Chapter Eighteen
Aquarius
Monday
Noon
W hen they headed into ‘Aquarius’, Greyson was in the private room doing searches on one of Dimitri’s ‘special’ laptops. His suit jacket was off, his shirt was rolled up at the sleeves, and Emma could see his tattoo of her name on his wrist.
It got her all hot and bothered.
There was nothing like her sexy caveman at work. She couldn’t help herself.
“Mr. Croft, you look sexy sitting there.”
He looked up and grinned. “Oh, it’s my kitten. Want to come sit in my lap?” he asked, wiggling his eyebrows.
“Uh, yeah!” she said, dropping into his lap to give him a kiss. As she cuddled into his body, there was that sense of peace when they touched.
It was like coming home after a long day.
Chris took a seat across from them and poached Greyson’s bourbon. Screw it. It was five o’clock somewhere.
As his wife pulled away from the kiss, Greyson eyed up the man across from him.
“Why is your mouth on my glass?” he asked.
“Would you rather my mouth on your wife?”
Emma laughed.
“Carry on.”
Chris figured as much.
“Don’t let me stop you two from making out. I can wait,” he said, leaning back in the seat as he shifted his body armor. “We’re safe in here.”
Croft lifted a brow. “What? You want to watch me kiss my kitten? Normally, you are pretty much irritated by it.”
He laughed.
Yeah, he was aware.
Only, the times, they were a changin’.
“I’m getting laid on a regular basis. Molest away. I don’t mind. Want me to take the pictures for you?”
Emma snorted. “And you’re cut off from the bourbon if you’re even willing to offer that.”
He wiggled his eyebrows. “I said I was getting laid. I didn’t say I didn’t have time to make porn,” he teased.
Greyson pointed at him.
“Gee! Someone is cranky.”
Well, yeah, and he had the right to be, but first, Croft wanted to hear about what his wife had found out.
Then he’d tell her his shit fest.
“I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but how was the strip club, dear?”
Chris laughed.
Emma shrugged. “Another dive, but we found some good stuff that you might find interesting.”
“Like?”
Emma told him what they’d learned. “Bouncers, blowjobs, abuse of a minor, yada, yada. Just another day in our life in the shitty dives of Las Vegas.”
“That good, huh?”
“Yeah, we talked to a bartender, a bouncer, and the lucky man who gets to clean up after all the men jerking off,” Chris said.
“That there should be on a ‘stay in school’ poster.”
Chris laughed. “Tell me about it.”
“And what did you learn?” he asked.
“That all three of them confirmed that Julie has been used and abused by her pimp. He was passing her around like Tic Tacs on garlic breath night.”
“So gross,” he said.
“Yeah, tell me about it. My heart breaks for that child and what those men did to her.”
Greyson got it.
“The bouncer was less than helpful,” Chris said. “In fact, he thought your wife should shake her ass.”
Greyson lifted a brow. “Pardon.”
“You know, shake what the good Lord gave her for money in her tiny little g-string.”
“Well, now I have to kill him. Thanks a lot.”
Emma laughed. “Yeah, well, Chris handled him. He was a pervert who denied using Julie, but he was lying.”
“How do you know?”
“His lips were moving and he was rock hard thinking about it. Men have that built-in barometer,” she said, wiggling in his lap.
He bit her on the neck. “I don’t know if I should be appalled that you were checking out another man’s junk.”
She opened her mouth.
Chris pointed at her. “You don’t want to bust my ass. I swear to God I’ll superglue you to the car seat.”
She laughed.
Greyson let it go. The two of them were always trying to one up each other in pranks. The less he knew, the better. His kitten was in HIS lap, and that worked for him.
“What about the guy who cleaned up?” Croft asked.
“He told us about overhearing Gerald Darden.”
“And?”
She told him everything.
“Interesting. You think he had a little pad of his own on Vine?” Greyson inquired.
“Yeah, but where?”
He wasn’t sure.
“How were things going here on your side of it?” she asked, teasing his ear with her teeth.
He shivered.
Chris still said nothing.
“Well, we pulled the files, we talked to Marie, and she pretty much told us everything we needed to know.”
“Abridged version?” Emma stated. She had a feeling it was going to be huge. From the look on Greyson’s face, it said it all.
“The guy is definitely Dimitri’s brother. How’s that for shits and giggles? He knew all the private stuff that not even the government knew about him.”
“Crap!” Emma said.
“Yeah, tell me about it. We have two Russian killers, and I can’t help but think this city is going to pay for it.”
