Page 17 of Deadly Protector
CHAPTERSIX
“Thank you for seeing me.” Dimitri sat in Viktor’s home office, glancing around subtly, immediately noticing the changes from the last time he’d been here. Which had been…probably years ago. A lot had changed in that time. Viktor was now married with two kids—the second just born a couple months ago. There were pictures of his family and a couple drawings, definitely from his oldest, Lillian. Dimitri never thought he’d see the day when Viktor was so settled. Happy.
“Of course. I found out a lot in the last few hours. So did Lyosha.” Lyosha worked for Viktor, had for years, first as his driver, then his head of security.
“I texted Lyosha a bit last night.”
“I know.”
Ah, of course he did. At one time Viktor had lived on the wrong side of the law. But now he was legitimate, had multiple hotels and businesses. And as far as Dimitri knew, everything he did now was legal. “How bad is this thing?”
“Not too bad. Not yet anyway. From what Lyosha dug up—and from what I confirmed independently—Kurt Ryba isn’t close to his aunt. When he got tossed in jail, she let him rot. I believe she put out the word that he wasn’t to be touched, but there’s no love there. She thinks he’s a fuckup and she’s likely not wrong. He’s her dead sister’s kid and she had a lot of love for her younger sister—which is likely why Ryba is alive at all.”
“Yeah, that’s what I gathered too.” Ryba had ripped off expensive cars, but the reason he’d been caught was because of greed and plain stupidity. And then he’d been dumb enough to get into a fight at a bar with some senator’s son when he’d been out on parole. He’d been put away for a while because of that. Not long enough, however. “I can’t believe he’s out of jail.”
“No shit.”
“So he’s not involved with Gorcyca, then?”
“No. I have heard, from a reliable source, that he’s got some score lined up. A big one. He’s trying to keep it under wraps but if I’ve heard about it…his aunt may have as well.”
“Ripping someone off?”
“Likely, yes. No details on who or what, however. Just that he ran his mouth a bit, but wouldn’t give up details.”
Dimitri frowned. “What the hell could that have to do with Zamira? She hasn’t seen him since her husband died and she says she barely knew him.”
“You believe her?”
“A hundred percent. She’s scared and confused right now.”
“Her husband was a piece of shit.”
“Yeah, that’s what she said. Not in those words exactly, just that he wasn’t who she thought he was when they got married.”
Viktor lifted a shoulder. “We were all young and dumb at one time.”
Yeah and he was glad to be past that stage. “I’ve got Ryba’s contact info. I’m planning to call him.” He wasn’t asking Viktor for permission, wasn’t asking anyone. But he’d worked for Viktor at one time and he respected the man’s opinions.
“It’s the smart move. It’s what I’d do. Reach out, see what he wants with her and make it clear that she’s under your protection.”
Oh, he definitely would. And the selfish part of him loved having Zamira under his protection—and roof. “I’ll need a neutral place to meet him, but somewhere that—”
“Meet him at one of my hotels.”
“He’ll likely know we’re friends.”
“Maybe, maybe not. He’s younger than us by about a decade. And he never ran in our circles.” There was a smugness to Viktor’s tone that made Dimitri smile.
“True enough.” Back when Dimitri had been working his own jobs, he’d never been into the smash-and-grab violence like Ryba. He’d taken the time to pick high-end jobs that had big payoffs. And he’d picked his targets carefully—rich assholes who’d been able to afford the losses.
“Just be careful and stay off Gorcyca’s radar. She’s a nasty piece of work.”
“I’m not worried about myself.”
Viktor watched him for a long moment. “What’s going on with you and the Nowak sister?”
“The Nowak sister has a name—Zamira.”
