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Chapter 38: Susanna
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My Neighbour's Wife Chapter 39: Susanna
I flinch, eyes stinging with anger, hate, remorse and self-loathing. “I...I’m sorry--”“It’s for the best we don’t communicate with each other again.”The beep of the call disconnecting has never been louder, and my fingers shake as I cover my face with my hands, hyperventilating.No. He doesn’t get to do this to me. He can’t do this to me. It’s been a year. He’s married. He moved on and I don’t get to? I don’t get to see other people? He can’t take that from me.My fingers are flying across my screen before I can stop myself, and I’m punching in digits I’ve tried to scrub free from my mind. He picks up on the first ring. My heart skips and my mouth dries at the sound of his sonorous voice. My skin warms and my nipples tighten as he says my name with an intimacy I haven’t experienced since I left him. “Susanna.”How he knows it’s me, I have no idea, and I frankly don’t care. “You don’t get to do this to me, Zefiro.”A rustle of sheets. He’s flipping through a book. “You cut your hair
My Neighbour's Wife Chapter 40: Zefiro's pov
Zefiro“And did she know? That it was a marriage of convenience?”My ankle crosses over my knee, and I flick my thumb over the cheap necklace I stole from her dresser. “No.”Dark eyes study my face for the fifth time today, lingering too long on my lips. When she realizes I’m watching, her cheeks stain pink. She clears her throat and adjusts her glasses. “So, it wasn’t entirely her fault, then.”“She never asked. Didn’t care enough to.”Her fingers tuck a stray lock of hair behind her ear, giving me a glimpse of her neck and collarbone. A few years ago, that might have been enough for me to close the blinds and bend her over her desk. But now? I’m ruined for one woman. The same woman who doesn’t even want me.“Maybe it’s not that she didn’t care.” She flips through her notes that date back to my first day here and her brow furrows. “You mentioned she was married...”Her voice fades off, realization dawning in her eyes. I know what she’s thinking. That this seems familiar. Her gaze sha
My Neighbour's Wife Chapter 41: Susanna's pov
There are natural disasters. Tornadoes, whirlwinds, hurricanes, floods. And then, there is Zefiro. Zefiro the man, Zefiro my lover, Zefiro my stalker. A destructive force made of flesh, bones and beautiful tan skin. The most handsome man I’ve ever seen—could ever see, with the loveliest set of eyes I’ll ever look into, no matter how often they haunt my waking moments.Golden brown like molten honey in the sunlight, his eyes are fastened on me as he cuts through the too eager crowd, who peer at him in awe.Pity they don’t know.He could melt hearts with a deceiving smile, convince those who couldn’t look past the surface that he was...just a man. Gorgeous, yes, but normal. But there was nothing normal underneath that hot, muscular skin. There was nothing sane behind those eyes. Only fire, blood and want.That he located my work place doesn't even surprise me. Frankly, I’ve been waiting since I found the tattoo at the base of my spine. I knew it was only a matter of time till he showed
My Neighbour's Wife Chapter 42: Susanna's pov
My throat tightens and I snatch my hand back, hiding it from him and prying eyes. “Anything is better than being yours or another man’s ‘possession’, and yes, I do love it here.”His jaw ticks subtly and I might not have noticed if I wasn’t devouring his face with my eyes. He stares at me, long and hard, but he doesn’t speak.Feeling unusually tiny under the intensity of his gaze, I whisper, bitterness clogging my throat. “Does she know you’re here? Your wife?”His lips curl into a cruel smirk. “Valentina understands not to meddle in my affairs.”Blood rushes to my cheeks and I look away, curling my hands in my lap. “Why are you here, Zefiro? What do you want?”“I got impatient.” His eyes are dark. “You’ve had a year to think. It’s about time you came back to me.”“I’ll pass on that, thanks.”Dropping the stylus pen, he reaches into his pocket and withdraws a small box. He pushes it across the table slowly. “You see, that’s where you got it wrong, Sue. I wasn’t asking.”My pulse spike
My Neighbour's Wife Chapter 43: Zefiro's pov
