Page 63 of Enforcer's Obsession

What the difference a day made.

A week ago, I’d been terrified by Sebastian, and this morning I’d made him waffles.

And then there was this. I couldn’t even remember when I had asked, but at some point, I’d mentioned to Nico that I wanted fresh air, and he’d shown me how to get to the backyard.

Now I knew how to get out of the townhouse.

An important piece of my plan.

Because Ihadto get out of here.

There was no question.

So I took this opportunity, as I had the others, to study the yard.

It was a small rectangle of real grass, not synthetic, that was enclosed by what had to be a seven-foot privacy fence.

Like always, I heard traffic outside, but the sound was dim, so I figured the traffic was at least some distance away.

And there was another unit attached to Nico’s, but no one lived there, or at least I hadn’t seen anybody. I had no doubt that if someone lived there, it would be an associate of Nico’s because there was no way he would let someone be that close to him and not know exactly who it was.

So trying to make a mad dash for the unit next door wouldn’t get me closer to out of here, which meant I would continue to bide my time. It was my only choice, really.

Nico had given me more freedom, if access to his backyard could be considered that. He also hadn’t tied me up again. Being here was starting to feel…normal, and that feeling made my need to escape that much more urgent.

But despite my desire, I was no closer to making my escape, and everything inside me screamed I needed to do it now.

Sebastian, Nico’s cousin Enzo, and another man that Nico hadn’t bothered to introduce had come over a lot the last couple of days.

Those same instincts told me something was going on, and I knew that I had to make a move.

Strange how a few days could change everything, but it had. Whatever his motives for taking me, and something told me I could believe Nico when he said that he did what he did to protect people.

Still, I couldn’t let myself get caught up in his world.

Iwouldn’t.

So I hung out in the yard, breathing the fresh air and reading a book for several hours. To my surprise, Nico enjoyed reading and had introduced me to his favorite sci-fi series, one that I found I enjoyed immensely.

When I ventured back inside, Sebastian and Enzo were gone, a clue to me that they’d finished talking about the day’s business. They had a pattern where would they come to Nico’s then huddle together to whisper their plans.

Or at least that was what I thought they did. They never,ever, talked about anything of importance while I was around. But without fail, after those visits, there was tension in Nico, something that both scared me, and made me want to reassure him.

Like I could do such a thing.

The same was true today, but his tension was even more acute. It was evening now, and after I prepared a dinner of chicken, broccoli, and brown rice, Nico was pacing and still incredibly tense.

“It might help if you talk about it,” I said quietly.

He stopped pacing and glared at me with angry eyes. Despite myself, I felt a shiver of fear, I didn’t react.

“Talking about it won’t help,” he finally said, his voice rough as gravel.

“Are you sure?” I asked.

He stalked over to me in three long, hard stomps, then cut off short when less than a foot separated us.

“You want to talk about it, Hope?”

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