Defending Raven (Mountain Mercenaries #7)(13)

Mags immediately stood up and backed away. Her heart was beating a million times a minute, and she couldn’t get enough air in her lungs. She would’ve fled out the back of the hut through the small concealed door they’d made just for situations like this, when an exit out the front wasn’t possible, but Maria and Bonita were standing in front of it.

Zara slid the piece of metal back, and Mags recognized the man who they’d smuggled out of the barrio a few months ago. He was tall, but not as tall as her Dave.

No. No, no, no, no!

Mags couldn’t deal with memories of Dave popping up every other second. She’d barely survived losing him the first time. She wouldn’t be able to do it a second.

But then the decision was taken out of her hands.

Crowding in behind Zara’s man were three others. But Mags only had eyes for one.

Whereas before, she was breathing too fast, now she couldn’t draw in even the slightest bit of oxygen.

How many nights had she lain on the floor, beaten and bleeding, praying to see Dave again? How many times had she vowed to do whatever it took to survive until her husband could find her? How many times had she wished she was dead rather than have to give to other men what she’d vowed would only belong to her husband?

Too many times to count.

She’d stopped wishing and hoping for anything when it came to her own safety about five years ago.

But now, here he was. The man she’d loved with all her heart. The man she still loved, but couldn’t have. He shouldn’t be here. He should’ve moved on by now. Found another woman to comfort him and love him.

“Raven,” Dave said in a broken whisper. Then he took a step toward her.

Panicked, Mags frantically scrambled backward and ran into Gabriella and Teresa, who were standing directly behind her. They caught her before she could fall to the ground.

The look on Dave’s face as she backed away almost destroyed her.

He was devastated.

He fell slowly to his knees and bowed his head as if it were too heavy for his neck to hold it up. When he looked up again, she saw so many emotions in his eyes. Frustration, fear, determination, love.

It was the last that almost did her in.

Zara’s man gave his fiancée a sheepish look. “Clearly, we were followed. I tried to keep him back, to give you more time to talk to her,” he said, “but the second he saw her walking by, I couldn’t stop him. I stalled him as much as possible.”

Mags couldn’t look away from her husband. Her eyes drank him in. He looked good. Really good. But he was changed. Harder. She knew without a doubt that she’d done that. Not on purpose, but her disappearance had taken its toll on them both.

His biceps were just as big as she remembered. How she’d loved to snuggle up against him and rest her head on those arms. He could lift her up without seeming to struggle in the least. His hair had gray streaks that weren’t there the last time she’d seen him, and fine lines surrounded his eyes and mouth. His beard also had gray streaks, and it just made him all the more sexy to her.

But it was the large scar that snaked down his neck and into the neckline of his shirt that had her staring at him with concern. What had happened? The scar was nasty, and it looked as if it had probably come very close to killing him. How had he gotten it? Had anyone sat in the hospital with him as he’d recovered?

Everyone in the room faded away as Mags stared at the man she never thought she’d see again. She was very aware of how horrible she probably looked. She hadn’t washed her hair in who knew how long. She had dirt caked under her fingernails, and she knew she smelled, both from sweat after her long walk today and from never having clean water to bathe in. She was so far removed from the carefree woman she’d been the last time she’d seen Dave, it wasn’t funny.

But he wasn’t looking at her in disgust. More like awe.

Swallowing hard, Mags tore her gaze from Dave’s. There were three other men standing in the hut, making the already small space extremely cramped. There were four bags sitting near the doorway that had obviously been brought by Zara’s friends.

“I’d like you to meet some friends of mine,” Zara said in Spanish. “This is Meat, my boyfriend. He’s the one we dragged out of the alley, who I brought to Daniela for treatment. We . . . um . . . we’re living together, and I love him. These are his friends, Arrow and Gray. And that’s . . . Dave. They’re here to help me with the legwork on the clinic.”

Mags was glad Zara didn’t say anything else about who Dave was. She wasn’t ready.

Would never be ready.

Their friends weren’t dumb, however. By her reaction to the man, it was obvious he wasn’t just another friend of Zara’s.

The women all said hello, and the man who Zara called Gray turned, picked up the bags, and held them out.

“I told you that I gave them a list of things I thought you could use,” Zara said. “We’ll have to bury everything, or take things to Daniela’s for safekeeping so Ruben and the others don’t steal them.”

Teresa reached out and took a bag, and Gabriella and Bonita followed suit. They looked inside, and their eyes widened almost comically.

Mags looked back at Dave . . . and once again couldn’t breathe. He hadn’t taken his eyes off her. It was as if he was drinking her in. But instead of his gaze comforting her, she felt exposed. Naked. She felt as if he could see straight through her to her deepest, darkest secrets. Things she’d never speak of. Not to him or to anyone. They were her shame to carry.