He needed this.
Dimitri loved this man because he cheered him up. He made him feel human. Emma too. That was missing from his life.
“I mean that I don’t think I could let my wife sleep in another man’s bed. I’d be sick over it.”
“Then you’re not with the right woman. I know my wife. She’d never hurt me. She may bust my ass, or kiss you and Chris, but she also kisses two gay men, a man in a wheelchair, and she creatively tells the chef to kiss certain parts of her. When you love someone, you’d never hurt them. Always remember that.”
He thought about it.
“I was in a bad place last night. Letting her near me was dangerous. Why did you do it?”
Greyson touched his arm. “I trust you with my life. Why wouldn’t I trust you with hers? I know you’d never hurt Emma. She loves you so much. You and Chris, you’re both pieces of her brother. She’s told me about him.”
“What was he like?”
“Their parents died together. It was just them for a while. They’d celebrate everything together. The day he died, it was a blow to her. You resemble him. She was the redhead, but he wasn’t. She has green eyes, but his were closer to yours. You’re about his size. I think she sees him in you, and she wants that piece that’s missing. She couldn’t save Gage, but she can save you.”
“Tonight is going to hurt her.”
“Yes, it is. She’s going to need you and Chris. She’s going to ache from this for a long time.”
He’d let Emma lean on him anytime.
“I get what she sees in me, but what’s with the Captain? He’s…insane.”
Greyson laughed. “He’s funny like Gage used to be. He’d pull insane pranks, and they’d laugh for hours. He also hovered over her. He’s the one that told her to dump Christ, and his gut had to know.”
“Or he saw something he shouldn’t have,” he offered. “That might be why he took him out.”
“Yeah, I know. Tonight, if she crumbles, it won’t only be me that has to put her back together. I’m her husband, but she’s going to need her family.”
He got it.
“She slept beside me last night and hovered over me. She watched me while I slept. I assume that’s what a mother would do. I can’t ever repay her for that.”
“Family doesn’t keep score, Dimitri. You know that. She would watch over you or Chris. That’s her protecting Gage. In a way, she’s paying penance, just like you.”
Dimitri glanced over.
“Son, I was a soldier, too, and I know what I did. I know what you’re living, feeling, and experiencing.”
“The nightmares.”
“I once had to kill a whole family,” Greyson said. He didn’t talk to anyone about this, but he felt Dimitri needed it. “I was sitting up in my sniper’s nest, and I waited for three days. I was tired, I was so hungry, but I had to do it. This man was evil, but his kids…”
Dimitri got it.
“I took the bastard out first. Then his wife. Then, as I took out the daughter, the son, who had to be five, came out. I had to watch him lose it as his family bled out on that floor. Then, as if he knew, he looked right up at me.”
“And?” Dimitri asked.
“I took the shot. I wiped out that whole family because the government told me I had to do it. I had nightmares until about… right before Emma. She soothed the demons.”
Dimitri got it.
He wasn’t alone.
“I’m ashamed of what I’ve done.”
“Me, too, and that’s why we’re living this now. That’s why we’re fighting for a girl who is missing, and if we have a sex trafficking ring, we’ll get it for the FBI.”
He had to believe that.
As they pulled through the gates, Chris and Emma were already there.
“This is why we do it,” he said, as Emma smiled brightly. “We do it for family,” Greyson said, heading toward his wife.
She went into his arms, and kissed him.
Dimitri hopped out.
As soon as Emma finished kissing her husband, she was moving toward him. She went into his body, and hugged him.
“I’m glad we’re all safe, and home.”
Greyson said nothing.
But Dimitri did.
“Yeah, it’s good to be home.”
And that was the truth.
* * * G r e y s o n C r o f t * * *
Delilah’s Home
He couldn’t believe she talked him into swinging by her place. Riley must be one hell of a moron for falling for her big green eyes and that kiss.
He’d fought.
She’d insisted.
He argued.
