Page 61 of Deadly Protector
CHAPTERTWENTY-THREE
“Idon’t know if I’m scared or impressed.” Porter leaned against the window in the high-rise condo he and Lizzy kept downtown as he looked out at the bright day. Their actual home was in a quiet suburb with their three kids, but this place was close to work. And if they decided to go to an event downtown or near the beach, often the whole family crashed here instead of driving home if it was late.
“By what?”
“You.”
She snorted softly and the little clicking from her keyboard was the only sound for a long moment. “I’m pretty sure you’re both scared and impressed by me.”
“I did marry a terrifying woman.” Sometimes it was still hard to wrap his mind around that he’d found her, that she’d agreed to marry him. Lizzy was in a class all her own and he was so damn grateful for the life they’d created, the kids they had. When he’d learned that Ryba had pulled a gun on Angel—with Lizzy in the same building—he’d lost years of his life. She was the heart of their family and he couldn’t imagine a life without her.
“True fact.” She let out a victorious sound he recognized well. His wife was on the hunt and she was about to destroy her prey.
“Should I ask?”
She stretched out on the couch, pushed her laptop to the side and crossed one black-and-white sneaker over the other. Her shoes were covered in manga characters—a Mother’s Day gift from their oldest son who was currently into it.
Porter had learned the most random things over the last decade, from Minecraft to manga, thanks to his kids.
“She’s going down.” And Lizzy was clearly satisfied with whatever she’d just done or found online.
The “she” referred to Irene Gorcyca. Porter had wanted to go after her and her organization directly, but thankfully his wife’s level head had prevailed. As usual. “How?”
“It’s shockingly simple. I hacked into CCTV cameras and followed that van from last night. I think I found one of Irene’s stash houses. If so…the Feds might be able to RICO her. Just depends on if they can make a racketeering charge stick. Either way, she’s going to have to answer for a lot of crimes.”
Gorcyca was so dirty, Porter was hopeful it would. “And it’ll never fall back on any of us.”
“Nope.” Lizzy jumped up and smoothed down her word nerd T-shirt. “No one will even know the information came from me. It won’t ever be in any random FBI files. The Feds will think they got the info from another law enforcement agency. And that agency won’t have any record of sending it. Magic, baby.”
He blinked once and shoved off the window as he stalked to his wife. “Do I even want to know how you did that?” It was ridiculously hot when she went all rogue hacker. He didn’t understand half of the stuff she did, but he sure as hell appreciated it.
“Pretty sure you know the answer to that,” she murmured, her gaze falling to his mouth as he reached her.
He grasped onto her hips, tugged her close—just as the doorbell rang.
She laughed lightly as he scowled, and stepped back. “Be nice,” she whispered, even though the people ringing the bell couldn’t possibly hear.
“I will.” He would be nice, for now.
A moment later he heard the door open, then his wife let out a squeal. Then a male voice, followed by a soft female voice.
Porter had to force himself to smile as Lizzy entered with her brother Benny and his fiancée, Chrissy. He wasn’t one to hold a grudge, but Benny had put Lizzy’s life in danger, more than once. Sure, he’d been an addict—drinking, gambling, drugs, you name it—but it didn’t excuse any of it. Not to Porter.
“Porter.” Benny stepped forward, looking far different than the last time he’d seen him all those years ago. He’d filled out, had a healthy bronze glow, his hair was a little longer, around his shoulders now. He looked…healthy, happy.
“Benny, good to see you.” Not really, but he would pretend to make Lizzy happy.
Benny grinned. “I almost believe you,” he said with a laugh, holding out a hand.
Porter took it with a snort.
Lizzy smacked his shoulder. “Porter is happy to see you. And we’re both happy to meet Chrissy.” She turned to her sister-in-law to-be, her smile wide. His wife was practically bursting with joy right now.
The redhead was petite with big eyes, but her smile matched Lizzy’s.
And when Benny looked back at his soon-to-be wife, pulled her close to him, it was clear to see that he loved her. This was not the same addict who’d gone into WITSEC years ago. No, this was a man who’d done the work and been allowed to start over, to make better choices.
People deserve second chances, Dad!He could hear his son Maddox’s voice in his head. “It’s definitely a pleasure to meet you,” he said, holding his hand out to the woman. “And I know you guys have a rental, but we’ve got the space if you want to stay with us.”
