She’d learned it from him.
“My father is making out and I had to watch it,” she teased. “There goes my day. I need to wash my eyeballs.”
He laughed and tucked Poppy beneath his arm.
“Brat.”
She smiled, genuinely glad that her brother was happy again. The fact that he was smiling said it all. His face was devoid of all of the lines and stress.
All was well in their world.
Dimitri Gideon was back.
Hallelujah.
“Greyson was sending me up to get you. Someone is late for the morning update,” she stated, “and we can see why.”
Dimitri covered for himself, and Poppy.
“I have two young kids—four in total. You have one. Suck it up. You carry your food with you,” he said, pointing at her breasts.
She laughed.
“Touché, Papa.” She stopped him. “Can I talk to Poppy, please?”
He gave her the look. Dimitri didn’t want Poppy hurt any more than he’d already done. He’d vowed he’d protect her no matter what, and that meant against Kat.
His first child.
His first love.
“If she runs, you’re hunting her down,” he warned. “I’m getting old.”
Poppy stood her ground.
“I’m not running. If Kat has something to say to me, she can get it off of her chest.”
“I do.”
Dimitri gave her the pleading look. Then, he kissed Poppy on the forehead and squeezed her hand.
“See you in there?”
“You will.”
He took her word for it, offering up that forgiveness and trust that had been missing the last few days.
Going in, Kat stood there, waiting for a moment to have a talk with her.
Only, Poppy began.
“I know you hate me.”
She stopped her.
“Chris told us that you ran because of what Jeffrey Raye threatened to do. I understand. As a mother, I know my child’s life matters more than mine. I see that. I also know that you knew he’d go after him, and that might cost him his life.”
She didn’t speak.
“I’m sorry I assumed. When we are wrong, our father taught us to own it. I hope you can forgive me. I only want the best for him. He took me in and fixed me. He gave me this life. I love him so much. Maximillian is more than my brother. He is my salvation—next to my husband.”
She understood.
“I know, Kat.”
She held out her hand, offering it palm up to the woman in a gesture of family. Chris also told them how Poppy was battling for her own soul.
Family fought by your side.
And she would too.
“Truce?” she asked.
Poppy got it.
He was so special. She’d fight for him too.
“There is no need since there was never a war. I won’t hurt him again. I promise. I won’t run.”
She, still, held out her hand, This time, Poppy took it and then was hugged by the smaller woman.
“We have you. We will fight to the death for you, Poppy. Let us be your armor. Even a good cop needs some,” Kat stated.
She was right.
“Thank you, Kat. I won’t hurt him again.”
She stared into her eyes.
“I believe you, Poppy. I believe you.”
And that bond was formed.
There, over that promise.
“Let’s get to work.”
That worked for her.
Kat led her into the penthouse, and they found the whole family in the living room talking. As soon as they came in, everyone stopped.
“Are you okay?” Dimitri asked her.
“I’m great. Really,” she offered, smiling.
Dimitri smiled at Katerina. He should have trusted one broken bird to heal the other.
“Now we can start,” Greyson stated.
Emma was ready. She had a bowl of fruit balanced precariously on her belly.
Everyone else was having coffee.
Kat got them each one before taking a seat beside her husband.
“Today, Dimitri and I are going to head to Neptune,” he stated, cluing them in. “Then we’re going to hunt down Harold Cline. It looks like we’re going to use the information we learned at The Hidden Pearl to shake him down. We need to find out where they’ve been taking the women he’s been picking up for his boss.”
They were good with that.
Well, with the exception of Emma.
“What’s Neptune?” she asked. Last night, he’d skipped going over anything, since she’d been napping most of the night. Honestly, she felt a little warm, but she knew better than to say anything. Greyson would have her at the doctor’s in a heartbeat.
He stared at Dimitri.
Yeah, tag.
He was up.
Greyson was no one’s fool. He’d tried to slip that past her, and it didn’t work. Well, now he was going to pass it off to the man who owned the club.
When in doubt, let Dimitri handle it.
Heads would likely roll, and Greyson wanted his intact.
“Dimitri?” he asked. “You’re up.”
He didn’t hesitate, despite knowing why Greyson was tagging him in. He deserved it after punching him the other day. Here was his penance. Emma was going to kick his ass.
“There was a card found in the room. It was the only time they’d used it, so we thought maybe we could pin Zachary there.”
She stopped them.
“No, I mean WHAT IS NEPTUNE? I smell the game of avoidance going on here.”
Greyson laughed.
“Oh, yeah, what is that, Dimitri?” he asked.
“Pussy.”
“She’s pregnant. I’m not going there. I know how mean she can be.”
Now Emma was really suspicious. None of this sounded right, and there was likely a reason. Someone was hiding something.
The name alone painted pictures in her head.
“Someone had better share or I’m going to get up, come over there and shank you with my fruit fork.”
They didn’t think she could get up or move fast enough, but she could certainly throw it.
Dimitri owned it.
“We own it.”
