Chapter Twenty-Two
Seedy Underbelly
of Vegas
H e wanted to get this done, and then get back to his family. Dimitri didn’t frequent this place anymore because he wasn’t this man anymore. Once he’d tied himself to the Crofts, he’d turned over a new leaf.
Dimitri went legit.
He liked to believe he’d stopped being that killer, mercenary, and bad guy, but clearly, he hadn’t.
Nothing had changed.
He never changed.
Going into that bar, he knew what the cost was going to be, and he accepted it. Not for him, but for his sisters and for Marissa. He was willing to cross the line to get her closure—even if the killer was his brother.
Dimitri would offer himself up, if it meant he could save them all.
As he sat down, a man joined him in the booth. He was tattooed, bald, and he was one of the scum he hadn’t missed in his year away from the dark side of Vegas.
“Why are you here, traitor?” asked the man. “You have a big set of balls to come in here.”
Dimitri knew this could get dicey. He’d expected it, but for the women in his life…
“I’m here looking for someone, Babylon, and I know you can help me.”
He laughed. “You have lost your mind.”
“It’s important.”
“Dimitri, you have no pull here. You’re a shame to everyone here. You’re nothing but a turncoat, helping those cops clean up our city.”
“He’s the mob in Vegas. He’s not a cop.”
The man leaned forward. “Your lies might be bought by them, but I know you. You’re nothing more than a criminal like us. You can wear a fancy suit, but you’re scum, Dimitri. It’s time you faced the facts.”
“He’s the mob,” he said again, refusing to back down.
“He’s a cop to his core, and you know it. His businesses all went legit. He’s not womanizing, bringing in drugs, or helping those of us here in the shadows. He’s not one of us, and neither are you.”
Yeah, Dimitri wasn’t shocked. As for Greyson not coming down there, he couldn’t blame him. He wouldn’t come back here unless he had to.
And he had to.
The saddest part was he really thought he could stay away. Dimitri believed he could change and make a difference.
He was wrong.
He was right back where he started in the gutter with the other snakes.
“Leave,” he stated.
“Babylon, I will owe you one.”
The man lifted his brow. “Really? That intrigues me. You never owe anyone. In fact, you’re usually the one keeping tabs on the rest of us. For that alone, I’d love to have you in my back pocket.”
“If you help me, I’ll help you.”
“I want your sister.”
Dimitri laughed. “You can’t have them. One is married and pregnant, and the other is getting married.”
He hoped.
“I’ll cut the baby out of her.”
He stayed calm. He knew there was a gun on him under the table. Babylon would shoot him in the stomach and no EMTs would ever be called.
“If you help me, you get a free get out of jail card. I promise. I’ll do one last job for you.”
He grinned.
Babylon wasn’t stupid. Owning Dimitri Gideon was as good as being king.
“Deal. What do you need?”
Dimitri felt dirty and horrible for even going there with this snake, but he was desperate and taking things into his own hands. His blood did this, and he’d fix it before putting a bullet in his head.
“I need Viktor Marchenko.”
He laughed.
“Where can I find him?”
He laughed even more.
“You can’t go after him. He’s called ‘El Diablo’ for a reason. He makes you look like a saint. He’s loco, and that’s the most dangerous person.”
Oh, he wouldn’t bet on that.
Greyson and Emma Croft made him a saint. There was still a sinner underneath all of it, and he was willing to do all the vile things from his past to save the people he loved.
His sisters.
Marissa.
Emma.
He’d do it all to find a way to protect them.
“Where can I find him?”
“He looks for young pussy. He likes kids. I hear he’s using them up and tossing them out as fast as he can rape them.”
He fought to stay calm.
“If you want a favor, Babylon, then you’re going to have to do better than that. Where is he?”
The man laughed. “I would love to have you in bed with me. Maybe that will be my one favor. I bet I can turn you gay so fast your head would spin.”
He didn’t flinch. “If that’s your favor, fine. Then we’re even.”
He held up his hand. “Hold on, sexy. I’m just postulating. I haven’t decided.”
