The Neighbor's Son 2: Mind Games (The Forbidden Love Series Book 2)

THE NEIGHBOR'S SON 2: MIND GAMES

(THE FORBIDDEN LOVE SERIES BOOK 2)

BY

ELLA WARD

THE NEIGHBOR'S SON 2: MIND GAMES

THE FORBIDDEN LOVE SERIES: BOOK 2

Copyright 2015 ELLA WARD

All rights reserved.

Published by Ella Ward at Smashwords

This book is a work of fiction. Names,
characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s
imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual
persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely
coincidental.

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

Thank you for downloading this ebook. This book
remains the copyrighted property of the author, and may not be
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER I

CHAPTER II

CHAPTER III

CHAPTER IV

CHAPTER V

CHAPTER VI

CHAPTER VII

DEAR READER

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

CHAPTER I

Peter continued to yell at
the top of his lungs while his fists pounded the door non-stop.
“Open the goddamned door, Sydney! I know you’re home! Sidneeey…!”
With my heart beating in my throat, I jumped off the bed and
crouched down to gather my clothes scattered all over the floor. I
started to recite prayers under my breath and I never pray. I was
seriously freaking out. My drunk ex-husband was trying to bash my
front door open in the middle of the night while I had the
neighbor’s kid in my bedroom. It was a complete and utter
nightmare. I wanted to kick my own butt for being so reckless. I
shouldn't have let Cade inside the house. I should've stuck to my
original plan of a
quiet night at home
grading papers and sipping tea. Stupid Sidney.

Cade scooted over to the edge of the
mattress and sat up, legs apart, feet on the ground, palms flat on
the bed. His naked Greek god body was still glistening with sweat.
The beast between his legs was still semi-hard and twitching
against his inner thigh. “Jeez! What the hell is wrong with that
guy? Why is he yelling like that?”

I slipped into my pajama shorts while
searching for my tank top. “Nothing. It’s no big deal,” I said,
trying to downplay the seriousness of the situation. “He gets like
that from time to time.”

“What do you mean from time to time? Harassing you
like this is a normal thing for him?"

Since I couldn't find my tank top anywhere,
I stepped over to the dresser, grabbed another one out of one of
the drawers, and slipped it on. "He used to come home drunk like
that all the time when we were married. After we separated, he's
shown up drunk a couple of times."

"That's messed up. Why do you put up with
it?”

I bent down to pull my slippers from under
the bed. After getting them on my feet, I straightened up and faced
Cade. “Like I said, it’s no big deal. I’m going to go downstairs
and handle him. You wait here.”

Cade bent down to grab his boxer briefs off
the floor. With his underwear in his hands, he sprung to his feet
and took a couple of steps to stand in front of me. “No way. He
sounds dangerous. I’m going with you.”

I let out a heavy breath while gathering my
damp hair and twisting it into a messy bun at the top of my head.
“Absolutely not,” I said, shaking my head at him, my tone firm.

"But Sidney..."

I placed my palms flat on
his sculpted chest and stared into his eyes. “I don’t want him to
know you’re here.
Stay here in the bedroom
until he’s gone. Please.”

“
Why don’t you want him to
see me here? You’re not his wife anymore. You’re free to sleep with
whomever you want.”

I let out another heavy sigh. “You're right.
But I don’t want him to see you here. Please. I beg you. Stay in
here until he’s gone. Don’t make this situation messier than it
already is.”

“
Fine,” Cade breathed out,
dropping his shoulders. Confusion and frustration crinkled his
brow.

I leaned in for a brief kiss before running
out of the room and shutting the door behind me. Peter was still
pounding on my front door and screaming my name like a deranged
person. I was so pissed at my douchebag ex, I wanted to scream. I
thought that once I divorced the idiot I wouldn't have to put up
with his pathetic behavior. But he continued to find ways to
aggravate and humiliate me long after the ink on our divorce papers
had dried. Why couldn't he just leave me alone?

I ran downstairs ready to give Peter a piece
of my mind and send his sorry ass back to his luxury condo. On my
way to the door, I spotted my silk robe on the floor and slipped it
on. With my hand on the door handle, I took a deep, calming breath
and reminded myself that losing my temper with Peter was only going
to make things worse. The jackass was drunk out of his mind and
there probably were people gathered around on their porches
watching the show. I needed to get rid of Peter as quickly as I
could and in a dignified manner. I swung the door wide open and
there he was, the man who had caused me nothing but grief and pain
for most of the fourteen years that I'd known him. He just stood
there, staring back at me with a dazed look in his eyes.

“
What are you doing here,
Peter? What do you want?” I barked through gritted teeth while my
eyes nervously scanned the street for nosy onlookers. Luckily, no
one had come out of their homes to see what all the commotion was
about. I turned my attention back to Peter who looked like a
complete mess. The thinning red hair on top of his head was
sticking up like he had just gotten
out of
bed. The tails of the dress shirt under his suit jacket were
hanging over his pants, and he was having difficulty maintaining
his balance.

“
Hey there, Sidney,” Peter
slurred. A hiccup interrupted the goofy smile plastered on his
face. His eyes looked very red and so did his nose. It was obvious
alcohol was not the only recreational substance swimming in his
blood stream that night.

“
What do you want, Peter?
What the hell are you doing here?”

Peter pressed his index
finger to his lips and made a shush sound. “Hey, hey, hey. Lower
your voice, darling. That’s no way
to talk
to your husband of fourteen years.”

