Page 90 of Arturo's Temptation

“Arturo—” she gasped.

“Don’t worry, I won’t leave a mark.” Grinning, I placed another kiss on her skin. “Yet.”

Before she could get her knickers further in a twist, I slipped from her room and took a moment to look around. Good, we were still the only ones up, except for Lorenzo of course. It felt pathetic , but I couldn’t deny how all the sneaking around excited me. Not that I gave two shits whether we got caught, but knowing how stressed Bella was made me want to protect our little secrets even more.

Just as I reached the bottom stair unnoticed, I heard a familiar voice.

“Good morning, Arturo. Is everything okay?”

“Ana… Good morning.” I paused dead in my tracks with bated breath.

She knew. There’s no way in hell she didn’t know where I’ve been.

Well done, dickhead. You’ve been caught before we can ruin it.

Will you just do me a favour and get fucked already!

“Were you looking for Luca?” she asked. I could have rolled my eyes. By my half naked appearance, anyone would know I wasn't looking for Luca.

“Yeah, I was. He left to take T to school already?”Lie, lie, fuckin’ lie.

“He has. Though he’ll be back shortly.” A wicked smirk graced her face. That expression could say a thousand damn words.

Well, shit. She bloody knew.

“Well, I had better get ready to take Bella to target practice,” I held up my hand in a see ya later gesture before turning to leave.

But her calling out my name stopped me. Glancing over my shoulder I found her staring at me. “Look after her.” There wasa plea in that sentence. I wasn’t sure if she meant for me to look after Bella in general or if she meant her heart.

No matter what, I’d protect both.

“Ana, you don’t need to worry. It’s all in a day’s work.” Her smile faded. “She’s a stubborn one, but she’s getting better at protectin’ herself.”

“Right, of course.” Hopefully I had successfully distracted her and threw her off the scent. “Thank you, Arturo. I’ll leave you to get on with your day.” She nodded, turning on her heel and heading towards the kitchen.

“That’s perfect, Bella,”I called over the sounds of gunshots.

Absolutely perfect.

She smiled sweetly over her shoulder, before firing another round into the target dummy. Her aim had improved quicker than I’d anticipated, she knew exactly what she was doing, I just had to be sure she’d be able to put her training to good use when she needed to.

Taking someone's life was no easy task. She may have been surrounded by these kinds of things her whole life, but her personality screamed innocence and the need to protect others, she wasn’t yet prepared for dealing in death. But when it came down to actually pulling the trigger, she’d do it, she’d have to. Otherwise the vultures Lorenzo had presented her to would soon smell it and use the weakness against her.

I wasn’t worried. Once I was done with her, she’d fear nothing. Not blood, not death, nothing. She’d hold her head high like the queen she was.

My queen.

“That was better, right?” she asked, placing her gun down on the table.

“Better? Princess that was a fuckin’ turn on.” Her mouth spread in a bright smile. Clearly, my girl liked to be praised, both in the bedroom and out.

Hmm…

“I want to try somethin’. Little experiment if you will. You up for it?” I gripped her chin, dropping a light kiss to her lips.

“That depends, what do I have to do?”

Shoving the dummy out of the way, I stood still against the wall and placed a powder filled orb on my head.

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