The thought made him sick, but he’d do it to protect his family. He’d take what the man dished out to keep the ones he loved protected.
“Or I can kill a Croft.”
Dimitri didn’t flinch.
“Oh, you’d hate that. Would you do it?” he asked.
“If that’s your favor.”
Dimitri had to lie on that one. He’d degrade himself, even swallow his own rape, but he wouldn’t sacrifice Emma or Greyson. He’d let the man put a bullet in his head.
“Again, postulating.”
“You’re wasting my time. Figure out what you want, and let me know. I’m sure you have some enemies you need handled. I wouldn’t be shocked. You are a snake.”
He laughed. “Yes, I am.”
He ordered a drink.
“Vine and Canal. You have to find him. He doesn’t give out his address on his business cards. I hear he’s looking to own this city. Once you’re gone…”
He listened.
“He’s going to take on Croft. He’s going to be the Russian Mob in his city. He’s going to…”
Dimitri stopped him.
“So, you’d bow down and worship a child molester? I never took you for that big of a pervert.”
There was the click of a safety going off.
“I’ll follow whoever wants to lead in Vegas. It was supposed to be you, and then you got scared. We all had your back, and you left. We have a leader now, and we’ll follow.”
Dimitri leaned toward him.
“If Viktor comes in, tell him this.”
“What?”
“Tell him he can’t have Vegas. It’s mine. Greyson doesn’t run it. I do. I’m using him, and when he’s not useful, he’s dead.”
Okay, that was total BS, but it might protect the man. If he could keep his family safe, he’d fall on his own sword.
With that, Dimitri slid out of the booth, walked through the bar, and headed out.
Babylon pulled out his phone.
He made a call.
“He was here.”
“Thank you, Babylon. You’ll get your money as soon as I get my brother. What did you discuss?”
He told him everything.
“Well, I’m not shocked. I know he’s got something for Emma Croft. The word is everywhere. I’ll handle it. Thank you.”
Babylon hung up.
The man sat back, and grinned.
Yeah, War was coming.
Vegas was about to go bad.
Again.
It was time to choose sides.
* * * G r e y s o n C r o f t * * *
He hung up the phone and wiped off his dick. He’d just finished using her, and all of the sudden, he wanted more.
Not just the sex.
He wanted her to bleed.
Heading back into his bedroom, she was tied to his bed as she whimpered in pain. Her body was covered in welts, bruises, and cuts.
He’d had fun, but not nearly enough.
It was time to end this one.
He wanted to send a message.
He pulled out his knife, and she looked up at him in fear. After the knife, he pulled out a syringe.
It was filled with drugs.
He first tied off his own arm, shooting some into his vein. As the euphoria came, his dick got harder.
She whimpered when he straddled her body.
“Please,” she whispered.
“Here you go. Time to feel better. Then…I’m going to really make you feel good.”
He injected it into her body, and her head rolled back, her eyes closed, and he felt her pulse.
She was barely alive.
Good.
He untied her because he was going to fuck her. He was going to use her up, and then leave her. They already told him no more girls. They were going under.
That wouldn’t do. He was going to make sure they paid too. He needed his fix, and he would handle them.
This wasn’t over.
Not by a long shot.
The Crofts were hiding a criminal.
They were hiding a murderer.
So, he’d turn them against him.
Like the world.
Then, he’d put a bullet in his head.
Until then…he had a girl to rape, and he was going to take his time.
* * * G r e y s o n C r o f t * * *
Terrace Glen
Once home, they dragged her inside. The entire time, she fought, making their lives miserable.
Emma was over this bullshit.
Just as she was coming in, so was Dimitri. He lifted his brow as Chris was manhandling Marissa.
“Is she our hostage?” he asked. “Why is she dressed like that?” he inquired.
“She was out trying to work this on her own.”
He laughed.
Only, it wasn’t an amused laugh.
Dimitri was tired. He’d been to Hell, and he’d bargained with the devil.
“Marissa, what were you thinking?”
She saw her escape.
“She punched me in the face,” she said, going to hide behind Dimitri. “They forced me here. I was scared.”
