Page 69 of Deadly Protector
CHAPTERTWENTY-SEVEN
Two months later
Zamira stepped into the living room, surprised to find all the men from the party—and Lizzy—staring at the big-screen TV on Lyosha and Mila’s wall.
Dimitri turned to glance at her, smiled sheepishly. “Sorry,” he murmured, handing her the drink he’d promised to get her. “Got distracted.”
She slid up to him, wrapped her arm around his middle and nodded at the screen. “What’s going on?” They were at Lyosha and Mila’s for a big summer party and all her family was there, a bunch of people from Mila’s work, people Lyosha knew, and tons of kids. It was a madhouse out by the pool. Thankfully they had the space.
“Irene Gorcyca has been arrested.”
“Took them long enough,” Lizzy grumbled without turning around. The lean mom of three—and apparently a very skilled hacker—had her arms crossed over her chest, her body language clearly annoyed even from behind. “They should have had her in jail a month ago.”
“They had to build a case,” Porter murmured in a way that said they’d had this conversation before.
“They’re bringing up the death of Ryba,” Dimitri murmured, pulling Zamira back from the group, who had started collectively talking about the “slow-ass” legal system.
She winced, hating that she’d had a few seconds of “fame” months ago. The news had covered his death for a few days, but thankfully the coverage had been short and local. There was always so much crazy going on in Florida that it hadn’t been much of a blip on anyone’s radar. But it had been enough that she hated being on the news at all. She liked her privacy. At least it hadn’t affected her kids.
She’d told them about it when they’d returned because she hadn’t wanted to risk them hearing the news from someone else. They’d had questions and she’d answered as well as she could. To her surprise, they’d barely cared at all. They’d been way more interested in Dimitri, peppering her with all sorts of questions about him. So far, they really, really seemed to like him. She hadn’t gotten the pushback she’d been bracing for.
“What are they saying about him?”
“Just mentioning that he was killed, was her nephew, and making a few random speculations. Wondering if she ordered him to break into your house.”
“Oh my God,” she muttered as they stepped into the kitchen. She sat at the island, took a sip of her water as Juan and Angel piled food onto their plates.
“What’s going on?” Angel asked, adding another cupcake.
“Nothing, but I’m glad to see you got your appetite back.”
Angel had been sick for months, barely able to keep anything down. She’d actually lost weight and now she was clearly making up for it.
“Me too. I feel like I could eat everything.”
“You eat whatever you want, mi amore.” Juan kissed her cheek before he snagged a cube of cheese from her plate.
“Then stop stealing my food,” she grumbled as they headed back out to the pool.
Zamira snickered. “They’re ridiculous.”
“No kidding.” Dimitri sat next to her, casually tossed his arm around the back of her chair. “It sounds like Gorcyca is going to have her hands full for years.”
“You think they’ll make the charges stick?”
“Oh yeah. Lizzy’s annoyed it took so long, but they had to build a strong case. Lyosha told me that some of the charges won’t last, but all the money laundering and drugs… She’ll be going to jail for a very long time. She’ll probably die in jail, considering her age.”
“Wow.”
Dimitri lifted a shoulder. “She’s hurt a lot of people over the years.”
Zamira nodded because it was true. A lot of Irene’s crimes had come to light over the last month. Though they’d never been able to find out more about that bank account Ryba had wanted access to. Or Lucas’s link to it. It was one of those things she’d had to put out of her mind because she didn’t think she’d ever know if it still existed, or how much was in it if it did. Before she could respond, Andres hurried in, dripping water. “You’re supposed to dry off, my love. Someone could slip and get hurt. And I’m sure Tia Mila doesn’t appreciate you getting water everywhere.”
“I’m sorry, Mama.” But he didn’t look sorry at all. “But I need to talk to Dimitri, man to man.”
“Ah.” Dimitri gave her a quick kiss, then slid off the stool, headed back outside with Andres.
Zamira was getting used to Andres going to Dimitri for things—girl-related things.
