Chapter One
Sky Villa
Monday Late Morning
D imitri Gideon was working on his laptop when his best friend came into the room carrying four beers. The volume of them was what confused him most. It was early, and he didn’t think the man was celebrating anything. Dimitri didn’t know what to think.
This was odd.
Something was definitely up. Greyson wasn’t a beer drinker to begin with, since he favored bourbon, and he wasn’t one to ever drink at that time of the day.
Ever.
This couldn’t be good.
“Uh, are we having a party?” he asked, putting his laptop down. When he leaned back on the couch, he adjusted the strap on his sling.
After being shot, Greyson had made him get an x-ray and see a doctor over the weekend. He’d tried to tell him he was fine, but his best friend wasn’t hearing it.
Then again, he didn’t blame him.
If the shoe were on the other foot, he would have made him go too.
Sometimes, you needed someone to force your hand, and in this case, Dimitri appreciated it. They had a lot of work to do, and he couldn’t be down.
They were going to be heading to Aquarius in a couple of hours to talk to Abby McCoy. On their last case, the Blackhawks had given them her name, and they had finally gotten her to meet with them.
She was going to be their new client.
Where they normally had people come to them to be helped, they’d reached out to her because they needed more of the backstory on the ‘victim’, and there was no way Commissioner Raye would help them out.
“Yeah, no party, but we need to talk,” Greyson stated, putting the beers down on the coffee table in front of the man. He hoped he wasn’t taking any pain meds, or he was going to be all kinds of looped.
Dimitri was wary.
“If it involves beer, it can’t be good.”
“Well, it’s good news and…I’m not sure what kind of news.”
Yeah, this was going to suck.
“Okay, what?” he asked.
“Your sister is on her way here. Ethan messaged me, and he said that she’s in flight.”
“Okay, and is that the good or bad news?” he asked curiously. So far, he wasn’t worried enough to want to drink four beers.
“Well, she doesn’t speak Russian or any English. She knows a few words.”
He was prepared for that. It was pretty much the same thing with Natasha when he’d ‘found’ her.
“I can teach her.”
Greyson opted to just pull off the bandage and not sugar coat it.
“She’s been sexually abused. Ethan believes she was used to procure money for her family.”
And there it was.
Dimitri rolled his neck.
Greyson watched him, and he knew that Dimitri had been hoping she didn’t have that kind of life, but he figured the odds were not in her favor.
If gypsies bought her from her mother, she was likely used to pleasure tourists to make money. He wasn’t shocked, but it still infuriated him.
“You can’t go kill them.”
He handed him a beer.
He laughed.
“I was thinking that. Clearly, I’m becoming transparent in my thinking.”
Oh, he could say that.
Greyson went there because that was his first thought when he heard from Ethan.
“Birds of a feather...”
Dimitri stared at the three other bottles.
“Is that the only reason why you brought beer?” he asked, pointing at the three bottles.
“Well, no. That’s the part of this that I’m not sure what to think about it.”
Dimitri turned the remaining bottles on the tray, so he could see the labels.
He read them.
Then he read the one in his hand.
“What the hell is that?” Dimitri asked, pointing at them.
Greyson wanted to laugh at the look on his face. He was pretty sure he had the same damn one when he’d been told.
“Apparently, Dante has acquired two new beer breweries. We are now the proud owners of Hellhound Breweries and Gideon’s Cross to Bear.”
He stared at them.
“Your brother…he has too much time on his hands. We don’t even like beer.”
That’s when he pointed at the one in his hand that was called Blue-Eyed Devil.
“That one is you, I think,” Greyson said, tapping the bottle off of his. “I don’t think it’s just coincidence that Gideon’s Cross to Bear Brewery has that as a beer name.”
He laughed.
Oh, Dimitri didn’t either.
“With your brother, nothing is coincidental. He’s a sick, sick man.”
On that, he agreed.
“OUR brother. WE own these breweries. I think it was kind of a spur of the moment purchase. Maybe he wanted to give us a bonding moment.”
“We could have gone bowling.”
He laughed even more.
Greyson tried to picture either of them bowling, and it was as funny as hell.
“Bottoms up, blue-eyed devil.”
Dimitri snorted.
Then they drank the beer.
“Okay, that was pretty tasty,” Greyson stated, as he began drinking the rest of it.
“I tend to agree. It was tall, dark, and refreshing—much like me.”
Greyson laughed.
“You’re on pain meds, aren’t you?”
He nodded.
“Absolutely, and I’m going to take more. Not only have I been shot, but I have a child coming, who was assaulted and doesn’t speak English or Russian, plus, I haven’t told Sam that our twosome is getting a sister added to the act.”
“Oh.”
Yeah, that said it all.
Dimitri knew it was going to be ugly. Sam was still territorial and scared.
“Where is he?”
“He’s in my condo with the tutor. She’s helping him with his Russian.”