“Yeah, I’m bad,” Emma said. “She deserved it. Trust me, and if she starts her shit, I’ll do it again.”
“EMMA!” Dimitri said.
“They won’t let me go. Please help me.”
They all stared at her.
Was she seriously twisting this to get Dimitri on her side?
“Why don’t you go wait for me in the living room?” he asked.
Marissa stared at Emma.
They shared a look.
It was a challenge—the woman fucking Dimitri versus the woman he could never have.
“You put your hands on her?” he asked. “Really?”
She opened her mouth.
He cut her off. “Her sister is dead. She’s scared, and you made it worse! I can’t believe this!”
Greyson opened his mouth. “You’re missing…”
She stopped him.
It was fine.
She’d take it for her family.
For him.
Something wasn’t right. She’d heard how he bailed on Curtis and Kat on the ride home in the ambulance, and now he looked weary.
That was not Dimitri.
“Is it because of what her sister was doing?” he asked. “Is that why you’re being cruel?”
That stung.
It stung that he didn’t know her better.
It stung that he would believe her without trusting them. Without trust, there could be no family.
They all knew it.
Again, Emma let it go. She wasn’t going to deal with it. She was too damn tired herself. The last three days felt like fifty, she was pregnant, and she was afraid.
Their family was coming apart at the seams.
“I’m going to go start watching the discs in my office,” she said, grabbing them.
Greyson stared at the man.
He wanted to tell him off.
Only, he’d let this play out. Dimitri was off his balance. He was screwed up, and they couldn’t fix him.
He could only fix himself.
“Chris, will you check on Curtis? I’m going to go deal with Emma and the videos.”
He nodded.
As he walked past Dimitri, Chris muttered under his breath.
“Douchebag.”
Dimitri glared at him too. He was so angry at what he’d done. He was so pissed that he’d gone back to that club and caved to find the man.
He wanted some calm in the storm.
Croft shook his head. “I don’t know what’s happened to you, but you’re not the man you were.”
THAT was EXACTLY what happened to him.
You couldn’t be something you weren’t.
“Whatever,” he said, heading out of the room. Maybe it was better if they all hated him. When it came down to it, that was what was coming.
That hideous feeling was bubbling up in his gut, and he was helpless to stop it. What he wanted was someone to tell him it was going to be all right.
He wanted someone to lie to him.
Only, he wasn’t going to get it.
As Greyson headed up the stairs, he glanced back at Dimitri.
He couldn’t save the man.
Only he could save himself.
Upstairs in her office, he found her getting set up to begin the hours of torture that lay ahead.
Literally.
They were going to watch young girls being abused. How did one’s soul come back from that?
The answer?
It couldn’t.
When he closed her door, he saw the anguish. Emma was upset. She was on the verge of breaking. That basement torture chamber, the discs, and now Dimitri.
It was going to shatter her soul.
He could see it.
“Emma.”
She stopped him.
“We’re losing him. She’s changed him, and not for the better. You saw her face. She was amused that he was at odds with us. She’s going to suck him under.”
He was aware.
“Then I talked to Curtis,” Emma said, not even looking over. She told him what Dimitri asked Curtis in the ambulance.
“Jesus! He’s on a suicide mission.”
“I have to let him go. I have to protect the people I can. He’s made his choice. I told Dimitri in the chapel that we’d accept his decisions. I told him we’d follow, but we can’t. He’s already lost to us.”
“Emma, honey, you can’t give up on him.”
“She’s bad for him. Dimitri is looking for salvation from his demons in another sinner. How do I tell him that? If I try, he’ll hate me.”
Oh, he was aware.
“Give him time. He’s smart. He’ll come around. Just don’t lose faith in him. He needs you.”
Did he?
Maybe he needed more than she could ever give, and that was the problem.
“Ready?” she asked.
He sighed. “Yeah. Let’s get this done.”
Emma put the disc in, and she hit play.
Then she kissed her soul goodbye.
* * * G r e y s o n C r o f t * * *
He found her in the living room, and she was shivering. Immediately, he took off his suit jacket and tucked it around her shoulders.
