Page 164 of Arturo's Temptation

“Fuck you, bitch! I’ll show you pain,” he seethed, spitting blood on her face.

“You know what you are, Duval? You’re a limp dick, pathetic little boy desperate to be back on his mommy’s tit, wrapped in a blond man’s body. No wonder your mother scrammed when you were little. I wouldn’t want you either.” With a shrug she then did something I did not foresee, swivelling her hands, she branded his stomach with her initials, something none of us expected. Henry thrashed in his chair, before lurching forward and vomiting all over the floor.

“Fuck you,whore.” he wheezed out.

“Henry, cut the shit and tell my man what he wants to know. Do that and he’ll put you out of your misery. It’s either that or more playtime.” she sang, running the flame down his cheek. “I mean, I’ve got all night, don’t you, Arturo?”

“All damn day.” I shrugged, lighting up a cigarette.

Bella had been right, she had needed this, for her and for Tyler. For hours, we watched Bella burn every inch of his body to a crisp. By the end, I didn’t care if this fucker blabbed or not. I would find out who the mastermind was soon enough and when I did, they’d end up a whole lot worse than Henry.

I’d make sure of it.

53

I huffedin frustration as Henry’s head lolled back, unconscious.

“I’m going for some air. Come get us when that fucker wakes up, I want to see him take his final breath,” Red sighed, rising from his chair.

“You lot go, I’ll wait with him.” Arturo smiled, his head falling back against the wall. He looked exhausted and it dawned on me he’d barely slept the last few days. His eyes were sunken and the bruises he’d taken from my father’s beating were now a viscous purple.

Once the men stepped out of the shipping container, I wandered over to Arturo and lowered myself onto his lap. .

“You look tired,mi amor.”

“Say that again,” he smiled, sleepily.

“Mi amor.” I ran my fingertips along his stubbled jawline. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, can’t wait to end this bastard so I can take you home to bed.” He rested his head against my breasts, sighing.

“He hasn’t admitted to who he’s working for though.” I chewed on my lip. Knowing the threat was still out there worried me more than I wanted to admit.

“With or without his help, I’ll find out,hermosa. Te prometo que.” he whispered against my skin. “Eres toda mi vida, Bella. No puedo imaginar mi vida sin ti en ella. Me casaré contigo y seré el mejor esposo y padre que pueda ser para ti y nuestro bebé.”

Not understanding a word, but loving the sound and sentiment, my eyes welled with happy tears and for a moment I forgot there was a half dead Henry behind me.

“I never asked how the talk went with my father.”

“Ah, that… Well, he’s given us his blessing but it wasn’t the most forthcoming. Fuck it, I’ll take it.” He circled my ring finger and smiled softly. “No puedo esperar para llamarte mi esposa.”

“W-what… Where?” Henry mumbled from behind us.

“Looks like someone’s ready to die. What do you think?”

“I think we need to call everyone back in.” I replied, sliding from Arturo’s lap.

“You bitch. You should have died in that fire.” Henry gritted.

“Sorry to burst your bubble.” I smiled.

“You smug little witch, who do you think will come after you once they find out I’m dead, huh? My father will have your head as a prize on the wall of our house before the week is out.” He thrashed against his bindings.

“Your father won’t do anything of the sort. And you know why? Because he’ll fight tooth and nail—pun intended—to ensure our alliance remains.” He frowned at this, making me grin. “Oh, we know what you’ve been doing. Skimming off the top of other people’s businesses? Bet your father doesn’t know about that, does he? I thought not. I wonder what his rivals will do when they find out Duval Junior’s been misbehaving. Add that on top of what you tried to do to a member of the Riccifamily, you should count yourself lucky it’s me killing you and not daddy dearest.” I pushed the tip of my blade just above his navel, pressing hard enough to draw blood. “Unlike you, you snivelling little prick, your father is an honourable man and loyal to my father. I can’t wait to tell him what a terrible disappointment you are.”

“Do it, Bells,” my father said, his voice soft and unwavering.

Releasing a sigh, I pushed my blade in as far as it would go. Stepping back, I gasped as pleasure surged through my body.

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