Lost Justice (Croft Family Mob Series Book 2) Read online

  Only, he couldn’t.

  So, he went with what he could say to her in a room full of their peers.

  “You’re not doing this alone. I don’t want you doing it at all, but if you have to, and I’m told you do, then you’re going to have help.”

  She got all warm and fuzzy inside.

  He was doing it for her.

  “You don’t have to do this, Christopher,” she offered. “This is nothing. I can be in and out in less than forty minutes. I’ve had harder assignments.”

  “I’ve always gone,” Kat stated.

  Her sister smiled at her. “I’ve got it, both of you. Really, you can stay home, Captain.”

  “No, he can’t.”

  Everyone looked at Dimitri.

  “Why not?” Curtis asked. “He’s a desk jockey. No offense, Chris, but you’re not exactly accustomed to being out in the field. It would be like sending me.”

  He got it.

  Chris didn’t take offense. Before he could offer reassurances, Dimitri beat him to it.

  “It’s simple. If he wants to have a relationship with my sister, he has to prove he’s willing to accept who she is—who we are. If Chris doesn’t go, there’s no date, and that’s final.”

  There was silence.

  Then, pandemonium.

  Chris vaulted the couch and took the man to the ground when no one expected it.

  For once, someone caught Dimitri Gideon off guard.

  Chapter Eight

  T he fight didn’t last long.

  Despite Dimitri being a little quicker on his feet, Chris had somehow how managed to catch the man off guard and get him beneath him.

  It surprised everyone.

  Catching Dimitri off balance wasn’t easy. Normally, he was always on duty, watching his surroundings, and measuring out the situation. This proved how comfortable he was in their home.

  He didn’t see it coming.

  Dimitri didn’t expect the bigger, bulkier man to take him to his knees.

  Once they started swinging, Greyson, Dante, and Curtis were out of their seats to try and pull them apart.

  It wasn’t easy.

  Really.

  It was like dragging two pit bulls off of a meaty bone.

  “She’s not your fucking property,” hissed Chris, as he fought to get away from Greyson. “You don’t get to tell her what she can and can’t do!”

  Dimitri wasn’t done. Since the man had swung first, he was going to set the record straight.

  “She’s my blood! She’s my sister! I raised her and I’ll tell her what to do! If you want to be near her, you’ll respect that! We’re a family!”

  Both men were incited back into the fray, swinging and trying to escape the men who held them back.

  Emma was at her breaking point.

  This was over.

  If she didn’t step in, who knew what was going to happen? Dimitri and Chris were ready to explode—not to mention the two women looked afraid. Natasha was being held by her sister as her eyes filled with tears.

  She didn’t want this.

  Emma stepped into the middle, between the men, and put her foot down.

  “STOP IT!”

  The men listened.

  Slowly, they began calming down.

  Emma knew that rational minds would prevail if she could get them to stop swinging like a bunch of…cavemen.

  “Dimitri, you can’t stop her from going on a date with Christopher. She’s a grown woman.”

  He didn’t look pleased.

  Emma knew he wasn’t the only one who needed to wake up to the reality of the situation.

  Chris did too.

  “Christopher, this is her job, and her life—whether you like it or not. This is who Natasha is. You have to respect it, and your boss.”

  He growled.

  “Both of you are fighting over a woman and for equally compelling reasons. Why don’t you both ask NATASHA what she wants? She’s allowed to choose.”

  The men stared at each other, but neither made the effort to take that step.

  Fine.

  She’d do it.

  “Nat, what do you want to do?” Emma asked. “Ignore them for a second, and tell me what you feel you need to do.”

  She didn’t look at either of the men. If she did, Natasha knew she’d cave. Instead, she did what Emma told her. She focused on the woman who led this family, and trusted her.

  “I want to do the job, Emma. I know I can handle it, and I know that I’m good at it.”

  Chris didn’t look pleased.

  “And?”

  “I want Captain Ford to join me. I trust him to watch my back.”

  Dimitri looked smug.

  Natasha continued, “But only because he wants to help me—not to take over, or to stop me from doing something he thinks is wrong.”

  She glanced over at him for the first time. Her eyes were filled with sadness that she had to say it.

  “This is my life. This is who I am, Christopher. If you can’t accept that, maybe Dimitri is right. You shouldn’t start something with me.”

  He looked like he’d been sucker punched in the gut. Was that the impression he’d given her?

  Well, it was damn wrong.

  “I’m going to get ready. I’m leaving in a few,” Natasha offered. “I have to be focused. I need to stop the nerves.”

  Natasha headed out of the room, and it was clear that this was far from over. The men left behind were staring at each other. Fortunately, the anger was gone.

  Dimitri understood the need to protect someone with everything he had in life.

  He’d done just that for Katerina and Natasha.

  Hopefully, he could get Chris to understand that.

  “I love her,” Dimitri stated. “I love her more than my own life, and I can’t, and won’t, hand her over to someone who can’t feel the same. I’m sorry, Captain Ford. It’s nothing personal. Until you stop seeing us as common criminals, as nothing more than the people you used to try and stop, we can’t live in the same world. We aren’t less than you because of what we do. We do this to survive and handle the cards dealt to us all those years ago.”

