Page 9 of Deadly Protector
He tensed. “What’s wrong?”
“The man I told you about, from the beach. He’s here. By the bar.”
Oh hell no.This guy was not messing with her. “Don’t look at him, okay?” He cupped her cheek, so she’d look only at him. “What’s he wearing?”
“Ah…” She blinked once. “Black button-down was all I could see. He’s a white guy, ah, he’s tall, has a buzz cut, and he’s standing next to a woman in a cobalt blue dress. They’re not together, or I don’t think they are. He’s turned away from the bar, his back against it, and he was staring at me as we entered the bar.”
Dimitri nodded and slipped his phone out covertly. “I’m going to get a picture of him, okay?”
She looked confused, but nodded.
“Lean in and smile,” he murmured, holding the phone up in front of them. He’d never taken a selfie before. As soon as he’d snapped a picture of the two of them, he quickly switched his phone onto video mode, then turned with his phone, casually scanning the bar before he tucked it away.
Got you, he thought.
“Why did we do that?”
He slid his arm around her shoulders again. “One, because I wanted a picture of you, and two, I didn’t think you’d give me his name. Now I’m going to find out exactly who he is no matter what.”
She stared up at him looking a bit shocked as they headed out of the restaurant. “You really are sneaky.”
He shrugged, not apologetic at all. “It’s not a coincidence that he’s here. And since he is, he followed us somehow. It’s possible he followed us from your house, but I didn’t see anyone tailing us.”
“Were you watching?”
He paused, thought about it as they stepped outside into the cool night air. Normally he paid attention to everything. “I was distracted tonight,” he finally murmured. And he hadn’t known there was any cause for concern. So it was very possible someone had followed them, especially given Miami traffic.
“His name’s Kurt Ryba,” she finally said as they headed across the street.
Dimitri occasionally used valet, but as a former thief, he didn’t like giving his keys or property into the care of anyone he didn’t know. He frowned at the name. It was…familiar, but he couldn’t place why. As they reached the other side of the street he glanced behind them, and Ryba was standing by the valet watching them.
Dimitri’s hackles rose but he fought off that primitive instinct to approach the man now. That would be stupid and he was a patient man. “Don’t turn around, but he’s watching us.”
Zamira shivered, but didn’t turn. “I’m sorry about all this.”
Frowning, he glanced down at her as they entered the four-story parking garage. “Why are you sorry?”
“This whole deal, whatever it is.” Her expression was pinched and he wasn’t having it.
“None of this is your fault.” Luckily he’d gotten a spot on the first level, so as soon as he’d opened the passenger door for her then gotten in himself, he sent off the video to Lyosha along with the man’s name. Later, Dimitri would look into Ryba himself, but he wanted Lyosha to jump on it if possible. He wanted to keep Zamira safe, to protect her—to resolve whatever this was for her.
As he started the engine, a text pinged from Lyosha.
Why the hell are you out with my sister-in-law?
Dimitri’s eyebrows raised at the protective tone. But maybe he shouldn’t be surprised. Lyosha was fiercely protective of his wife and he’d basically adopted all of Mila’s family—or more like he’d been adopted by them. And it was clear his longtime friend, who’d never had a family until now, would do anything for them.
Just look into it. The guy followed us to a restaurant and has been hassling her. I need to know the danger level.
“Do you mind if I take this?” Zamira asked as her phone started ringing. “It’s my kids. They want to do a video chat.”
“Of course, go ahead.” He’d wanted to dig more, to get more details about this Ryba asshole, but it could wait.
“Mija, mijo!” Her whole expression brightened as she held the phone up to look at her kids.
“Mama!”
Both kids started talking, one over the other, telling her about their day, their travels, how long it had taken to drive up to Kelowna, how they would be riding horses as soon as they woke up.