“You should probably tell him.”
“I will, but I’m worried he’ll freak out. I don’t want to upset him since I know he’s been shoved away after a family got pregnant. He’s going to go there.”
Greyson didn’t say anything.
Instead, he handed him the second beer, and they checked out the label.
“Pirate’s Booty?” Dimitri said, laughing his ass off at that. “Yeah, this isn’t a coincidence at all.”
He was aware.
They clinked their bottles and took a sip.
“I like mine better,” Dimitri stated. “It’s less fruity.”
Greyson snorted.
He was so damn glad this man hadn’t died. He’d miss him. Dimitri was truly his best friend.
“Yeah, I know. You know how we pirates be, arrgh,” he teased with a pirate voice.
Before he could say anything, Emma came walking in with Chris right behind her. They were both sweaty.
“You quit too soon,” Chris stated. “We still had thirty minutes left in our session. It’s the same ones you ran me through when I was recovering!”
Greyson saw the look on his wife’s face. The man was making her crazy.
He was going to get himself killed.
“Let’s go back and…”
She stopped him.
“Chris, I’m pregnant. I feel like I’m going to puke. My chest is fine, but the little person growing in me is NOT! We don’t have the same situation.”
Greyson stared at her in worry.
Did she just say his baby wasn’t okay?
He opted to ask before freaking out, and it wasn’t an easy task.
“Uh, are you okay?” he asked. “Do you need something? I can get you a sandwich.”
She smiled at her husband and then stopped.
“Why the hell are you drinking beer before noon, on a Monday, and on a day we have a client to meet?” she asked, sitting down.
Yeah, Chris was riding her last nerve, and if he didn’t knock it off, they’d all suffer.
Dimitri pulled the candy bar out of his pocket that he’d stolen from Sam before breakfast and offered it up to Emma. She looked like she needed it, and it might soothe the savage pregnant beast.
Chris had been working her hard, trying to overcompensate for his fear that he’d nearly lost her, and it was driving her insane.
“Candy?” he asked.
She took it.
Gratefully.
“That’s not how to get back in…”
She pointed at Chris.
“I’ll cut your heart out and dance around it. I’m pregnant. I’m hungry, and I will kill you. My rehab is fine. I’m good. My chest doesn’t hurt, and I’m good to go. In fact, I’m ahead of where I should be. I’m a freaking machine. NOW back off!”
“You just got stabbed…”
She looked at her husband.
“I will give you this candy bar and not say a word if you toss his ass off the balcony.”
Greyson got up.
He’d do anything for a candy bar.
Dimitri laughed.
“Well, now we know how to get Greyson to break the law. I only need to give him chocolate.”
He grinned wickedly.
“Argh, matey.”
Emma shook her head.
They were insane.
Chris, on the other hand, opted to try and rationalize why he was pushing her.
“I’m just doing what you did when I was hurt,” Chris said. “I’m only trying to help.”
Emma unwrapped the candy bar and took a bite.
Chris opened his mouth.
Greyson pointed at him.
“She’s pregnant. Don’t do it. She’s the queen, and this is her ivory tower. I won’t toss you, but Dimitri…it’s questionable. You can never tell with him.”
He waved his good hand as if to remind the man he was sitting there.
Chris closed his mouth.
Maybe it was time to run for cover.
“I’m going to go shower. We have the nurse coming in two hours to check your stitches.”
“I’m aware,” she said. “Go shower.”
He walked away whistling, and she reached for one of the beers.
Dimitri handed her his coffee cup instead.
“No drinking.”
“I wasn’t going to drink. I was going to smash it and go after him.”
Well, that said it all.
“He’s on the verge of making me want to hurt him. Besides, I just wanted to see what they were. You two don’t drink beer all that often.”
“Well, apparently, it’s our new Vegas venture,” Greyson offered.
She read the labels, and she then looked at them both.
It made her laugh.
“Dante had some free time, huh? Have we run out of things to buy in Vegas that we have to start buying beer breweries and start the next prohibition?”
Greyson grinned.
“I didn’t think of it that way.”
She snorted.
“Anyway, yes, we now own two breweries. Mine is better,” Greyson stated. “I love booty.”
She found that amusing because it was a fact.
“How are you feeling?” Dimitri asked, trying to get them back on a topic that didn’t involve sex.
He wasn’t having any.
It made him cranky.
Besides, it had been a couple days since Emma came home, and she looked fine—with the exception of the scar and surgical strips peeking out from behind her t-shirt, she looked back to normal.
“I’m good. The doctor said don’t push myself, and I didn’t really during my workout, but I’m going to kill him, Greyson.”
“What is he doing?”
“Hovering. He’s worse than…”
They both laughed.
“Sucks, huh, mom?” Dimitri stated, cutting her off. “What’s that like?” he asked.
She kicked him in the shin.
Hard.
“OUCH! You are mean today. Have the rest of that candy bar. Someone is cranky.”