Emma’s heart broke. “This has to be killing him.”
Chris didn’t get it. “Why is that?”
“He saved his two sisters. Dimitri has to wonder if this would be different if he saved his brother too.”
Greyson stared at her. “You get him.”
“Yeah, I do. This is going to eat away at him. I hope he doesn’t try to run.”
As a matter of fact…
“He suggested it. He wanted to take his sisters and bail, but I told him we’d follow. I think that stopped that idea.”
She hoped so.
He wasn’t going anywhere.
He was their family.
“Oh boy,” Chris said. “If he runs, we’re down to me doing security. I can’t protect Emma and you at the same time. We have some issues heading our way. I can’t believe something spooked him. Dimitri is…Dimitri.”
“Yeah, he’s rattled. You can tell by looking at him. I know him well enough to see that he’s not thrilled about any of this.”
How could he be?
Emma looked around. “Speaking of our Russian, where is he?”
He told her about Riley showing up and not only Julie turning up, but Delmarco too.
“Well, holy Christ on a cracker,” Chris said. “That’s not good. They were dumped?”
Greyson nodded. “Loose ends, anyone?” he said.
Emma got it. The killer, or a partner, was cleaning up. Hopefully, if this was Viktor Marchenko, he didn’t run. They would have an even bigger mess.”
“Is he telling her?” Emma asked.
“Yeah, he took Marissa to her place to give her the news. He’s going to be lying low there. I didn’t want him with us—not because I’m afraid for us, but I’m worried about him.”
Greyson knew they had enough going on. Thomas Christ wanted to kill Delilah to get to them, and who knew what Commissioner Raye was up to. They were still digging through his past to find something to take the man down.
It hadn’t been easy.
The dude was a slippery eel.
“That’s going to be a shitty conversation for him and her,” Emma stated. “That’s the one thing I do not miss about being a cop. I hated notifies.”
Both men agreed there.
“I can only imagine how that’s going,” Greyson stated. In the back of his mind, he knew it was going to end up in sex. The tension between the two of them was insane.
He could feel it when they were side by side. Hopefully, fornicating would make this easier, not more difficult.
With Dimitri, one never knew. He was an enigma wrapped in a mystery, wrapped in a puzzle. The only person he’d really let all the way in was Emma.
Chris sympathized with his friend. “Well, as long as she doesn’t ask who killed her sister, he should be fine. We all know Dimitri isn’t a fan of lying. If he tells the truth, that’s going to blow seven ways to Sunday.”
Greyson and Emma looked at each other.
It was clear that they’d never even thought about that possibility happening.
“Uh oh,” Emma said.
“Oh, this is bad.”
Now that they were dwelling on it, they knew how bad it could be. Dimitri’s brother had likely killed Marissa’s sister. That was NOT going to be good.
That would be a hard pill to swallow for Marissa, and for Dimitri.
“I don’t like this,” Emma stated.
“Yeah, well, what else could happen?” Greyson asked. “We are already screwed.”
“I know I’m probably jumping the gun here, but maybe, we should really hire some more security,” Chris said. “If this Viktor dude is after the whole Gideon family, that’s three more people who need tails.”
Greyson was aware.
His only issue was who did he trust to do it?
Chris wasn’t done sharing the bad news.
“Plus, them aside, we can’t really afford to be out in the open with the local law and every mob wannabe gunning for a Croft.”
He pointed at Emma’s belly.
That was enough to put Greyson in a tizzy. This was one more issue he had to add to the growing list of clusterfucks on the horizon.
Emma had a solution.
“Dimitri knows people. Maybe he can borrow from that pool and get us some help.”
“But can we trust them?” Chris asked. “Let’s face it. You got lucky with the Gideons. They turned out to be assets. Kat would die for Curtis, but she’s out of play. Natasha would cover any of us out of allegiance to the family, but I’d prefer my girlfriend not to take a bullet for me, and Dimitri…he loves Emma like she’s one of his sisters, and you’re one of his brothers,” Chris offered. “They have ties, and that makes them loyal. What will keep some other killer at bay?”
“Money.”
Chris wasn’t sure he liked any of that.
Still, they might have to take that route.
When his phone began ringing, Greyson glanced down at the ID. It was the detective.
“Hey, Riley, do you have Curtis and Kat?”
There was a pause, and Croft could hear sirens, shouting, and basic Armageddon going on somewhere behind Riley.
“Greyson, there’s been an issue. Someone took a shot at them, and Curtis has been hit.”
