Enforcer’s Obsession

Chapter 9

NINE

Hope

“What do you want for lunch?” Nico asked the next day like it was the most normal thing in the world.

Like he hadn’t kidnapped me yesterday.

Tied me to his bed.

Like I hadn’t slept like a baby in spite of all that.

I felt my cheeks pulling down in a frown and quickly tried to fix my expression. But I was annoyed at him and mostly at myself.

“I’m not hungry,” I said.

“You said that at breakfast,” he responded.

“Because I wasn’t hungry,” I said.

I was sitting in what I had decided was my favorite spot, the corner of his bedroom that looked out toward the window.

After I’d woken up, and Nico had been gracious enough to untie me, I’d settled in my corner, trying to keep myself alert and figure out how I was going to get out of this. With the exception of an occasional bathroom break or sip of water out of the sink, I hadn’t left this spot all morning.

Nico had come and gone, for the most part leaving me alone.

I should have been grateful for that, but that time alone left me with space to think, and my mind had tread the same path over and over again.

I was so pissed at myself for last night!

And embarrassed.

Maybe even more embarrassed than mad.

I still hadn’t managed to look him in the eye, fear, disgust—and desire, leaving me completely off balance.

“I’ll be back in a minute,” he said. My head was down, my braids creating a curtain over my eyes, but I could feel him looking at him, the intensity of his gaze undeniable.

I didn’t respond, didn’t look at him, though I could guess at the look on his face. The same one he’d been wearing all morning.

Not exactly exasperated but clearly on the verge of annoyed.

Another idiotic mistake on my part.

Pissing him off would be a grave mistake, the kind of mistake I couldn’t afford, so I needed to get myself together.

“Here’s your burger,” he said.

I blinked and looked up at the sound of his voice. I hadn’t even realized he’d left, let alone been gone long enough to get food.

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.

Wondering how she hadn’t seen the danger, hadn’t heeded the warnings.

I was convinced that she had seen them and had chosen to overlook them.

So I couldn’t, wouldn’t, allow myself to make the mistake that she had and end up in the position she’d found herself in, or in one even worse.

No, that wouldn’t happen.

My life might be meaningless, but I wouldn’t let scum like my stepfather—a man like Nico—take it for me.

“What’s that look about?” Nico said, his voice breaking through my dark thoughts.

His voice was a grumble that sent a shiver through me, one that made me hate myself even more, something I hadn’t thought possible.

“Where’s my friend?” I asked, trying to remind myself of what was at stake here.

I had asked before but hadn’t gotten a satisfactory answer.

“I told you she’s been taken care of,” he said.

“Is she dead?” I asked, only realizing how loud and hysterical I sounded. I took a deep breath to calm myself and then repeated, “Is she dead?”

My voice trembled, because I could hardly contemplate it.

Losing the only friend I had in the world.

I couldn’t even?—

“She’s not dead,” Nico said, cutting off the thoughts that were rushing at me like a tsunami.

“I’m supposed to take your word for it?” I responded, feeling incapable of stopping myself from pushing.

“Do you have a choice?” Nico asked, one dark brow lifted in question.

I snapped my mouth closed, knowing there was nothing else to say.

He had me. I knew that; he knew that.

“But she’s fine. I saw that she was taken care of, so you don’t have to worry about her,” he said.

What about me? I wanted to ask.

But at the same time, I was terrified of the answer, so I didn’t verbalize the question.

What about me?

I knew what I had seen, knew what men like Nico could do.

That it hadn’t happened yet had me confused, on edge, which was saying something, given the circumstances.

I glanced at him, my breath seizing as I met his eyes.

They were beautiful, something else I hated myself for noticing.

But I forced myself to stare at him, feel the connection, the attraction, the disgust at myself that both had created.

I knew nothing about men, but instinct told me that attraction was mutual, and if I was smart, I would use it to my advantage.

What would that look like?

I had no fucking idea.

I didn’t talk to people, certainly not men, and God knew I had literally no experience trying to seduce them.

One thing I knew without a shadow of a doubt was that I was going to stay alive. I was going to get out of this.

And if seducing Nico was what it took, then that was exactly what I would do.