As quickly as the emotion was there, it was gone again. Greyson knew this might get uglier before it was fixed. He didn’t expect anything less with the man. Dimitri was stubborn, pigheaded, and Russian. The later was the cause of the former.
“That’s good to know.”
Emma saw this going south, and fast.
“We need to talk about our business arrangement.”
Dimitri pointed at Kat. “Take a walk. I’ll find you when we’re done.”
She didn't disobey.
Instead, she headed for the door not questioning her brother.
They waited until she was gone.
Greyson knew that Curtis needed to see her. If this was his last shot, he had to take it. The outcome was sketchy at best.
“Curtis, head back to the house.”
He, too, didn't question it. When he was gone, they settled in for what was coming.
“What would you wish to talk about?” Dimitri asked. He was no fool. He saw the writing on the wall.
“I’m sorry for hitting you. I was angry, and that’s a horrible excuse, but it’s the truth. When it comes to Emma, I lose my mind.”
She laughed. “What? It’s an understatement.”
He continued when Dimitri said nothing, “Emma is the one constant and perfect thing in my life. When it comes to her safety, I have no control.”
“I noticed.”
“You’re still fired.”
Dimitri tensed. “I’ll be out in twenty minutes. We’re leaving Vegas, but I’ll leave a forwarding number in case you find yourself in trouble and need me.”
“You’d come back?” he asked, testing the water.
“Yes,” Dimitri said, glancing over at Emma. “I made a promise. I keep them. I know that you see what I did as crossing a line. I was simply doing my job. Randall told me that I was to die before letting anything happen to her. You wanted your wife safe. I was going to give you that. I know that she matters to you, but Emma also matters to me. She is a very kind person, and that’s far and few in this world. It’s non-existent in mine.”
Greyson listened.
Yes, he was still fired, but he could see the hurt in Emma’s eyes. That upset him on some deep level.
“Thank you for allowing us to get a glimpse of your family and the love for them,” Dimitri said, grabbing his bag. He began placing the gear from the table into it.
Emma glanced up at her husband.
‘Please,’ she silently mouthed. ‘He’s hurting.’
There was nothing he wouldn’t do for her—including swallowing his own pride.
“You’ve misunderstood me, Dimitri,” Greyson said, moving toward him.
“I have?”
“You’re definitely not working for us anymore, but we want you to stay.”
He didn't get it. “How exactly is that going to work?”
“You’re family now. Like it or not, you’re part of this mess. We don’t want someone who’s paid to watch our backs. Then you only have money to lose. I want someone who has a personal investment in our lives guarding us.”
He stared at him. “I still don’t get it.” He was confused as hell. What exactly was Greyson saying?
Emma couldn’t believe it.
Now she felt worse. She should have trusted her husband. He did have the best interest for his family at heart.
“How do you feel about us?” Greyson asked.
Dimitri was horrible with his feelings. Mostly, he kept them bottled up. It was safer that way. What lived in him wasn’t exactly sunshine and lollipops.
It was dark.
Brooding.
Dangerous.
Honestly, he didn’t know how to feel anything but hate, loathing, and anger. It festered in him.
“Be honest. How do you feel?” He tapped him over the heart.
“I watch you love your family, and I feel empty never having that. I don’t know how I feel since I’ve never been given that emotion. It’s foreign to me. I watch you love a grown man as your son, but I can’t figure out why. I see you with Captain Ford, and one minute you’re talking work, and the next your arm is around him as you head out of the building to get a drink.”
Greyson listened to him.
“I see you care about Doctor Archer and his wife, and I’m tripped up. They’re nothing but employees, but they matter to you. Then there is your brother’s lover. You hover over him with nothing but love in your eyes. Watching you confuses me because I can’t love like you can.”
There.
It was said.
Dimitri was giving him trust.
“You love Kat and Natasha. That’s love.”
“That’s obligation. I’m all they have left,” he said, shrugging.
It wounded Greyson that the man was hurting inside—that alone made him want to protect him.
“You do have more.”
“Do I?”
“Whether you like it or not, you have us. We’re offering you a place in this world. We’re offering you a family. It’s not about me not wanting to pay you. Shit! You can have whatever money you want. We have more than we need. It’s about wanting to ensure that the people who we choose to be near us are part of us, not just employees.”
He stared at him.
“I’m being genuine. We want you to stay on, but move into the house, keep work out here, and be part of the whole.”
Emma would have jumped him right there if they were alone. She saw the pain in the other man and had since he started protecting them. She just didn't think Greyson saw it.
Boy.
She had been very wrong about her husband.
“You wouldn’t be telling me all of this if you knew who we really were.”
Croft took a seat.
“Your name is Maximillian Marchenko. Your father was a KGB general working under the regime. He was in charge of handling all the dissidents who opposed the president. To say that he was a horrible human being would be putting it mildly.”
Dimitri froze in place.
He hadn’t heard his real name in a long time. After a while, he’d forgotten it was still out there.
He’d hoped it wasn’t.