Greyson looked at Emma.
Croft tried to remain calm for her sake. He didn’t want to freak her out. She was pregnant, and he’d read somewhere that women could have a miscarriage.
“How bad?”
“He’s en route to the hospital. I have Kat with me and Natasha is following. Her cover is blown though. I’m trying to get us all inside as fast as possible.”
Greyson wanted to puke.
“Damage?” he asked, as Emma stared at him.
“He took a round to his upper body. They are going to have to do surgery ASAP.”
His body went tense.
“What happened?”
Now, Emma was getting suspicious. He could see it in her eyes. The only thing saving Greyson was that she wasn’t aware he’d sent Riley to get Curtis and Kat back to the house.
“They were coming out of the Lamaze, Curtis saw the flash of a scope, and he dove onto Kat. I think she was the target. The shot was off. I watched it happen.”
That pissed him off.
It made Greyson want to kill.
It looked like Chris had been right. War had started against the Gideons and it was time to join the fray.
“Okay, we’re coming. Stay with her until we can get there. It won’t take long. We’re five minutes away.”
He hung up.
“What?” she asked.
“First and foremost, I need you to be calm,” Greyson stated, as he stood up.
Immediately, she began to get panicky. “What happened, Greyson? Who is hurt?”
He slipped into his jacket, trying to figure out the best way to tell her. Sugar coat it? Or just drop the bomb?
He knew his wife.
“Curtis was shot leaving the Lamaze class with Katerina.”
“WHAT?” she blurted.
He told her what he knew.
“We have to get there! I can’t believe this! Jesus! Curtis is hurt!”
He stopped her from losing it.
He had to.
“Listen to me. If this is Viktor Marchenko, he’s gunning for the Gideon’s. He’s going to want Dimitri to bleed. We have to keep this calm.”
She stared at him. “My son is bleeding and you want me to be…?”
Greyson knew how to play it.
“He’ll take the blame and carry it. If you freak out, and cry, it’ll pile on the guilt once he finds out. You need to be chill and not only for Kat, who is worried about her husband, but for Dimitri, who will try to own this.”
Then, he glanced over at Chris.
“I know what you’re thinking. Natasha is safe, and she’s with him too. Breathe.”
Chris did.
Emma did.
Greyson had it under control.
“I’m fine,” Emma stated. “Curtis is strong.” Emma knew that phone call was going to be hard, but she got it.
Now, she had to focus on what he’d said.
Poor Dimitri.
This asshole was trying to destroy his life, one person at a time. Well, she wouldn’t betray him. How many times had he stood for them? They were going to have his back, and do whatever it took to help them.
It looked like the case was going to have to take a back burner. Family came first.
The Gideons were theirs.
“What do you need me to do?” she asked.
“I need you to call him so he doesn’t panic. If I call, he’s going to be worried that YOUR son is hurt. You have to do this.”
She got it.
“Chris, you drive, Emma, in the back, and I’ll call my brother. The family has to know. We need to get everyone together. We have to have hope.”
Chris was worried. “We need backup, Grey. You really might have to bench Dimitri. We are out in the open. If Thomas Christ and Commissioner Raye take a shot…”
He was well aware.
It was going to be bad.
Very.
Very.
Bad.
* * * G r e y s o n C r o f t * * *
Julie/Marissa’s
Apartment
Dimitri was exhausted.
They’d had sex at least three more times, since neither of them could get enough of each other. Once that fire started, it exploded around them.
It was heated.
Frenetic.
Wild.
Dimitri couldn’t get enough of her. In fact, he’d knew this was something so special. He could be himself. As he rested there, exhausted, his body still buried in hers, she was running her fingers over his back.
Normally, Dimitri didn’t let anyone touch his back. The scars were there, and they told a tale of what had made him who he was today.
It was a hideous story, and he didn’t want to ever go back there. The nightmares were horrible.
“I’m sorry I stabbed you,” she said, running her fingers over the raw wound.”
He laughed.
“You made up for it the last hour in bed.”
She snorted. “I’m glad. I think I got off too easy. You’ll have to keep punishing me.”
That made him grin.
“I’m horrible at disciplining. Ask my sisters.”
“Where are your parents?”
His first instinct was to shut down, but her hand was soothing him so much, that he couldn’t help it. Dimitri wanted something with her, and he was willing to trust her.
Wasn’t that what you did when you were in a relationship?
“My father is dead. My mother left us, and I raised my sisters,” he offered, keeping it to the point.
