Page 46 of Enforcer's Obsession

My body started to tingle, making me feel alert in a way I hadn’t since he’d left, and I knew without knowing that it was Nico who approached.

I wondered if he was making noise to alert me to his presence. That had to be why I could hear the footsteps lumbering down the hallway.

I knew from experience that he could move silently, so the sound had to be for my benefit.

And I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.

He had kidnapped me!

Why would he take time to be courteous?

So stupid, Hope,I chided myself internally.

Nico wasn’t trying to coddle me, and in fact, I was sure now this was a warning.

Here comes the big bad wolf.

My stomach started to churn, my mind flashing back to the past.

Taunting had always been one of Daniel’s favorite ways to torment me, and I couldn’t believe I had forgotten that.

What was even more fucked up was that as the steps got closer, I still felt that almost overwhelming desire, despite the sickening dread that thoughts of my stepfather could conjure.

A testament to how completely fucked up I was, not that I needed one.

My stepfather was a monster, so what did that make Nico?

What did it make me?

I’d told myself I was happy that he wasn’t here, yet deep inside, I’d been plagued with a nagging emptiness because he was gone.

It wasn’t that I missed him. No, it couldn’t be that. Because missing Nico would be insane.

No, I was just acutely aware that Nico wasn’t around.

I didn’t like that, even though I couldn’t say for sure that him being around was a good thing for me.

The bedroom door opened, and Nico walked in.

“You figured out the TV,” he said, gesturing toward the panel that slid aside to reveal the screen.

“I wasn’t snooping,” I said.

He looked at me, and I realized I had been too abrupt in my speech.

“You’re lying. Of course you were snooping,” he said. “Did you find anything besides the TV?”

I hadn’t, but I chose to ignore his question.

And even more, I refused to feel guilty about it.

So what if I’d been snooping?

He was keeping me locked in this room.

I was entitled.

“I got you some stuff,” he said, and I noticed for the first time the four bags of his hands.

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