It filled him with such a deep sorrow.
“I’m sorry they hurt you,” he said, as the app translated it for her.
She listened and reached for his hand. That connection had been made over crackers and juice. She trusted him, and he knew she would be safe.
In fact, he reassured her of that.
“Your family won’t hurt you. No one will hurt you anymore. I promise.”
She got up and she climbed into his lap before burying her face in his shoulder.
It was something Cat did when she was upset, and he didn’t doubt that this child was around her age.
Ethan just held her.
Dimitri and the Crofts were going to have their work cut out for them.
This girl needed a better life.
She needed a real family.
One that wouldn’t hurt her.
Ever.
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…”
Mob Justice Page 3