Page 17 of Enforcer's Obsession

It was weird, because although this was clearly a home, there was nothing personal about it. The place could be out of a magazine and in this case, that wasn’t a compliment. I was right that it was beautiful.

But it was also cold.

“Keep walking,” he said.

I looked back at him, and followed his gaze to the floating staircase at the far corner of the room.

I had never actually walked up a staircase like this. Honestly, it kind of scared me, but I walked toward it now, telling myself that the nerves were because of the situation, and not because of my tiny,tiny, totally manageable fear of heights.

I moved up the stairs quickly, not daring to look down, and then turned a corner. I wasn’t sure why, but instinct led me that way, and I decided to follow it.

I walked through the open door and looked around.

A bedroom.

Hisbedroom, to be exact.

It was large, took up what looked to be most of this floor, and though it was still as fancy as the rest of the place I had seen so far, it was slightly more homey.

Very slightly.

There were two watches on the metal dresser.

A pair of jogging pants haphazardly tossed on the floor, but I noticed that the bed was neatly made, and that nothing else was out of place.

“Keep going,” he said.

I screeched, then realized I had forgotten he was standing behind me.

Thoughtless.

Stupid.

My moment of fear morphed into rage at myself, but that rumination was cut short by his words.

“Go shower,” he said.

Before I could react, he was gone, the door closing with a finality that made me move.

Terror aside, a shower didn’t seem like such a bad idea, so I walked into an intimidatingly expensive-looking bathroom and stopped in front of the shower.

I stared at the knobs, trying to figure out how to work them. When the water hissed and started to flow, I felt the night’s first victory.

When I peeled the paper gown off my shoulders and let it drop to the floor, I caught my reflection in the large mirror.

Wide, shadowed eyes that looked tired. My skin looked ashen. I was never much to look at, but my blemish-free skin had always had a healthy glow, which was nowhere to be found now. I could blame the night’s events for that.

Still, despite everything that had happened today, the reflection in the mirror was just me. The same boring-looking Hope that I saw every day. The terrified girl I never wanted anyone else to see.

Nico had seen me tonight, though, and now I was in the type of danger I had no ability to truly understand.

But it didn’t matter.

I stared at the girl in the mirror and made her a promise.

A promise I fully intended to keep.

You’ll get out of this, Hope.

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