“I’m serious. He’s so full of shit, it isn’t funny.”
Greyson lifted a brow.
What?
“What do you mean by that, Emma? He looked fine to me. He is just worried about you.”
“He’s smiling at me all day.”
“And?”
“I know the man. He’s not a smiler. In the time I was a cop, he smiled ONCE, and it was when he was told to do so for a photo op. He’s not one to smile like a lunatic. Chris is still hurting over Natasha’s death.”
Oh.
Well, that was a given.
“We all are, Emma,” Dimitri stated. “He needs time. We all do things differently to cope. I got mad and wanted revenge. He’s holding it in.”
“I get that, but he’s not doing well. I know he’s not. I know him. The man is my best friend. We do everything together. He needs an intervention.”
“Emma.”
“Greyson. Remember when you needed one? Remember when you were on a collision course with stupidity? Well, Chris is on that same one. Do something!”
He sighed.
“I’ll give you a million dollars to tie up Chris and talk to him,” he said to Dimitri.
He looked at his watch.
Then back at the man.
“Oh, look at the time. I have to…wash my hair.”
He stood.
“Chicken.”
“It’s not that,” he said, and then offered them the truth because there were no two people he trusted more with his feelings. “I’m not ready to talk about her either,” Dimitri admitted.
He’d learned a lot the last few weeks.
He could be honest with his family. They’d protect him.
“I have a lot on my plate. We have two new security guys out today, and I’m worried about Poppy.”
Yeah, they were aware.
“Plus, I have to tell Sam he has a sister coming. He’s not going to be happy.”
“I can take Sam,” Emma offered. “I don’t mind giving him the news.”
“You need to rest,” Greyson stated.
“I’m…”
They both shook their heads.
“We are meeting with Abby McCoy at Aquarius this afternoon. If you want to help us, you need to shower, get a nap in, and relax.”
She stared at her husband.
“Dimitri, I’ll run away and marry you if you toss his ass off the balcony.”
He laughed and smiled a little too brightly for Greyson’s liking.
So…
He punched him in the good arm.
“Christ! This is not beat on Dimitri day! What is wrong with this family?”
Emma stood up.
“Fine. I’ll handle a shower and nap. I hope I can do it. It’s so damn stressful. I may drop from all the excitement.”
Greyson tried not to laugh at her sarcasm, but it wasn’t easy. His wife was beautiful when she was angry.
“Stop smiling. Know how the doctor said sex was okay?” she stated.
“Yes?”
“HE was wrong.”
She headed toward their bedroom and they heard the door slam.
“You win some, and you lose some. I’ll have to romance her later,” he said, knowing he wouldn’t do that. He was trying to put his wife first, and he didn’t want to risk hurting her.
He was freaked out but kept it to himself.
“What no comment?” Greyson asked.
Dimitri just drank the beer in his hand.
Greyson knew he wasn’t focused on him anymore, but his own problems.
Women issues.
“Nothing from the detective?” Greyson asked.
He shook his head.
“I sent her the note, I tried to get her to meet me for a drink, and it’s done. She’s not going to come near me as long as the commissioner is gunning for her,” he stated, recalling what he’d overheard her saying outside her apartment when she thought she was alone.
“You put security on her, right?”
“Yes, it’s one of the new guys. They are tailing her. She was at the gym this morning, and he checked in. Nothing suspicious was going on around her. He followed Poppy home, and she got dressed and headed to work.”
Greyson knew how the man felt.
That need was there, and it felt just out of reach. After his string of failed relationships, dating blunders, and missed connections, he got it.
It was that emotional connection just out of reach.
“Have faith,” he offered.
Dimitri shrugged.
“I have to have reality. She’s not going to magically show up at my door and jump on me. She’s not going to run toward me. She’s afraid. All I can do is wait or move on.”
Honestly, he couldn’t do either.
That was the issue.
There was no way to satiate that need. Poppy woke something in him on that mountain, and now he couldn’t put the beast to sleep. He didn’t want to be patient either.
He understood.
“You should go talk to Sam, and then we should head to Aquarius.”
Dimitri kicked back the beer. He wished he had something stronger.
He was going to need it.
“Who’s on duty today?” Greyson asked, meaning who was on sentry duty at the doors of their new home base.
“Heath is downstairs with the guards. He doesn’t like that one, and he’s trying to make his life hell.”
“Which one?”
“The one who was checking out Katerina. The man is seriously all about protection duty. He’s a gem. I wish I found him years ago. I could have…”
He stopped.
“Had a better security company.”
Croft laughed. He knew the man meant felonious things. Heath wasn’t as strict with the moral code. If someone had to die, he was good with it—as long as you offered up some baked goods.
He was a gun for pastry hire.
“Yeah, I know. I love Heath. He’s a good guy. I’m glad I could steal him away from the Blackhawks.”
They’d gotten damn lucky.
