My Hockey Alpha novel Chapter 42

Nina

I woke up to the sound of thunder and howling wind in a dark bedroom that was not my own.

Where was I?

I slowly sat up, peering through the cracked door that led to another room. I could make out the silhouette of a man on the couch. He was watching a scary movie on the TV.

It sounded like there was a hellish storm outside, but I was willing to go out there if it meant getting away from the man who drugged me.

I stood as slowly and quietly as I could, realizing now that I was only dressed in an oversized men’s t-shirt and my clothes were nowhere to be found. Did this lunatic have his way with me already? I shuddered at the thought, tears pricking at the backs of my eyes as I scanned the room for some sort of weapon. Maybe if I could sneak up on him and hit him over the head, it would knock him out long enough for me to grab my things and get the hell out of here.

Bingo! There was an umbrella hanging on the back of the door. It would take a lot of force, but I could do it. Surprisingly, I felt strong despite the drugs in my system.

I grabbed the umbrella off the door and slowly creaked the door open, stepping forward to strike…

He suddenly whipped his head around. I stood frozen like a deer in headlights with the umbrella poised over my head to hit him.

It was Enzo.

“Jesus!” he said, jumping up from the couch. “How are you even up right now?”

Enzo drugged me?

“You asshole!” I yelled, circling around the couch with the umbrella still ready to strike him. “You drugged me!”

Enzo backed away, knocking into a barstool and toppling it over with a crash. “I didn’t drug you,” he said, but I didn’t believe him. K was right. Enzo was a monster. I swung at him with the umbrella, but he caught it before it hit him.

“Nina, calm down!” he said, yanking the umbrella away. I backed away, weaponless, scanning the room for my things so I could grab them and run. Hell, I didn’t even care about that anymore. I just needed to get out. I turned on my heel and ran for the door, my heart racing as I heard Enzo running behind me.

“Nina, Luke brought you here!” he said, catching up to me and placing his hand on the door just as I was about to open it.

I stopped.

“Luke…?” I furrowed my brow, straining to remember what happened before I blacked out.

“Yes, Luke,” he said, tossing the umbrella down on the floor. “You know, your skeleton bodyguard. He found you with some psycho who was trying to hurt you and brought you here.”

My heart was still pounding out of my chest, but when I looked up at Enzo, his face was hard and serious.

All of a sudden, my head started to throb and I felt like I was going to pass out from all of the exertion. I stumbled backwards. Enzo leaped forward and caught me just before I fell, wrapping his strong arms around me and scooping me up with ease as a wave of dizziness took over me. He quietly carried me over to the couch and sat down, still holding me tightly.

“You know I’d never hurt you,” he said, feeling my forehead with the back of his hand as a concerned expression drew across his face.

As Enzo held me, rocking me gently, the memories started to flood back in. I remembered an older businessman at the bar… He carried me to a broom closet, and…

I didn’t want to think about it any more.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered when I finally felt like I could speak. “It was just…”

“I know,” he responded. “You woke up in an unfamiliar place right after someone tried to hurt you. I’m sorry, too. I should’ve left you a note or something.”