Page 13 of Enforcer's Obsession

He towered over me, his big body tense, coiled like he was ready for battle.

Ihadheard him, but my ears didn’t want to accept what he’d said.

He stared at me for a long moment, then shook his head, his disgust clear.

“I could tell you were trouble, but I didn’t think you were stupid, too. I guess I made a mistake because you seem confused about the gravity of your current situation,” he said, his eyes and his posture demanding a response.

I didn’t give him one.

In fact, his insult passed without so much as a second thought. For a time, stupid was one of the nicer names I wascalled, so if he thought that would get to me,hewas the stupid one.

No, I was preoccupied with that lyrical accent and by the way he spoke sharply without seeming to yell.

How messed up was it that his voice was the top of my mind when the man had threatened to incinerate me?

How much more terrifying would he be if he actually raised his voice?

That was a question I couldn’t answer, and I didn’t know if I’d want to.

After all, I shouldn’t be here.

And Idefinitelyshouldn’t be pushing this man.

I told myself I’d remember that when he stepped away from me.

As I watched him move, I was curious as to what he was going to do. Even more, I was grateful he wasn’t paying attention to me. That gave me time to turn my initial impression over in my head.

This man was definitely dangerous.

I’d known that with just one look. After all, I’d had enough experience around dangerous men to pick one out of a crowd.

But this man was even more dangerous than he appeared on the surface. Because something told me he could blend in if he needed to.

His height and size made it impossible for him to go unnoticed, but he could flip a switch and seem…not exactly docile, but maybe not quite as dangerous as he truly was.

I knew exactly what that meant for people like me.

People like my mother had been.

No.

I almost shook my head with the force of the thought, but managed to make myself hold still.

What had happened to her wouldn’t happen to me.

I was a survivor.

I knew little else, but I knew that.

I had escaped that bastard.

This man would not be my undoing.

If I wanted to keep my word on that, I needed to get my shit together.

So I stayed quiet, pretending he hadn’t made his threat. Pretending he didn’t have the power to go through with it whenever he decided to.

No, I pushed that knowledge away and watched as he wiped his hands, then went toward a corner of the garage. At first glance, it looked to be standard, with a work bench, a tall metal cart with drawers, and a peg board attached to the walls.

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