Free Dark Justice (Croft Family Mob Series Book 1) by Morgan Kelley

he was staring at the text message, wondering if he should reply.
    He wanted to in the worst way.
    God!
    He wanted to tell Emma how sorry he was for not seeing her every day. When he’d been recovering, he did it at Terrace Glen in a private room, with a nurse, anything he needed, and even private physical therapy.
    He forgot that he’d been wrapped in luxury, until he headed home. Oh, his place was plush. His couch was half his salary for a year. It was just that at Terrace Glen, there was a maid, a chef, and the woman he loved.
    Emma Croft, despite his best attempts to stop it, had broken through and stole his heart.
    Yes, he loved her.
    It wasn’t in a sexual way, but in a brother and sister kind of way. To him, she was his. There was no differentiating between them. As far as Chris was concerned, Emma was his sister.
    And now he was going to avoid her at all costs until he could figure out a way to work around this issue.
    It wasn’t going to be easy, and he knew it.
    Heading down the hallway, he was digging for his keys when a woman bumped into him.
    “Pardon me,” he said, as she went past him.
    Chris kept digging for his keys.
    That’s when he felt something in his other pocket.
    A slip of paper that he knew wasn’t there before. Chris didn’t put anything but his keys in his dress blues. They were sacred to him, and not a waste receptacle.
    Pulling it out, Chris opened it up. As he read it, his heart skipped in his chest.
     
     
               ‘I miss seeing you, Captain.
                                                Nat.’
     
     
    Shit!
    He missed her.
    Come to think of it, the air around him smelled like her perfume too. Chris could smell lilacs. She’d been right there, and he’d never even noticed.
    As he turned around, it was like a garden in the hallway. It made him want to race after her.
    Screw it.
    Chris had no shame.
    He hustled down the hall after the blonde who had brushed past him. He needed to see her.
    God!
    Chris craved that one moment with her. It had been two weeks since she’d ‘disappeared’ from his sight.
    Racing toward the elevator, she wasn’t there.
    Then he headed into the stairwell.
    Again, she wasn’t there.
    Shit!
    Where the hell was she?
    “I miss you too, Natasha. I wish you’d stop playing hide and seek with me,” he said to no one but himself.
    Chris sighed.
    He was going to head into his condominium, drink a couple of beers, take a shower, and try to forget what the hell was going on in his life.
    He knew something bad was coming.
    It was only a matter of time.
     
     
    As soon as he was safely inside his condominium, Natasha stepped out of the shadows. She sighed.
    “I miss you too, Captain. A lot.”
    Then she was gone.
     
    There was work to do. For now, he was safe, and that, to Natasha, was all that mattered.
     
     
     
     
     
                               * * *   G r e y s o n   C r o f t   * * *
     
     
     
    Terrace Glen
     
     
     
    When they got back, Dimitri immediately went on patrol. One would think the man and sleep were not friends. He was like a ghost creeping through the night.
    Kat went right to her room, Emma taking her upstairs to tuck her in for the night.
    It made Greyson smile, because they’d picked up another ‘kid’ along the way.
    In the kitchen, he found Curtis there, and he didn’t look happy at all.
    “Why are you scowling?” he asked.
    Curtis looked up and pulled out his ear buds.
    “What?”
    “I asked why you have the pissy face on. You live in a mansion, you have a trust fund, and a relatively easy job.”
    Yeah, he did.
    “I also have woman problems.”
    Oh, here they went again. If he had a dollar for every time Curtis had woman issues, he’d be rich.
    Well, richer.
    “What happened?”
    He told him about the heated argument that he and Kat had earlier.
    “Okay, so just tell Dimitri. Then you have nothing standing in your way.”
    “Is it