“Better?” he asked.
She nodded.
“I don’t like her.”
“Emma is a good person.”
Marissa stared into his eyes. “She punched me. Is my nose broken?”
He kissed it. “No.”
She cuddled against him.
Immediately, his body came awake.
“Can we get out of here?” she asked. “Let’s go back to my sister’s place. I won’t stay here.”
He had to rationalize with her.
“It’s not safe, Marissa. You’re not safe there. That’s why they brought you here.”
“I don’t like her,” she said again. “I think she’s jealous of us.”
Dimitri knew that wasn’t true. Emma was a good person inside and out.
“I think she’s under a lot of stress and pregnant. She’s carrying a lot on her shoulders. They are doing their best.”
She didn’t care.
“I can’t be near her.”
This was going to be a problem.
“Did you find out anything about my sister’s killer?” she asked, leaning against him.
He hesitated.
“Dimitri?” she asked, pulling his mouth down to hers.
He fell into the kiss, and it actually chased some of the chill away.
Maybe, when this was over, he would leave with her. Then Kat and Natasha would be safe. Maybe he could have that house with a porch and peace.
When she pulled away, Marissa stared up into his eyes.
“We know who it is. We just have to find him. I’ll give it to Greyson. We’ll find him.”
She hugged him.
“That makes me so happy! I can’t believe it. You’re my hero!”
She jumped up, and wrapped her legs around his body. Then she kissed him hard. “Let’s go celebrate!”
He knew he had to tell her the truth.
He couldn’t plan his future without telling her the truth.
“Marissa, you need to know something.”
“What?”
“He’s dangerous. He’s a killer, and he’s Russian, like me,” he offered.
“Okay, and?”
Here was the ugly part.
“Viktor Marchenko is the man who hurt and killed Julie, and he’s my brother.”
She stared at him, trying to figure out what he was saying. Then she registered it.
She set him free and backed away from him.
“What? What did you just say? Your brother killed my sister?”
He nodded. “I’m sorry, Marissa, but yes. He’s…”
She stopped him. “Your brother? Your blood? He tortured and killed my sister?”
“I’m sorry, but yes.” She couldn’t even bear to look at him with anything less than disgust.
She backed further away from him.
“Marissa, I’m not him. I won’t hurt you.”
He saw it in her eyes. It was over.
“How long have you known?”
“A day.”
“Before we slept together?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“Call me a cab. I need to get out of here.”
“Marissa…”
“Tomorrow, I’m claiming my sister’s body, and I’m getting her out of here. I can’t be here. Vegas is evil. You’re evil! You knew, and still, you slept with me?”
And here was what he expected to happen all along.
“I’m not him, Marissa. I wouldn’t hurt you. I’m not the same man as he is.”
She didn’t care.
“You knew the whole time? Why would you do this?”
“I wanted to build something with you. I wanted you to see I’m not him. I hoped…”
“What?” she asked, dropping his suit jacket next. “What did you hope?”
“That you might love me.”
He put it out there even though he knew it was going to risk his heart. Dimitri wanted to feel more than anything. With Marissa, he’d felt something.
“I can’t love you! Your brother killed my sister. What kind of family of monsters are you from?”
That one arrow hit its bull’s-eye. In that moment, Dimitri gave up. He was lost.
“Where will you go?” he asked, changing the subject as he picked up his suit jacket.
“I’ll go South. Anywhere but here. I have to get far away from Vegas. Nothing good ever happens here.”
“I’m here.”
She took a step back.
“Exactly,” she said. “I’ll always know that truth. Your blood killed mine. I can’t even look at you. You might as well be him!”
His heart broke into a million pieces.
“Then let me call your cab.”
Dimitri pulled out his phone and did exactly what she’d asked. He had to let her go.
It didn’t matter.
He was dead inside.
In one hour, he’d become the man he swore he wouldn’t be, he’d ostracized Emma, Greyson, and his family, and he’d offered his heart to a woman who hated him, and he had no reason to go on.
Yeah, it was a bad night.
