Page 38 of Enforcer's Obsession

On instinct I tucked my hair behind my ears and looked up the tall, muscular length of his body toward his face, though I didn’t meet his eyes. And because nothing could go my way, the second the aroma wafting from this bag he was holding hit my nose, my stomach grumbled loud enough for everyone in the city to hear.

I hadn’t been lying yesterday when I said the burger and fries he had gotten were the best I’d ever eaten. And from the way my mouth started to water, my tastebuds and stomach clearly agreed.

“Come eat,” he said, gesturing toward the bed.

There was a finality in his voice that I dared not question, especially not after the reminder I had given myself.

I wasn’t a guest here, and I could be disgusted with myself later, assuming there was a later.

For now, I needed to play the game, and if that meant eating a delicious burgers and fries and trying to stay on the good side of the murderer who had kidnapped me, well, then, that was exactly what I do.

The same tray from the night before was on the bed, again laden with fries and a burger.

I cringed inwardly as I approached, hoping I didn’t make a mess. I had shaken a lot of things from my past, but that wasn’t one.

Daniel had hated it when things were out of place, so it had become my job to make sure that never happened. A job I had never been very good at, not that I was ever good at anything as far as Daniel was concerned.

Still, I always tried, knowing the consequences of failure were something I didn’t want to face. And this? Food in the bedroom?

That was grounds for the worst kind of beating.

To his credit—something I was loathe to even think, let alone admit—Nico didn’t seem too uptight about the potential for mess or the crumbs that would be left behind. So I took my seat and ate my burger.

“Has your opinion changed?” Nico asked when I was done.

I nodded. “Yeah, that one was delicious too. But I didn’t know they wore open for lunch, or, come to think of it, that they are open that late at night,” I said.

“They are for me,” Nico responded.

I smiled, wondering if he was trying to show off.

Not that this situation, or I, necessitated it.

I had no illusions about the fact that he was in complete control, and even more, why on earth would he need to try to impress someone like me?

I was a nobody. A dog groomer and part-time vet tech at a shelter, who, if my stepfather were to be believed, was absolutely disgusting in every conceivable way.

And even though I hadn’t seen him in years, nothing in my life thus far had given me reason to doubt his word.

After all, these two meals with Nico were the closest things to dates I had ever been on. I wanted to scoff, but managed to keep my exclamations to myself, knowing that Nico wouldn’t miss them.

But yes, the two best—and only—dates I had ever been on were with my kidnapper.

Score one for Hope,I thought sarcastically.

I never failed to impress.

I looked at Nico, who was looking at me, his stare not exactly intense, but not exactly casual. I flushed, then looked away, trying to get a hold of myself.

This! This was the problem.

I could try to deny at, but it wouldn’t do any good. Despite everything, the circumstances of me being here, the question of what would happen to me in the future, I was attracted to Nico, and even worse, if given the chance, I might actually like him.

This time, I couldn’t stop the humorless smile that spread across my face.

For years when I hadn’t been crushing under the weight of my grief, I had lived with rage at my mother.

Had been as disgusted with her as I was with myself now, wondering how she could be with a man like my stepfather Daniel.

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