Defending Zara (Mountain Mercenaries #6)(26)

Telling the story of how he got his nickname had never seemed all that embarrassing . . . until now. Bitching about having ready-made meals, which had at least two thousand calories apiece, seemed entitled and stupid after seeing how little the people in the barrios had. They’d probably kill to have those vegetarian MREs.

But Zara didn’t berate him for being a thoughtless ass—she simply smiled again.

He opened his mouth to apologize for his ignorance, for not truly understanding how bad some people had it, when there was a soft knock at the door.

“Yeah?” he called out.

“Ball’s back with the key to your room,” Gray said.

“Be right out,” Meat told his friend. He turned to Zara. “Ready?”

She shook her head, but said, “Yes.”

Meat smiled at her. “It’ll be fine. You’ll see. And the good news is that Gray’ll bring my computer.”

“Your computer?”

“Yeah. I can’t believe how badly I’ve missed it. I’m so used to being able to look things up at the drop of a hat. I want to look up your case and find out as much as possible. I also need to get in touch with Rex and get him started on your paperwork and documents to get you out of the country. We can’t exactly smuggle you out of Peru like we smuggled you into this motel.” He smiled at her, but she didn’t smile back.

“What if you can’t?” she asked.

“I can and I will,” Meat returned. He held out a hand. “I’m not leaving you here. Now, come on. Let’s go so I can properly introduce you to my friends, and you can get that nice long shower.”

She nodded, and even though he could tell she was reluctant, she took hold of his hand, which made Meat feel ten feet tall. He swore to himself he’d do his best to never let her down. She’d been let down by so many people over the years—the men who’d killed her parents, the people who hadn’t believed her—and he didn’t ever want her to feel that way again.





Chapter Ten

Zara stood awkwardly in the middle of the room Meat had taken her to. She didn’t want to sit on the bed and get it dirty. She was more than aware of how awful she probably looked and smelled. The motel room might not be fancy for these men’s tastes, but to her, it was the most luxurious thing she’d been in since she was a little girl.

Just the thought of the clean sheets and towels was enough to make her hyperventilate. And a shower? A hot shower? Being naked in a place where she didn’t have to worry about anyone storming in on her or stealing her clothes while she was preoccupied? That was heaven.

Meat had wanted her to shower before she talked to his friends, but there was no way she wanted to delay the inevitable. If they didn’t believe her and kicked her out, she didn’t want to have experienced the bliss of being truly clean, then having to go back out into the dirt and filth of the barrio. Besides, the grime covering her helped disguise her gender.

“Guys, I’d like you to meet Zara Layne.”

She winced, not really expecting Meat to introduce her right off the bat by her real name, but when none of the men appeared shocked, she realized that they’d known she was a female probably from the get-go. She didn’t understand why. No one ever looked twice at her. They always took her at face value. Saw her short hair, small stature, and just assumed she was a boy.

Each of the men nodded politely and respectfully. As if they were meeting in a formal setting and she was standing in front of them wearing a freaking ball gown or something. It was weird. She wasn’t sure she liked having their complete attention like this.

“In case you didn’t catch everyone’s name in the car . . . this is Gray. His fiancée just had their baby, Darby. To his right is Ro. Then there’s Arrow, Ball, and Black.”

It was easy for Zara to remember Black, as he and Meat had matching bruises and scrapes from their run-in with Ruben and his friends in the barrio. She nodded back at everyone, not sure what she was supposed to say.

“Thank you for helping our friend,” Ball said.

The others agreed, and Zara nodded again.

“Want to tell us what the fuck happened and where you’ve been?” Gray asked Meat.

Ignoring his friend’s question, Meat turned to Zara. “You sure you don’t want to get cleaned up while I tell them the entire story?”

For a second, Zara wanted to take the easy out Meat was offering. She didn’t want to see the doubt on his friends’ faces when he told them about her. She knew the story sounded crazy. How could anyone survive on their own in the barrio, much less a ten-year-old little girl? But she had, and she hadn’t lied about anything she’d told Meat.

She lifted her chin and shook her head.

She couldn’t interpret the look on Meat’s face. She didn’t have much experience with men. Didn’t know if he was happy she was sticking around or upset with her. But when he reached out and brushed a lock of short hair off her forehead, she couldn’t help but soften a little inside.

He turned back to his friends. “Right, so this is Zara. She’s twenty-five years old. When she was ten, she and her parents were on vacation here in Lima. One night, her parents were murdered, and the killers took Zara with them. Apparently, they had some sort of crisis of conscience, because instead of raping and killing her, they dumped her in a barrio much like the one we’ve become familiar with. She’s lived here ever since.”