Page 1 of Enforcer's Obsession

ONE

Hope

Areyou sure this is the right place?

I forced myself to relax my white-knuckle grip on my cell phone and watched the three gray dots bounce as my best friend, Molly, typed her reply.

The seconds ticked by, each one longer than the last as my nerves creeped higher. I hated being in unfamiliar places. I closed my eyes and wondered if I should give up and go home.

No, I can’t.

My best friend needed me and I refused to let her down. Not when she’d called me so upset.

When my phone vibrated, naive hope made my eyes fly open, only for it to disappear like a sinking stone as I read her message.

Yeah! I’m at the back.

My disappointment was almost palpable.

I’d been sure Molly couldn’t have meanthere.

I’d walked by it twice, certain it was the wrong place.

For one thing, this wasn’t her normal scene.

It definitely wasn’t mine.

I’ve never been to this area—not that I was big on exploring the city we lived in regardless. The street was a bit busy with people off work for the day, some of them giving me annoyed looks as my frozen feet forced them to walk around me.

The building in front of me wasn’t exactly shabby, and in fact, it looked better than other businesses on the street.

It was a two-story red brick building with older architectural style that matched the rest of the area. Unlike the other businesses, which were a mix of small Mom and Pop establishments, this place had mirrored tint on the windows making it impossible to see inside.

An understated sign above the solid wooden door spelled outCarlo’sin shiny gold letters on a black plaque. Underneath the name was something in what I guessed was Italian but I didn’t recognize any of the words.

Maybe to someone else, a place like this wouldn’t be a blip on their radar.

But for me?—

I let my eyes close again, wishing I was the type of person to bail on a friend.

The door swung open and two men, tall and intimidating—not that it took much to intimidate me—spilled out. I hastily stepped out of their way, and they didn’t seem to notice me to my relief. They were pulling on thick coats over their suits, though, and I grimaced at my own clothes.

I’d come from work in my scrubs. It wasn’t like I expected to have plans that night.

In the few seconds the door was open, I was overwhelmed with loud voices and the familiar and stomach-churning scent of cigars, all carried out in a gust of warm air that reminded me I’d left my jacket at work.

“Going in?”

I jumped, looking wide-eyed at the man who’d walked up without me realizing it. He was older, a few inches taller than my own five foot six, stocky, and maybe someone else would have thought of his half smile and patient eyes as friendly.

I just wanted to turn on my heels and run.

Instead, I gave him a brittle, rigid smile that definitely came off more like a grimace and a sharp nod as he went to open the door.

He held it open for me.

I wanted to believe that courage carried me through, but I hadn’t felt brave in years. I stepped out of the way as he followed in behind me with a murmured thanks, and stared like a dummy as I took the unfamiliar place in. My stomach gnawed at my spine, telling me the ringing of the door’s little bell was a death toll for my fate.