Page 63 of Arturo's Temptation

I turned to walk away only to feel a hand around my wrist pulling me back. When I looked up we were nose-to-nose and flickers of pain shrouded his eyes.

“Don’t do that,mi princesa.” His forehead came to rest against mine. “What happened?—”

“Was clearly a mistake, judging by the way you threw me out of your room like you couldn’t give a shit about me,” I hissed before my brain had time to catch up.

“Isabella, you have no idea how I felt!” His grip on my arm tightened.

“Well then I guess it’s a good job I don’t need to then, isn’t it?” I snatched my arm away. My heart sped up as I tried to hold back the pain and humiliation of his rejection.

“Bella—”

“No! You don’t get to call me Bella anymore. No more Bella ormi princesaor whatever it is you say to me in Spanish. The moment you decided to treat me like something you stood in, you lost the right to dictate anything I do, or who I speak to. From now on, when you speak to me it’s Isabella, Miss Ricci or Boss.” I clenched my fists. “Oh, and next time you feel like interfering, don’t. I can handle myself”

“I don’t give a fuck if you can handle it on your own or not. Nobody touches you but?—”

“You?” I winced, interrupting his rant. We were both breathing hard and the warmth of his lips brushing against mine was creating a ball of fire that burned furiously in my lower belly.

“Isabella, you don’t understand!” He pressed a hand against his forehead.

“Of course I wouldn’t,” I fumed. “Last night I fell asleep by a man who claimed he needed me more than his next breath, andwhen I woke up today that same man couldn’t get away from me fast enough.” I sighed. “There is nothing left to say. Whatever happened between us is gone. Erased from my memory just as I imagine it is from yours.” I stepped back, creating some distance between us. To my humiliation he didn’t look hurt, upset, or pissed off.

He was vacant.

“Now I’m going back to watch the game and you are going to stay out of my way. Don’t look at me. Don’t talk to me. The only time we’re going to speak is in the gym or at the shooting range.” My eyes met his for a moment. “And if you so much as look at me in the wrong way, it won’t be the target dummy riddled with bullets… It’ll be you.”

“Isabella,” he said, cocking his head to one side. “You couldn’t do that to me.” I frowned as he continued. “Fact is you don’t have it in you… yet.”

“You have no idea what I’m capable of. You might be some fucked up, world class killer, but you know nothing about me. And you lost any chance of knowing.” To my confusion, I saw a flash of regret and sadness in his eyes.

“I’m not tryin’ to hurt you—” he started, but there was no way in hell I’d let him finish.

“I have to go, Arturo.” There was nothing else I needed to say, I was sure my face said it all, no matter how hard I tried to hide it.

He let me walk away for the second time, and I couldn’t deny that this time hurt a little more than the first. But I didn’t look back, not once, because I wouldn’t let myself be wounded by someone who blew hot and cold like the damn wind.

The next fewweeks crawled by, and Arturo and I didn’t exchange two words outside of training. It was worse in the evenings, when I had nothing better to do but read or walk around the garden listening to music. It was then that my mind would wander contemplating what he was doing.

Did he miss me? Was he thinking about me like I was him?

The constant thoughts left me confused and frustrated. And my confusion hit an all time high one night when I couldn’t sleep. It had been becoming increasingly difficult to switch off and this night had been no different. I remembered the time read 3:03am when I finally threw myself out of bed, restless. I had grabbed the lavender throw from my armchair and wrapped it around my shoulders before plonking myself down beside the window to stare out at the lake. Just as my thoughts had finally begun to wander, a figure in the moonlight had caught my attention.

Wait, was that Arturo?

My eyes widened as I watched him pelt around a corner of the lake. He was naked from the waist up, and running at full speed.

What was he doing? It was three am!

As I continued to stare, I realised he was sprinting laps and didn’t look anywhere close to stopping. I sat there for an hour, just watching him go round and round. He eventually fell to the floor, staring up at the sky. It may have been dark, but I could see something was eating away at him, keeping him awake.

I wished he would tell me…

After that night, I refused to allow myself a chance to watch him again. The fact was that the distance growing between Arturo and I pained me more than anything ever had before, and that terrified me. Besides, the only time he ever seemed to give a fuck was when I made mistakes or when he decided to act like a drill sergeant.

Another day meantanother session with Arturo, and this one was just as hard and awkward as the last.

“Isabella, you’re too in your head.” He snapped, jabbing my shoulder. “Focus on your breathin’.” Another jab. “Whatever shit you’re thinkin’ about, shake it off and get your head in the game.”

The third jab to my shoulder knocked me sideways, he cursed and walked away to grab a bottle of water, leaving me flat on my ass on the training mat. “You should have blocked that, what the fuck is in your head?”

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