He wanted to die.
“I need to get out of here,” she said, moving away from him. “I knew you were a killer, but…I can’t.”
He got it.
She didn’t need to say anything more. Marissa only saw what she wanted to see. The real him was invisible to her.
“Your cab will be outside. Please close the gate on your way out,” he said, trying to hold it together.
He walked out the door, and with that, Dimitri let her go, and along with her, any chance with love.
What choice did he have?
No one would ever want him.
No one.
* * * G r e y s o n C r o f t * * *
In her office, they watched the videos. Greyson was horrified by them all. As he sat there, watching innocence be destroyed, he wanted to protect his wife.
“Maybe Chris and I can handle this,” he offered.
Emma knew what he was doing.
“He’s off for the night. He’s been on duty all day. I told him to go cuddle with Nat. I’m fine, Greyson.”
He wished he could get her to stop. Only, he knew his wife. She was at her snapping point. The next person who poked her was going to get the full extent of her wrath.
He was a husband.
He knew the signs.
“Curtis looks better,” he said, trying to get her to stop thinking about the poor girl chained to the bed in the video.
“I’m glad. I was worried about him.”
“Dante, Steele, and Sam are keeping him entertained. There’s a nurse in there, and she’s wearing this low-cut set of scrubs. The boy didn’t even look. He’s ogling his wife. I trained him right.”
She nodded.
Her silence said it all.
Emma wasn’t even in the mood to talk to him, and that meant bad things were coming.
“Emma.”
“I’m fine,” she said once more.
He tried a different approach.
“Okay, how much shit is he in?”
Greyson asked.
“Who?” She pretended she didn’t know.
“Santa. He was in the cookies again. Emma, you know who!” She looked over and there were tears in her eyes, but she was holding them back.
Emma stopped the video.
His wife was the strongest woman he knew.
“He hurt me.”
He got it.
“Do you want me to kick his ass? For you, I will.”
She shook her head. “No. I’ll kick it if I have to do it. If he wants me to be the enemy, so he can have the girl, I’ll carry it for him.”
“That’s not fair, Emma. You deserve better than that. This shouldn’t be about her or you. He can have both.”
She was aware, but clearly, that wasn’t the case and they both knew it. Marissa was playing a game.
“I’ll carry it. In fact, I’ll make it easy for him,” she said. “He can hate me all he wants.”
“Honey.”
Emma hit play.
They sat there, and they watched the videos. There was only one word for it.
Disgusting.
In fact, they were horrifying. Just watching them tore their guts to shreds.
It ate away at them as those girls were trained to be nothing more than animals.
He locked them in cages.
He tortured them with cattle prods.
He made sure they were degraded every second by men abusing them.
It made her want to cry.
“I hate this city,” she said, as she watched Julie being tied down to be raped. They watched her struggle at first.
Then she gave up.
She was broken.
“I would have used drugs too,” Emma admitted. “I would have begged for them.”
“We have to shut these animals down. This is not happening in MY Vegas,” Greyson stated. There was no freaking way he was allowing this in his city.
Hell.
NO.
Just as the next atrocity began, there was a knock on the door.
“Come in,” Emma stated.
It was Dimitri.
He said nothing. Instead, he just watched in horror as the girls on the discs begged for help. It made him feel helpless and even more broken inside.
They were monsters.
He was a monster too.
“How can you watch that and not feel dirty?” he asked offhandedly, trying to fill the silence with something other than the sounds and screams from the videos.
His comment made her snap.
“Oh, maybe because I don’t have a heart or soul or maybe because I’m just a bitch.”
He looked surprised.
Honestly, he’d come to this room to lick his wounds. He figured Emma would forgive him.
“I didn’t mean…”
“Why are you here, Dimitri? Did your girlfriend tell you I did something else to her? Are you here to tell me to be nice to Princess Marissa even when she’s physically abusive to us?”
“No.”
“Well, it’s about time you know why I punched her in the face. She hit Chris. No one hits anyone in this family. We don’t do physical abuse, so, yes, I punched her. She was belligerent, she was going to get herself killed, and I don’t need that on my shoulders too! I’m already handling this,” she said, pointing at the screen.
