Chapter 3

Honey, I'm Home!

Bella

I sit looking at all the boxes that are scattered around my new living room. The entire house is empty except the furniture and boxes that the movers had just delivered. The move from Georgia to Washington wasn't nearly as horrible as I'd thought it was going to be. Of course, there was the packing and now the unpacking that I do not want to deal with but regardless, I'm happy to start over and to finally be able to breathe.

Ninety days ago I was a happily married woman or at least living my idea of a happy marriage.

"Where's Savannah?"

Every Wednesday like clockwork and as if it'd been put into place since before any one of us were born, I've met up with the crème de la crème of Atlanta society which consists of four women, including myself. Savannah Cavanaugh, the mayor's wife, has more money than she could ever know what to do with and she's never let anyone forget it, and I'm pretty sure that she's used some of Mayor Cavanaugh's hard earned money to fund her salacious appetite for the male anatomy. More than one time I'd seen her dip inside of a car of that of a younger man, and more than once I've seen Little Miss Gold Digger walk up the steps of a few five star hotels on the arm of her latest conquest. As sickening as it is, I'm assuming the mayor is either dumb as a rock or he's oblivious to his wife's extracurricular activities.

"The heifer should already be here but then again, she's probably banging some new piece of tail," Morgan replied with a nasty little curve of her lip. "That bitch is gonna get caught one day and I'm ready to reserve a front row seat for that shit parade."

"From what I hear she's gettin' it real good these days." Ava took a long pull of her Sangria.

Madison, the groups' voice of reason, piped in with a little religious relief. "Well, she needs to get right with God. She's going to burn in the pits of hell if she doesn't watch her rear."

"I'm not so sure that God, his son, or any of the angels can do anything to help that woman's soul," Morgan replied with another pull of her drink. "Trust and believe, I'm almost certain that the Mayor's dippin' his saggy pickle in a nice honey pot or two his damn self."

Between Morgan, Madison, and Ava, none of them had any room to talk. Even though I can't prove it, I'm pretty sure they've tiptoed on the dark side of extramarital lovin'.

"What do you think, Bella? Got your two cents to add in?" Ava asked. "With your stellar marriage you should have a thing or two to add to the pot."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, nothing." Ava's inward, snarky grin grinds my insides. "I mean, we all know how perfect James is."

A cough and a couple muffled giggles sounded off throughout the group.

Irritation clawed its way up my spine, and I was nearly ready to shove my fist down the fake breasted asshat's throat. Everyone in the group knew that I wasn't bred of the same cloth as they were. Hell, that proverbial silver spoon was out of reach in my family. Born to two blue collar working class parents never gave me the option of the 'fortunate' life. Not that I'd ever wanted anything handed to me on a silver platter. To be honest, I loved my simple country life. Growing up a couple miles south of Atlanta, it was our little slice of Heaven. There wasn't anything that compared to jumping into a beefed up truck and going muddin' on a hot summer night or building a bonfire with old ass country music cranked up and a late night swim in Decker's Lake surrounded by my best friends. Yeah. There was nothing like it. My little bit of serenity wrapped up in a town with a population of four thousand twenty-five God fearing souls. School and football games during the week, innocent teenage fun on Saturdays and church on Sundays made that little town one of the most perfect places on earth to live.

That's until I met the man I would vow to spend the rest of my life with. The same man that made me fall in love with him with one genuine smile and the same man that shattered my heart in a matter of seconds.

"Ava Louise, there are just a few things that we as Southern ladies need to keep our noses out of," Madison replied with a stiff cock of her brow. "And this would be one of those times. Nobody likes a Nosey Nellie, Nellie."

"Hey! I'm not the one who's husband's bangin' that bitch," Ava replied, pointing her slender, well-manicured finger in Madison's direction and then turning her head toward me with her lips pursed. "Yes, I said it. Bella, your perfect spouse if fuckin' Mrs. Savannah Cavanaugh."

It could've been the fact that Ava just sucker punched me with information that I was truly unprepared to receive or it could've been the fact that the ugly, stuffy, bitter bitch had it coming when her words spewed like venom as if she had been waiting to hurt me with every ounce of pain she could slap me with. Either way, it happened.

"Jesus! I think you just broke her nose, Isabella!"

"Oh my God! Is it broken? Well, is it? Someone take me to Dr. Mallard's!"

"What in the everlovin' hell's goin' on over here?"

As soon as her voice flitted around us and made a beeline for my ear canal, I began to see red. Anger reared her head as white, hot fire slithered through my veins, and I was certain that at that very moment and as soon as I threw the first punch, I was going to end up in jail.

Needless to say, Savannah Cavanaugh's perfectly sculpted face met my fist with one swift punch.

"You're a sleazy no good fucking whore. You and James deserve each other," I said, straightening my back as I looked over Savannah's writhing body as she sprawled out on the floor, holding her eye and bled from her nose. As teasers started to slide down my cheeks, I knew that my marriage was over and things would never be the same. "Go fuck yourself."

