Dimitri didn’t hesitate. He signed his name on the dotted line. Then, he turned to the boy.
“I will keep you safe and I will love you your whole life, son.”
Sam hugged him. “I love you, Dad. I’ll keep you safe too. Thank you for letting me decide.”
Dimitri held him as the boy cuddled against his body.
He knew the truth.
With everything that was coming, it was going to be hard, but somehow, he’d fight a little longer. He’d taken on this boy, and Sam would take over for him one day.
Sam would lead his family.
He’d make him proud.
As for him getting hurt…
It wouldn’t happen.
He’d protect his family if it was the last thing he did.
* * * G r e y s o n C r o f t * * *
Roscoe McKinney’s
Home
It wasn’t in a shitty part of town, and that was surprising. When you pictured where a bouncer and bartender would live, it wouldn’t be here.
This location was proof that they were on the right track. The house was way too nice for the occupations of its occupants. Immediately, they knew something shady was going on.
There was money coming in from somewhere, and the three of them suspected where.
Someone was involved in the sex trade.
When they parked, it was down the block out of sight of any possible nosey neighbors. When Croft found them, he didn’t want anyone watching.
It might get…messy.
After creeping down the alley, past a few garages, and into the yard, they were at the back door and could see into the house.
“We have feet in a recliner,” Greyson whispered, his view of the man partially obstructed by a wall. “Someone is home.”
“Plan?” Emma asked.
They were going to do this the easy way.
“Let’s get invited in, so we aren’t arrested on a B and E charge,” he suggested.
Emma knocked.
The man didn’t move.
She knocked again.
Still, nothing.
“Open it,” she said, staring at Chris. “We can’t be seen here, Grey. I have a bad feeling.”
Yeah, he did too.
“Do it.”
Chris slipped on his gloves and pulled out his kit. Dropping to his knee, they covered him.
In under a minute, it was open.
“Watch our back,” Greyson whispered.
Chris got it.
He was on the door.
Carefully, they moved through the kitchen and headed into the living room.
There, in the recliner, was Roscoe.
Only, he was going to be of no help. He was filled with bullets.
Emma whistled for Chris, who joined them.
Greyson stared down at him. “Who killed him?” he asked. “Was it Rosemary tying up a loose end?”
Emma pointed at the man’s hand. There was something peeking out of the closed fingers.
“I see something.”
Chris, with gloved fingers, touched his hand. It was tight and locked in place.
“Lividity,” Chris stated.
“Yeah, he’s been dead over six hours,” she answered, but that wasn’t her focus. There was something else.
There was a note.
With gentle fingers, Chris pried his hand open to free up the scrap of paper.
“Good catch,” Greyson said.
They unfolded it.
‘Dimtiri,
Consider this a present for all the birthdays and Christmas’s I’ve missed. His wife and he were supplying me with all the fresh young pussy I could handle. I killed all those girls, and now I killed him for cutting me off. Rosemary is hiding, and I don’t blame her. I’ll find her, but first, I’m going to kill you. You’re going to be the one I break for murdering our father. The girls will live and I’ll have them, too, in bed.
You’re next.
Viktor.’
Well, it was a good thing they found this and not Dimitri. The last part alone would have freaked him out. He’d saved his sisters from a sadist or two, and he wouldn’t let them go back.
“Well, we know his plan at least,” Chris said, trying to give it a positive spin.”
“Is that all you have?” she asked, dreading what was coming. The war was beginning, and soon.
“Yeah, he’s going to go on a killing spree.”
They were well aware. It was about to be open season on Viktor Marchenko for even threatening Dimitri’s sisters.
The man was clueless.
“We have a bigger issue,” Greyson admitted. “There is no way we can give the FBI this note.”
He had a point. They were going to have to do this carefully. If anything happened, it might implicate Dimitri.
“Do the dance,” Emma stated. “It’s all we can do. You made the deal, and we did it in the timeline. Hopefully, the sex ring is shut down. We know who was working with Louis Mateo, and all the FBI has to do is call out the Marshals to track Rosemary or send in the FBI.”
Chris cleared his throat. “Is it wrong of me to wish Viktor finds her first?”
No, it wasn’t.
Greyson pulled out his phone and made the call.
“Blackhawk.”
“It’s me.”
“Is it done?”
“The two-people leading the sex ring were Rosemary Harrington and Louis Mateo. You couldn’t find him because he was hiding under an alias—Roscoe McKinney. We are staring at him right now. Someone killed him. It was probably her. She’s in the wind. She’s the one you want.”
Ethan knew they’d pull it off.
“Is that it?”
Here’s where it got tricky.
“We’re standing in his living room. Here’s the address,” he said, giving it to him. “Give us twenty minutes to get the hell out of here, okay?”
“That I can do. Thank you for keeping your word.”
He had, even if he wasn’t giving them the full picture.
“Are you sure that’s all?”
Greyson suspected he knew.
