Page 8 of Elusive Enforcer

Florence hands the thermos and bagel to me, but right before I can grab them, she snatches them away. I frown at her, which makes the enchanting woman laugh. Her eyes light up and her entire face glows with joy as her sweet laughter fills the air.

I love the sound. Way too much. I can't think of a time anyone laughed at me and lived to tell the tale but with Florence… Jesus, I'd make a fool out of myself every day if it means she'll smile at me like this again.

“Not so fast,” she says, holding her chin up as she takes a few steps backward toward her building. “I need answers.”

I sigh and eventually nod my head, motioning toward her home so we can talk more privately. Florence waits for me to step up next to her, then we walk across the parking lot, side by side. I can’t say for sure, but I think she likes having me around. Or, at the very least, she trusts that I’ll protect her from any threat.

While I’ve known her address for several days now - for security reasons, of course, I’ve never looked inside. I was tellingher the truth when I said last night was the first time I parked outside her building.

I have to duck under the door frame as we walk inside, and my head nearly brushes the ceiling once I’m standing in her living room. Or, rather, theonlyroom in her apartment. My automatic response is to scan the space for any threats, and I’m pleased to see the coast is clear.

While observing the small apartment, I notice a couch, a coffee table, a small kitchenette, and… not much else.

“Where’s your bed?” I blurt out.

Florence’s jaw drops before she snaps it shut and glares at me. “I didn’t invite you in to sleep with me,” she spits out.

“What? No, I didn’t mean it like that,” I’m quick to say. God, what is wrong with me? This woman has me all out of sorts. It must be the lack of sleep and coffee.

“Well… good. Glad we have that cleared up,” she answers with a nod of her head. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think she almost seemed… hurt? Rejected? Or maybe I’m just projecting.

Inappropriate and so not the point,I tell myself.

“Besides,” Florence continues. “I’m the one asking the questions here.”

She straightens her back and tries her damndest to look intimidating. No one talks to me like that. Not since before I joined the Caparellis. Yet here Florence is, all five and a half feet of her, talking to me like I’m in an interrogation room.

“As you wish,” I say, surprising both myself and the confounding woman standing just a few feet in front of me. Her eyes find mine, and for one brief second, the rest of the world falls away. There are no cops, no family loyalties, no documents, nothing standing between us.

The moment becomes too much for Florence, who blinks and takes a few steps back. I release the breath I was holding, nearly falling forward at the loss of her closeness.

“Who do you work for?” she asks, turning her gaze away from me. “And how do you know my address? Why were you following me last night? What kind of danger am I in?”

She finally looks up with determination burning in her green irises. Beneath the tough act she’s putting on, however, I see the very real fear.

Fuck. How much do I tell her? What can I possibly say to satisfy her questions without giving away family secrets?

“The coffee is getting colder by the second,” she reminds me, tipping her chin toward the kitchen counter where she set the food and drink down. This little spitfire has no idea who she’s talking to, but I respect the hell out of her for seeking the truth.

“I was tasked with acquiring sensitive information,” I start.

“Information?”

“Documents. A file, in fact. I believe you have it in your possession.”Big mistake.

Her eyes blaze with fury while her face turns red. She puts her hands on her hips, and I almost can’t wait for the fire she’s about to unleash on me. I love her temper as much as her submission.

“You don’t give a single shit about protecting me,” she accuses. I clench my jaw, knowing that’s what it must sound like, but hating it all the same. “In fact, the only reason yousavedme from that guy last night was because you didn’t want him to damage the documents, right?”

“No, that’s not–”

“And you know where I live because you’ve been stalking me!” Florence takes a step forward, removing a hand from her hip so she can point a finger in my direction.

“I wasn’t stalkingyou, I was… I was watching the accounting firm.”

“Newsflash, my home address is different from the accounting firm’s address.” She takes another step closer to me,her rage a palpable thing between us. Florence pokes me in the chest and I swear to god I almost collapse at her feet with that one touch. “Try again, mister.”

My eyes are drawn to the slope of her neck, where her pulse is throbbing just beneath the skin. Fuck me, I want to lick that spot and sink my teeth into her before kissing the breath from her lungs.

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