Page 27 of Arturo's Temptation

What was he trying to do?

“Just leave me alone, Arturo.” Before I could breathe, he was in front of me.

“And where would the fun be in that, huh,mi princesa?” He leaned into me, his lips brushing my ear.

“I don’t know how many times you need to be told.” I snapped, slamming my palms on his chest. “Just, leave me alone! I don’t want you in my room.”

“Why are you so angry, Isabella?” He frowned, cocking his head to one side. “Because of what happened earlier, or becauseyou enjoyed it?” My breath stuttered to a halt. He couldn’t possibly know how I felt, because not even I did. The air in my room warmed as we stared at each other. The longer I gazed at him the more his pupils seemed to pulse, and it was doing strange things to my body. An ache I had never felt before started humming between my thighs and my lips tingled. The urge to put one of those large, veiny hands on my body was strong and it took everything I had to resist it.

What was happening?

Swallowing, I reached up onto my tip toes and leaned in to whisper against his lips, “If you so much as touch me again, I’ll make sure you end up with a bullet in your skull.”

“I’ll take that as a yes,” he laughed. The sound stroked over my raw emotions making the tiny hairs on my neck stand on end.

“I think you know where the door is.” I whispered before ducking under his arm and kicking the door wide open. He turned and tapped his lips with two fingers.

“You can’t hide your thoughts from me, princess. Just remember, rage can’t be bottled up forever.” My brow furrowed as he sauntered toward the door, stopping so close to me I could smell his body wash. He leaned in and whispered, “I should know.” Then to my shock he pressed his lips against my cheek, before disappearing without another word.

Fuck.

Before I could blink,a fortnight had passed, and to my relief, Arturo had listened to what I had said. Aside from training I barely saw him. He also kept things professional which wasthe biggest shock. Gone were his taunts and flirty little smug grins and in their place were flat and cold sentences. Every morning he waited for me in the gym and he said nothing bar instructions.

We would train for hours at a time, then during the day it was tactics and target practice. His endless scenarios were beginning to get tedious.

What would I do if I was attacked from behind? How to spot someone suspicious. Three ways to get yourself out of rope. How do you get the upper hand when someone’s pointing a gun at you?

On and on and on it went. The only relief I had was when he left me in my room at night to read. Some time during the second week, I gave into temptation and searched for him on social media and there was nothing. I googled his name and came up empty. Arturo Ramos was a true ghost. But what was I hoping to find? If I was being honest with myself, the fact I knew so little about my bodyguard troubled me.

But what troubled me more was how badly I wanted him to look at me.

My ass took only a day to forget the feel of Arturo’s spanking, yet my mind couldn’t stop reliving it. At the time I had thought it had hurt, but perhaps the loss of control was what I had really been upset about.

“Auntie Bell, we need ice cream for the movie, don’t we?” Theo beamed, as he dragged my attention back to the present.

“You might be right. What flavour?” I asked.

“All of them!”

“I like the way you think. You pick the movie, and I’ll get the ice cream.” I pressed a kiss to the top of his head before heading towards the kitchen. As I entered the dimly lit room, I saw Arturo leaning against the island while the men my father had put beneath him were listening intently.

“Evening, Bella,” one of the guys said. I think his name was Mich or Michael or something. I politely said hello back, flicking my eyes toward Arturo who didn’t so much as nod at me. He kept his eyes firmly on the men who sat before him.

“Sorry to interrupt, everyone. Theo wants some ice cream,” I smiled.

“You’d better get it then,” came Arturo’s clipped tone. It had been the first time he had ever spoken to me outside of training.

“Right, yeah,” I ignored the gazes I was receiving in my shorts and vest. As I slid past, I caught sight of Arturo’s knuckles whitening as he gripped the island.

“The ball Mr Ricci has planned is due to happen in just a few weeks and it needs to run like clockwork. No fuck ups, you all understand?” I pretended to ignore him while grabbing the ice cream tubs from the freezer, losing myself in his British accent.

“Yes, Boss.” They all spoke in unison, and hearing them call Arturo boss was odd. No one in this house had ever been referred to as Boss but Arturo seemed to have this way of commanding anyone he came face-to-face with. This was further encouraged by my father insisting everyone see Arturo as their superior, deeming him someone they could learn from.

“Isabella is our top priority, meaning Mr Ricci wants eyes on her at all times,”

“Don’t you worry, Arturo, I’ll keep my eyes firmly on Isabella,” the dude who’d first spoken to me as I entered the kitchen said before laughing. I stilled. “I mean who wouldn’t?”

“What the fuck did you just say, Mik?!” Arturo roared, his voice harsh, and terrifying.

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