This was Ethan Blackhawk. He wasn’t a fool.
“We’re going to start looking for a Russian. You can never have too many. When we find him, we’ll have to kick him out of the game. Vegas is only big enough for one mob and one comrade.”
Blackhawk got it.
“Russians are tricky. Make sure you keep yours safe. It’ll likely be a grudge match, but that’s just what I hear. You know rumors. Be careful.”
Oh, they would.
“Greyson, thank you.”
He didn’t mind. After all, he was cleaning up Vegas. That had been his plan, and it was working.
“Thank you for the assistance in this. Kiss your wife, and tell her I said thank you. Oh, and we found her tablet.”
“Yeah, she was missing that.”
“Would you like me to send it to her?” he asked.
Ethan threw him a bone. They’d solved what the FBI couldn’t.
“If it gets lost in the mail, those things happen. I’m a busy man, and I can’t remember to do all the paperwork to cancel passwords. The job sucks like that.”
Greyson smiled.
“Yeah, the damn postal service. If you’re ever in Vegas, and need my help...”
Ethan laughed. “I won’t call.”
The line went dead.
“Let’s get home,” Greyson said. “I’ll call Riley. His Jane Does are no longer that. His cases are closed and he should contact the FBI with the information. Those dead girls are going home.”
Emma was glad.
Outside, they slipped back down the alley after securing the dead man’s home.
The note was in their pocket, and there was no trace that they’d even been there.
As they climbed into her ride, it felt good to be safe. Now they could focus.
Curtis had to heal.
They had a wedding in four days.
The
family would be fine.
And the Russian part of their unit?
That was up in the air. What Emma did know was she would fight for them. They were family, and in the end, that was all that really mattered.
Sometimes, you had to break the law.
Sometimes, you had to make the guilty pay.
In Vegas, there were only two things you could bet on. The odds were always against you, and crime always did pay.
Especially if you were a Gideon or a Croft.
Epilogue
Terrace Glen
Tuesday
Noon
W hen they arrived at the house, he was inside waiting for them. They’d called to tell him they were on their way back to the safety of their home, but he still paced like an expectant father, dying to get his chicks back into the nest where they’d be safe.
Not being able to be out there with Greyson was killing him. Dimitri actually felt like he was letting his family down. He was supposed to keep them safe, but how was he supposed to do that locked inside Terrace Glen?
As the monitor beeped, signaling the gate was opening, he headed to the foyer to greet them. It didn’t take them long to enter the house, Emma first, Greyson behind them, and Chris blocking their bodies with his own.
Well, at least they weren’t completely unguarded.
“Well?” he asked. “What did you find at the house?”
She told him about it, then headed into the living room, and to the bar.
Dimitri watched as she poured three bourbons and grabbed a bottle of water.
“We’re drinking in celebration of him being dead and the woman on the run?” he asked, as Emma lined the drinks up on the table.
She handed one to Dimitri.
“Drink it.”
He did.
It burned all the way down.
“I’m drinking alone?” he asked, staring at the two other men.
Emma handed him a second glass.
“Bottoms up.”
Now he was worried. “You’re trying to get me drunk to take advantage of me?” he teased, even as he drank the next two fingers of bourbon.
Emma still didn’t say anything.
She handed him the last glass, and then sat in his lap.
He stared at them. “It’s going to be bad. You’re trying to get me inebriated as Emma keeps me from freaking out.”
Greyson nodded.
“You’re fired.”
Dimitri stopped mid sip. “What? I’m fired from what exactly,” he asked.
“From our security.”
His heart began thumping in his chest, and he was ready to be sick.
“What did I do?” he asked.
Emma wrapped her arms around his shoulders, and rested her head against his.
“Max.”
He was getting more nervous by the minute. “Just say it, Emma. Just rip the bandage off for me.”
She whispered to him in Russian.
He knew it was going to be bad if she was soothing him before the news.
“Here,” Greyson said, handing him the note.
Dimitri kicked back the last of the bourbon and placed the glass on the coaster on the table.
He opened the note and read it.
He was fine all the way through until he got to the final part of the letter. That’s when he began getting red.
“If he even thinks I’ll let him touch my sisters, he’s insane. I’ll cut out his heart.”
“And that’s why you’re done,” Emma said. “We can’t let you play bodyguard when he’s aiming for you.”
“I’ll be…”
She covered his mouth and left a gentle kiss on his temple. “Please. Don’t say it.”
He leaned back on the couch.
“Emma,” he finally said, when she moved her hand. “I’m hard to kill.”
She was going to go with what she knew.
“He’s had years to study you. All I’m asking is you don’t follow us around. You can stay here, study your prey, and we’ll help you. He’s not even going to make you suffer, Dimitri. He’s coming right at you.”
“I’m not afraid to die.”
She got up and began pacing.
As she did, she fought the tears. Only, they weren’t so easily pushed down.