Heath loved Emma, and he was all about keeping all of them safe—especially now that Greyson wouldn’t let Dimitri be security. He was family.
He needed protection too.
The seedy underbelly of Vegas was gunning for all of them, and they hadn’t gotten all of the backlash yet from Babylon’s demise.
Who knew what was coming?
Well, that was good to know.
The family was covered in case the commissioner, or Babylon’s buddies, got any ideas.
The shit hadn’t hit the fan quite yet.
Once they interviewed his missing wife’s sister, who knew what the commissioner would throw at them?
With that man, one never knew.
“Well, I should go talk to Sam,” Dimitri said, still stalling. It was the last thing he wanted to do.
“You can do it,” Greyson stated. “You have this, bro.”
“He’s not going to take it well,” Dimitri stated. “He’s going to be upset.”
“Sam will get over it. The kid has been through a lot, but he knows you love him. He was just saying how he wanted to be just like you when you grew up.”
“You mean when he grows up,” Dimitri stated.
“No, no, I did not,” he teased.
Dimitri knew he was trying to cheer him up. He only hoped Sam wouldn’t hold it against him.
He took the beer from Greyson’s hand and then chugged it before handing the empty bottle back to him. He needed that more than he did.
“Call me if you need me.”
Oh, he would.
Heading out, Dimitri took the elevator down three floors to his condo. Once inside, he could hear Sam butchering the Russian language.
No, butchering was neater.
It was a slaughter.
“I hate this language,” he stated. “Why do I have to learn it?” he asked his tutor.
“Because your father wants you to learn a language, and the state of Nevada requires you to have two years before you can get your diploma. Why not start early?” she asked.
“Because it sucks. English is hard enough. I don’t like learning a language.”
“Well, do you know what else sucks?” she asked. “Little boys who use improper grammar, so learn your Russian, and we’ll call it a day.”
He sighed.
When Dimitri walked in, he was trying not to laugh. He recalled when he’d hired Markie. Sam had thought she’d be a pushover, but she wasn’t. She handled his sass and gave it back when it was needed.
That was perfect.
Sam threw down plenty of sass.
“Markie, you can head out. I’ll work on his Russian with him.”
“Are you qualified?” Sam asked.
Dimitri tried not to laugh.
“Probably not according to the state of Nevada and a few Federal agencies.”
Markie grabbed her books and packed them away.
“Oh, and he ate candy, failed his spelling test, and referred to me as a hot piece of ass.”
Dimitri pointed at him.
“Apologize.”
He sighed.
“Markie, I lied. You aren’t a hot piece of ass. You’re a snitch. Sorry.”
She patted him on the head.
“Good luck, Mr. Gideon. I’ll see you tomorrow at eight if he doesn’t overthrow this government by then.”
She headed out.
“If you make her quit, Sam, I will hire another tutor, and the next one will be a man.”
The boy scowled.
He’d been cut off.
“What are you doing here?” Sam asked, changing the subject to get out of Russian practice.
“Uh, I live here.”
Sam flipped his pencil and didn’t say anything.
“Are you in a bad mood?” Dimitri asked him. “It’s not like you be nasty to Markie.”
He shrugged.
“What’s going on, Sam?”
“I heard through the family grapevine that you’re adopting a new child.”
Well, so much for him not telling him until he could figure out what the hell to say. This boy was definitely his child. The kid had ears everywhere.
“I know you wouldn’t do that to me. I just got you, and that would mean that I now have to share you.”
Dimitri sat across from him.
“Sam.”
The way he said his name said it all.
Sam’s face fell.
“She needs a…”
He cut him off.
“You didn’t even ask me! What about how I feel?” he asked. “What about me, Dimitri?”
That caused him to lift a brow.
“Pardon me, Sam? Did you just call me by my name and very disrespectfully at that?”
This wasn’t his first time with insolence. He’d raised two girls. Sam had NOTHING on that hormonal nightmare.
NOTHING.
“Well, you aren’t my dad, so does it matter? I don’t want to learn Russian. I don’t want anyone else added to our family. I picked you because it was just you!”
Dimitri let him vent.
He knew that with Kat and Natasha, they got frustrated when they didn’t know how to react, and sometimes, it was about being the whipping boy until the storm passed.
“Had I known you were going to do this to me, I could have picked someone else! Now, I have to compete for your time even more! I should have been asked! It was fine with just us and no one else!”
“Sam, there’s extenuating circumstances…”
He didn’t care.
Sam cut him off again.
“I don’t want to be your son anymore! Rip up the papers and set me free! You are just collecting kids! That’s all I am. You don’t want me anymore. I’m just someone you took on out of pity!”
“Sam, that’s not true. I…”
He stood.
“I don’t want to be here. I’m out.”
He walked away.
“Samuel Maximillian Gideon! Get back here!”
The bedroom door slammed.
