Page 55 of The Enforcer

23Zoe

There’sno nap like an ‘I just exfoliated my entire body and came all over a sexy stranger who doesn’t talk too much during sex’ kind of nap, in my opinion.

I wake up four hours later and stretch like a cat. I push the covers from my body. I’m still very much naked, and the cool air makes me shiver, but after the midday heat, I’m not complaining. And unlike this morning, I finally feel rested. My back and thighs are less sore. I run my hands over my skin, and everywhere I touch is smooth as silk. My room is pitch-black, and I could probably fall back to sleep, especially with some usb-charged assistance, but my stomach growls.

I crawl out of bed and wince. Okay, the rest of my body feels better, but my feet need a little more time. I turn on the light only long enough to dig a robe I don’t even remember packing from the suitcase. Thank goodness I keep a travel to-go bag there for a spontaneous trip.

I open my bedroom door, and the rest of the house is dim and very quiet. I wonder where Alfonso is, but not for long. As soon as I walk into the kitchen, the outside door opens, and Alfonso steps inside the door frame, looking at me.

His face is cast in shadow, but I have never met a man who was so loud in his silence.

“Are you coming inside or not?” I ask, turning toward the refrigerator. The cold hits my nipples through the thin robe. Alfonso clomps into the kitchen. The sound of each of his steps radiates from the soles of my tired feet up my thighs and straight to my pussy.

“Are you hungry?” he asks.

“Starving.”

He grunts in reply, and I smile.

He moves around the kitchen and begins to pull plates and glasses down from the open shelves. I grab his mother’s leftover dishes at random. We work together to get another leftover meal on the table. Since I don’t cook, this is the most homemade food I’ve eaten in years. If not for all these goddamn steps, part of me would never want to leave.

“Do you want some wine?” Alfonso asks.

I lift an eyebrow at him, and he blushes. Not as red as the tip of his dick, but I’ll probably never see anything that shade of angry crimson again. Maybe. We’ll see.

“I’m Italian,” he says, by way of a thin explanation. Alfonso stands from the table. I watch him walk to a wine rack built into a wall by the door.

“Where were you?” I ask his back.

“I needed to talk to Giulio and then check the perimeter. No one’s getting in here without me knowing, but I don’t want to be too cocky.” His voice trips over that last word. He turns around with a bottle of wine and a bottle opener in his hands.

“How’s Zahra?” I ask, ashamed that this is the first time I’ve asked about my sister since we left Naples. I turn away from him to grab two wine glasses hanging from a rack near the sink. I rinse them off and dry them with the dishtowel. I busy myself doing this slowly and carefully because I don’t want to have to look at Alfonso, just in case he notices the shame that I feel washing across my face.

“She is fine. Giulio says she’s decided to acquaint herself with Italian cuisine.”

I turn around and squint at him. “She’s been here for over a month. What has she been eating before now?”

He shrugs. “She and Giulio didn’t leave the house much before you arrived.”

I roll my eyes. “Predictable. And Shae? Have you heard from her?”

“Not from her, but I have spoken to Salvatore. He says that she’s been a bit sick.”

I gasp.

“Not sick,” he corrects quickly, shaking his head. “Nauseous. The baby.”

I swallow and return to the table. He watches me for a few seconds and then pours a glass of red wine, offering it to me.

I take it, and our fingers brush, but I can’t enjoy it. That shame I felt earlier has kicked into overdrive. I haven’t thought about Shae’s baby since Naples, and I feel like shit. I take a deep sip of wine. “B-but she’s okay?”

He nods. “She is fine.”

“How long do I have to stay here?” I whine.

Alfonso’s face falls. “I don’t know. Salvatore still thinks it’s important that we not be all in the same place. Not until we have some idea what’s going on. It might be that the threat is elsewhere, and you’re safest here.”

“If I’m safe here, then why not bring Zahra and Shae here?”