“I’m afraid to watch you die. You matter to me, and you’re mine, Dimitri. Please. You tell me I’m like your sister, so don’t let him break me with your death. I need you to care. I need you to be afraid.”
Greyson agreed. “Until we can figure him out, you need to stay in, Dimitri. Kat will be here, Curtis will be here, and Natasha…who the hell knows where she is. I never can find her.”
He was aware of where his sister was. He could smell her perfume. “She’s here.”
“For us,” Chris said. “We can hire bodyguards. That’s easy to replace, but you are valuable to us.”
At that moment, Sam came running into the room.
He saw Emma, and ran to her.
“Guess what!” he asked.
Immediately, she buried her fears.
“What?” she asked, ruffling his hair.
He was bouncing like a ball. “Dad signed the papers. They came. Uncle Dante got them rushed through like Uncle Grey said. I finally have a family.”
She hugged him and stared at Dimitri over the boy’s shoulders.
“Oh, Sam! I’m so happy! Today is going to officially be your birthday! Today you became all of ours!”
The boy grinned. “But guess what the best part is?”
She couldn’t imagine. “What, sweetheart?”
“I got to finally get a middle name. I finally am whole.”
She smiled at him. “Please tell me he didn’t let you pick Deuce.”
He laughed. “No way, babe!”
“Sam,” Dimitri warned.
“No way, Aunt babe.”
She snorted. “What did you pick?”
He pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to her. “I wrote it down.”
Emma read it, and tears filled her eyes.
“Sam Maximillian Gideon. That’s a beautiful name,” she said, as the tears began falling.
“Are you sad?” he asked.
Greyson was watching Dimitri. His face said it all. He was worried about Sam.
“No, Mr. Gideon,” she said, tickling him. “I’m just glad you’re ours. When you love someone so much, you just want them to be safe, happy, and loved. Now we’ll never lose you, and that’s why I’m crying. Family is precious, Sam. Don’t ever forget that.”
“Emma,” Dimitri said.
She didn’t look at him.
“I’m going to go make you a cake. Since it’s your birthday, you get whatever kind you want. Would you like to help me?” she asked.
He grinned. “I used to think a place like this wasn’t possible. I got really lucky. All I have is sisters, and all of you. All I need, now, is a brother.”
Emma held out her hand.
“Brothers are important,” she said. “I’ve been blessed with quite a few of them.”
Sam walked with her to the kitchen.
“Can you tell me about them?” he asked. “I need to know how to deal with siblings—especially girls.”
She glanced over her shoulder at Dimitri.
“Yeah, Sam, I can tell you about them. One is your dad.”
She took him into the kitchen.
Dimitri leaned back and closed his eyes.
“What am I supposed to do?” he asked.
Chris took this one. “She lost Gage, she nearly lost me, and if she loses you, that will break her. We know the approximate location of Viktor’s home. You stay in, you work on that, and we find a way to beat him.”
“And if he comes at our family?” he asked.
“Then we deal with it when it happens, Dimitri. He wants you to do this. Be smart. Think,” Greyson stated.
He did think.
He thought about Emma and Sam.
> “Okay. I’ll stay in, and I’ll work on finding where he’s at, but on one condition.”
“What?”
“We all stay in. He may be coming at me, but if he grabs one of you, he knows I’ll trade myself for you.”
Greyson agreed.
“And we hire new guards—until it’s over.”
“Who do you have in mind?” Greyson asked.
“I have a few favors that are owed. I can call them in, and they’ll help.”
“Mercenaries?” Chris asked.
Dimitri lifted a brow. “Does it matter?”
“Yes, it does.”
“If it offends…”
He held up his hand. “You’ve gotten it wrong. Get us the biggest, baddest killers you know. This is my, family too, and we are going to make a stand.”
Dimitri stood.
“And fight?” he asked, holding out his hand.
Chris stood and took his hand in his. “We fight.”
Greyson joined them, adding his hand to theirs. “It’s war, boys. We go down swinging.”
The three men stood there, and they took a vow.
They weren’t going down without one hell of a battle.
For them.
For FAMILY.
For Vegas.
* * * G r e y s o n C r o f t * * *
Commissioner’s
Home
It had been a tumultuous week at work. Honestly, he didn’t think he could pull off another like that.
Jeffery Raye had learned a valuable lesson.
Playing with crazies could get you burned.
He’d come so close on this one and having a set of eyes on the detectives was imperative, but allowing the police captain to run it was bad.
He needed someone to take the pressure off and make him look good.
Detective Poppy Wayne was the one for the job.
She was a straight arrow, but he was good with that. He owned enough cops that she’d take the heat off him. Blowing Thomas Christ’s brains out had been necessary, but a risk he was NOT going to take again.
Now, he wanted a little calm.
The Crofts were leaving him alone, and for now, he wanted to stay under their radar.
Paid Justice (Croft Family Mob Series Book 3) Page 51