Page 8 of Hidden But Not Safe

Meg paused, her mouth parting in surprise as her amber eyes flashed brighter. “Hey, those are my size.” She shook the basket. “Drop them in.”

Naz shook his head, ripping the tags off and dropping them into the basket before kneeling to guide first one foot, then the other, into the shoes. Satisfied her feet were covered, he rose and gestured toward the pharmacy.

She tried to step around him. He reached for her arm, then remembered how the dead dealer and then Julio had both grabbed her there. His body blocked her instead, letting the basket bump into his stomach each time he moved in front of her. He pointed at the pharmacy sign.

Meg frowned at him. “I don’t know what you’re trying to tell me. You’re gonna have to say it.”

Naz was done talking. Two words were more than enough in one day, still echoing in his ear with their false sounds. Besides, he may have been able to force out one-syllable words, like ‘pill,’ but anything more complicated was beyond him unless he was calm.

Meg didn’t make him feel calm.

He dragged out his phone, opening up the Notes app he used on the rare occasions that Diego dragged him to see a doctor or their boss. Ramiro Rodriguez was the man who hired out Naz as muscle to the cartel, and he was big on communication.

Naz typed out a message and turned it for her to read. ‘Pharmacy. After pill.’

Her feet shifted in her new shoes, and his eyes narrowed.

“I don’t need it,” she whispered.

Naz typed again. ‘You don’t want his baby.’

Meg snorted. “Hell no. I lied about not being on anything. Julio was being a dick, and I thought it would stop him from coming inside me, and I wanted to see if I could get away from him by coming here.”

Naz was going to be in a world of shit with Julio if he let her escape. ‘No running away,’ he typed.

She lifted her eyes to his with that secret smile. “Not gonna let me? Even if I said pretty please?”

Naz shook his head.

Meg laughed. “That’s okay. Julio is a good option for now. I orgasmed with him, and he seems like the real deal. You know, like he’s actually got money. I mean, you’re buying all this shit for me, aren’t you?”

He nodded. She’d been barefoot, and her shorts had no pockets. It wasn’t likely she had any money.

“I’ve been living on the streets for a while, and I always do better if I hook up with someone. It’s not a bad deal. I take care of their dick, they take care of me. At least I eat a bit better this way. Speaking of eating…” She pushed past him.

There wasn’t much Naz could say against her logic. He’d starved a time or two, and not starving was better, though there wasn’t a lot of choice in it for him sometimes. It took concentration for him to chew as well.

He trailed after her again. To his surprise, when she got to the food aisle, she zeroed in on a pack of gummy worms, something soft on her face. “I love these.” She dropped them into the basket and reached for more: bears, snakes, and some odd-looking fake berries. “Well, I like gummies better when they’re edibles, but these will do in a pinch.”

She picked up other things around the store. A hairbrush and hair ties, Post-its and pens, a pack of almonds, and when she’d moved on to the makeup aisle, she’d glanced at his face, but when he kept it smooth, she grabbed a few things from that section, too.

With each addition, her shoulders loosened further, and her smile seemed more genuine. She wasn’t greedy. The basket was still only half full when she headed toward the check out.

Naz tapped her shoulder, holding out his phone. ‘Buy the pill.’

Her smile fell away. “I told you—”

He typed out another message. ‘Julio will check.’

Wrinkles formed on her forehead as she considered that. “You think he’ll be pissed about my lie?”

Naz just looked at her. Julio had a temper mixed with paranoia, with a constant need to prove himself. It could be a toxic combination at times.

Meg shrugged. “Sure. A waste of money, but you’re paying.” Her face brightened. “Once he sees how much it is, maybe he’ll use the condoms. Let’s go.”

She finally led the way to the back of the store. Naz let her do the talking, trying to ignore how the pharmacist looked at him as if his dick was the cause of her buying the pill.

Chapter 4

---