My name is Greyson Croft…
The next few days for my family is huge. It’s been long awaited, and something the whole city has anticipated happening.
What is it?
A wedding.
We’re going to be celebrating the marriage between my brother and his fiancé, Doctor Steele Bentley. It’s been a long time coming, and there have been hurdles along the way.
Tears.
Anguish.
Pain.
Yet, through it all, their love has survived it.
It has overcome.
Theirs is a beautiful story.
They fell in love, and to those of us—me—who didn’t see it coming, it was a little shocking. For years, my brother pretended to be straight and the typical man.
He had everyone fooled.
Especially me.
Beneath the veneer of being a heterosexual ex-soldier, there was a man I never really knew. I took him for face value, and that had been a cold, hard slap of reality once the truth came out.
He lied to me.
That hurt the most in our relationship. It nearly caused a rift between us.
It devastated me—not the gay part—because I don’t give a shit about anyone’s sexuality—including my own blood.
I don’t judge a man, or woman, by who he or she sleeps with at night.
I don’t judge them by who they love.
I judge by character, and that he’d lie…it said a lot about him as a man.
What also hurt was how he felt that he had to hide the truth from me so I wouldn’t be ashamed or disappointed in him.
No one should have to live a fake life to please someone else, and Dante and Steele deserve just as much love as the rest of us.
I’ve seen a lot in my life.
Some of it has been good, and some of it has rocked me to my core. As an ex-soldier, myself, I know how hard it can be to be gay in the military.
I’ve seen what they live.
I’ve seen my brothers and sisters tortured because they wanted to be true to themselves.
I’ve seen them take countless hours of abuse over just being born that way.
The punishment was ugly and repercussions were countless.
Once saddled with being gay, they had a much harder time moving up the ladder. In fact, they often finished their tour and left.
Abuse is tough.
I get why he hid it.
I would have, too, but never with my family.
Then, life changed for Dante. He grew up, got a backbone, and took a stand.
When he came home, he finally felt safe enough to be himself after he found Steele. Dante found the courage to own his life, and stand up for what he wanted, and for what he believed in for himself.
That’s the best gift my brother could give himself.
One of the best moments in my life was when I got to see my brother be the man he was meant to be.
It changed everything for him, and for the rest of us—including me.
That’s been a huge lesson for me the last few months.
I wasn’t meant to be a cop all of my life. Vegas changed that for me. I was meant to run the Vegas mob and change this city—for the better.
Just like Dante, I wasn’t being true to myself the whole time. I was a soldier, a killer, and then a Fed, and none of it fit.
I didn’t fit.
Then I let fate take control. I found my wife, I found my family, and I let my instincts lead the way.
It brought me here to this moment in time.
I followed my brother’s lead, being true to myself. Maybe it was him, maybe it was my wife, or maybe it was Vegas itself, but I’m a different man.
I’m proud of my brother.
Steele flipped the switch in him, and he’s made him a better man.
Hell!
Doctor Steele Bentley has made a world of difference in our family, and that’s what matters to me.
He gave Dante love.
For that, I owe him.
Truth be told, I know a little about love. Theirs is something of fairytales and stories that give you that warm fuzzy feeling. It’s about two people from different worlds and different parts of the country. By chance, they meet. They fall in love, and the rest…it’s history.
Like myself and Emma.
That’s how I know this will last.
Besides, they deserve it.
When Steele was abducted and tortured to get information on my family, he didn’t break.
He didn’t cave.
Most importantly of all, he didn’t betray us to, Dominic, that scumbag. He took the torture and offered up his own life to make sure we were protected.
That’s love.
To me, that’s earned him a special place in the Croft family, and I’m honored to give him my name. I’m honored that he’ll finally be one of us.
To me, he’s always going to be a brother.
To my brother, he’s his soulmate.
To my wife, he’s a good friend—a brother of sorts.
We are all blessed to have him in our lives, and there will never be a day that we aren’t grateful that he’d fallen onto our path to become ours.
That’s what Steele is.
OURS.
In life, you shouldn’t judge anyone, let alone my brother’s love for Doctor Steele Bentley.
Be kind.
Be gentle.
Love fully.
Love completely.
Put aside the gender of a person, and what you ‘think’ is right, and go with your heart.
If it were you, how would you feel?
How would you get up each day knowing the world hated you because you simply fell in love?
How would you handle the hate, the bigotry, and the angry words?
I hope you never find out. For you, and for them, I hope you all find love, laughter, and joy.
Aren’t we all deserving of that?
Most importantly, and above all else, I have one more wish for Dante, my blood, and Steele, my soon to be brother.
I also hope that the man can handle a caveman.
It seems to run in our DNA.
So, as you sit down to read the next part of their love story, I hope you do it with love, compassion, and understanding.
We are all worthy of someone, and if we do, indeed, get lucky and find that person, our lives are complete.
Now, sit back.
Relax.
And enjoy the final days of Dante and Steele’s bachelor life.
There will be some laughs.
Some tears.
And a whole lot of chaos.
When a Croft gets married, especially two gay men, there’s bound to be some fun along the way.
You know my family, and my mother.
I hope you all feel the love they share, and know that there is someone out there who will love each and every one of us no matter what.
Soulmates do exist.
Here is the proof.
Signed,
Greyson Croft