“WE?” she asked. “I know you’re not going to tell me it’s a club with naked women.”
“It is.”
She sighed.
He picked up the tablet and went online to show her.
“I thought WE agreed no more titty clubs,” she stated, pointing the fork in his direction.
Chris laughed.
When she glanced over, he couldn’t help it.
“There’s something so classy about a pregnant lady saying ‘titties’. So hot. I think there’s a whole genre of porn based on that,” he teased, trying to save Dimitri’s bacon.
AGAIN.
She didn’t laugh.
Emma felt one hell of a snow job going on, and she knew the two culprits.
Curly and Moe.
Larry had been trapped with her yesterday. She knew Chris had nothing to do with this—for once.
“WE own it, but it’s more a gentleman’s club. There’s fine liquor, cigars, and mermaids.”
It appeared on the screen.
“Mermaids?” she asked, thinking he’d finally lost his damn mind.
“Just watch.”
He showed her the footage.
Emma watched as he turned the cameras on inside, and they could see the cigar girls dressed like they would have in the fifties, lots of wood and leather, and not that of horny men and aging strippers.
In fact, she was fascinated.
“What’s that?”
He picked a different camera.
There was a giant tank in the middle of the place, and in it were women dressed like mermaids. They were topless and had tails.
They were pretty too.
What woman didn’t like mermaids growing up as a kid? Emma
had.
They were swimming behind the men, using tubes they held to feed them oxygen.
“It’s pretty awesome. I like it.”
Greyson stared at her like she was possessed.
That was NOT what he’d been expecting at all.
“PARDON?”
“I said, I like it,” she said louder. “It’s cool. No one is up there shaking their ass and grinding on men. Besides, I wanted to be a mermaid when I was six. It speaks to me.”
He couldn’t believe it.
“I never saw this week coming,” he stated. “Our son made you eat cupcakes and like breasts.”
Chris opened his mouth, and she placed the fork right over the artery in his thigh.
“TRY ME.”
He closed his mouth.
“Carry on,” she stated. “With the case—not the half-women half-fish.”
“So,” Dimitri stated, “We are going there to track Zachary. Since it’s my place, we should have no issues.”
Emma was good with that.
“What would you like us to do?” she asked, knowing how to irritate her husband. “Can I go swimming at the club?”
Greyson choked on his coffee.
“WHAT?”
Chris laughed. “Titties,” he busted, making a motion with his hands that made Emma laugh.
“I’ll kill him first, and burn that place down,” Greyson stated. “That is never happening. You have a perfectly good bathtub where you can play mermaid.”
She snickered.
“Anyway,” Dimitri stated, “I can close the club down for you to play, Emma. I’ll make sure you’re safe,” he teased, glad to be back at it with the people he loved.
Oh, and riding Greyson’s ass.
“I’m in,” Chris stated.
Greyson pointed at them.
“Heath will kill you both. I promise.”
They found that funny.
Dimitri focused on work.
“Emma, I do need your help. I kicked the hell out of a creep last night,” Dimitri admitted. “The owner Lee Davidson had a friend with him. Someone needed a beatdown.”
“It was a thing of beauty,” Greyson admitted when his wife looked disappointed that she didn’t see it go down.
“Can you run him?” Dimitri asked.
“I can. I get the next interview,” she stated. “You guys have all of the fun.”
Chris protested.
“I miss all of the good interviews too,” Chris said, and then he glanced over at the door. “Speaking of beatdowns and Greyson’s hired thug, where’s Heath?”
Yeah, that had Dimitri’s attention.
“Don’t forget the Russian shrew you saddled me with by hiring her,” he stated. “Where is she lying in wait?”
Emma was confused.
Chris told her as Greyson texted Heath to find her. When he didn’t get a reply, they would stop at his place.
“Someone actually hired her?” Emma asked.
Chris nodded.
“Yup. Someone will be too busy for joint workouts. She’s going to likely destroy the city.”
Dimitri rolled his eyes.
“Thanks.”
“Anyway,” Greyson said, trying to control the children before they got way out of control.
“Emma, run him. His name is Milo Horner,” Greyson stated, “And I want EVERYONE we can find working for Zachary Lipton checked out. I want to know his life inside and out.”
Well, she was going to be busy.
As was Chris.
“When will you be harassing him?” Emma asked. “So I can get our attorney ready.”
“Shortly. I need one more person to verify that he was at that club, and that he knew the girls. Then he’ll get a little visit from Crofty Claus, and not for presents.”
Well, that should be interesting.
“Okay. We’ll get that done for you today,” Emma stated, knowing an investigator was only as good as his people doing the research. With Tessa and Paris out of commission, they had to do the job for them.
“Thank you for being good with this,” Greyson said. “I know how much you like to be out there kicking people around.”
“My days of going out will be back before we know it,” Emma admitted.
He laughed.
She didn’t.
A line was drawn.
“Uh, we’ll have a child,” he stated, “what then?”
Oh, if he thought she was giving up helping people because someone called her mommy, she had news for him.