Realizing that I'd left my cell phone in my car, I trudge out to retrieve it. Stepping out on to the cobblestone walkway, I can't help but notice the house to my right. It isn't anything like mine. The yard is full of weeds with junk splattered around as if the lawn had thrown up car parts. Disgusting people. The sudden urge to throw on my old pair of sweats and ratty Kiss t-shirt and get to work on my neighbors craptastic mess of a yard overwhelms me but in the end, I think against it. Whoever lives there would probably be mortified if they found me elbows deep in weeding, and the only thing the realtor would tell me about my 'disorderly' neighbor was that he isn't one to mess with. That bit of information should've thrown me off from buying the house, but damn if the price wasn't perfect and damn if I wasn't out of the shit parade I'd left back in Georgia. No. This is a good thing. Lousy neighbors or not, this is a damn good thing.

I've been at my new place for three days and haven't seen a single soul next door, coming or going. Maybe they got swallowed whole by the accumulating mess. Maybe, just maybe, they were taken over by a ruthless gang of rats inside the house, holding them hostage.

After snatching my cell phone from my car, I walk over to my cute, yellow mailbox and peeked inside. Yeah, you're not loved. It's only junk mail and it has someone else's name on it. Shrugging, I head back toward my new home with one last look over at my neighbor's yard and decide that come tomorrow I'd have a stern talking to the owner about a little clean-up expedition.

As I start back up the walkway I hear a blood curdling scream coming from next door. What the hell? It's a child. A little girl. My feet move on their own accord, sending my ass down my driveway until I'm met by a small, crying child. I can't move, and I'm not sure if I should approach her or call 911. I make my decision and slowly I inch my way closer to the little girl, taking small steps so I don't scare her.

"Are you okay sweetie?" I ask, keeping my hands at my sides. "Do you need help? Where is your mom and dad?"

That one question only makes the little girl cry louder.

"What's your name?" I ask, closing in on the child's space, bending at the knee to get down to the little girl's level. "Can you tell me what happened so I can try and help?"

Before the little girl can say a word, the front door to the house crashes open. The sound of the solid oak door slamming open nearly scares me out of my own skin, making me pop up to my feet and move a few inches away from the child.

"Cassidy! Cassidy where are you?" A man's voice erupts at the entrance of my neighbor's home.

The little girl continues to sob, sitting up against an old oak tree in center of the front yard with her arms wrapped tightly around her body. "Go away!"

"This isn't a game, Cassidy! Come back inside."

"Leave me alone! I hate you!" the little girl screams out.

I have no idea what to do. I have the itching urge to grab the little girl and run as fast as my feet will take us from the man hovering in the door frame. The thought that he could more than likely take me down and probably feed me to his gang of house rats has me laughing inwardly at my idiotic thoughts, but what I see next nearly makes my head swim.

"Who the fuck are you?"

Standing tall, at least six-foot-two is the most breathtaking man I've ever laid eyes on. Dressed only in a pair of old sweats that hang low, very low, on his hips, he's shirtless and heavily tattooed from his chest to his arms. His pecks are insanely defined and his abs are as hard as a board. His dark hair is a shitty mess on top of his head, making my fingers twitch to touch every single strand. His arms are bigger than both of my damn thighs put together, and right about now all I want are my damn thighs spread as far apart as they can go and this beautiful man's face stuffed right between them. He oozes sex and I'm on the verge of combusting for some of that shit.

"Are you fucking deaf?" The man's voice rises as he snaps his fingers wildly in my face. "What are you doing on my property?"

"I'm your neighbor," I quickly answer trying to regain my composure without fumbling over my words. "I just moved in next door."

"And what? Decide you had nothing better to do than to trespass on my property? I could have you fucking arrested!"

"Well, I heard her screaming," I say, pointing to the small girl, "I came over to see what was going on. I was just trying to help."

The man continues to inch closer to me, and I watch as his eyes roam over my body. Suddenly I feel very exposed only wearing a pair of boy shorts and a thin, barely there tank top, as his deep blue eyes rake over my chest. I need to run fast and hard and get the hell away from him as quickly as possible. The heat is too much, intense and completely combustible.

"Let me tell you something, lady," he says as his nostrils flare with every breath he takes. "What goes on at my house is my business. I do not need you or anyone else butting in. Understand?"

"I…I'm sorry," I stumble over my words, looking up at him and then back to the girl. "I was just trying to help."

"Well don't," the man replies, causing my eyes to snap up and look him directly at his face. "Now, I would really appreciate it if you'd get your tight little ass out of my yard and stay the fuck away from me and mine."

Tears form behind my eyelids as acidic memories of my past punch me in the gut.

"Dude, you're an asshole! No wonder why that poor thing's screaming like a lunatic. I'd be screaming too if I had to live with you!" I yell, pointing my finger in his face. "Take care of your little girl because if I hear her scream one more time, I will call the cops. Underfuckingstand me?"

"Leave!"

"Fine!"

"Bitch!"

"Go to hell, jackass!"

"Currently living in it, baby!"

"Asshole!"

As I stomp my way to my front door, I make it a point to flip the sexy maniac the bird, completely unlike me and at the same time making me feel like a total bad ass as I trudge my way up the stairs and straight to my bed. I hope that sleep will quickly pull me in and all thoughts of asshole neighbors will be saved for another day because the last thing I need is to fall asleep with blue eyes, tight abs and killer beards invading my dreams.

Boy was I in for a rude awakening.

Feeling defeated and exhausted, I snuggle deeper into my blankets, and as my lids get heavy and the house next door remains quiet, I drift off to sleep and dream of hot as sin neighbors with sparkling blue eyes.