Page 73 of Enforcer's Obsession

Hope, who had looked away to adjust her clothes, looked at me.

But I didn’t see fear, not even anger.

Only exasperation.

“You could have just said that,” she said.

She held my gaze for a long moment, and then, to my shock, I started to laugh.

“I like my way better,” I said.

She shrugged, then blushed. “I guess I do too.”

TWENTY-ONE

Hope

“Out you go, Champ,”I said.

The dog looked at me, then looked at the open sliding glass door, and scampered out into the backyard.

Champ had fallen right into place, and over the last two days, it had been like he’d been here forever.

Which is weird, because I didn’t know that I could say the same for myself.

Though I hadn’t forgotten the circumstances that had brought me here, I could objectively say that Nico’s home was nicer than any place I had ever been.

Even worse, I couldn’t deny that I felt was a degree of comfort here that shocked me.

Just like I couldn’t deny that Nico was the reason for that comfort.

“Ridiculous dog,” I said, smiling at Champ as he tried to scale the fence. Even if he’d had four fully functioning paws, the six-pound dog wouldn’t have been able to get even a third of the way up Nico’s fence.

But mundanities like physics didn’t matter to Champ. His tail was wagging as he kept trying to climb, and I smiled at him despite myself.

It was that tenacity that had made me fall in love with the dog.

No matter how big the challenge, he seemed up to it, and, in fact, relished it. Watching his strength as he fought to get better had been a pure joy.

Just like it was a joy to watch him now.

The way I felt with Champ here only underscored the confusion that was now my constant companion.

I had seen firsthand want Nico was capable of.

Was only here now because of what he had done. Still, the terror that should have still had me in its grip was completely gone.

Plus, Nico had gone out of his way to make his home feel like mine. There had no grand pronouncement, but the proof was there nonetheless.

He had gotten a blanket when he saw me shivering, one that he had clearly bought after I’d arrived. And somehow he’d figured out that lavender was my favorite color. One time, I’d mentioned offhand how cool it would be to have an instant espresso machine.

Nico had been scandalized, claiming that instant espresso was an insult to him and all of his ancestors. But the very next day, a bright red machine and every conceivable flavor of espresso pod had appeared in his kitchen.

He’d given me a fucking dog. And not just any dog, the very dog that I loved.

So yes, he was a killer, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that he was a good guy. Deep down, maybe, but he was a good guy nonetheless.

Mama probably thought the same thing.

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