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Stranger (2)
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2024-10-29 19:42:56
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Got Too Close Visitor from hell
The door banged shut, and I jerked, sending the container of pencils to the floor. When I looked up at the door, it was to see Joey staring at me with concern; he was holding a package that had the company logo forged on it.I rubbed my tired eyes, going for the floor immediately to gather the pencils back into the container, only to be pricked on my thumb by the sharp end."Owwww," I yelped.Joey quickened his steps towards me before he pulled me up, scolding, "Let it be Elen; I'll take care of it.""No," I refused, but then he plopped me back on my seat, drew out a napkin, held my thumb, and pressed it against it.I tried not to look into his face, knowing what I'd see."I thought it was just me noticing you're jumpy today until Char asked me to check up on you; now here you are, wounding your thumb" he bent down and began putting the pencils back, "Want to talk about it?"Even if I wanted to, was I going to tell him that I had tried seducing my husband, and when I had least expect
Got Too Close Triggered
Authors POV Once she got home, she quickly ran a warm shower and, as fast as she could, dabbed some foundation to cover up the bruises, and then instead of her nightgown, she opted for his pajamas and t-shirt so it could hide a lot from him.Before pouncing into bed, she stared at her broken self in the mirror, her fingers tracing her swollen chin.She shut her eyes away from the picture of hopelessness and pain. Was it possible, even for once, to live without pain and tears? To feel safe and confident enough about what the following day looked like.She heard his steps at the door, and she gasped, jumping under the sheets raising it over her head, and then holding her breath.He walked in then, although she couldn't hear his shoes which were quite surprising because he had made a lot of noise with them just outside of the door.After waiting a long time and she still didn't hear the showers turn on or the bed pressed, she hitched the covers a little to meet with an empty room.She fr
Got Too Close Between the lines
Elena fiddled with her fingers; it was over a couple of hours since the detectives left her office, but even then, she hadn't still found her composure.The pictures they had shown her, the words they had told her, It was apparent she was a suspect, and even her genuine reaction of shock and fear did nothing to change their mind.Detective Rick had gone gentle with her, even told her she didn't have to see the photos taken at the crime scene, but when she demanded it, he splayed it on her desk before her, watching her gasp in horror.Detective Rick wasn't playing around when he told her the murder was gruesome, bloody, and unlike what he had seen in all his days.So bad was it that although he had seen it in real, she thought she saw him shudder.Mason was tied to a pillar, only in bloody white underpants, drenched in blood and skin matter; his flesh had been peeled off, sliced to tiny bits, the raw red underneath gleaming plain and even more painful to the eye.His hands were decapit
Got Too Close Hades breakout
Unmoved and unflinching, like he was just told the earth was round. She waited, listening to her breath, eyes on him with his chin held high; she wondered if he even heard what she said.Then finally, his face still poker, he drew breath in, "That isn't good,"She blinked at him, seeing he wasn't going to say anything else; she looked at the woman who was pushing cotton wool into a spirit container.It felt strange that the Doctor hadn't inquired about her injuries yet. Was she taking Nikolai's word for it? Well, he was president; he could buy her silence.Lowering her lashes, she continued, "There was no sign of a break-in; the method used on him was torture, something called Ling chi,"The doctor paused on Elena's arm, and when Elena raised her head, it was to see her staring at the president aghast.Nikolai raised a brow, his eyes boring into hers. "Doctor Clara, is there anything I can do for you?"The woman let out, "Ling chi, death by a thousand cuts, that is an extremely grueso
Got Too Close Thrill of it .
