Page 31 of His Enforcer

Can’t breathe.

Can’t breathe.

Can’t…

“Luca!” A shout has me sitting upright in bed, sweat dripping down my body, my skin aching from where I swear I felt the flames scorching them. I turn my hazy gaze toward Viktor, who is staring at me with wide eyes.

My hand runs down my face, trembling slightly. I’m gasping, drinking down the air.

“What was that? A nightmare?”

I don’t answer; I can’t. My throat is parched, as if I swallowed the fire itself. He saw me vulnerable. No one sees me like this. No one.

Viktor sees me swallowing, my throat clicking loudly, and he sighs, standing up and returning a moment later with a cup of water in his hand. I take it and gulp it down, some missing my mouth entirely and sliding down my chin and chest.

And the entire time, Viktor just watches me, his eyes taking everything in.

I’ve never felt so weak in my entire life. I hate how much he sees.

The way he looks at me. He’s always fucking looking.

I hate it. But not as much as when his eyes are on someone else. I hate that even more.

“Lie the fuck down,” I murmur when he continues to just stand there, ogling me.

“I’m just making sure you don’t break down again,” he bites back.

“I wasn’t breaking down.”

But I was. Anyone would if they were faced with those visions, a nightmare revisiting me every few days. Those flames didn’t sear my body, but they seared my mind. I won’t ever come back from that.

“You were. You were crying.”

I swipe at my swollen eyes, and I swear I can feel the smoke agitating them. They ached for days after the fire, my vision blurry. The doctors thought I might have vision loss.

“Inever cry.”

He huffs and rolls his eyes, moving to his side of the bed and crawling beneath the covers, turning his back to me.

“Whatever. Go cry in your sleep. I don’t fucking care.”

He’s pouting as I put my head back on the pillow and stare up at the ceiling. My heart is thumping abnormally fast in my chest and my skin feels as if it’s still melting from my body.

I’m on top of the comforter, trying like hell to cool down, but nothing is working, so I finally sit up and move to the bathroom to take a cold shower. The icy spray from the showerhead calms me somewhat, and when I emerge and slip back under the covers, I feel more or less back to normal.

The only problem is, Viktor is watching me intently, those dark eyes peering into my fucking soul. Even in the dark, I know they’re on me.

His hand reaches out and touches my arm, and I flinch back.

“You’re freezing.”

“Better than burning alive.”

He’s quiet for a moment and then, “What happened to you, Luca?”

“None of your fucking business.”

“Yeah, you’re right. Shouldn’t fucking care about you. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

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