  Dimitri headed out.

  Chris was left to stand there.

  “I need to talk to Chris alone,” stated Greyson. “Can we have a few moments?”

  Emma hesitated.

  “You, too, honey. I need to discuss something privately with him.”

  The whole family cleared out of the room. They knew if he was asking for privacy, it had the potential to blow up.

  When the last member was gone, Greyson went to the wet bar and poured them both a bourbon.

  “I’m not sorry that I hit him.”

  “I see that. He’s likely not sorry he hit you either, Chris,” Croft offered.

  “She’s not his property, Grey.”

  “I know.”

  “It pisses me off to watch him boss her around and not think what could happen.”

  “Yes, it would piss me off, too, if I were in the same situation.”

  Chris knew what was coming.

  “But?”

  He handed Chris a drink and tossed his back. Chris did the same.

  “Dimitri is right. There’s a little part of you that doesn’t accept any of us for what we are now. I hate to admit this, but Dimitri has a point.”

  “What?”

  He actually looked horrified.

  “When we do something that you don’t deem legal, or moral, you laugh, get uncomfortable, or mention it.”

  “It’s who I was.”

  “WAS, Chris. I hate to point this out, but that man is dead. He died the day you handed in your badge.”

  Oh, Chris was aware.

  Was he still mourning him?

  He wasn’t sure.

  “You have two choices here, Chris, and you need to decide which path you want to take. I can get you a job as a cop somewhere else in this country. I can get the Blackhawks to step in, place you in
some sheriff’s office where Commissioner Raye won’t ever find you.”

  What the hell was this?

  Chris stared at him in confusion.

  “I can set you up, buy you a house, and give you a new life. That’s a very easy life to lead, and because we love you—we’d give it to you. You’ve earned it.”

  Chris hated this conversation.

  “So, you want me to leave?”

  Greyson poured and swirled the amber liquid in his glass. He assumed that was going to be Chris’s reaction. That was why he wanted to do this alone.

  At least the man wouldn’t feel like he was called out and in the spotlight.

  “No, we don’t want you to leave. That brings us to option two. I can also give you this life here. You can have the bottomless credit card, you can accept that we have to cross that line in order to help the Dalton Harding’s of the world, and you can be here with us.”

  Chris knew there was no gray area.

  He threw back his bourbon.

  The burn was ridiculous, but he wanted it. Chris wanted to feel it to remind himself he was alive.

  The unknown scared him, but he had to trust someone. The man before him had never let him down. From the salt and pepper hair, to the silver molten stare, he’d never lied.

  “Greyson.”

  “You have to choose. You can’t live between what is happening and what used to be. Times change. I don’t like that I have to break the law. It eats away at me, and I know it damages my wife. We were the law, Chris. We were the ones who rode in and saved the world—now we’re pariah, but we’ve accepted it.”

  “I care about her.”

  “I know you do, but Natasha didn’t grow up in a sweet family with a mom and a dad. She grew up with Dimitri trying to fend for them all. He’s not a bad man. He breaks the law, but he also saves people.”

  “Who has he saved? Certainly not his sisters,” he stated angrily.

  Greyson was going to cross a major line.

  “He owns a strip club. He traffics women.”

  “WHAT?”

  “OUT. He traffics women OUT of the business. He gets them to work for him, and he finds them a way to a new life. He’s doing it without anyone knowing. He’s not all bad. Beneath the suit, the scary attitude, and the scowl is a good man. You know me, Chris. Would I let someone bad near my wife?”

  He didn’t have to think about it.

  “No.”

  “If you can’t trust what you see, trust what you do know. Dimitri is laying the groundwork for his sister to be happy. You may not get it, but he sees what you aren’t. You can’t stick your nose in the air at the family and hide among us.”

  He got it.

  “You have to choose.”

  “If I choose option A, I’m gone forever, aren’t I?” he asked, thinking about it.

  “Yes.”

  “I’ll never see Emma?”

  “No. We’ll have to go on with our lives here, and to protect you, you’ll have to go on with yours.”

  Chris knew why Greyson was doing this. In his own way, he was making it easier. Chris didn’t have to carry the guilt. He could rest it on this man’s shoulders. After all, he made him choose. He made him decide by putting it out there.

  “Well?”

  “I choose B. I’ll stay. I won’t argue with Dimitri. Help me get into some gear. I’m going with her.”

  Greyson stopped him.

  “What?”

  “You realize that you’re not only Emma’s brother, right? You’re mine, too, Chris. You’re ours.”

  That made it easier.

  “I love you both. I don’t mean to look down at the work you’re doing now. I’m just trying to adjust. I’m struggling with it, Greyson.”

  Oh, he was well aware.

  They all were.

  “Help me suit up. I’ll get Natasha in and out, and I’ll get you the payback you deserve.”

  Greyson hugged him.

  Chris didn’t fight. In fact, he hugged him back.

  “Was it hard?” he asked quietly.

  “Letting the badge go?” Greyson asked, suspecting that was what Chris wanted to know.