Dimitri leaned back and closed his eyes. This was exactly why he didn’t tell Sam. He didn’t want to deal with this, and he didn’t want to hurt him.
Getting up, he prepared for more battle.
At the door, he turned the knob and opened it.
“Sam, what are you doing?” he asked, as he watched the boy pack his bag.
“I’m leaving.”
“Yeah, no, you’re not. Whether you like it or not, I’m your father, and you aren’t leaving this condo.”
“I don’t want to be Sam Gideon. I’m Sam Kincaid. I’ll be fine out there. At least I won’t get hurt. You don’t want me anymore! I’m being replaced!”
“Sam, I am not replacing you. I love you. If you’d let me explain.”
“I don’t love you. I hate you.”
And there it was.
It stung worse than when he’d been shot. In that moment, he didn’t realize how much this boy had meant to him until he’d taken away his love.
The anger was gone.
There was only hurt.
Dimitri closed his mouth.
This was a first. With his sisters, they’d been hard. They’d both been so broken, but neither of them ever said that to him. Neither of them told him they hated him.
Ever.
Neither of them had ever told that to him to his face. If they thought it, it was never spoken out loud, and for a reason. It was a shot right to his heart. They all had emotional scars, and that was one of his.
He’d lost someone’s love.
Again.
“I see, Mr. Kincaid. If that’s how you feel, then so be it. I always promised I’d fight hard if I had to, but I can’t fight that. You hate me. I get it. I’ll give you your space.”
“Fine! What do you care? I know I’m on my way out! I know you will replace me. You have a second kid coming. We only have two bedrooms. I won’t be staying. It’s only a matter of time!”
Dimitri stepped away.
He wasn’t one to yell at a child. God knew he’d been screamed at all through his youth. So, he’d give Sam space as he tried to get over those words.
He really loved the boy.
He’d found his way beneath the defenses and into his heart. Dimitri was so fond of him, and he was his son.
His only son.
The only boy he’d ever have.
Only, Dimitri couldn’t fight.
He had nothing left inside him. He’d done battle for Katerina. He’d done battle for Natasha. He’d done battle for everyone, and he was empty.
Dimitri was barely holding on.
So, he opted to walk away.
“Goodbye!” Sam shouted as Dimitri headed away from him. He went out to the couch and sat until he could compose himself to address Sam. When the boy walked past him, to the door, and then out, Dimitri called Heath downstairs.
“Yo, boss, what’s up?”
“Sam is on the move. Keep an eye on him if he leaves the building. He’s pissed at me. Don’t let him get hurt.”
“Okay, boss. I can handle it. Don’t worry. I’ll make sure he’s okay.”
“Thank you.”
Dimitri hung up the phone, leaned back on his couch, and stared up at the ceiling.
And he cried.
His heart was broken.
* * * G R E Y S O N C R O F T * * *
LVPD
Poppy was at her desk.
Around her, there were cops, detectives, and people moving about, and she was acutely aware of them. As of late, she was having to stay on her A game. She couldn't risk it with the commissioner gunning for her.
Still, she was thinking about Dimitri Gideon.
How could she not?
When she arrived at work, she’d gotten another box and inside of it was another business card with Aquarius on the front, and his cell phone number on the back.
Or what she assumed was his cell number. Since she’d yet to call it, she couldn’t be sure.
So, she tucked it away.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to have a drink with him and spend the evening in his company.
She absolutely did.
It was that she didn’t want him in danger. She was digging through a shit storm, and she knew that if he was even seen with her, the commissioner would take aim at him.
Forget her career.
The man was ruthless.
Poppy didn’t want Dimitri hurt again. He’d been shot and barely survived, and she couldn’t be taken out that way. It would be too suspicious.
Besides, Poppy could take care of herself—or so she hoped. She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t worried. The other cops around her were looking at her.
They were whispering.
Maybe it was her imagination, and maybe it was just paranoia, but something was going on. As of yet, she’d not been given a partner.
That was a big red flag.
She was a cop on her own in the field.
Poppy knew why the commissioner had done it. He knew why there was never going to be a partner. One, she wouldn’t trust anyone they’d assigned to her.
Two, he wanted her isolated.
If she was out working cases alone, and she was without backup on the street, she’d be vulnerable.
He was trying to make her quit and run from being a detective. It was payback.
There was no doubt in her mind.
Well, she was tougher than that. She wasn’t going to run and be scared of the man. He couldn’t hurt her. If anything happened to her, he’d be screwed.
So, she was going to bide her time and keep her eyes open. That would save her ass.
As she worked, she heard her name being called.
“Detective Wayne?”
She looked up.
“Yeah?”
It was the desk sergeant standing in the bullpen doorway. He was holding a piece of paper.
“You have a case. Head on out.”
She pulled her gun from her desk and strapped it to her hip. As she headed out, there were more whispers. There were more looks.
Poppy knew that her time there was limited as long as the commissioner was there. Something had to give.