The click of heels against the checkered floors are especially violent and the clouds outside are stormy, much like Nonna’s mood.“Do you have any idea how much I paid to get these off the media?!” She yells, her voice cracking as she sets her tablet down on the table beside me.A side glance confirms pictures from my...engagements yesterday. Gianna sips her coffee with ridiculous concentration. Alessandro cuts me a surprised look before returning his attention to Sylvia, whose ass he seems rather fascinated with. Too bad he no longer has enough fingers to get her there, or any other woman for that matter.Valentina looks livid. She’s had that expression since last night, questions heavy in her emerald green eyes.Maybe I was an asshole, like Susanna would passionately call me, but we did have an agreement. I gave her my name, my money and never requested her presence in my bed as long as she never asked questions on who I chose to fuck, so long as it remained private.I suppose I did
My Neighbour's Wife Chapter 44: Zefiro's pov
A small scream echoes through the small apartment, and I look over my shoulder turn just enough to catch her silhouette in the doorway, her mouth a slash of fury.It felt good--her returning home from work to me. Though her expression states otherwise. “How the hell did you--never mind. I don’t even want to know.” She stabs a finger toward the hallway, accusation, judgment—both aimed squarely at me. “Get the fuck out.”Wild curls curtain her face but the fire in her grey eyes blaze me to the core. Some bizarre flutter runs deep in my gut and I frown, puzzled by the clear anomaly. Must be indigestion. Only women had ‘butterflies’.My gaze drops, tracking the soft, gray camisole she wears, cloaked beneath a bulky brown wool coat and loose black jeans. Not even a sliver of skin.I suddenly despised the world that made a twenty-two year old hide her own body. I was hardly one to speak, though, lusting after said woman when I was over a decade older. Would she have laughed more if she gr
My Neighbour's Wife Chapter 45: Zefiro's pov
I am cursed with a raging hard-on and a sulky mood, hearing the shower run while I make pasta. I’m fucking cooking with a damned boner. Rizzi would laugh so hard, I’d shoot his brains out if he was here.When I find her minutes later, she’s curled up in bed, sporting a large shirt and pink shorts, her eyes glued to her TV screen, a half-eaten chocolate bar hovering before her lips as she watches a show with severe concentration.It’s a domestic scene, wrong and so bloody perfect I pause in the doorway. “No way he said that!” She howls, her legs kicking in the air. Her eyes, they twinkle, and I don’t know what to do with myself. She catches sight of me by the door and squeaks a sound that should be unattractive, but makes my inside burn. She sits up, crossing her legs and absentmindedly patting down her hair. “Where’s yours?” she mumbles, eyeing the tray suspiciously.I shrug, dropping onto the mattress beside her. Soft. Too soft. Everything smells like her. “Not a fan of pasta”She
My Neighbour's Wife 46: Susanna's pov
Sometimes, I wondered if I loved having my heartbroken, making choices that only left me in tears. Maybe I was a sucker for pain and didn't know it yet. The week crawled by rather slowly and all I wanted to do was bawl. I didn't leave my couch, I felt like death. And when I did go to work, I couldn't function. I counted down the hours until I had to return home. I looked outside, expecting to find him, or his men watching me. I woke up, longing to find my underwear stolen or my home breached. But there was no sign of him anywhere. It wasn't until the next week the feeling returned. The tingling sensation that ran down my spine. One that told me I was being watched, followed. My head snaps back as I hand over my credit card, eyes searching every face, looking for a familiar set of golden brown eyes and dark hair of head. I find a familiar face, one I don't like very much. Rizzi's. Bursting out of the Café violently, I take a different tu
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My Neighbour's Wife Chapter 49: Susanna's pov