He let her rage.
She deserved to, and he would take it.
After all, he chose sides, and had his heart handed back to him when he ended up on the wrong path.
“Since she came here, you’ve changed, and frankly, I don’t like the man you’ve become. Family sticks. Family loves. Family doesn’t toss you over for a woman or man.”
He got it.
“She left and isn’t coming back. I’ll leave you alone,” he offered, willing to retreat.
Emma stopped him. “You can stay. I’m going to go eat something. I’m pregnant, hurt, and sick of watching those animals abuse a child. I have to get out of here.”
She headed past him and slammed the door so loudly, her diploma from college fell off the wall.
“I’m leaving,” Dimitri said. “I only came to say goodbye to you both. Once I’m gone, you’ll be safer than with me here. I tried to stick, but I can’t. It’s better for me to disappear.”
Greyson stared at him. “If that’s your choice. Are you leaving with her?” he asked.
He only wished.
A broken woman didn’t even want him.
What was his worth?
“No. I offered her my heart, and I told her the truth about that,” he said, pointing at Julie on the video. “She doesn’t want to see me or have anything to do with me. She won’t interfere in this case anymore. She’s getting her sister tomorrow, and she’s gone.”
Greyson was stuck between them.
He was the buffer.
“If you love her, you should follow.”
He shook his head. “If she loved me, she’d want me to follow. I care about her enough that I’ll let her go. I owe her that. My brother killed her sister, and that’s not forgivable. I can see now that there was never anything there but me hoping for a miracle. Well, I’m not getting it.”
Greyson moved toward him.
“Take care of my sisters. If Natasha marries Chris, please give her away for me on her wedding day. Tomorrow, I’m going after him. I’m going to end him and then end me.”
“Dimitri.”
“I’ve done something that you need to know about.”
Oh, he didn’t like the sound of that at all. It scared the shit out of him.
“What did you do?”
“I sold my soul to make sure he’s found. I went where I swore to never go, and I made a bargain for his location. He’s close to Vine and Canal. We were right. He lives and plays near there.”
Greyson didn’t like this.
“I owe a favor. I already know what it’ll be.”
“What?” he asked.
“They’re gunning for you. They’ll ask me to kill you or Emma. I won’t do it. I can’t. It’s better that I offer myself up over this. It’s better if I die.”
He was horrified.
He turned and faced his friend.
Then he hugged him.
“I’m going to my place. I need to leave here. I’m sorry. I did it for her, and she still left. I know in my heart I wanted to do it for my sisters, but I realize it was for her so she might feel something for me and stay. I wanted to rescue Marissa, and I can’t. You can’t save someone else when you’re drowning yourself.”
“Oh, Dimitri,” he whispered. “We knew who killed her sister. We could have found him in time. You didn’t have to make that deal.”
“I did it so then I could leave with her. It was my way of breaking the ties here. Once I went and made the deal, in my heart, I knew I couldn’t stay here. If I did this, I’d have to leave. Now that she doesn’t want me, I have nowhere to go. I’ve damned myself to be alone.”
Greyson hugged him despite his irritation at what he did. “Stay. You have here. You have us, brother.”
The emotion overwhelmed him. He’d just done something so horrible that he’d basically told the underground scum he’d betray them, and still Greyson cared about him.
He didn’t deserve them.
He didn’t deserve this love.
Dimitri stared him in the eyes. “I’ll end him. Take care of my sisters. They will both be your family now. Promise me that you’ll hold Chris accountable. You’ll make him protect her.”
“Dimitri.”
“Tell Emma I love her so very much, and tell her I couldn’t face her to say goodbye.”
Dimitri headed out.
Greyson began pacing.
This was a mess.
It was all on him. He’d taken this case, thinking they were doing good, and all it cost them was his family’s stability.
Curtis’s blood.
Kat and Natasha’s heart.
Emma’s soul.
And Dimitri’s life.
He’d screwed up, and he had to make it right.
Somehow.