“
You’re not my husband
anymore, Peter," I hissed. "We’re divorced. Remember?” A wobbling
Peter shoved me out of the way and staggered inside the house. He
reeked of alcohol and cheap perfume, both smells familiar reminders
of why I divorced the bastard in the first place. I shut the door
and watched him bump into furniture on his way to the
bar.

“
I love this house. I miss
living here,” Peter said in between hiccups as he gazed around the
living room. At the bar, his unsteady hands made a mess trying to
pour whiskey
in two shot glasses. With the
two drinks in his hands, he stepped from behind the bar and
stumbled back towards me. “Here, darling. Have a drink with
me.

"I scowled at him with my arms folded over
my chest. “No thanks. I'm good. And you shouldn’t be drinking
either. Don’t you think you’ve had enough for the night?”

“
Jesus Christ, Sidney! Why
do you always have to be such a buzzkill?" With a shrug, Peter
brought the shot glass to his lips. "More for me then.” After
slamming every drop of that drink down his throat, he wiped his
mouth on the sleeve of his suit jacket and shucked the empty shot
glass on the floor. Thankfully, the glass didn't shatter. No longer
able to maintain his balance, the hopeless drunk plopped down on
the couch with the other shot glass still in his hand.

I had never seen Peter that drunk. I had
never seen him high. Ever. This drug thing must have started after
we split up. He looked terrible. He kept rubbing his eyes, sniffing
and scratching himself. For a second, I felt a smidgen of pity for
the man. But then I remembered all the misery he put me through
during our marriage and continued to put me through after the
separation and the feeling went away. Peter MacDougal was a
terrible person. That, and the fact that I still had the neighbor’s
son hiding in my bedroom, reminded me that I needed to get Peter
out of the house as soon as possible.

“
You haven’t answered my
question, Peter. Why are you here?”

After gulping down half the whiskey and
spilling the rest on his shirt, Peter set the empty shot glass down
on the coffee table and stretched his hand out to me. “Come over
here, Sidney. Sit with me.”

I stayed put, glaring at
him from afar, not knowing what to do. I glanced up the stairs. So
far, Cade had kept his promise and hadn't come out of the bedroom.
But I knew how stubborn he was. I knew it was only a matter of time
before he came down to check on Peter and
me. The longer Peter stayed, the greater the chance of them
meeting. I couldn't let that happen. My patience with Peter was
wearing thin but I figured that if I indulged him a bit, he’d
leave. With my arms still folded over my chest, I sauntered over
and settled next to him on the couch.

Sitting next to Peter, I
noticed huge bags under his eyes. He wasn’t sleeping well. But that
wasn’t new. He’d had trouble sleeping for as long as I’d known him.
But he didn’t just look tired. I also saw sadness behind his green
eyes, sadness and even a little fear. I had a feeling something
serious was troubling him but I was not about to ask him any
questions. He was not my problem anymore. I just wanted him gone.
He reached out and caressed my cheek with the back of his hand.
Even though his touch made my skin crawl, I didn't react. Instead,
I silently prayed for more self-control. He had to leave sooner or
later
, right?

“
You’re so pretty, Sidney,”
he slurred. “I think you’re prettier now than when I met you.” He
couldn’t stop sniffing, hiccupping and rubbing his nose. He threw
his head back against the cushion and kept his eyes and his hand on
me. “I miss you so much, Sidney. I’m sorry I cheated on you. You’re
the best thing that ever happened to me and I blew it. I’m a
freaking idiot.”

I pushed his hand away from
my face. “Please stop. We signed our divorce
paper
s two days ago. Why are you telling
me these things now?”

Peter scooted closer to me and placed a hand
on my knee. His rank breath blowing on my face was making me
nauseous. “I want to get back together, Sidney. I promise I’ll
behave this time. I need you back.”

I glared at him without blinking and with my
mouth hanging open. I couldn’t believe the nerve of that guy. I
swatted his hand away and shot to my feet. I wanted to scream but
remembered Cade was still upstairs. “Are you out of your freaking
mind?" I whispered. "After everything you put me through, you think
I would ever give you another chance to hurt me?” I was livid but
quickly realized it was probably the alcohol and the drugs talking.
“You know what? I’m not having this conversation with you, Peter.
You need to leave.” I turned my back to him so I could reach for my
phone lying on a corner table. “You’re too drunk to drive. I’m
going to call you a taxi to take you home.”

While I dialed the cab
company, I could hear Peter behind me, sniffing, clearing his
throat, struggling to get on his feet. Next thing I
kn
ew, he’s standing right behind me. His
palms were stroking my breasts over my robe and his hot, stinky,
ragged breath was on my neck. “Please, Sidney. I miss you so much.
Please give us another chance.”

“
Get off me,” I shrieked as
quietly as I could. I didn’t want Cade to know the situation with
Peter was getting out of my hands. I struggled to pry his hands
away from my breasts. He was drunk out of his mind but he was still
very strong. When I managed to free myself from his grip, I swung
around and shoved him. I pushed him hard, hard enough for him to
stumble backwards, lose his balance
, and
fall to the ground.

“
Are you all right?” I
asked when I noticed what looked like blood dripping from between
his fingers. I figured he must have cut himself on the sharp edge
of the coffee table when he tried to use it to break his fall. He
cursed under his breath while staring at his bleeding hand. I too
mumbled a few curses and wondered just how much worse my night was
going to get.