She felt sadness filled her. “I wanted to raise Julie. I was just too young to take care of her. I wish things could have been different.”
He lifted his head. “This isn’t your fault.”
Wasn’t it?
What she wanted was the person who hurt her sister to pay. She wouldn’t rest until that scumbag was broken like her sister.
Julie didn’t deserve this.
“You’ll find who did this to her, right?” she asked. “You’ll get him for this?”
Oh, and here was the slippery part.
“Yeah, I’ll get him.”
Dimitri didn’t offer up anything more. He couldn’t. His gut was warning him not to go there, and he wouldn’t.
“Thank you for that, Dimitri. I can’t thank you enough.”
“It’s no problem.”
But it was.
“Deep down, I knew I was never getting her back,” Marissa said. “I’ve been searching a good year. I knew she was lost. Still, I had a little hope that we could have a decent life.”
“What will you do now?” he asked.
“I don’t know. I had these well thought out plans of what I’d do when I found her. I’d take her away from here, we’d have a cute little house with flowers and a cat, and she’d finish school.”
He listened.
It was a pretty fantasy.
They’d all had it at one time when they were searching for happiness. Dimitri had even fantasized about a life outside of this mess.
He’d kill for it.
Only, reality set in.
Some people didn’t get that picture-perfect outcome. His family was one of them. He was born to the Devil, and he’d slave away every day fighting him.
“I’ll find somewhere quiet where I can heal.”
Dimitri wanted to suggest she stay here. If she did, he might be able to hold onto this feeling.
He might be able to hold onto her.
She pushed him off her body and rolled with him so she could rest on his chest.
“Do you like Vegas?” he asked.
“It’s okay. There are some good things here,” she said, running her fingers over his abs.
He was hyper aware of her doing it, and it reminded him of when Emma had two days ago.
Only, he wasn’t calm.
He wasn’t at peace.
Dimitri was scared.
Before he could ask her more, his phone began ringing. He recognized the tone. It was Emma.
He sat up in bed, trying to free himself from the woman.
“I have to get this, hold on,” he said, grabbing his phone. “It’s important.”
She watched him.
“Emma, what’s up?” he asked.
“We have a situation. I need you,” she said, trying to do what Greyson had suggested. She was staying as calm as humanly possible as Chris drove them to the hospital.
He was out of bed and pulling his pants on before she said anything else.
“What happened?”
“Curtis was heading out of Lamaze...”
He cut her off.
His heart began pounding in his chest. This was his worst fear. The last two hours disappeared, and he went back into security mode.
“Katerina? Is she safe?”
Emma tried to phrase it as neutrally as possible to save this man’s heart.
“She’s fine. Curtis took the bullet for her. He protected her and his child.”
That hung there.
“Emma. Jesus.”
She couldn’t let him start the blame game. Emma needed to give him a task. If Dimitri was focused, he would be okay.
“I need you to come, Dimitri. I need you. We all do,” she said, trying to keep it calm. “I really could use my brother.”
He could hear it in her voice.
“I’ll be there in ten minutes,” he said. What wouldn’t he do for Emma—now especially.
He hung up.
“Leaving?” she asked. “So soon? I don’t feel used or cheap,” Marissa stated.
Dimitri pulled on his shoes and continued to get dressed. He heard it in her voice, but this was a no brainer. He had to be with the people who loved him.
“Yes, I’m sorry, but I have to go. My family needs me.”
“Are you sure?” she asked. “I could use…”
He cut her off.
“I said I can’t. Stay in. I’ll check on you later,” he said, grabbing his ruined shirt. He had spare clothes in the car. He’d pull on a fresh one there.
Marissa watched as he forgot she was even there.
“Okay.”
He rushed out of the room, leaving Marissa naked in bed. She was trying not to feel hurt, but he’d just raced out of there like there was something more important.
Marissa laid back in a bed that smelled like Dimitri and sex. “Well, so much for having his attention,” she said, closing her eyes.
Now she would have to battle the demons.
Alone.
Again.
* * * G r e y s o n C r o f t * * *
When Thomas Christ got the call, he was working in his office. He’d recently spoken to the commissioner, so he wasn’t sure what this was all about.
For some reason, the man needed to see him, and urgently. That made him a little off balance.
He hoped nothing else had gone wrong.
Heading out, Christ arrived at the courthouse to go to the commissioner’s office for their impromptu meeting.
He grabbed a coffee and headed in.
Upstairs, he found no one, and didn’t know what was going on. The man’s secretary wasn’t there, and the whole place was empty.
