Page 13 of Unspoken Obsession

There hasn't been much escape recently.

I nod a goodnight to Lorenzo and leave him standing at the bar to entertain the pretty girl who is desperate to talk to him.

No woman has caught my eye since that night. They're all bland, and uninteresting, and never get my heart racing.

I end up comparing them to her, and not a single one has stood a chance.

Not one has come along and sparked the same fire she ignited in me.

What is it about her that has me so obsessed?

After all these years I've got to wonder if I've just built the idea of her up in my head, and one day when I find her, she is just going to be an ordinary girl.

I laugh to myself as I climb into the elevator.

Not a fucking chance.

There was nothing ordinary about her.

The elevator carries me up to the penthouse suite while I stare at my reflection in the mirrored walls.

I run my hand across the shadow of stubble on my jaw.

Would she recognize me if she saw me now, without that mask?

I press my thumb against the fingerprint reader and my door clicks open.

It smells of coffee and the scent of fresh laundry. I guess they changed the bedding just before I got back.

I'm tired, so I go straight to my bedroom, peeling the layers of my clothing off as I go. Tossing the shirt over the back of thechair and kicking my shoes off next to the bed. I flop backward, lying naked, letting the cool air-conditioned air touch my skin.

If I knew she would haunt me for years - I would've gone slower that night, taken my time with her, and savored every second I had her in my hands.

I should've followed her or made her tell me her name.

It seems too impossible that she just disappeared like she was never real, to begin with.

FRANCESCA

Jake came for dinner like he does twice a week. It's getting late, and he helps me by putting Damion to bed while I clean up the dinner dishes. When, out of nowhere he makes a move on me.

I'm standing at the kitchen counter when Jake steps behind me, wrapping his arms around my stomach and holding me against his chest.

"What are you doing?" I ask, trying to shrug him off.

"Don't be ridiculous, Frankie. You want this too. You can't keep denying it."

I try to push him away, but he holds tighter, and fear creeps in. My blood turns cold, and I ask nicely.

"Jake, please. We've spoken about this." I turn around, and now my back is against the counter so I'm facing him, looking into his eyes so that he can see how serious I am. "Jake I think you need to leave." He's made me uncomfortable.

He snarls and shakes his head. "You've been taunting me for years. A cock-tease, and I'm not fucking leaving. It's time you give me what I've been waiting for."

I scream when he grabs me by the throat, his hand cutting off the sound, and lifts me onto the kitchen counter. He's clumsy ashe pushes his hips between my legs, shoving my dress out of the way. I kick, trying to move backward—anything to get away from him.

My head is spinning from the lack of oxygen because he is gripping my throat so tight I can't breathe.

I watch in horror as he tugs his belt off and unzips his jeans. His cock is throbbing and veiny when he pulls it out.

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