Enzo (The Wolves Den: New #1)

5. Chapter Four

Chapter Four

"What's going on?" She rounded 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?"

She nodded, knowing that adding the fact she drank water wouldn't help her case. Not even Fire knew she wasn't eating, mostly because her friend would try to feed her.

"Tell me, Deja." He sank into the chair across from her and looked at her with those otherworldly eyes.

No human male or female had eyes like his. Yep, they might commit her, but at this moment, she knew she was right. He wasn't human, and neither were the males in the other room. Too tall, too handsome, too charismatic, and too wild to be human.

She picked up some chips and munched on them even as she knew she was going to tell him the truth. There was no telling if she would make it out of here alive tonight, but she wasn't going to lie before she died. Instead, she told him the whole story. How she lost her job through downsizing. Then her landlord went up on the rent, making it hard for her to keep surviving. That was before he sold the building out from under the people that lived there. Now she had no savings and very little money, and not eating every day just seemed to make sense.

He sat there just looking at her while she fidgeted in the chair.

"Are you going to tell me? I know you're not human. None of you are."

He smiled wide, and nope, she couldn't miss his sharp canine teeth. Did they eat humans?

Her libido shot her a picture with her on her back and Enzo between her legs. And that's why I'm putting you in the cage.

He stood up and retrieved the second sandwich, handing it to her. "Eat."

"You're not going to tell me, are you?" She took a bite of her sandwich, happy to be able to fill her belly.

"You're on probation, twenty-nine days to go. You're going to come to work well-fed and serve drinks and be friendly and flirt—with me. When your trial period is over, you and I will be having a talk."

Not if I have a talk with him first. The voice in the cage was staring at him.

She nodded because this was the best offer she was going to get that didn't involve killing her and hiding the body or brainwashing her.

"How do you feel?" He reached out and stroked her cheek.

"I feel better now that I've eaten, thank you."

"Good." He stood and reached for her, pulling her to her feet. He drew her slowly to his body, giving her time to protest. Then he lowered his lips to taste her.

Her hands went to Enzo's shoulders, drawing him closer, wrapping herself in his scent that was as wild as the taste of his kiss. Her body rested against him as she tried to get closer to him.

Her arms held him tight as she grind against him just a little, liking the feel of his hard dick against her. She pulled away suddenly. "I'm sorry, are you okay? I didn't hurt you?"

"What do you mean?" His eyes were bright again, but this time, she could see the confusion in them, and her cheeks started to redden.

She didn't mean to call attention to her weight, but she didn't want to hurt him. She had a boyfriend once who insisted on going to the ER because he said she leaned on him. Needless to say, that ended their relationship, but it did make her more cautious with men.

"I thought I might have hurt you."

He shook his head, still looking baffled. "You're too little to hurt anyone."

He pulled her into his arms again, scent marking her so everyone would know she was his.

"I think the law of the land says you can't kiss me or hug me." She used his wording from earlier.

"Good thing that law doesn't apply to us."

"It doesn't?" she squeaked.

"Nope. Let's get you back behind the bar."

She nodded, feeling the warmth of his muscles beneath her cheek. His scent was better than any cologne she had ever smelled.

He took her hand and led her back out front.

The whole bar turned to watch them. One of the males spoke up, "She stinks again."

They all nodded and turned away from her. Enzo turned her back over to Cole before he disappeared into the office again.

"Exciting first day. Who knows what tomorrow will bring." Cole was teasing her. He did it all night, deliberately keeping things light so she didn't have time to dwell on what was happening here.

"Closing time." He took the cleaning cloth from her hand. "Time for you to go home."

"It's two already?"

"Yeah, time flies some nights and creeps on others. Do you need someone to walk you home?"

"Nah, I have a brand-new canister of mace. I'll be fine." She looked around the club, looking for Enzo before she disappeared into the back room to collect her purse.

"Where's Deja?" Enzo asked as he walked over to the bar.

"She went to go get her purse, maybe sit down for a minute. She's been on her feet almost all night long," Cole answered, doing some last-minute cleaning.

"Ven."

"Yeah, boss?" Ven looked like the rest of them: tall, big, with glowing eyes. He was finally starting to come into his maturity, but he was the youngest in the group, and every male and female watched out for him.

"I want you to follow Deja home, do a bit of reconnaissance, and come straight back. Can you manage that?"

"Yes, boss!"

His hand splayed over his chest before he closed it into a fist and stepped outside to blend in with the night.

"She'll be upset if she knows you have someone watching her," Cole said casually, leaning his hip against a bar stool.

"Upset or dead? Guess which one I prefer."

"And that's why I stay away from the pretty little mortals," Cole muttered, straightening up the stools and waiting for Deja to come out.

Enzo took the liberty of sitting and shielding himself from view.

"Sorry it took so long. I decided to change my shoes. Walking back in flats will feel better than in the heels." She gave Cole a smile, looking around the room for Enzo.

"Are you looking for someone?"

"No, of course not." Her face flushed as if she was going to admit she was disappointed that Enzo wasn't there. "I should be going. I'll see you tomorrow at eight, and I'll make sure I eat first."

She took off with long strides towards the door.

Are you trying to get us killed? The voices in her head shouted.

I'm telling you they're alien hitmen.

We need to go to the authorities and turn them in.

Can't we do one of them before we inform the police?

She was too tired to pay the voices in her head any attention. All she wanted to do was go home and sleep for a week. Being a bartender was harder than she thought, and standing on her feet for hours in heels wasn't making her happy.

A black car followed her down the street; it was running silently without headlights. She never noticed it, much too tired to care. Were they aliens, or had her lack of sleep and lack of food made her see aliens where there weren't any? Thoughts of Enzo rushed through her mind. He was tall, but there were humans as tall as him. All she needed to do was turn on a basketball game or two. He was thick; okay, she didn't see that every day, but she could think of at least one ball player that was big like he was.

His eyes glowed. The helpful voices in Deja's head chimed in.

Yep, could be colored contacts.

Really?

She didn't even fight that one. It wasn't contacts.

Did you notice that everyone in that bar was male, and it wasn't a gay bar? I would have picked up on that.

Leave it to her libido to point out the fact she'd been trying to ignore all night long. She eyed the cage; the voice inside was quiet, and that more than anything bothered her. She turned and said thank you to her libido, which behaved most of the night.

Only because you wouldn't let me get my hands on Enzo. When I get a chance, all bets are off.

And that's why she needed to be locked up. A slight sound startled her, causing her hand to tighten around her mace. She needed to be paying more attention to her surroundings. She looked around to see nothing, but a black car parked on the curb. Had it been there when she walked past? She shrugged, not remembering. Her apartment building was coming into sight. She turned back around, walking faster. Her sense of danger was telling her to go faster. It wasn't safe outside anymore.

Almost at her complex door, she heard a noise and turned, holding her mace up, but she couldn't see anything. She went inside, taking the steps two at a time. Her keys were out; she flew into her apartment and leaned against the door after it shut.

"Who are you and what do you want?" Ven held the man by his throat, allowing him just enough air to breathe.

"I just wanted to introduce myself. It's not often you see a pretty lady like that alone. I was hoping to find out her name." The man rasped out, doing his best to keep his face innocent.

"Then allow me to give you a friendly word of advice. Stay away from that pretty lady, or you might find it hard to breathe." Ven melted into the shadows, deciding to watch over Enzo's female until daylight.