At the stoplight, she kissed him.
He agreed.
Riley was a fool.
As they pulled up, he checked her place out because he couldn’t help himself. Delilah was a mystery to him, and he desperately wanted to solve it.
And her home?
It was NOTHING like he expected. She was the top earning shark in Vegas, and she lived in a normal place outside the hustle and bustle of the strip.
What was with that?
“What?” Delilah asked, as he sat there silently.
“You are one continual surprise after another. Here, I pictured you in some mountain like castle with a bell tower, some trolls, and gargoyles.”
She laughed. “Seriously? In Vegas? Maybe California where all the cuckoo’s live.”
“Hey! I grew up there,” he said. “Avocados are your friends.”
“I like meat.”
He stared blankly at her.
“Jesus. You’re one of those vegetarians, aren’t you?” she asked.
“As a matter of…”
“Stop. You’re ruining my fantasy,” she said, tapping her head. “I thought man saves the girl, and then we have a steak.”
“I like salad.”
She laughed as they got out. “Said no sane heterosexual man ever—especially to a woman.”
He didn’t laugh and Delilah hoped she didn’t offend him. She tended to be the kind of person who spoke first and then dealt with the ramifications after.
It was part of her lawyer persona.
“Are you okay, Riley? You look freaked.”
He glanced over at her. “Something isn’t right, but I don’t know what, so you need to be fast,” he said, walking with her up to the door. “I feel off.”
“You’re a cop. You always feel off.”
He smiled at her. “It’s part of the job.”
She totally got that.
“I do have one question, since we’re discussing things that don’t line up and make sense.”
“What?”
“Why don’t you tell me why this house doesn’t match your viper persona, Ice Queen?”
She looked at her house.
She loved it.
“If you’re asking why I don’t live in a massive monstrosity like the Crofts, that’s simple. I don’t keep all of the money I make fighting the corruption in Vegas.”
That surprised him.
“Are you using it to buy off minions?”
Delilah unlocked the door and let them both in as she tried to figure out what exactly she was going to tell him. She didn’t trust cops, but this one…
Yeah, he tied her up inside.
Once inside the Tudor-style home, he looked around. It matched better than the outside. It was all white and pristine.
Now this was her.
Orderly.
Neat.
Lawyer.
“Well?” he asked, not letting her off the hook. If he was going to risk his life and career, he deserved to know everything about her.
“It’s a long story,” she said.
“We have some time,” he offered.
Delilah shrugged.
“My brother was a soldier and when he came back from fighting the war, he had PTSD. When he committed suicide, I began fighting for soldiers like him. I give away almost all of my earnings. I keep enough to buy shoes, steak, and pay for my home.”
He didn’t know what to say. That rattled him to his core, and he didn’t know what to say.
“I’m fighting for him and all the other soldiers like him who have been killed.”
He let that go.
“So why do you hate cops? It’s hard not to notice that they are public enemy number one for you.”
If he wanted to know, she would tell him.
“My brother was about to take his life, and they didn’t save him. He called for help, he had a gun, and he was going to end it. When he came out of his house, he was holding that gun, and instead of saving him, the cops killed him.”
“Suicide by cop,” he muttered in horror.
“They were all carrying Tasers. They chose to shoot and instead of hearing him, they just kept screaming ‘put down your gun’! He was in the middle of a flashback. He thought he was back in the desert. They chose to shoot before protecting.”
Riley heard the pain, and he understood it.
God!
He really did.
She walked him to a picture on her mantle. “That was Samson.”
He looked at her. “Seriously? His name was Samson and your name is Delilah?”
“Yeah, my mother was jacked up. She was a bible junkie, but for all the wrong reasons. Don’t judge. We both had to live with her crazy all of our lives.”
He wouldn’t.
Then he remembered this wasn’t a social call. They had to get to Terrace Glen.
“You should grab your things. We should get you somewhere safe.”