And soon.
Once the people she’d worked with turned on her, too, she’d have to leave.
Damn the commissioner.
Damn his crooked ways.
Someone, anyone, had to take him down and clean up this shithole town. There had to be a way to get him out of office and clean up the city.
Outside, she grabbed the paper from the sergeant and headed out the door.
Poppy could swear she was being watched.
As she stood beside her work ride, she looked around. She didn’t see anyone suspicious, but the hair on the back of her neck was standing.
Hopping in, she headed out.
She had a dead victim to worry about.
She’d stress about herself later.
When she was home.
Safe.
* * * G R E Y S O N C R O F T * * *
Sky Villa
Greyson found him in the room across from theirs. Chris had moved into the other bedroom because he wanted to be close to Emma.
He was fine with it.
After nearly losing her, Chris didn’t want to risk anything happening to her. He felt that if he was within shouting distance, he could get to her fast.
Yeah, that said it all.
The man was one freak-out away from institutionalization.
As Emma was taking a nap, it was a good time to handle the Chris situation.
Before his wife killed him.
And she would.
Knocking on the door, he heard the man invite him to enter his room. When he opened the door, Chris was in a towel and nothing else.
“Uh, what if that was my wife?” he asked.
Chris smiled at him.
And there it was.
“Oh, no. Whatever would I do?” Chris teased.
Greyson realized that Emma had been right. The smile was a little too big, the cheery was forced, and it wasn’t like him. While he knew Chris had feelings for Emma, when he teased him, at least it was genuine.
This was NOT genuine.
Chris was hollow.
How did Greyson know?
He’d been there.
“We need to talk.”
“Okay, come on in,” he said, grabbing his boxers and jeans before heading into the bathroom to get changed.
Greyson sat on the bed.
“What’s going on, Chris?” he asked.
“Nothing. I was showering. What time are we going to Aquarius?” he asked.
“We aren’t going to Aquarius. It’s time for you to come clean.”
He peeked his head out.
“Pardon?”
“You’re off your game, and while the commissioner is still walking free, I don’t know who else he’s going to send at Emma. I need your head in the game. You’re not.”
He came out zipping up his fly. It wasn’t lost on Greyson that Chris and Emma had matching scars in the center of their chests over their hearts.
That said a lot to him.
“I’m fine.”
“Bullshit.”
“Really…”
“I’m sorry, but you’re benched. You can stay here. We have some things going down, and you can watch the new girl who is coming.”
“Greyson, I’m good.”
Then he paused.
“Wait! What new girl? Security?”
He told him about Dimitri’s sister, what she’d been through, and when she was arriving.
“Then Emma should stay here with me. She’ll be safer,” he offered. “I can keep an eye on her better.”
Greyson watched the man.
Chris wouldn’t look him in the eyes.
“Are you planning to steal my wife away from me?” he asked.
The man looked horrified.
“WHAT?”
Okay, it wasn’t that.
If he wasn’t planning a woman coup d’état then his wife was right. Chris was carrying some serious emotional baggage that he needed help lightening.
Here went nothing.
“You need to talk about Natasha.”
There.
It was out there.
Chris didn’t hesitate.
“No.”
“Chris.”
“I can’t do it.”
“Why? What happened?”
“Uh, she died, Greyson. Isn’t that enough? Isn’t that enough reason for me not to want to discuss it? It wasn’t that long ago. I’m not even a month…”
He stopped him.
“Are we friends?” he asked.
“You know we are. You’re my best friend, next to Emma. You’re my brother.”
“Talk to me. Trust me to help you through this. If I lost Emma, wouldn’t you do that?”
“You would have eaten your gun. Who are you kidding?” he stated. “I would be dropping your ass in a grave beside her. We all know that.”
Okay, he had a point.
“Chris.”
He went to the nightstand and pulled out a little journal. He carried it to Greyson and handed it to him.
“Read the final entry.”
He flipped to the back of the little book and thumbed through the pages until he found one with print.
“It’s Natasha’s handwriting.”
Chris nodded and sat beside him.
“Just read it.”
He did.
‘Tomorrow, we’re leaving for the mountains. I’ve decided that while we are there, I’m going to break up with Chris. While he’s a great man, I don’t want to be tied down. I don’t think he’s the one. The sex…it’s amazing, and we’ll always have that, but there’s something off between us. There’s something there that isn’t working. Maybe it’s my need to be free, or maybe it’s my need to be free of him. I don’t know. All I know is I’m going to give him one last night, and then tell him in the morning. I’m not coming back here. I transferred money, I’ve packed my bags, and I’ve decided to move on.
I need to find me.
I love him so much, but not like someone should. I love him for his kindness. I love him for his gentle touch. I love him when he holds me. I’m just not in love with him.
And I fear telling him.
Honestly, he deserves more. He deserves all, and I can’t give it to him. I blamed Emma at first, pretending that if I told him that I wanted what he had with her, he wouldn’t be able to give it to me.
