Page 47 of Enforcer's Obsession

“The rest will be here later,” he said.

I scrunched up my face, looking at the bags.

They looked expensive. The handles were ribbon, and the bag itself was some kind of coated paper that looked thick.

“Come look,” he said.

I had kept my gaze on his hands, his strong fingers gripping the handles confidently, but when he spoke, I looked at his eyes.

Felt a rush and a tremble that were becoming familiar.

I walked over tentatively, suddenly feeling weirdly underdressed.

Which made sense.

I was wearing one of his odd-fitting shirts and a pair of his underwear. He was wearing a button-down and slacks and looked more expensive than almost anyone I have ever seen.

Not that it mattered, I reminded myself as I took one of the bags.

I pulled it open and reached in to pull out a beautiful green, slightly darker than seafoam dress with a high waist and long skirt. It was made out of a thin, frilly, chiffon-like material that I’d never dreamed of wearing.

“What is this?” I asked.

“I…You needed some things, unless you like my underwear,” he said, one corner of his lips lifted in something like a smile.

I stopped rummaging through the bags to meet his eyes.

“I have things at home,” I said.

“And now you have things here,” he countered.

Still, there was something off about him.

He was holding back. I wanted to push, to figure out what was bothering him, but I also didn’t want to press my luck.

God how I hated this! Walking on eggshells, trying to figure out what the right thing to do was.

I didn’t fucking know, but I knew the stakes here were incredibly high.

So I’d figure it out.

But it wasn’t lost on me that even though I was confused—and scared—I didn’t feel even a tenth of the fear that the mere thought of my stepfather could conjure. Had definitive proof that Daniel had broken me.

I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts before I returned my attention to the bags. “The stuff isn’t going to fit,” I said, frowning down toward the floor.

“How do you know?” he asked.

“Because I know,” I said, realizing that I was being snide.

Unbidden, I thought back to a couple years ago.

I had just gotten my vet tech certificate from community college. I didn’t have anyone to celebrate with, but I’d wanted to do something special and thought about when I was a kid and my mom and I would dress up and get tea and finger sandwiches.

Tears threatened at the thought of those days, some of last good ones that we would have.

But after I got my certificate, I’d wanted to do the same thing, but didn’t have a dress.

I had scrimped for weeks to aside enough money to buy a dress and an order of tea and finger sandwiches.

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