Page 51 of Arturo's Temptation

The moment Arturoshut off the engine, I removed his helmet and placed it carefully on the seat before darting towards the garage door.

“That’s it?” He asked, still straddling the bike.

“That’s it.” I repeated but mine wasn’t a question.

“Isabella,” he started, but didn’t continue.

“Goodnight, Arturo,” I ended the conversation there as there wasn’t much else to say. I needed to distance myself until the morning when we would meet again.

I slipped out of the garage into a darkened kitchen, the silence near enough deafening. I eased off my shoes, clutching them in my hand and padded across the kitchen.

I sensed him.

I knew he was there.

“Care to tell me where you’ve been until this hour, Isabella?”Shit.

My father was sat at the kitchen table, in complete and utter darkness ready to scare the absolute shit out of me. I spun on my bare heel as he leaned over and flicked on the light thatilluminated the table, it looked like some sort of interrogation set up.

“I asked you a question, Isabella… And you know how much I hate waiting,” he kicked out the chair opposite him, instructing me to sit down.

“I’m just going to bed, Papa, can we talk about this tomorrow?” I asked, backing towards the door.

“Sit down, Isabella.”

I lowered myself into the chair, discarding my shoes onto the floor with a clatter. It was clear he hadn’t gone to bed, he was still fully clothed, his hair falling down onto his forehead and his usual humorous eyes were now dark with anger.

“Papa, I’m?—”

“I don’t want to hear it! Do you have any idea what the fuck you did this evening?” He shouted, not caring about waking the rest of the house.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, all confidence I had in the bar now gone.

“You’re sorry?! You could have fucking killed yourself on that bike! How could you have been so damn careless?!” He slammed his palm on the marble table causing it to shake beneath him.

“You’re right. I wasn’t thinking?—”

“No, you weren’t. You need to start thinking, Bella. How can I trust you with everything I built when you act so recklessly?”

“You can trust your daughter, Lorenzo.” Right on cue, Arturo entered the kitchen clutching his leather jacket. Just the sight of him with that serious look on his face kicked my pulse up a gear.

Was he… defending me?

“Oh, so now you wish to lecture me on my family members, Arturo?” My father’s face morphed from anger to rage.

“Not at all, Lorenzo. But when a bird is locked up in a cage it craves freedom.” My father leaned back in his chair and linked his fingers together. “That’s all tonight was about. I take fullresponsibility. I’ve flaunted my ability to go where I please and despite her frustration, Isabella’s done nothing but everything I have asked of her these past weeks.” I bit my lip. I’d never heard him speak about me this way. It was almost… kind.

“You saying I should fire your ass for what happened this evening, that it?”

“No, but I’ll leave if that’s your decision.” When my father didn’t reply, Arturo took a step closer and pointed in my direction. “Fact is, Lorenzo, your daughter idolises you. I have no doubt that she will not only continue to build what you’ve built but she’ll make you proud doing it.” He turned to face me now, his face impassive. “And I’ll stand by her side until she no longer needs me.”

“Well thank you for that unsolicited opinion, Arturo, but this is between my daughter and I.” My father no longer gave Arturo his full attention as he turned back to face me. “And from now on, you can call me ‘Boss’ or ‘Sir’.” I winced. Arturo taking the fall for what had happened tonight clearly had torn into my father’s respect for him.

“Understood… Boss.”

“Now you can either stand there and be fucking quiet, or you can fuck off to bed, but I am not done with my daughter just yet.” I finally realised how much I fucked up tonight.

Did I regret it?

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