Settling her at the front of their room door, he didn't bother to look into her face before he turned and left, hearing the door quietly snap shut behind him. She had a clue; it was apparent, all thanks to the expression on her face. The painting explained itself: it was a raw message, probably agonizing like the cut on her upper lip. He hadn't known what had come over him; he had tried to escape the rage when Noah spilled the news. And then he went to see for himself but met her hiding under the covers, shaking like a leaf and holding her breath. That did it. He felt the self-control he had worked years to build break into dust. He would give it to Mason. The man was strong-willed in refusing to spill out the name of his friend. Confirming his suspicions that the wild animal was no ordinary person. But he had a piece of advice for him: keep running. Whatever had gone on last night had ruined everything—his pretense, his composure—and every demon he tried to pin down was flail
Got Too Close Dive in
Elena's POV.The night before, I had slept off, hoping to start my day as early as possible before he woke up, or even dreamt of it, Going into his office, then maybe searching.Searching for? You might ask, but I, too, didn't know; there had to be something, something that would either get me relaxed or running for my life.Consider my shock when I slowly opened my eyes to find him sitting next to my bed, a glass of scotch in his hand, while he stared at the smudged painting of Mia he had hung on our wall.I had wanted to ask him why he had done that when he could have easily made another one, but like all of his actions recently, It was hard to understand.Like why he was holding a glass of scotch in the wee hours of the morning.It was shocking to see him sitting there calmly rolling the cup and doing nothing, but I felt too paralyzed to jerk.Out of habit, my eyes moved to my alarm clock; now I was sure my alarm was being disabled, for I remembered setting it up after watching Doc
Got Too Close Chained in
Authors POVClara knew what she said when she demanded if he was planning on getting caught, Nico thought, Signing and grimacing as he read through the pages.Elena didn't just have a clue or suspect; she was set to prove her assumptions, true or untrue, which was an audacious but wrong move.He had his hands tied; he couldn't do anything about her."Why does Matteo have to go to school every time?" Mia asked, pressing the round solid surface against the paper, her little hands holding the handle firmly.And unlike he did to others, he raised his head to answer her question; It was wild how she overturned his concentration and drew all his attention."To learn, the books won't read themselves."She shrugged, "That bad,"He folded his hands before him, peering into her busy face; if he continued like this, he would never get any job done, "Why is it bad?"She shrugged, "he comes back and continues studying."Now that wasn't his or any teacher's fault; Matteo's other half was his maths
Got Too Close Still hurts
Elena's POV.I relaxed against the chair, hating how uncomfortable I had been since we fought last night. That was the first he had gotten pissed at me, the first he had raised his voice.All of this was because I refused to get paid for being stupid for three years, it was a lot of money, and probably the reasonable thing to do was take it and stash it somewhere for when all of this was over.But then, my pride wouldn't let me; I wasn't sure if it was because I cared what he thought of me or that I didn't want him gifting me a lot that I couldn't repay.Then I would be indebted to him and become a puppet like I was to Alessandro. He had angrily reminded me he wasn't Alessandro, but then how would I know?Especially when he was bent on interchanging occasionally; even Noah had told me not to get attached.Then why did I see him in all of my dreams last night? Why did I relish the memory of his hands caressing my body, his fingers around my neck, stroking the base of it and muttering f
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Got Too Close Oops
"Is that it?" Gianni frowned when I finished. "You've got to be kidding me." Midway, I had almost burst into tears, explaining in as much detail as I could that the men's beachwear collection, which would have been next week, had to be postponed because of the lack of models."You don't get it." I sniffled, dabbing my cheek. "It's bad for business. Bad publicity goes a long way, and the investors...""Hey," Maya says, wrapping her arms around my shoulder, shooting Gianna, still sitting, a glare. "There has to be something we can do about it." "You've got to be kidding me!" Gianna retorts again, "That's why you're crying?" "I'm so sorry," I sobbed. "I don't know why I'm so emotional; what's wrong with me?!" "Oh, I know." Clara mumbles."Gianna!" Maya's tone is laced with a warning tinge. "Be nice." But she was right. This was nothing to cry about; I was a grown woman. It was shameful that once they thought I was the epitome of strength, but now they knew I was just a crybaby."Do
Got Too Close Reunion (3)
The next few days we spent indoors; still, it was hard to see Nico. The air in Calabria was hearty, the laughter infectious. It wasn't hard to notice that Nico and Zayne still stayed away from each other. They had tried to hide it, but they didn't try hard enough to take off our suspicions.Milo, sometimes in the middle of a conversation with the whole family, set up opportunities for them to exchange a word two, but like two peas of the same pod, we found them, mouth full and chewing slowly until the attention was taken off their back."You want me to do it for you?" I asked Nico when we were alone in the room, watching his face as I applied my lipstick, "I could talk to Zayne, Nico. It doesn't have to..." I wasn't done when his arms curled around me, flattening his opened palm against my stomach, sending my heart racing, and then he kissed me, shutting me up briefly.When he broke it off, sending me breathless and wanting, he searched my eyes and murmured, "It's all right. It's my
Got Too Close Reunion 2
Authors POVElena didn't look back as she walked away with the others, Milo staring at the top of her head with amusement as he pushed Gianna out of the sitting room.Nico didn't like that look in his eyes. It was the same look he held for Gianna, and now, whenever Milo was around, Zayne had to work for a bit of time with his wife.He pulled his eyes off the door they just walked out of, and when he turned to Zayne, who continued to give Matteo audience, his countenance a mixture of pride and sadness, Nico felt his stomach churn.He wasn't prepared for this, wasn't ready to be knocked down from the truth he believed in. He thought that Zayne would let the children die, all for petty malice, but all this while, it had been him who did nothing to help.Then why did he hide it? Why did he go through all that only to give all of the praise to Milo? Was that why Milo distanced himself for so long? Suddenly, he felt like he wasn't part of a family he had always known."How are your injuries
Got Too Close Reunion
Author's POV.Matteo continued to chatter, "...He said you were coming for us, Dad, and you came." his innocent smile didn't match the struck expression on his father's face, which also mirrored mine."Can I say hello?" He askedSeeing Nico couldn't say a word, I took charge, "Of course, Matteo, go tell your uncle Hi.""My uncle?" His eyes widened, "Cool Ma," before he was running off towards his sister and Zayne, who, on seeing him, seemed unsure at first, but then slowly, he went on his knees and wrapped his arms around my son.That first hug held a lot of warmth for someone who had ensured he avoided Matteo initially."What's going on?" Maya asked Nico, "Why is everyone so quiet?"Nico, appearing utterly helpless, felt his tense muscles relax as he gazed ahead, overwhelmed by guilt and discomfort. Without even making eye contact with his mother, he softly responded, "Yeah, just surprised," his voice almost trailing off, "Mia doesn't talk to strangers."Although Maya wasn't entirel
Got Too Close Who again?