Then we’d break up.
But that’s wrong.
It’s sneaky, and I don’t want to hurt him. Chris is a good, decent man, but his heart belongs to someone else.
My heart…it wants to be free.
So, I’m going to say goodbye. The only thing I’m grateful for is that he doesn’t want to marry me yet. I would hate to break his heart and say no.
I’d have to say yes.
It would kill him to know that I am not in love with him the way I should be.
So, at the cabin, I’ll be honest. I know he’ll never go back there. I know neither will I. Only, I can’t go back to Terrace Glen. I have to move on.
I want my freedom.
All that stands in my way is breaking his heart.
God forgive me.
I am unlovable.’
Greyson closed the journal and glanced over at Chris. He knew how hurt he was. Now he got it.
“Chris.”
“What’s wrong with me?” he asked.
Oh boy.
This was going to suck.
“Why do I never see it coming? Why do I not see these women breaking me? Denise…she had me fooled for years. I never knew she was cheating on me. Natasha…I really thought she was IN love with me. Why am I unlovable?”
He wiped at his eyes.
“Chris, I’m so sorry.”
“Yeah, me too. Now you know why I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Why are you hovering over Emma like a crazy person? You’re worse now than ever.”
“You’ll be mad at me.”
Greyson placed his hand on his leg.
“I won’t.”
“She’s the only woman who’s ever loved me and not pretended. I can trust Emma. I can be myself and she won’t walk away. I’m in love with your wife, and it sucks.”
“Do you want to have sex with her?”
He stared at him.
“Uh, no.”
He laughed.
“Then you’re not in love with Emma. You simply LOVE Emma. In your defense, she’s easy to fall for. I did, you did, Dimitri did…I think my gay brother loves her too. You’re one in a long line of men at this point.”
He laughed.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with me. All I know is if something happens to her, I’ll be alone.”
He hit him.
“Jesus! You could have pulled that a little. I’m a foot from you. That hurt!”
“Are you forgetting someone?” Greyson asked.
“Who?”
“You have me,” Greyson stated.
“Want to make out?” he teased.
Greyson laughed.
“Not if you were the last set of lips on the planet. You are not my type.”
Chris understood.
“I’m no one’s type.”
“She’s out there, Chris. I know she is. Emma loves you too. I know if she never met me, and she met you, she would have married you. She told me that.”
He looked over.
“Did she?”
“Yes.”
Well, at least he had that.
“Want to go stand out on the balcony with me?” Chris asked, rubbing his hands together.
Greyson was amused.
“Well, not now I don’t.”
It was time to be serious.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I want to be happy, and I get there, and then something happens. Why can’t I find that person? Well, that person who isn’t married to my brother and best friend?”
“I don’t have an answer.”
“I’m pissed, Grey. I’m pissed.”
And here it was.
This was what was beneath the hurt.
The anger.
“Nat?”
He nodded.
“And at myself. I didn’t want to get married right away, but I was willing to get engaged for her. Then she died, and I felt guilty that she never got to plan a wedding and feel like a bride. I felt like I ruined it for her by dragging my feet. Here I find out that she would have said no or lied. What’s wrong with me? I’m a thinker. I am a slow mover.”
Greyson listened.
“I feel like I rushed the process, tangling myself in it when I knew I wasn’t ready. Why can’t I listen to myself? Why can’t I listen to my gut? I was a freaking cop, and I keep missing the obvious. I’m hurt that she felt this for a while and never told me. I feel deceived that we had moments of intimacy, she stared me in the eyes, and lied to me.”
He understood.
“Women are tough,” Greyson stated. “UNTIL you find the right one. Until then, I’ll share mine.”
He stared at him.
“Does Dimitri have a laser scope on me from another building at this very moment?” he asked. “Are you going to kill me?”
He laughed.
“I didn’t mean sex,” he said, slapping him on the back of the head.
“How disappointing…”
Croft grinned.
“I meant that I’ll let you borrow her for laughter, lunch, and when you need a hug. She loves you so much. Emma, she was never whole after Gage died. Then I found her, and she was still having nightmares, and couldn’t eat meat.”
He recalled.
“Then you came into her life, and Dimitri, too, and you both filled roles that I couldn’t fill. She had steak yesterday without even flinching. I didn’t heal that part of her, Chris. You and Dimitri did. How she feels for me isn’t the same. I’m her husband, but you’re that male role model that she always looked up to when her parents died.”
Greyson dropped his arm over his shoulder.
“We have you. Besides, you wouldn’t like the sex. It’s horrible.”
He somehow doubted that.
Emma laughed from the doorway.
“Well, don’t I feel like shit now. Two men talking about me, and my husband thinks our sex life sucks. Talk about ego deflating.”
She’d heard the whole conversation. It wasn’t like she wanted to eavesdrop, but the door had been open. She knew what her husband was trying to do.
