Page 59 of Arturo's Temptation

“Sorry, I was miles away. What were you sayin’?”

“Isabella wants to train with Artem today. Not sure why, but that man could probably put both of us on our asses, and I’m not afraid to admit it,” he chuckled.

“So you want me to drive her and collect her later on?”

“No, you can stay there with her. Keep an eye on her for me and see how she does,” he smiled, tipping his coffee cup towards me.

“Sure,” I took a sip from my cup, the scorching caffeine burning my throat.

Just as Lorenzo was about to open the topic for another discussion, I felt her. She appeared in the doorway, in full work out gear. Although her eyes never once met mine, I saw the mixture of sadness and anger behind them.

“Morning, Papa, I’ll see you when I get back,” she smiled, but it wasn’t a full one.

“Not so fast, Arturo is going to drive you.” Lorenzo handed Isabella a bowl of an array of fruit which she eyed whilst scrunching her nose a little.

“I don’t need babysitting, Papa. I’m just going to spend time withDeda. That’s all!” She placed the bowl down on the island much to Lorenzo’s apparent disappointment.

“Even so,” he slid a fork across the marble which collided with the bowl. “Can you eat, please? I know what your grandfather’s sessions are like, you need some food in your system.”

“I’m not hungry,” she murmured. “I seem to have lost my appetite this morning.” I winced as she took a few steps to the garage door.

“Bells,” Lorenzo stopped her with a gentle hand to the shoulder.

“Papa, stop.” She squeezed his hand as he let out a deep sigh.

“At least take something with you,” he pleaded.

“Fine,” she made her way to the cupboard filled with snacks and pulled out a granola bar. Her tone was cold, with little to no emotion.

“Bella, what’s with the attitude?” Lorenzo asked, his face falling slightly.

“Nothing, just a bad night's sleep.” Today was going to be a long day. “I need to go, I’ll see you later at dinner.” She leaned over and kissed Lorenzo’s cheek.

“Drive safely, Arturo.” Lorenzo nodded at me, before glancing towards his daughter.

She was already in the car when I got there, she had a face like thunder and I knew it would be the most awkward car journey of my life.

“Put your seatbelt on,” I demanded.

“Wow… You know, I have been in a car before.” The belt clicked into place as she trained her gaze out of the window.

“Isabella—”

“Don’t! I don’t want to hear anything you’ve got to say,” she hissed, before placing her AirPod in, effectively blocking me out.

Minutes passed and the silence was slowly killing me. Fuck, her being in my presence was killing me. I reached over and removed one AirPod from her ear.

“Hey!” She screeched.

“You gave me no choice,” I replied. “How else am I supposed to get you to listen to?—”

“Stop the car,” she yelled, snatching the AirPod from my fingers before slapping the dashboard. Sighing, I pulled over and turned to start trying to apologise when she jumped out.

Where the hell was she going?

“Isabella! Get your arse back in here!” I yelled through the open window as she took off running down the empty road. My skin crawled as I realised I was in deep, deep shit. The roads to Artem’s were quiet and empty around, and she was too vulnerable.

“Fuck you!” She spat as she got further away.

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