“Your mother was a child herself. After she had your sister, she ran away. Actually, she escaped your father. The only thing is, she didn’t take either of you. She left you both with an abusive man who hurt you and Katerina. By hurt I mean physical abuse and rape. You were his favorite punching bag, and she was his sexual play thing.”
Dimitri didn't move.
The bile rose up, choking him. The truth was out, and it would haunt them here too. This was another reason why he wanted to leave Las Vegas.
It was time.
The truth was out there.
He glanced over at Emma. She wasn’t shocked by what her husband was saying, and that meant she already knew.
Dimitri focused on Greyson Croft for what was likely the last time. He waited for the second shoe to drop.
“When you couldn’t handle the physical abuse and broken bones any more, you went into the military yourself. Only, they expected you to be like your father, and you weren’t.”
Emma sat beside her husband. Her hand went to his thigh, connecting them. He had found all this out, told her, and then held it for the right moment. She thought it would be to protect them, but now it was to show the man before them that they didn’t care who he was. He’d been loyal, and that mattered more than his past.
“How did you find out all of this?” Dimitri asked, still not moving. He was frozen to the spot.
“DNA, research, and a few favors from a CIA buddy who served with me in the Gulf war.”
“I see.”
Why was Dimitri shocked? He’d been careful, but working and living in the pool house meant leaving DNA and trace.
He should have expected nothing less. Only, he really thought he’d covered his trail better.
Next time, he would.
“When you came back from fighting in
Afghanistan, you found that your sister had taken your place in your father’s rage and drinking. She’d been seen over a dozen times by the local hospitals. She’d been burned, tortured, and raped.”
He didn't speak.
His heart pounded in his chest. He remembered that day clearly. The second he walked in to find his sister being sexually assaulted, he knew leaving had been a mistake.
One he couldn’t take back.
“You killed him and ran, but before you did, you found out about Natasha. Only, she’s not your cousin. She’s the daughter your father had with a woman he raped. Not only was he torturing Russian citizens for the KGB, he was raping every young woman he could. To this day, you don’t know if you left any of your blood behind.”
Dimitri was aware.
He lifted his chin, trying to find that defiance he once hid behind. Only, it was gone.
The truth was out.
Their horrible secret was free.
“You bought countless businesses with the money you made in Europe acting as a contract killer. You took out the slimiest bastards that walked the face of the earth. You took out your revenge and carved out a way here. With those businesses, the US government gave Dimitri Gideon a green card.”
It was all true.
“Then you became a citizen to hide in plain sight.”
More truth.
“Well, now you know what lives outside your home. I was wrong about you, Mr. Croft. I thought it would take you far longer to figure me out. I see I underestimated you.”
Dimitri knew that was dangerous.
It could cost you everything, and this likely had.
“Now you know my sins, and you can prove it. So, what do you plan to do with it? Am I going to jail?”
Greyson was sorry he had to do this, but he needed Dimitri to see that loyalty was a two way street.
“I’m not going to do anything with it, Dimitri. I’m telling you to prove to you that I don’t care about your past, and neither does Emma. We’ve known for the better part of three weeks.”
He still didn’t move.
Greyson stood. “I was a soldier. I took lives too. We all carry sins. I’m not your judge. I’m your friend, and I would like to be more. We want you to trust us enough to be part of our family.”
“I killed my father. Can you beat that kind of atrocity?” he said. “I stuck a knife in his throat and ended his life for raping my sister. He was a monster, but so am I, and you want that in your family? Why?”
“You defected to this country, and when the government learned of your identity, they wanted to use you. They threatened to revoke your citizenship. In order for you to stay, you had to work for them.”
He didn't speak.
“In your own way, you served this country. I didn’t get the files on what you did, since they’re classified, but I’m told you met your goal, and were released from service. That alone tells me that you’re not as bad as you think you are.”
He tensed.
“We care about you and Kat. I can’t seem to find Natasha, so I can’t tell you how I feel about her, but I want to offer you more than a place to hide, Dimitri. I want to offer you a safe haven you can have as your home.”
“So you’re adopting me too, like the man-child who has the hots for my sister?”
“If that’s what you want. Randall used you. Call it what you like, but the old man was a bastard.”
“He was the only father I respected.”
Emma moved toward them. “Dimitri, we respect you. Be part of our family. We’ll keep paying you if it’s about the money.”
“It’s never about the money, Emma. I have more than I need. It’s about the bloodstains on my hands. By staying, they transfer and you’re both cops.”
She touched his arm and for the first time, he flinched and moved away.
He was just as wounded. Despite the show on the outside, Dimitri Gideon was scarred too.
“Think about it.”
Greyson continued, “We’re having a meeting in the morning. We’re going to bury Marianna, but we’re doing it as a team. It’s going to take all of us to do it—your intel, Emma’s skill at working a case, my ability to hold back the storm. We can beat him, but we’re going to do it the legal way.”
“Until we can’t anymore? Then will it be my job to end it?” he asked bitterly. “Will I be doing the deed?”