“H-home?” My breath lodges in my throat, and for the first time, I notice the woman standing behind, speaking in hush tones into her cellphone. Waves of full red hair falls over the back of a black long dress and her arms drop, her body tilting to face me fully. Icy dread pours through my veins, turning my blood to frost as the world around me closes in on the click of red heels and equally red smile. A crushing weight presses down on my chest and the nauseating stench of wrongly layered perfume suffocates me. A hand comes down on my hair, running down my face and I curl back, my ass hitting the floor and my heels scraping against stone. “N-no. Get away from me!”Valentina gives an order and I am set back on my knees roughly, my head pushed down until my lips brush against Morwenna’s feet.“I’ve been looking for you, Susanna,” Morwenna says with faux worry, her hands threading lovingly through my hair. “Why do you do this to me? Do you have any idea how worried Jax is? How could yo
My Neighbour's Wife Chapter 48: Susanna's pov
My head slams into something hard on descent, stirring me awake. I moan at the pain, but my voice is muffled, my lips dried and hurt around a foul tasting piece of cloth.A gag.My vision is tinged with darkness and my air filtered as I breathe in deeply. It takes a moment to realize the darkness is a hood over my head and my legs and hands have been bound, skin chafed raw from restraints.I kick, frustrated, screaming into the gag, rolling and hitting into anything I can feel around me, but I only end up hurting myself. I instantly recognize the steady hum of aircraft and engines that drowns out the sound my assault, and my blood runs cold.Where am I being taken? I knew freaking out wouldn’t help but being somewhere in the skies, literally anywhere right now, in the entire world, doesn’t exactly calm my nerves.How long have I been out and who took me? Was it the enemies Rizzi spoke of?Was it Jaxon?Every hum, every shift of the engines sets my nerves on edge. My heart is pounding
My Neighbour's Wife Chapter 47: Susanna's pov
Rizzi snorts. "His life is never in danger, Mrs. Hawke." I bristle at the name, but say nothing, changing my direction and heading for our parking spot. I'd have loved to stay longer but I'm too young to die and a bullet through my head is a rather ugly sight. "How long have you known him?" I ask, sighting Rizzi's car down the lot. There's a black van directly behind it, parked vertically, blocking us out. I notice his frown and at a second glance, I add with a mouthful of chocolate dipped cones."There's someone in the driver's seat." He nods. "Thirty-four years." Rizzi's frown eases a little, the corner of his eyes softening into a secret smile. "He used to call me *frantello*." I start to smile but the air on my neck rises suddenly, a sense of unease coming over me. I huddle closer to Rizzi and match his brisk steps, unable to shake the off-feeling. "You're making a mess," Rizzi says as we reach the van, staring pointedly at the uneaten ice c
My Neighbour's Wife 46: Susanna's pov
Sometimes, I wondered if I loved having my heartbroken, making choices that only left me in tears. Maybe I was a sucker for pain and didn't know it yet. The week crawled by rather slowly and all I wanted to do was bawl. I didn't leave my couch, I felt like death. And when I did go to work, I couldn't function. I counted down the hours until I had to return home. I looked outside, expecting to find him, or his men watching me. I woke up, longing to find my underwear stolen or my home breached. But there was no sign of him anywhere. It wasn't until the next week the feeling returned. The tingling sensation that ran down my spine. One that told me I was being watched, followed. My head snaps back as I hand over my credit card, eyes searching every face, looking for a familiar set of golden brown eyes and dark hair of head. I find a familiar face, one I don't like very much. Rizzi's. Bursting out of the Café violently, I take a different tu
My Neighbour's Wife Chapter 45: Zefiro's pov
I am cursed with a raging hard-on and a sulky mood, hearing the shower run while I make pasta. I’m fucking cooking with a damned boner. Rizzi would laugh so hard, I’d shoot his brains out if he was here.When I find her minutes later, she’s curled up in bed, sporting a large shirt and pink shorts, her eyes glued to her TV screen, a half-eaten chocolate bar hovering before her lips as she watches a show with severe concentration.It’s a domestic scene, wrong and so bloody perfect I pause in the doorway. “No way he said that!” She howls, her legs kicking in the air. Her eyes, they twinkle, and I don’t know what to do with myself. She catches sight of me by the door and squeaks a sound that should be unattractive, but makes my inside burn. She sits up, crossing her legs and absentmindedly patting down her hair. “Where’s yours?” she mumbles, eyeing the tray suspiciously.I shrug, dropping onto the mattress beside her. Soft. Too soft. Everything smells like her. “Not a fan of pasta”She
