Page 12 of Enforcer's Obsession

I kept my fingers on her neck, her pulse beating strong against my palm.

“Isn’t that the question?” I responded.

She stayed silent, but I filled the moment

“Do you know what Ishoulddo with you?” I asked.

She froze again, her eyes wide, and then she slowly shook her head no.

“I should put a bullet in your brain, throw you in the trunk, and incinerate you right along with this car,” I said.

Her pulse sped, her fear undeniable.

But underneath all that, there was fire too.

She dropped her hands, which had been wrapped around my forearm, her body still stiff but her eyes brave.

I’d seen this before. Not often, but I recognized it nonetheless.

She was afraid. Terrified. But despite that, she was resolved to be brave.

She thought this was the end, and even though she said nothing, I could see her promise to me—her promise to herself—that she wouldn’t beg.

I loosened my hold on her.

“But I won’t,” I finally said.

She didn’t look relieved.

“Whatever you’re thinking of doing, don’t,” I said.

“I’m not thinking of doing?—”

I cut her off. “Don’t lie. You are. You think I’m going to spare you, and you’re trying to figure out how you can use that to your advantage.”

“I’m not?—”

“Shut up and listen. You should be dead, and if you give me any trouble, you will be,” I said.

“I—”

“Shut the fuck up!” I snapped when she opened her mouth again.

She slammed her mouth closed and thinned her full lips.

When she was quiet, and I was certain she was terrified enough to stay that way, I nodded my approval.

“Now strip,” I said.

FOUR

Hope

I blinked,for a moment forgetting I was in the presence of a stone-cold killer.

“What did you say?” I asked when I got my voice back.

“You heard me,” he responded, his eyes locked on mine, his expression bland but his shoulders tense.

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