Page 7 of Elusive Enforcer

“Iknowyou’re not about to tell me to calm down,” I say, cutting him off.

Lorenzo holds his hands up, palms out, in a sign of surrender. “I’m not a threat to you,” he says in a steady, even voice. “I will explain everything soon. I promise.”

“How about you explain it now? Why wait?”

“Because I have a feeling no matter what I say, it’s going to be taken the wrong way. I don’t want to fight. I just want to know you’re safe in your home for the evening.” The man seemsexasperated and desperate, and I almost feel sorry for him. I still want to trust him for some reason, but I can’t just ignore the fact that he and his driver knew my address.

“How can I feel safe when you’ve been stalking me?”

Lorenzo closes his eyes and takes a deep breath in. When he exhales, he opens his eyes and locks his gaze with mine. “Like I said earlier, you have no reason to trust me. I understand how this looks. I… I’m not…Fuck,I’m no good with words, Florence. I don’t know how to convince you that you’ll be safe here tonight. I know I’m asking a lot from you right now. All I can say is that we have a common enemy, whether you know it or not. I will protect you with my life. Please, let me.”

It’s the second time he’s asked permission to protect me. Even though Lorenzo is certainly strong enough to force me to do anything, he’s giving me a choice.

The man eyes my purse and then snaps his gaze back to me. I wonder if he’s thinking about the pepper spray I mentioned earlier.

“Fine,” I say, surprising myself as much as Lorenzo. “But you should know that in addition to pepper spray, I have several sharp kitchen knives and a guard cat.”

“A guard cat?” he asks, his brow furrowing in confusion.

“Yeah. Like a guard dog, only a cat.” His lip twitches slightly. “You won’t be smirking like that when Sprinkles sinks his fangs into your flesh,” I tell him.

“Sprinkles?”

“Don’t let the name fool you. Maybe he earned his name from shredding up my enemies into sprinkle-sized pieces.”

Lorenzo makes a valiant attempt to hold back his grin, and I almost burst out laughing. How can I be ready to mace him in the face one second and then want to hear his unfiltered laugh the next?

“I’m glad you have several safety precautions in place,” Lorenzo finally says. “All the more reason for you to get inside so you can brief your guard cat on the situation.”

At first, I think he’s mocking me. However, one look in his eyes tells me he’s truly relieved to hear I have weapons at my disposal, however eclectic they may be.

Once again, Lorenzo leans over and unbuckles my seatbelt. This time, I can’t resist smelling his expensive cologne with a hint of pine, leather, and spice. Without another word, I slip out of the car and scurry inside the building.

Unlocking my apartment door, I let my purse fall to the floor before kicking off my shoes and flopping down on the couch. Sprinkles hops up on my stomach, mewing at me before settling down.

“Sprinkles, you willnotbelieve the day I had.”

5

LORENZO

My eyes fly open and every muscle in my body tenses as my heart thuds painfully against my chest.What the…

Another loud knock brings me to my senses and in a flash, I remember I’m in my car, staking out Florence’s apartment. I had the driver take me to my house last night where I immediately got into my own vehicle and broke about ten traffic laws to get to Florence’s place so I could look after her for the night.

“Are you going to open up?”

I blink against the bright sunlight beating down on me through the windows, then recognize the angel with a halo of red hair surrounding her face. Florence is silhouetted by the unrelenting desert sun, making her appear even more angelic than usual.

I check the clock on the dashboard, blinking a few times when I realize how late in the day it is. Nearly noon. I’m thankful it’s Saturday and Florence is here instead of at work. God, I can’t believe I fell asleep. Anything could have happened while I was dozing off.

After straightening my back and rolling out the kinks in my neck, I open the door and step out of my car. Florence stares upat me, the look in her emerald eyes equal parts confusion and suspicion.

“Were you here all night?” she finally asks. I nod. Florence narrows her eyes at me before asking, “How many times have you parked outside my apartment?”

“This was the first time.” Her gaze turns decidedly skeptical. “I was worried about you,” I tell her in a hushed tone. I don’t know why I’m whispering but I feel incredibly vulnerable admitting that out loud.

The goddess standing before me relaxes her stance. It’s then I notice she’s holding a thermos of what I assume is coffee and a paper plate with a bagel on it. God, coffee sounds amazing. Food would be good, too. I didn’t have anything to eat last night and I’m starving. Did she make breakfast? That has to be a good sign. She might not fully trust me yet, but at least she doesn’t hate me.

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