Page 33 of Enforcer's Obsession

He chuckled, and I bucked against him, feeling a crushing defeat when he didn’t move not even a millimeter.

He stared down at me again, his eyes burning into mine.

“You’ve proven you can’t be trusted. Do you know what I should do to you?” he asked.

His eyes didn’t waver as he stared down at me, and I knew he wouldn’t look away until I answered.

“K-kill me,” I finally whispered.

He didn’t answer immediately, just kept his eyes on mine for so long I let out a long, low breath.

“So you’re finally getting it,” he said.

I forced myself to meet his eyes. “Y-yes.”

He nodded, his entire mood seeming to shift. “Good. Now how about a proper introduction. My name is Nico.”

I furrowed my brow and he nodded his head encouragingly.

“I’m Hope,” I responded, too confused to do anything else.

“Hi, Hope. Are you hungry?”

EIGHT

Nico

She lookedat me like I had two heads.

But she couldn’t be as confused as I was.

I’d told myself to stay away from her, but I hadn’t been able to resist touching her.

So for now, the best thing I could do was keep my distance, something she helped by running into the bathroom.

After a moment, I left the bedroom, wondering how long she would stay in the bathroom before she dared emerge.

Probably a long time.

I’d bet every dollar I had no one had ever touched her like that. I was also sure that my initial impression of her being kind was true. Just as I knew she was stubborn. I wondered if she had been born that way, or if life had taught her hard lessons.

I had my suspicions, but didn’t indulge them and instead went downstairs.

The living room had cleared out after I’d given the men with their assignments, leaving me to my problem. I made a quick call and ordered food, then waited downstairs for it to arrive.

When it did, I was no closer to a solution for my much too distracting problem than I had been before.

But something had to give.

I already felt something for her, which was a problem in itself.

When was the last time I felt something besides loyalty?

I knew when, and unbidden, the memory of flames, the heat of fire, the sound of screams fading into nothing filled my brain.

I ruthlessly pushed them away, something that had gotten easier over the years, though I wasn’t sure whether that was good or bad.

Trying to keep those thoughts at bay, I went back up the stairs and almost dropped the food when I saw her.

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