He returned to tell the kids they could move before he was gone again.After a bit of fun with them, to which half my attention was not in, I left them an hour later, only to discover Nico was gone.Out of the Manor, no information, just like that, disappeared into thin air, making me wish I had stayed long enough at work, for in my head, I was running wild, helpless, and perspiring.The deja vu kept coming repeatedly; it hit me out of the blue. Standing there, watching her get into his car, his chin up, refusing to spare me a glance as she planted her thumb on his chin.My stomach churned as I let out a bitter laugh. Adding to the already complicated situation, I was pregnant. It felt like the only missing piece to complete that agonizing scene from years ago was walking into his office and discovering the papers on his desk.But I wasn't going to do that; I folded my fist against the window pane, and neither was I going to cry; that girl was gone, and in her place was a grown woman
Got Too Close Unbreak my heart (2)
"You're so choosey." Joey huffed, biting into a doughnut, the chocolate toppings sticking to the tip of his nose as he narrowed his eyes at Charlotte."Well, I'm sorry for wanting to make everything perfect instead of just picking out anything my lazy ass tells me to," Charlotte retorted, shuffling through the pictures on my desk, "And believe me when I say, I still haven't found that perfect model."Joey sipped noisily from his coffee cup, and when Charlotte narrowed her gaze at him, he rolled his eyes at her.Seeing this made me wonder how La Belle had endured two people who would fight about everything, including what toppings they wanted for their doughnuts.If I had come to La Belle with the hopes of finding everything for the launching of the men's beachwear project finished, then no surprise, it wasn't even half done.With all of the models unappealing to Char's taste, everything was left on standby.Remembering I left all of the work to them for weeks, the least I could do was
Got Too Close Unbreak my heart
"Can't believe you're giving her thirty million, Elena," Noah huffed, "There are a million reasons she doesn't need it but wants to see your pride smolder."Complaining was never Noah's thing until I came to him that morning, cheque in hand, and explained everything that had happened while he was away.His reaction made me understand why Alexa demanded he didn't come alone.I did feel as if my pride was smoldered, but the feeling was nothing compared to how it would have been if she had eventually waltzed back into Nico's life.Nico had written the cheque immediately after he walked into the room, even before he strolled into the bathroom. When I entered the room, while the showers still gushed, it was sitting pretty at the edge of the bed.The first action I took when I picked it up was to inhale it, proving my desperation. The unbelief was gone. In its place was a dripping heart that he was bent on proving me wrong on all of my beliefs.He hadn't asked. Yet I had been digging up a l
Got Too Close All good.
Nico and Noah were unavailable for two days straight until, watching the news, I discovered the campaign for this year's election was about to commence.There he was, the smile on his face giving the aura that he had no problems, shaking hands with his shoulders straightened and chin held high.The control he exhibited standing right on that platform, the mic close to his face, talking to crowds was unnatural, and although I was just behind the TV, it was as if he was staring straight at me.I spent most of the time in the sitting room, losing my attention at the slightest distraction. 'That's a small sum for the two people that mean so much to me.'When I told Clara, she didn't look as affected as I was; instead, she frowned, "I'm surprised you don't have that amount on you right now."It dawned on her immediately, "Really, Elena?"At first, the decision to be financially independent had come from a place of keeping up my esteem; I mean, being paid to be a wife was low enough. Or t
Got Too Close Falling apart
"What did you just... What?!"The sterile white walls and the scent of antiseptic were starting to affect me, along with the news that Clara had just uttered in the most awkward imaginable.She knew this wasn't good news; she knew how much this would ruin my life. I didn't need something like this now! Not when I wasn't sure I could even hold myself up..."You're six weeks pregnant, Elena," she repeated, the papers in her hold; she seemed to be scared of my reaction had to explain why she was a safe distance away.I clutched at the buttons of my shirt, fighting to breathe, every damn passionate night returning to me.That was what the morning sickness was all about, the emotional roller coaster that had me weeping my eyes out with every bit of provocation.I thought it was stress, the children's abduction, and now the fear that Nico would leave me.And here I was, within the four corners of a hospital that I and Clara had driven to, with Noah waiting in the car.Nico had been called t
