Page 7 of Enforcer's Obsession

Impact came, but was softened by a pair of arms that were anything but.

And then there was a weight on my back, heavy, but strangely comforting.

Comforting, at least until I heard another shot.

TWO

Hope

That sound.

I had only heard it once in my life, but I would never forget it.

Just like I would never mistake it for anything else.

My mind flew back until I was once again in my childhood kitchen, the aroma of the beef stew my mother was cooking thick in the air and the sunset coming in through the window over the sink.

That awful sound was the last thing my mother ever heard.

A deep, commanding voice next to my ear shocked me out of my thoughts.

“Stay down!”

I reached for Molly, desperate to protect her. I struggled against the heavy weight on me, panic seizing my chest.

All I found was air, and I looked over to see that she was gone.

“Molly! I have to find her!” I screamed.

“She’s fine,” the man said. “Stay the fuck down.”

I don’t know how I knew, but I was certain it washim.

When I twisted, dared look in the direction of the voice, I was proven right.

“You picked a bad day to go exploring,bellissima,” he said, his light accent giving his voice an edge of menace and something else, his dark eyes pulling me in.

There was a determined strength in them.

And he wasn’t afraid.

Before I could respond, he was gone.

I watched his feet as he walked, his steps strong and sure. I realized I was still cowering on the floor.

I raised myself up on my hands and knees, listening to my dark protector’s orders to stay down but needing to find Molly.

I looked around wildly, saw the two men still standing at the front door, and Molly nowhere to be found.

My gaze settled on the man who’d tackled me.

Two things struck me.

First, his dark hair was long enough to brush his collar.

Second, he was the most physically imposing person I’d ever seen. Well over six feet tall wearing an expensive suit that barely contained his broad shoulders, powerfully muscled arms, and huge, tree-trunk legs.

Despite his size, he moved gracefully, and continued walking toward the door, while almost everyone else cowered.