She kicked off her heels and raced toward the stairs. “Look around. I’ll hurry.”
He did just that. Riley was curious by nature, and he was definitely going to entertain himself while she was upstairs. This woman was definitely more than she seemed.
She had awards out the wazoo. From the diploma’s, he could tell a few things.
She’d graduated top of her class at Harvard Law.
And Delilah was smart—wicked smart.
No wonder she was able to chew through cops without batting an eyelash. She had a degree in law, and some forensic ones thrown in too.
He looked at his watch as he began to get nervous and edgy.
“Are you okay?” he asked, calling up the stairs.
There was no answer.
He called again, and he got worried when there was still no reply.
What if someone grabbed her in her room?
What if they moved the timeline up, and she was in danger?
There was only one thing to do. Riley pulled his gun, and headed up the stairs, listening for anything. Riley didn’t even hear a peep.
At the one door, he yanked it open.
She was standing there, a tiny pair of panties, a bra that left nothing concealed, and garters.
Holy fuck.
She was wearing garters.
“Um…”
He immediately turned around. “I called to you twice. I got worried.”
She was enamored by how he’d blushed and had the decency to turn around. She’d been right about him. This guy…he was different.
Instead of freaking out, she let her guard down—as in all the way down.
Moving toward him, she listened to him babble. It was amusing and sweet all at the same time.
Riley Henderson was a gentleman to his core.
“I am so sorry. That was NOT intentional. I didn’t see anything.”
“So, what you’re saying is you didn’t notice my bra was blue.”
He hesitated.
“It was black with red trim.”
She wanted to laugh. He couldn’t even lie. This was wholesome at its finest.
It was…refreshing.
“What color were the garters, Detective Henderson?” she asked.
“Black. I didn’t know women wore them anymore, but they should.”
She was suddenly very turned on. “I wear them all the time when I’m at work.”
He swallowed.
Moving to stand in front of him, she stared up at him. Barefoot, she was considerably shorter. He appealed to her on some feminine level.
He was handsome.
He was a hero.
And he made her all hot and bothered.
“Exactly how much time do we have here?” she asked, running her hand down his chest.
She watched his carotid artery tick in response as his pulse jumped. It was one of the tricks she used in the courthouse as she was chasing down her prey.
He didn’t look down.
“Not much.”
“Well, then I hope you can be fast,” she said, jumping up to wrap her arms and legs around him.
It was clear she took him by surprise.
Her lips found his, and there was this explosion of fire. It tore through them, nearly taking Riley to his knees.
“Delilah!” he muttered, as she practically climbed into his body by way of his mouth. She was all over him, and he couldn’t think at all.
He was holding her.
Kissing her.
“Hurry, Riley!” she responded, getting his shirt open.
He couldn’t believe he was going to have sex with this woman. They were total opposites, but Jesus, did she make him insane.
She began pulling his clothes off his body, tugging his blazer off, and then his shirt.
When he was topless, they tumbled onto the bed. It was a battle to get him free of his things.
Riley, somehow, managed to unclip his badge and gun and they were pulled to the floor in the tangle of his shirt.
She bit him on the neck.
He moaned.
“I really want you naked, but I really want you wearing that,” he muttered, nibbling his way down her throat.
“Then it stays,” she said, as he caged a nipple through the lace of her bra.
Holy shit!
She nearly came from that alone. His hands were everywhere, and the man knew how to work his way around a body.
Maybe that should have alarmed her, but it only made her crazier. He looked like some sweet innocent guy, but this was hot.
Hotter than anything she’d ever experienced before.
His hand found his belt, and he tugged it off. Her fingers found the button on his dress pants, and she rubbed him through his pants.
“Delilah,” he muttered, as she pulled him free.
“We have to hurry. Your words, not mine.”
She had a point.
“Next time, I’ll go slow,” he promised, as he reached down, grabbed her panties, and ripped them off.
