Lovely Neighbor (Lovely 1)

“Sugar, are you with us?” I snap my head up, not hearing what they asked me. “I think we’re done for today. Leave all this here and she and Devin can look at it tonight.”

“Sounds good.” Sasha closes her notepad and puts it into her bag.

After I walk her out, I turn to Grams. “That was a lot to take in. I had no idea how many things went into a wedding.”

“But it’s fun.”

“I’m happy I get to do this with you.” I walk over and kiss her on the cheek.

“Don’t you worry about that other legal stuff,” she says, knowing exactly where my head is at.

“I get it. I mean, Devin is a lawyer so he’s going to want one.”

Grams rolls her eyes. “If you say so.”

I follow her out and wave to the guard at the elevator. When I see Grams is safely inside, I close my door and lock it.

I walk toward the bedroom in search of Moose and find him sprawled out on our bed. He jumped right in Devin’s spot this morning after he left for work.

“Hey big guy, you want to go for a walk?” He opens one eye to look at me before he closes it again. “Come on. You need to go out for a little bit.” He sticks his head under the blanket, making me laugh and I pull it back. “I’ll get you bacon.” At those words he’s up running down the hallway. That magic word always does the trick.

I walk into the bathroom, pull my hair up into a ponytail, and ditch my jeans. I jump when I hear the bedroom door slam shut.

“Devin?” I call out, but I don’t hear anything. I step out of the bathroom, thinking maybe it closed behind Moose, but my heart drops when I see Peter standing there. When I notice the gun in his hand, I jump back into the bathroom and slam the door shut. I try to hold it but he’s banging on it hard and I can hear Moose going nuts outside the bedroom.

“You’re making this harder than it has to be.” He slams into the door and throws me back as it explodes open. I land on the tile and hurry to scramble back, but there’s nowhere to go.

“Peter, please stop.” I hold my hands out in front of me.

“I didn’t know you were such a whore! I thought you were playing hard to get. Then you go and fuck the first rich guy you see.” He stalks closer, his eyes scanning up my bare legs and then to my panties. He leans over me and I try not to shake, but I’ve never been more terrified in my life. “Is that what it takes? Money?” he yells in my face.

Every time before now when I’ve seen him he was always so put together and clean. But now he’s dirty and smells strongly of urine and body odor. I hold my breath as I try to turn away.

“Please, Peter, don’t do this.” My words come out choked.

“What was wrong with me?” He’s so close I can feel his breath on my face and it’s rotten. He doesn’t move an inch while he waits for an answer.

“I didn’t know you were into me.” I lie because I’m sure as hell not going to tell him he gave me the creeps. My intuition was right about him all along and the only thing I can do now is play dumb. “I thought you only wanted to be friends.”

He stares at me, not saying anything for a long time, and I try not to look at the gun he has down at his side.

“It’s too late for all that now,” he says through gritted teeth as his hand tightens around the weapon.

“How did you get in here?” I have to keep him talking. There’s a guard right outside the front door and he’s going to hear Moose eventually. I just have to buy time until then. “You must have been really good to get past the guards.”

If I know anything about Peter, it’s that he’s got an ego and thinks he’s the greatest thing to ever live. If I can keep him distracted by talking to me, maybe I can make it out of this alive.

“I’ve been here since yesterday.” He laughs like I’m stupid. “After I broke into the security cameras through the IT department, I had plenty of time. I had so much fun tearing up your grandmother’s place.” He fidgets as he paces the bathroom. “When I was finished over there I snuck in here and waited. I wanted you alone, but I had to suffer through hours of wedding shit, and let’s not forget the morning fuck you got right there!” he yells and points to the shower. “Do you think I wanted to hear that, Erin? From the woman I love?”