Greyson placed his hand on the man’s shoulder. “No. I never ask my family to do what I won’t. If Dominic has to die, I’ll be the one who ends it.”
“Against the law, Croft?” he asked.
“I’ll quit first, and I’ll pay the consequences, but the blood won’t be on your hands. It’ll be on mine.”
He knew if he lost Emma, there would be no point in living. Greyson would sacrifice himself if he couldn’t be with her, or if Emma’s life was on the line.
How could he not?
That was love.
He turned and took his wife’s hand in his. “Think about what we’ve offered you. If you want to be part of our family, be at the meeting in the kitchen at eight sharp. We’ll start working this case to find a way to take Marianna down. Together.”
They headed out.
At the door, Emma glanced back but didn't say anything. What was left to say?
Greyson was offering the man a huge gift.
He was giving him a new lease on life.
As one of them.
* * * Croft & Croft * * *
It wasn’t hard to find her. Now that he’d studied Kat, he knew where she liked to hide. Inside the rose arbor, he found her perched among the flowers.
It made him smile.
She was hiding in the roses, but they didn't even compare. Her gentle smile, aqua eyes, and long straight black hair made his heart kick in his chest.
“Are you trying to hide or find quiet?” he asked, surprising her.
“Curtis.”
“I wanted to see you.”
She didn't move. Finally, she got the words out. “You should go. You don’t need more trouble right now and being near me is definitely going to get you hurt.”
How she even thought of herself like that astounded him. “You’re not trouble, Katerina.”
She wished that was true. All she could keep hearing was her brother’s daily warning about how the Crofts weren’t to be dallied with. They were clients, and they were simply the hired help.
It hurt.
She didn't want to be the help.
Kat wanted to feel joy for once in her life. When she was around this man, she saw glimpses of it. The emotion was so foreign, that she wanted desperately to feel it.
“Want to come down so we can talk?” he asked, sitting on the bench.
She did.
Desperately.
When she flipped upside down, hanging beside him, he started laughing. “You’re an interesting woman, Katerina. I can safely say I’ve never met anyone quite like you.”
“Is that good or bad?” she asked, still hanging upside down. Her long black braid swung inches from his chest.
“Very good.”
“Curtis.”
“I don’t want you to leave,” he admitted.
She went silent.
It didn’t really matter what either of them wanted. It was going to be hashed out by Greyson and Dimitri.
“I just met you, and I want to get to know you, Kat. If you leave, it’ll hurt.”
“I don’t want to leave, but it’s not up to me. Greyson and Dimitri will make the decision.”
“You have a choice. You can stay.”
She laughed. “No, I don’t have a choice, and I can’t stay. If Dimitri and Natasha go, I have to leave. We’re not like you, Curtis. We’re not like anyone.”
He glanced over. They were eye to eye as she hung upside down.
“You're like you. That’s all that matters. For the last year, I tried to be someone I wasn’t, and it didn't work. I learned that I had to be true to myself.
You should be true to you, Katerina.”
She laughed. “You know nothing about me.”
“You’re wrong. I know everything, Anfisa.”
When he used her real name, her heart skipped. There was no way he could know about that. It wasn’t possible. Dimitri had made sure none of that remained.
He’d promised.
He’d sworn.
And yet, here it was, staring her in the face.
Literally.
Suddenly, she had the urge to bolt.
“How do you…?”
“Greyson and I did our research. We know everything about you and your family. We know about Maximillian and we know about Natasha, or Anzehlina.”
She flipped out of the flowers and moved away from him. Now that he knew the truth, the choice was easy to make.
They had to go.
Dimitri always told them that once they were discovered, they needed to move on. It was the only way to stay hidden. Besides, he knew everything about her horrible past. He wouldn’t want her like that.
She was defiled.
Broken.
Damaged.
It was her biggest nightmare, and it was coming true.
Kat’s heart pounded in her chest. The overwhelming need to bolt overcame her. As she tried to leave, Curtis grabbed her arm and stopped her.
“Kat.”
“Please let me go,” she whispered, tears filling her eyes. When he did as she asked, Katerina faced him.
“I still want to get to know you, Kat. Don’t run. Stay. None of that matters to me. I won’t use it to hurt you.”
It was true.
Curtis wanted to protect her more than anything. For the longest time, he’d been broken too. The only thing that healed him was love.
The first tear slipped free. “If you know about us, then he’s going to make us move on. Dimitri values our privacy above all else. I’m going to be gone by morning.”
He wanted to weep with her. He’d finally found a woman who wanted him, didn’t make him chase, and now she was getting ready to leave.
Of course she was.
This was his fate.
Gently, he wiped the tear from her face. Katerina touched his wrist, connecting them.
“Don’t go. Stay. I want to get to know you.”
She didn't move, but he did. Curtis moved closer to her body, and he could smell the roses on her clothes.
Justice is Dead (Croft & Croft Romance Adventure Book 7) Page 11