Justice is Dead (Croft & Croft Romance Adventure Book 7)
Page 49
And painfully.
* * * Croft & Croft * * *
Las Vegas
Terrace Glen
Their lives had changed.
Dante wasn’t sure he was ever going to be happy again. The second Steele had been released from the hospital, the wall began growing between them.
Steele was still working through what had happened to him. In a way, he was still trying to come to grips with everything.
His hands had been damaged, but they were healing.
His body had been broken, but he was on the mend.
It was his soul…that was the worst.
The sodomy had damaged a part of Steele that Dante couldn’t reach. They’d violated him as a message to both Croft Brothers.
Dante wished it had been him.
Seeing Steele, who was normally calm, gentle, and sweet, trapped in this mire of misery was almost too much to take.
“Want some tea?” Dante asked, as they sat on the couch together.
Steele stared straight ahead.
His one eye was patched to block out the light. His eye had been damaged, and he now only had vision in one.
“No.”
“How about something to eat?”
He shook his head.
“Well, if you change your mind, tell me what I can do for you.”
“You can call off the wedding.”
Dante’s heart was pierced by Steele’s words. They hurt like nothing else ever had in his life.
“I don’t want to cancel our wedding, Steele. Can’t we just postpone it until you’re better?”
He got up from the couch. “I’m never going to be better, Dante. My life is over.”
He headed for the door, using the crutches he needed to support his weight.
“Where are you going?” Dante said.
“Home.”
“I’ll take you there. We can watch a movie and relax.”
Steele stopped. “No, Dante. You don’t understand. I’m going home, alone. We’re over.”
Dante’s heart broke.
Again.
This wasn’t the first, or the tenth time Steele had told him that over the last three weeks. The second he woke from surgery, he wanted to set Dante free.
Only, he didn’t want anyone else.
“Don’t do this, Steele.”
He kept hobbling from the room.
“I love you, Steele! Do you hear me? I love you! I won’t give up on you.”
Steele wanted to weep. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I love you too.”
Then he hopped into the parked town car and was driven away. He needed to put space between him, Dante, and the Crofts.
Not because he hated them.
The opposite was true. He loved them too much to saddle them with his pain.
He was making a choice.
He was cutting Dante free. He deserved something so much more.
Dante deserved what Steele couldn’t give him.
Happiness.
Love.
Peace.
It was too late for him. Dominic Marianna made sure of that. Now he was going home to live out his days alone.
Without love.
Without Dante Croft.
* * * Croft & Croft * * *
Midnight
Two Days Later
Las Vegas
He thought he heard something in his kitchen.
As Mace Bristol was having some beers and watching the overtime in the game, he could have sworn he heard a sound.
Getting up, he headed toward his kitchen. On his way there, he grabbed his Glock from the coffee table.
If there was an intruder, they had shitty luck.
Who broke into a cop’s house?
Only a moron, that’s who.
As he peeked around the corner, no one was there. He laughed at himself for being worked up about nothing. It was likely the wind and he was paranoid.
Why?
He had no idea. It was a gut feeling.
As he headed back into the living room, he parked his ass back in his recliner, and dropped his gun. Reaching for his beer, he happened to catch a glimpse of a shadow in the television screen.
Before he could reach his gun, the knife was drawn across his throat, severing his jugular.
Mace Bristol gurgled as the blood and life left him. The spray of blood coated the television, the gun, and the floor in front of him.
When he was empty of his blood, the man moved to face him.
“You shouldn’t have betrayed the family, Mace. This could have ended badly for them. Instead, it ends badly for you.”
Mace stared at him, his mouth moving like a fish out of water, trying to get air.
“You’re dead.”
And he was.
With that, Dimitri wiped off his blade and headed back to the man’s kitchen to sneak out the way he came in. Now all the loose ends were tied up, and he and Greyson Croft could begin their partnership.
Together.
Dear reader,
I hope you’ve enjoyed the Croft & Croft series. I know there are some loose ends, but fear not! There is a spin off series coming.
Now that Greyson Croft has turned in his badge and walked away from law and order, there’s going to be a new force to reckon with in Vegas. Normally, the mob has Vegas by the balls, but now the Crofts are going to show them how it’s done.
They have money.
They have power.
They have prestige.
And they’re out to make a difference. Move over Vegas mob, they have no clue as to what’s coming. You don’t have to always wear a badge to do good, and they’re going to prove it. With the help of their extended ‘family’, some old friends, and a whole lot of new characters, they’re going to put the law in lawless.
In the Justice series, you’re going to really see the seedy underbelly of Vegas, find new bad guys, and watch the rest of the family fall in love and find their other halves.
I hope you stick around.
There is so much more to come. Greyson and Emma Croft aren’t done. They’re just going to do it their way—old school—and making their own rules up as they go.
It’s going to be fun.
Stick around.
It’s time to get your caveman on!
Much love, mayhem, and murder,
Morgan.
Coming Fall 2016
Coming Next:
Haven of Nightmares
Littlemoon Inc.
Other books by Morgan Kelley:
Standalone books
The Junction
Serial Sins
The Blood Betrayal
Romance/FBI Thriller Series
Elizabeth, Ethan, and Callen
The Killing Times (book 1)
Sacred Burial Grounds (book 2)
True Love Lost (book 3)
Deep Dark Mire (book 4)
Fire Burns Hot (book 5)
Darkness of Truth (book 6)
Devil Hath Come (book 7)
Consumed by Wrath (book 8)
Redemption is Here (book 9)
Dead Shall Speak (book 10)
Pledging to Die (book 11)
Sleigh Bells Ring (book 12)
Past will Haunt (book 13)
Choices will Destroy (book 14)
Blood shall Run (book 15) July 2016
Croft & Croft Romance Adventure Series
Greyson and Emma Croft
Celestia is Falling (book 1)
Vegas is Dying (book 2)
Christmas is Killing (book 3)
Love is Bleeding (book 4)
Heaven is Weeping (book 5)
Hell is Burning (book 6)
Justice is Dead (book 7)
Justice Series
Greyson, Emma Croft and The Gideons
Dark Justice (book 1) October 2016
The Littlemoon Investigations Series
Julian and Tori Littlemoon
Blood Red Rage (book 1)
Lost & Broken (book 2)
Unthinkable Games (book 3)
Truth is Found (book 4) November 2015
Haven of Nightmares (book 5) April 2016
The Carter Chronicles Trilogy
Callista, Nathaniel, and Lucas
Sinner Repent (book 1)
Sinner Realized (book 2)
Sinner Reborn (book 3)
The Oracle Chronicles Series
Nathaniel Carter and Avalon Miller
Oracle Rising (book 1) January 2016
Oracle Seeing (book 2) September 2017
The Coven Chronicles
Dark Elements (book 1) January 2017
Harcourte Vampyre Society
Jolie, Jacques and Flynn
Dangerous Revelations (book 1)
Dangerous Choices (book 2)
Dangerous Misery (book 3)
Dangerous Retaliation (book 4)
Dangerous Influence (book 5) Nov 2016
Dangerous Sacrifice (book 6) Dec 2016
Anthologies
All the couples in one book
Illegal Fantasies- Behind Closed Doors (1)
Romance Under Arrest-Behind Closed Doors (2)
Holiday Reinforcements-Behind Closed Doors (3)
Please feel free to visit her at her website
www.morgankelley.com, or visit her blog at
www.morgankelley.blogspot.com
* * * Croft & Croft * * *