It was obvious to her by the looks on their faces they were expecting trouble.
"She hasn't eaten." His voice was calm as he pulled her away from the bar, putting his body in front of her.
"Shit," Enzo jumped the bar. Her eyes went wide while her hormones went into overdrive.
"Damn, she smells good," a thick male voice said.
"And this is why we don't hire tasty little morsels like her," Declyn said as he jumped the bar. "Get her fed."
"You want her, you'll have to go through me." Declyn looked at them with a smile.
She could swear his body was getting bigger. She wanted to protest, to stop the madness before it went any further, but she was scared, and no matter what she said, she didn’t scare easily.
Enzo took her by the arm and started pulling her into the other room. She knew it was him by the way his hand felt on her arm. His touch was different from the others, and she would have wondered about it, but she was too busy making sure no one jumped her.
Chapter Four
"What's going on?" Sherounded on him, demanding answers.
"Why didn't you eat, Deja?" He ignored her, waiting for her answer. His hand went out and caressed the side of her face.
"I didn't want to be late, and I took a nap because I was tired." She wanted to snap at him, but he was making her nervous. His hand was back, this time rubbing the side of her arm. He was going to make her crazy if he kept touching her.
"If you don't eat, you can't work here. I should have made sure you understood that. I thought if your shift started at eight, you would naturally feed before you came." His fingertips brushed against the side of her neck, and she got scared. The kind of fear that could keep you immobile for days.
She was scared because Enzo was scared, and no matter what, she knew it wasn't in his nature to show fear. He kept touching her like people did when someone survived a close call, and they needed to reassure themselves continually that the person was all right.
His hand was now on the small of her back as he led her to a chair. His fingers brushed hers before he walked to the fridge and pulled out the makings for a sandwich.
"Ham or roast beef?"
"Ham please."
He made her two thick sandwiches, took out a soft drink and a bag of chips, and handed them to her.
"Make sure you eat it all."
She took a bite of the sandwich. It was good, so she took another bite.
"What happened out there?"
His eyes slid away from hers as he stared at a space over her shoulder.
"I have a right to know. How am I going to keep myself safe if I don't know?" Her voice came out a little sterner than she meant.
"You should have eaten, Deja!" He looked calm, but his voice gave him away. "I want to know why you didn't eat today. Because the closer I sit to you, the more I can smell your hunger. It's like you haven't eaten in days."
"What did you eat yesterday?" His green eyes were now ablaze, making her uncomfortable.
"I ate two eggs and a piece of toast."Why aren't we running, Deja? Serial killers, I think they're serial killers.
You might be right, but Enzo will never hurt me.
She hadn't even known him for a day, but he wasn't feeding her only to kill her. At least she hoped not.
She stuffed her mouth with the rest of the sandwich, hoping that would prevent him from asking further questions.
"Is that all you ate yesterday?"