She gasped as the fabric rendered. It was so shocking to see him do it. Delilah realized she’d found some sexy cop enigma that she really wanted to solve.
Then he stroked her with his fingers, and she shivered at his touch.
“Good. You’re wet.”
He didn’t stop.
His erection nudged her, and he slid home, burying himself to the base of his dick.
Bare.
She took all of him, and they couldn’t breathe. It was her moan that broke the silence and forced him to focus on her beneath him.
“Do your worst, Detective,” she said, running her nails down his chest.
His muscles rippled at her touch, and it turned her on. She couldn’t wait to see this man in action.
Riley could barely think. There was a sexy woman beneath him, he was buried in her body, and the freaking bra and garters were making him insane.
It was like jumping some sexy pin up girl.
He was a sucker for it.
“So tight,” he whispered, bracing himself above her. “You feel so perfect,” he said, and then he began moving.
She’d never felt anything like this in her life. She was caged between him and the bed, and she couldn’t move. Delilah was his captive during this, and she was out of her mind with need.
Who would have seen this coming?
The detective’s hair was messed up from her hands, his eyes were sparkling with wickedness, and his body was rippling with lust.
He was driving her insane.
Delilah held on, as the detective fucked her. He held nothing back as his body invaded hers. He didn’t pretend to want to be shy. He didn’t stop the assault on her body.
Riley gave her as much pleasure as he was taking, and Delilah loved every second of it.
Their moans were the only sound in the room, and then it was the hitch of their breathing as he took them on the climb.
Riley shifted and lifted her, so his arms did all the work. He lifted her up, and then dropped her, so she was impaled on his rock-hard erection.
She whimpered as he kept hitting that one spot over and over again. Delilah had never had sex quite like this. The detective could barge into her bedroom anytime.
There would be an open invitation.
“Am I hurting you?” he asked, staring into her eyes as he fought to control his need.
“No. I want more.”
He dropped her onto the bed, and he stayed on his knees. “It’s got to be this,” he said, flicking a garter. “So fucking hot,” he said, grabbing her pale thighs and spreading her open as far as she could go.
Then the assault continued.
He drove himself into her, and she came riding his dick. It was the slow deliberate strokes that filled her and left room for nothing more.
Riley didn’t stop even as her body tried to milk his to release.
He couldn’t.
This wicked witch put one hell of a spell on him. As she came, he wanted her more. As she shouted his name, Riley didn’t let up.
He worked her hard, taking her back up that climb, and then to the edge. Then he slowed down. He slid in, and then out, watching her eyes dilate in pleasure.
“Riley,” she begged. “Please.”
All he was waiting for was to hear his name on her lips.
He shifted, and hit that one spot with all of his might, throwing her off the edge.
He gave her what she wanted.
She exploded, and that orgasm took him for a ride too. He tumbled with her, collapsing onto her body.
Neither spoke.
When he lifted his head, she was watching him.
“I did NOT expect that,” she admitted. Honestly, he looked wholesome, like some do-gooder.
“Yeah, me either,” he said, resting his head against hers. He felt like he’d run a marathon. “Like I said, it had to be the garters. You don’t see those often.”
Well, she was keeping them until the day she died.
“I’ll help you get cleaned up. It’s the least I can do,” he offered.
There was concern in his voice.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“We didn’t use protection. I’m sorry. I should have protected you.”
Her heart skipped.
God!
She found the one good guy left in Vegas.
“I’m on the pill.”
His body relaxed. “Good, because I wouldn’t want to hurt you.”
For some reason, that one sentence speared right through her and made her go soft and mushy for this man. He’d found his way through her barriers.
He was the first one ever. He was sweet and gentle, and that was something she appreciated.
Then she thought about this frenetic fornication, how strong and dominant he’d been in bed, and what he’d risked for her.
In that moment, she knew one thing.
Detective Riley Henderson was one hell of a man.
And she was intrigued.
This was a first.