“You should move on,” Chris teased. “Find someone you have something in common with.”
“We do have those matching scars.”
Greyson laughed.
“I’ll toss you both off the balcony,” Croft teased.
“Since our secret is out, Emma, come to daddy,” Chris teased, knowing they had fun busting Greyson’s ass.
Croft knocked Chris’s ass off the bed and to the floor as he held his hand out for his wife.
She sat in his lap.
“Hello, Daddy,” she teased.
“That was a cheap shot,” Chris said.
He was aware, and that was exactly why he had done it. He was going to play nice, but he would keep the man in line. He wasn’t an idiot.
Emma reached down and offered him her hand.
“What were you talking about?”
“Clearly, you,” Chris stated, getting up and sitting beside them, “or he wouldn’t be beating on me. When you’re not around, do you see how mean he is to me? I’m his personal punching bag. It hurts.”
She laughed and gave her husband a kiss on the cheek.
She knew Chris was busting his ass.
“My sexy husband was getting all mean. That’s hot. I like him like that.”
He wiggled his eyebrows at her.
“Of course you do,” Chris added.
While he had them there, together, he needed to talk to them about the girl who would be joining their family. The whole family was going to have to rally around her, and Dimitri.
The man had his work cut out for him. He hoped that the talk with Sam was going well.
He would need Sam’s support too.
“Dimitri’s sister arrives today.”
“Okay,” Emma stated.
“She doesn’t speak Russian or English. She’s afraid, and she’s been sexually abused. The kid is a mess, and she’s going to have a rough time of this.”
Emma shook her head.
“I swear to God, anyone who thinks sex with a child is supposed to happen should have their dicks ripped off and then fed to them. That poor baby.”
“Yeah, I’m with her. That poor kid. Do you think we’ll scare her?” Chris asked. “I tend to intimidate kids. I can stay away for a while.”
She leaned over and gave him a kiss.
“That’s for being kind.”
“I got tongue…I got…”
He knocked him off the bed again and laughed at the look on the man’s face.
“You were asking for that,” he stated, kissing his wife. “Oh look, I got tongue too.”
“You’re so mean. For the record, I was kidding! Shesh! Touchy.”
Greyson continued, “We’re all going to have to work really hard at it. She’s going to be a tough one. Dimitri is up to his eyeballs with Sam, the whole issue with Poppy, and now this. He’s still healing. We need to be as accommodating as we can.”
They were both in.
It was the least they could do for Dimitri and a little girl who had been horribly abused.
People sucked, but they’d rally around her.
“I figured as much. She’ll be okay if we help her navigate this.”
“What’s her name?” Emma asked.
“Ethan Blackhawk told me she doesn’t have one. I think we should help Dimitri pick one. He’s going to be overwhelmed with everything.”
“We can go with our girl name we were going to use,” she offered, placing her hand on her own belly. For Dimitri, and this little girl, she’d share it.
Besides, it broke her heart that this child didn’t have a name. How cruel could people be?
How did that poor baby feel, knowing everyone around her had a name, and she didn’t?
That was so damn wrong.
The older she got, the more she decided that people sucked and that they should be put down like rabid animals.
Then again, it could be the hormones.
Then she thought about Molly and what Viktor Marchenko did to her.
It definitely wasn’t hormones.
People were sick.
“We can do that,” Greyson offered. “We picked a Russian name, so it will work.”
“What did you pick?” Chris asked.
“Petra. I thought it was pretty. It means rock, sturdy, and strong in Russian. That child has to be pretty strong. I think it fits well.”
They agreed there.
“No matter what happens with this little girl,” Emma began, “We protect her, and we love her more than anyone. We’ll put her first and heal her.”
And this was why the men all loved Emma.
She had a huge heart.
She would put a stranger ahead of her own child to help level the playing field for a broken spirit.
Emma was meant to be a mother.
Before either man could tell her that, they heard a door slam across the penthouse, and Emma got up.
It was one hell of a ruckus.
“Who the hell could that be?” Greyson asked, getting up from the bed to follow his wife. They all headed out to the living room to find Sam on the couch. He was crying.
No.
Bawling.
Immediately, Emma went to him.
“Uh oh,” Greyson stated, keeping his voice low so only Chris heard him. “He told Sam about his sister. He was worried about this.”
Chris cringed.
That had to be hard for both of them.
“Oh boy,” he whispered back.
“Sam! What’s wrong?” Emma asked, taking a seat beside him to comfort him.
“I hate him! He is adopting someone else, and he doesn’t want me anymore!”
“Oh, Sam!”
He threw himself onto Emma and clung to her.
They all knew that wasn’t the truth, but this little boy likely didn’t.
“I should have picked you! You might be having a baby, but you wouldn't throw me away!”
The little boy sobbed all over her and she held on.
Well, this was bad.
No.
This was a mess.