  “Yes.”

  “In a way, it was hard, but my family made it easier. I love everyone enough to let that part of me go. I’ll have justice for Vegas, one case at a time.”

  “Then let’s find Dalton Harding and start saving Las Vegas.”

  Greyson knew tomorrow, they’d be doing just that. They were all ready to start the hunt. If he was dead, they’d find him.

  One way, or another.

  * * * G r e y s o n C r o f t * * *

  Friday Night

  Nine P.M

  When Natasha Gideon arrived outside, carrying her gear, he was waiting for her. Chris Ford was leaning against the side of one of the sleek rides Dimitri kept in the garage.

  It was untraceable, and it would turn up destroyed later in the week.

  “Captain.”

  “I’m joining you, Natasha.”

  “You don’t have to do this,” she offered. “I know you hate doing this kind of thing.”

  He moved toward her, and she took a step back. That upset him on some deep level.

  Greyson had been right.

  Dimitri had been trying to repair damage that was deeply ingrained in her. It was something that would take time, and he was willing to give her that.

  He’d help heal her.

  “Anzehlina.”

  The use of her real name stopped the retreat.

  She held her breath.

  “Let me help you,” Chris stated.

  Natasha’s heart thumped in her chest. No one called her that anymore. Yes, he’d used it once while passed out, she didn’t expect him to drop it now.

  “How do you know my real name?” she asked, still standing perfectly still.

  “I know everything.”

  She stared at him, refusing to let the pain resurface.

  “Then you know why I have to do this, Captain. If you know about my past, then you know why this is important to me as a person.”

  “I know, and I’m going to help you.”

  She was grateful for his help.

  Chris moved closer, taking a chance that she’d push him away. When she still didn’t move, he figured it was time to go for it.

  “We’ll do this together. I accept who you are, Natasha. I love the person you’ve become, and I’m sorry if I let you believe anything else. I want to keep you safe, not hide your past. I am grateful to have met you.”

  Tears filled her eyes.

  Those words meant so much to her. They helped heal her heart. She trusted him before that moment, but now she really believed he’d have her back.

  Like a partner.

  “Are you sure?” she asked.

  He touched her cheek with the pad of his thumb. “I’ve never been more sure in all of my life, sunshine.”

  She blinked at him.

  Before she could jump on him to give Chris one hell of a kiss, she heard her brother.

  “Natasha! Move it!” Dimitri said from the house. “You don’t have much time!”

  She shouted something back in Russian.

  “We should go.”

  He held out his hand, and she offered up her gear. Chris dropped it in the trunk, and he handed her the keys.

  “Let’s go.”

  Natasha took them and couldn’t help but shiver when his fingers touched her flesh. She wanted this man to love her in the worst way.

  Nat was crazy about him.

  It was hard not to be. Chris was dressed in black cargo pants, a long sleeve black shirt, and there was the telltale bump of his body armor. When he’d turned around, she noticed the black holster tucked into the back of his pants.

  She felt safe.

  Being near him gave her that sense of calm.

  Inside the vehicle, it was hard for Natasha not to notice how amazing he smelled.

  God!

  She wanted t
o climb all over him.

  Chris’s aftershave reminded her of some warm and spicy night. She wanted to roll around with him.

  Heading down the driveway, she headed toward the gates. When she hit the button, they began opening.

  “Hold on, Captain. We’re going to have some fun.”

  He did just that.

  “Christ! Woman! You’re going to kill…”

  He didn’t get to say anything else. Natasha, the queen of disguise, showed him what else she could do. She drove it like she stole it, leaving everyone behind in the dust.

  Chris was impressed.

  And scared shitless all at the same time.

  When she took a side road, turning off her lights, he didn’t know how the hell she was even seeing the ground.

  “We’re going to die.”

  Natasha’s laughter filled the inside of the car. “We can’t die. I have a date with a sexy man tomorrow.”

  That had his attention.

  “Sexy?” he asked.

  “Very.”

  He could feel the flush creeping up his neck. He hadn’t felt this in a long time. It was so foreign that he wasn’t sure what to say or do.

  Natasha could sense his discomfort. “If I freak you out, you can cancel. I get it.”

  “NO!”

  She glanced over.

  “EYES ON THE ROAD!”

  It made her laugh.

  “I’m not canceling. I told you I accept your past, but I’d like to live to see tomorrow, so maybe you should focus on driving in the dark.”

  Natasha almost told him that now she was thinking about their date, and not the road, but why freak him out even more? Chris was already white knuckling the dashboard.

  It was funny.

  “It’s one mile ahead.”

  He stared into the darkness. “How the hell do you know that?” he asked.

  “I studied the notes Katerina had in the file. She wasn’t the only one who has done work for Tony Mays. I’ve done a few jobs before Dimitri cut our ties with him.”

  Chris wasn’t so sure he should be hearing any of this.

  The less he knew…

  “Tony Mays is a douchebag. He treats women like they’re nothing. In fact, he had my sister at gunpoint.”

  “What?”

  “He double crossed Dimitri. He grabbed Kat because Dimitri told him he was done working for him. Tony wanted that painting.”