Chapter 13
I awoke the following morning feeling sore and pissed off.
The previous night had been a complete shit show.
It had all happened so damn fast. In hindsight, what I had done, shoving myself between them, had probably been stupid and reckless, but I wasn’t just going to stand there and watch them beat the living shit out of one another. It wasn’t my idea of fun.
I wanted to despise Arturo… hate him for interfering, but I couldn’t… not fully anyway. As I lay there, thoughts resurfaced about how badly I had wanted to kiss him. It was becoming all I could think about… day and night.
“Wakey wakey,” came a soft rap at the door.
Ugh, not now.
“I’m already awake, Arturo.” I groaned, throwing my arm over my face, praying he would just disappear, but to my horror the door flew open, revealing his tall muscular frame. “What the hell? I’m not decent! Get out!” I snapped.
“You’re always decent,” he winked, walking over to me. “How you feelin’?”
“Fine.” Liar.
“Y’know, Miss Ricci, I can tell when you’re lying,” he smirked.
“I can train, honestly, I’m good.” I threw my legs over the bed, glancing over my shoulder to meet his burning gaze.
“You can go now,” I said, raising my eyebrows, but to my frustration, he didn’t move an inch.
Rolling my eyes, I stood from the bed, underestimating just how badly I had hurt my foot.
Fuck!
Swallowing and keeping my head high, I paced over to my closet, desperately trying to hold in the desire to wince and hobble, but it was hopeless. He saw right through me.
“Fine, are ya?” he chuckled, closing the distance between us.
“It’s fine,” I gritted out, “nothing I can’t handle.”
His thumb brushed my cheek, causing my body to still. “Need a hand gettin’ ready?” he teased, his eyes dropping to my lips.
“No… I can manage.” I pursed my lips. “You can leave now.”
“Ouch,” he chuckled, leaning in close. “You’ve got five minutes, don’t be late.” I shuddered as his lips brushed my earlobe.
Is it possible to hate someone and yet be so turned on by them all at the same time?
He flashed me a million dollar smile, before turning to walk towards the door. Yanking a cushion off my armchair, I pulled my arm back and launched the fluffy square at him, missing him by a clear mile.
“Remind me to work on your aim too.” he laughed, closing the door behind him.
I dressed in record time, before pulling my hair back into a messy bun. But the second I shoved my feet into my sneakers, I cursed my residual anger and winced.
Damnit, Bella. Get your shit together.
I closed my eyes on a deep sigh, before heading for the door. Today was going to be the worst.
“Wow, she’s here with a minute to spare. Punctual, I like it.” he winked, making me want to smash his face in and jump his bones.
Focus!
Stalking over to the mat, I held back my rage and decided to focus on my training, sore foot or not.
“Bella, you really should take the pressure off.”
I responded with an eye roll and tossed my bottle onto the floor with a thud.
“Less of the eye rollin’, princesa .” His lips quirked up. “Unless you want another… reminder?”
“Oh, bite me dickhead.”
“Don’t worry, I plan on it,” he smirked. “Now, I want you to put me on my arse today, no holding back,” he said, cocking his head to one side. “Unless you’re in too much pain?”
“Screw you, London Boy. I look forward to the challenge.”
“Fine, you put me on my arse and I’ll stop askin’ about your foot. Fail to do that and you agree to stop bein’ a stubborn brat and let me take a look, alright?”
“Deal.” My lips curved up into an angry smile as I tapped his cheek, trying my best to rile him up a little.
The bastard managed to dodge every move I made. No matter what one I tried, he anticipated every single one, and it was getting on my last nerve. He never seemed to tire. It was like he was the terminator or something. As I let out a huff of annoyance, Arturo chuckled.
“What’s the matter, Bella? You findin’ it a lil’ too difficult?”
On a deep breath, I swept his legs out from under him, making his body collide with the mat.. Feeling triumphant, I straddled his body, and for the first time he was at my mercy.
“See,” he relaxed, “you can do it.” His hands came to rest at the back of his neck as he settled back to get a better view. “Must day, I quite like this view… You on top of me that is.” he teased, his lips curling up.
“Answer me one question,” I murmured, sitting back on my heels, my legs clamping around his.
“Shoot.”
“Why’d you lose your temper last night?” I asked. To my surprise his eyebrows knitted together, wiping the good humour from his face.
“Come on, you already know the answer to that, Bella,” he scoffed, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment.
“Maybe so. But I still want to hear it from you.”
“I lost my shit because I hated the way Mik spoke to you. Hated the way they all looked at you.” His gaze darkened. “Knowin’ what they were thinkin’ made me want to murder the twats. You’re too fuckin’ good to be spoken to that way. Too fuckin’ special.” His voice trailed off.
I blushed at his words, swallowing as warmth pooled low in my belly. Against my better judgement, I leaned forward, pressing my breasts against his chest. Before I could think too much about it, I placed a soft kiss to his cheek.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
“What for?” he asked, not moving a muscle.
“For standing up for me, and for looking after me. I appreciate it.” Clearing my throat, I tried to shimmy off him but his hand caught my wrist, keeping me pinned against his chest.
“You ain’t ever gotta thank me, hermosa ,” he whispered, running his nose against my ear. “Remember that.”