Page 23 of Dina's Favorite Mistake

“I killed a man, ma’am,” Steve answered matter-of-factly.

Dina gawked at him, shocked by his candidness and lack of self-preservation. “Really?” she hissed in frustration. “Don’t all you American cops memorize that thing about having the right to remain silent?”

Steve shot her the most infuriating lopsided smile and shrugged.

“In my defense,” Beto quickly clarified for their mother. “He killed a man to defend our lives. They tried to run us off the road and shot at us. Steve shot back and hit the driver.”

“So, it was self-defense,” Soila stated.

“Yes,” Beto confirmed.

“Well,” Soila calmly walked to Steve, “I think Captain Morgan deserves our thanks for saving my son’s life.” She pointedly eyed the handcuffs. “I don’t think we should reward him with handcuffs.”

“Doña,” the detective said nervously. “The law—.”

“Can wait until morning,” their mother interrupted smoothly. “My son and the captain have been through a terrible ordeal. They need to rest. We can sort all of this out in the morning. With our lawyers,” she added deliberately.

The detective unhappily complied with Soila’s silent threat and fished the handcuff keys from his pocket. He unlocked them and took them away from Steve’s wrists. Dina noticed how redthey were and wondered why the detective would have made them so tight.

Immediately suspicious of the detective, she wanted him out of the house as quickly as possible. Knowing what she did of Diego, he probably still had his claws into law enforcement. There was nowhere he couldn’t reach.

“I’ll walk the detective and officers out.” Dina took charge of getting rid of the detective and officers, forcefully walking them to the door. She was shocked by the sight of a dozen police cars parked in front of the mansion. Officers milled around, and she sensed the tension between them and the household security.

“Detective...?”

“Chief Inspector Olmos,” the man supplied his name.

“Chief Inspector Olmos,” she repeated with as much respect as she could muster. “I appreciate that you have a job to do, and I want you to know that our family will cooperate fully.”

“But?”

“This display of force was completely unnecessary. We’ve always cooperated with law enforcement—.”

“Except for the night your husband was captured,” Chief Inspector Olmos interrupted rudely.

Dina gritted her teeth at that awful memory. “My ex-husband is currently a fugitive. Perhaps instead of harassing my family with dozens of police officers, you should use these men to find Diego before he kills someone else.”

Furious, she spun on her heel and stormed back to the house. She whirled back to warn, “Don’t come back here again without speaking to our legal team first.”

Jose, the head of her security team, stepped from the shadows to flank her. He escorted her back into the house and secured the door. “I have more guards coming. We’ll lock down the house and the property.”

“Do whatever needs to be done. Don’t worry about the cost.”

“Sí, señora.” Jose looked like he wanted to say something else.

“What?”

“I don’t think Steve should go back into the city.”

She nodded at his suggestion and went to join her family. Her mind reeled as she thought of all the ways Steve could find himself in serious trouble. This wasn’t the US, and this wasn’t Texas. He wasn’t here officially, and she’d all but dragged him right into danger.

“You’ll stay with us,” Soila announced in her voice that brooked no refusal. “You saved my son’s life. You rescued my granddaughter. You’re in trouble because you protected us. You’ll stay here, and that’s that.”

Dina hung back, waiting to see how Steve would react. He seemed as unable to deny her mother a command as the police officers who had just left. Steve nodded and thanked her for the hospitality.

Soila waved her hand. “We’ll talk in the morning.” She glanced back at Dina and gestured toward Steve. “Get him set up in one of the guest rooms.”

“Yes, Mama.”

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