It was deserted.
Yeah, something bad was happening. He could feel it.
Knocking on the door, Jeffrey Raye smiled and welcomed him into his office. He even headed toward the door to greet him.
“Lock the door, son, we have to talk.”
Thomas Christ did just that.
Commissioner Raye knew he had very little time. He’d told his secretary to call the detectives ten minutes after the man arrived, and then he had her wait outside the office to be safe.
The commissioner needed to work fast.
Thomas sat and sipped his coffee like nothing was happening.
“What’s this about?” he asked. “I was busy with today’s reports.”
“It’s about you killing Detective Lester.”
He lifted a brow in curiosity.
“What about it?”
“You left evidence behind.”
“I know. I dropped gum to frame the detective. I wanted him to go down. He’s a snake and pain in my ass.”
The man sighed.
He also turned off the recorder in his breast pocket.
“That’s all I needed.”
Thomas Christ looked confused.
“What’s going on here?”
“Your one shot to the detective didn’t kill him immediately, you asshole. You screwed it up. He lived for thirty more seconds, and guess what he did?” he asked angrily.
“What?”
Now he was getting that sick feeling.
“He managed to type out a text message to his partner. He told him you killed him. The investigating detectives found the phone, and they called me.”
He was shocked.
“WHAT?” he blurted, standing up.
Jeffrey Raye turned on his recorder that he’d left in his lap.
“Son, I need you to give me your gun. You’re under arrest for the murder of Detective Lucas.”
Thomas stood and backed up. His gut was screaming, and something was about to go down. His fight or flight was kicking in, and he wanted out of there.
That’s when it happened.
“Son, don’t pull your gun! Stop! Don’t!” Commissioner Raye shouted.
Then he pulled the trigger.
The shot hit the man right in the forehead.
He stopped the recorder, and he raced around the desk. Placing Thomas Christ’s gun in his limp hand, he made sure his finger was on the trigger.
Then he turned on the recorder and then shot the man’s gun into the ceiling.
“SOMEONE CALL FOR BACKUP!” he shouted. “He tried to kill me!”
He could hear people coming.
The two detectives were heading his way.
Outside the office, he ran toward them in panic.
“Jesus! I told him he was under arrest, and he pulled his gun. He was going to kill me! I shot him and his shot hit the ceiling!”
Detective Wayne couldn’t believe this. This was exactly what they didn’t want to go down.
“I was recording it,” he said, handing her the recorder with his shanking hand. It was still going.
She stopped it, and took him somewhere away from his office.
“Hunter, call in the techs,” she said over her shoulder.
Her partner did just that.
Poppy sat him down, she pushed rewind, and then play.
As she listened to the recording, it all fit. The commissioner had done his job.
“Sir.”
His hand was shaking. “I’ve never had to…I didn’t think…” he looked pale.
“Have a seat, sir. Do you need a medic?” she asked.
“Water. I feel faint. All that blood. How do you homicide cops do it?”
She got him water.
He gulped it down, sloshing it everywhere.
“It’s okay, sir. It was smart to record it. You made our jobs easier. We won’t need to investigate and question you. I’m glad you weren’t killed.”
“Go take care of that man. He was insane, but he was still a cop. I’ll be okay. I’m fine,” he said, patting her hand.
“Okay, sir.”
She headed into the office, and he smiled into his water cup.
One more mess handled.
It looked like things were looking up.
Goodbye, Thomas Christ.
He was more trouble than he was worth.
* * * G r e y s o n C r o f t * * *
Curtis was in and out of consciousness.
He could hear the men around him as they hooked him up to IVs, and as they kept shouting out his vitals.
He could feel the life leaching away as it was so damn hard to breathe.
Grabbing the one EMT by the hand, he pulled him closer. He needed to say one thing.
“Mr. Croft, what do you need?” he asked.
Curtis stared into his eyes. “I need to see my child born. I can’t go yet.”
He patted his hand.
“The wound is through and through. It’s your right shoulder, and you’re going to live. You just need to hang in there until we can get you to the hospital. You’re going to need surgery to stop the bleeding.”
“Tell my wife seventy-five. She’ll get it.”
He nodded. “Sure thing, sir. Hang in there. We’ve slowed the bleeding, and you’ll be fine.”
Curtis stared at the ceiling of the ambulance, and he wasn’t angry.
He got it.
The war was coming, and this, unfortunately, was only the beginning.
It was far from over. This wouldn’t go unpunished.
Greyson would make sure of it.