Page 147 of Arturo's Temptation

“Bella! Thank god!” Arturo belted through the door, crossing the space between us in no time at all. With a sigh of relief, he wrapped his arms around me. I inhaled him deep and felt the anxiety in my body lessen. Layered on top of his usual masculine scent was smoke and blood.Was he hurt?“I’m so sorry, my love. I’m so fuckin’ sorry.” He cupped my face, his eyes searching mine with a deep unsettled guilt at their core.

“You don’t need to say sorry. You have nothing to be sorry for.” I soothed, running my thumb across his cheekbone as he nuzzled his face into my palm. “You couldn’t have known that was going to happen, none of us could. Whoever wanted to hurtme to hurt you would have found a way, so please don’t… No matter how you feel, this isn’t your fault.”

“But Bella?—”

“No buts. I don’t want to hear it, do you understand me?” He nodded. Even if he understood, I knew today would slowly eat away at him and he would be sucked back in a cycle of sleepless nights and ridiculous laps around the lake at ungodly hours. I couldn’t let that happen. Arturo didn’t deserve to thrust himself back into that dark place.

“Yeah,” he said with a small smile. “How you feelin’?”

“I’ll be fine, trust me. Just a few scratches and some smoke inhalation. Nothing to worry about.” I squeezed his hand in mine, this was the only medicine I needed.

Him.

“Your dad has gone back to the house to get you a few things and your mum has gone to get you somethin’ nice to eat rather than the shit they serve up here, so… it’s just you and me.” He ran his fingers through my hair that absolutely stank of smoke, not that he cared. “Bella?” He swallowed, taking a breath as his eyebrows scrunched together. “There’s somethin’ I need to tell you?—.”

“Can I go first?” I said, gripping his hand. Whatever he wanted to say could wait. His pupils pulsed in confusion but he paused and waited for me to continue. Thank god, because I knew if I didn’t go first I’d never be able to get the words out.

“Sure,” he smiled, propping himself down onto the edge of my bed. “What is it?”

“I spoke with the nurse before, you know when she came in to check on me,” I breathed, my heart thumping faster than usual.

“Everythin’ alright?” he asked, his eyes becoming tense.

“Yeah, uh… everything’s fine…” I dropped my gaze. This was harder than I could ever have imagined. The not knowing how he was going to react was terrifying.

“You’re scarin’ the shit out of me, Bella.” His fingers tightened around mine. “Can you just tell me what’s the matter?”

“It’s just I-I don’t know how you’re going to feel.” A tear trickled down my cheek. I had tried to hold them but it became impossible. The fear and anxiety was too great.

“Well neither do I until you bloody tell me.” he whispered, ducking down to catch my gaze and stroke the tear away from my face.

“Arturo, I’m pregnant.”

47

Fuck me.

My heart hammered as I pulled into the driveway. Seven hours earlier I had had my wife beneath me, when all of a sudden I got a call that made my heart stop. It had been years since I nearly lost Anastacia and it still haunted me to this day. I slammed my hand into the steering wheel. My face growing hot as I roared out all the rage, pain, and fear.

Who the fuck wanted my daughter dead? Who? Had I not made it clear to everyone in the tristate area not to fuck with us? Had I not spent my entire adult life building a wall of fear and respect that would protect my family?

I sat back in my seat, my breath sawing in and out and sweat rolling down my forehead. Who was I kidding? My daughter would never be safe again. She was now the leader of the city’s criminal world. By announcing her as my successor I had effectively painted a target on her back.

Yes, but she’s still alive.

I sighed as my phone pinged.

Don’t destroy yourself over this. Our daughter is fine. We all knew we would have to face these things… I knew that when I gave you my heart. Besides, Isabella is tougher than you give her credit for. Now hurry your ass back and don’t forget to bring her a change of clothes as well as her fav pjs. I love you xxx

Where would I be without my fucking wife. Grunting, I stepped out of the car and jogged into the house. It was eerie and quiet, too quiet. As a bachelor I had always been a fan of calm and silence. It helped me focus. But after years of marriage and a house full of people and laughter, there was no way I wanted things to go back to how they’d been. Sighing, I climbed the stairs and stalked to Bella’s room.

As the door creaked open, memories flooded back to me of my little girl. The day she got braces and took the cutest photo ever. The summer she was addicted to the All American Rejects and we were subjected to the same songs over and over. Smiling, I ran my fingers over her comforter and sat, swallowing the lump in my throat. The day we’d bought her this throw she had come home crying. The school principal had put her in detention for hitting someone in class. I had found her hiding under her bed, gripping the ridiculous purple dinosaur Luca had won for her at the fun fair we had taken her to the year earlier.

“My little diamond… What are you doing under there?” I had said to her, flattening myself onto the floor and propping my head up on my linked fingers.

“Why does everybody hate me?” she had wailed.

“Bells… That’s not true. Do you want to tell Papa why you’re so upset?”

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