Defending Zara (Mountain Mercenaries #6)(43)

“No,” Meat said immediately.

Ro simply grinned.

Meat leaned close and peered into Zara’s eyes. “Seriously, are you okay?”

She nodded again and licked her lips. “Do people really think I was hiding all these years? That I didn’t want to be found and rescued?”

He pressed his lips together. “Some probably do, yes, but they don’t know you. Once you eventually tell your story, their attitudes will change.”

Zara swallowed hard and tried to calm her racing heart. That had sucked. She definitely didn’t like to be in the spotlight and dreaded having to do anything like that again.

“It’ll be all right,” Meat said softly, picking up her hand and threading his fingers with hers once more. “If we do a press conference, it’ll be much less frenzied than that. There will still be lots of cameras, but they won’t be chasing you down. You’ll have more control. Promise.”

She felt better that he’d said if there was a press conference, but she wasn’t stupid. She knew she’d have to make a statement sooner or later. Oh, she could probably have someone else get in front of the camera for her, but she had a feeling if she didn’t face the reporters, they’d hound her for months, maybe even years. It was better to just answer their questions so she could get on with her life.

They drove for quite a while before the SUV turned down a dirt road almost hidden among the trees alongside the country road they’d been on. They were jostled on the road for a while before Arrow griped, “You need to get this shit paved, Meat.”

He chuckled and said, “I get fewer random people coming down here, with it being so shitty.”

Zara hadn’t realized they were on a driveway until they approached a clearing in the trees, and suddenly a house appeared in front of the car. It wasn’t huge, but it wasn’t a shack either.

“You live here?” she asked Meat as the SUV stopped.

“Home sweet home,” he replied, then turned to get out. There were three other cars already parked in front of the house, making the area crowded with vehicles. And when an SUV carrying the other three members of the Mountain Mercenaries pulled up behind them, Zara just shook her head.

The second Meat got out of the car, men began exiting the other vehicles. They were all wearing dark suits, and even Zara could tell they were FBI. Meat hadn’t let go of her hand, so she followed him closely as he ignored the men and walked up onto the small front porch. The men in suits followed, but Meat held up a hand, stopping them.

“Give us ten minutes,” he said. Then, without waiting for an answer, he put a key in the lock and opened his door. He towed Zara inside and shut the door behind them. Then he went over to a panel on the wall and punched some of the buttons. He came right back to her and took her hand once more.

“I thought I was supposed to talk to them,” Zara said softly.

“You are, and you will. But you need a little time to decompress after the airport. I thought I’d show you my home, and you could use the restroom and wash your hands and face before you have to tell your story again.”

It was thoughtful. Very thoughtful, and Zara was more than grateful. The airport scene had rattled her, and she felt way out of her element. Having even ten minutes to not have to worry about saying or doing the wrong thing felt like heaven.

“Thank you,” she told Meat.

“Come on. It’s not huge, but it’s home,” he said, then proceeded to lead her through his house.

The bottom floor was completely open. The kitchen was off to the left as they entered the big room. The appliances were white, and there was an island with a long counter separating the kitchen from the sitting area. There were three barstools pushed in, and she wondered if Meat had made them himself.

“The kitchen could use some updating,” Meat told her. “But I kind of like the look of the white appliances instead of stainless steel.”

Zara had no idea what he was talking about. To her, the kitchen was perfect. It had been so long since she’d even been in a kitchen, it all looked outrageously expensive and over the top to her. She vaguely remembered the kitchen in the house she’d grown up in, but that had been so long ago she didn’t recall too many details.

“Come on, let me show you the rest,” Meat said, turning toward the large room behind them.

There was a huge sectional couch in the middle of the space, flanked by a big armchair, with a few other wooden chairs sprinkled around the perimeter of the room. A bookcase stuffed with books sat in a corner, and a huge television hung on the wall above a fireplace. Zara was immediately drawn to the bookcase, and she let go of Meat to walk toward it.

Books were the one thing she’d missed the most over the years. She’d been able to scrounge a few, but they were in Spanish, and the pages were usually half-missing or wet. She reverently ran her fingers over the spines of the books. She didn’t recognize any of the titles, but she could almost imagine the wonderful stories contained within.

She closed her eyes, and a memory flashed through her mind of sitting on her dad’s lap as he read to her. The story was long since lost, but the feeling of comfort and safety made her heart ache.

Hands landed on her shoulders, and Zara leaned back against Meat instinctually. It was surprising, but she felt that same comfort and safety around him. She knew it was probably because of what he’d done for her, and it was unlikely he’d ever feel anything other than a professional kind of concern for her, but she took comfort from him being there with her at that moment.