“I already have a bossy child. He’s in his forties. Want to die at that age?” she asked, cutting him off. “If you go there, it’s going to end badly.”
No one doubted that.
All the men were giving him the look. It was a warning to zip it or all hell would break loose. Emma wasn’t kidding. They could tell by her tone of voice.
“Yes, honey,” he stated, backing down.
She smiled.
“Was that hard?” she asked.
He laughed.
“You’re just lucky I find a pregnant mermaid sexy as hell. I’ll get the keys to that club, kitten.”
She winked at her cave-Croft.
“How does a mermaid do it?” Chris asked, out of the blue, getting Emma to laugh. “No, really. How?” he asked.
“Carefully?” Poppy offered, getting Dimitri to laugh.
“Children,” Emma stated.
“Before we head out,” Dimitri stated, reeling it in, “can I see you and Chris outside? It’s important.”
Yeah, and something he’d been thinking about all-night long.
While Emma was curious, she would get it out of Chris later. He’d cave for food. He was easy, and that worked to her advantage.
“Okay, let’s get working,” she said, handing Poppy the tablet, leaning back on the couch, and putting her feet up.
For now, she’d do what she did best.
Grow a child and supervise.
Out on the balcony, Dimitri closed the door.
“Please tell me you’re fine because if you try to jump, your life is in Chris’s hands. He’s going over with you.”
“Don’t bet on that,” he added, laughing. “Oops.”
Dimitri reassured them he was good. He’d settled his issues, and today was a new day. He and Poppy were golden.
He and Jeffrey Raye were not.
“I need to make a stop first before we head out to do our thing, Greyson.”
“What?” he asked.
“I want to pay a surprise visit to Jeffrey Raye and deliver a message.”
Uh oh.
That was a bad idea.
“Dimitri…”
“I know, but he threatened my kids and my woman. I nearly lost her last night in the process—again. I need you both to have my back in this.”
They knew this was a bad idea, but he’d go alone. They knew Dimitri. He was stubborn at best.
Today took a different twist.
It was time to play mob.
They knew he was going to rough him up.
“If we go into his house, the second we leave, he’s going to call the police.”
“Not if we call his bluff.”
He told him how.
“Oh, Jesus. We are taking that route?” Chris said. “I saw this coming.”
“Are you in?” Dimitri asked, needing his friends and brothers to have his back.
“Yes, of course, but the women are going to kill us. Plus, that leaves them here alone. Curtis…,” Greyson offered.
Chris stopped him.
“Your son has gotten soft,” he stated. “We can’t leave Curtis here to babysit. He’s a baby himself.”
They didn’t disagree.
Strategically, they had one choice.
“Heath and Nikita?” Greyson offered.
Dimitri knew despite not liking the woman, she was best in cases like this.
“We need her.”
“Heath?” Greyson asked. “He’s more t
han capable of keeping the place locked down. IF he answers his damn phone.”
It was settled.
“Let’s go grab him. Nikita is generally lurking,” Greyson stated. “She’ll pop-up.”
“Fine. Let’s go. We’ll do this, and then drop you off, Chris. I want you on Emma like white on rice. She’s near giving birth. I can feel it. She’s sleeping more and looks tired.”
He understood.
Chris agreed.
“I just hope that he doesn’t call the cops on us. You made friends, but how far are they willing to go to ignore what we do?” he asked.
Greyson wasn’t sure.
It looked like they would test that theory.
Today.
Yes, this was crazy. It was likely going to up the game, and bring them nothing but trouble, but Greyson got it. Jeffrey Raye took a shot at Dimitri’s ego.
A man could only swallow so much. They didn’t have a choice.
Dimitri, in a way, was right. This had to be addressed, and Greyson was more than happy to do it. For their family, and to put that pissant little dickwad in his place.
The man was going to be in for a big, ugly surprise. The Croft family was more bite than bark when the need arose.
Today would be that proof.
“Let’s go.”
Back inside, he switched it up so his wife would be none the wiser.
Now to lie his ass off.
“We are taking Chris for a ride. Heath, once we find him, is going to be here babysitting. We’ll drop your BFF off after. See if you can find anything for us.”
“I’m working on Candice French and the man you gave us,” Poppy stated. “I’ll find something. I’m good at research.”
They didn’t doubt it.
Emma was watching him.
Greyson assumed the jig was up.
“What?” he inquired, hoping she wouldn’t ask where Chris was going.
He mentally crossed his fingers.
“Can you bring me a cupcake?” she asked.
“NO.”
Her lip came out.
Then she laid it on thick.
“It’s okay, Maximillian Atticus Christopher Croft. I know they’re being mean to you. You can’t help but like what you like. Your uncles are mean men.”
All three men sighed.
It appeared she had them wrapped around her little finger, and they knew it.
“FINE. I’ll get one for him.”
“In that case…”
Emma sat up, grabbed a spare tablet, and went to work. She had work to do for that mid-morning snack.
No Justice_A Croft Mob Family Book Page 37