My Neighbour's Wife Chapter 44: Zefiro's pov
A small scream echoes through the small apartment, and I look over my shoulder turn just enough to catch her silhouette in the doorway, her mouth a slash of fury.It felt good--her returning home from work to me. Though her expression states otherwise. “How the hell did you--never mind. I don’t even want to know.” She stabs a finger toward the hallway, accusation, judgment—both aimed squarely at me. “Get the fuck out.”Wild curls curtain her face but the fire in her grey eyes blaze me to the core. Some bizarre flutter runs deep in my gut and I frown, puzzled by the clear anomaly. Must be indigestion. Only women had ‘butterflies’.My gaze drops, tracking the soft, gray camisole she wears, cloaked beneath a bulky brown wool coat and loose black jeans. Not even a sliver of skin.I suddenly despised the world that made a twenty-two year old hide her own body. I was hardly one to speak, though, lusting after said woman when I was over a decade older. Would she have laughed more if she gr
My Neighbour's Wife Chapter 43: Zefiro's pov
The click of heels against the checkered floors are especially violent and the clouds outside are stormy, much like Nonna’s mood.“Do you have any idea how much I paid to get these off the media?!” She yells, her voice cracking as she sets her tablet down on the table beside me.A side glance confirms pictures from my...engagements yesterday. Gianna sips her coffee with ridiculous concentration. Alessandro cuts me a surprised look before returning his attention to Sylvia, whose ass he seems rather fascinated with. Too bad he no longer has enough fingers to get her there, or any other woman for that matter.Valentina looks livid. She’s had that expression since last night, questions heavy in her emerald green eyes.Maybe I was an asshole, like Susanna would passionately call me, but we did have an agreement. I gave her my name, my money and never requested her presence in my bed as long as she never asked questions on who I chose to fuck, so long as it remained private.I suppose I did
My Neighbour's Wife Chapter 42: Susanna's pov
My throat tightens and I snatch my hand back, hiding it from him and prying eyes. “Anything is better than being yours or another man’s ‘possession’, and yes, I do love it here.”His jaw ticks subtly and I might not have noticed if I wasn’t devouring his face with my eyes. He stares at me, long and hard, but he doesn’t speak.Feeling unusually tiny under the intensity of his gaze, I whisper, bitterness clogging my throat. “Does she know you’re here? Your wife?”His lips curl into a cruel smirk. “Valentina understands not to meddle in my affairs.”Blood rushes to my cheeks and I look away, curling my hands in my lap. “Why are you here, Zefiro? What do you want?”“I got impatient.” His eyes are dark. “You’ve had a year to think. It’s about time you came back to me.”“I’ll pass on that, thanks.”Dropping the stylus pen, he reaches into his pocket and withdraws a small box. He pushes it across the table slowly. “You see, that’s where you got it wrong, Sue. I wasn’t asking.”My pulse spike
My Neighbour's Wife Chapter 41: Susanna's pov
There are natural disasters. Tornadoes, whirlwinds, hurricanes, floods. And then, there is Zefiro. Zefiro the man, Zefiro my lover, Zefiro my stalker. A destructive force made of flesh, bones and beautiful tan skin. The most handsome man I’ve ever seen—could ever see, with the loveliest set of eyes I’ll ever look into, no matter how often they haunt my waking moments.Golden brown like molten honey in the sunlight, his eyes are fastened on me as he cuts through the too eager crowd, who peer at him in awe.Pity they don’t know.He could melt hearts with a deceiving smile, convince those who couldn’t look past the surface that he was...just a man. Gorgeous, yes, but normal. But there was nothing normal underneath that hot, muscular skin. There was nothing sane behind those eyes. Only fire, blood and want.That he located my work place doesn't even surprise me. Frankly, I’ve been waiting since I found the tattoo at the base of my spine. I knew it was only a matter of time till he showed
