Chapter Twenty-Eight
It was insane. Arturo's father was trying to get out of prison?
"Are you serious? How is he doing something like that?"
Arturo wiped his face, still so clearly tired, still in so much need of a proper eight, or even twelve, hours of sleep. "He's accusing the police of brutality, and of using fear tactics to force him to confess to something he didn't do. With the money he would have if he was acquitted, there are a lot of lawyers willing to take up his cause. Some of them were his old golfing buddies. He still has his connections."
"What about your lawyers? You have to have a lot of those, too, right?"
Arturo managed a tired smile. "Yeah, we have enough of them. Right now it's just about splitting our time between the company, and making sure he doesn't have a leg to stand on."
"He doesn't, right?"
Arturo shrugged. "It's a long shot, but it's something that we try to squash whenever it comes up."
Isla was shocked that this could've happened for one second before she recalled that, yes, it had happened before. She'd read a couple of article titles that stated Vincenzio Calendri had been constantly trying to get his sentence appealed or thrown out.
She knew nothing about lawyers, so she wasn't sure what the man's chances were, but regardless of those chances, if there were any at all, Arturo and his brothers were clearly doing their best to keep Vincenzio right where he belonged.
"Okay, so, what can I do to help?"
Arturo's eyes widened. "Help? No, nothing. There's nothing you can do."
Isla didn't take it personally. She knew not to. This wasn't about her, it was about Arturo and his family.
"I don't mean there's something I can do with the law, but maybe around here. I can..." she looked around his office. "Clean up for you."
The corner of Arturo's mouth quirked up. "You want me to agree to let my fake girlfriend clean up after me? Sounds like a case for Internet feminists to go insane over sexism. Or for a lawsuit."
"Shut the hell up, it's not sexism if I want to make sure you don't get bugs," Isla said. "And I wouldn't smear your name over cleaning up after you. You already had me sign a contract to not say anything for our...arrangement."
Arturo kept on smiling at her. "For our arrangement, yes, but I never added anything in that contract that stated you have to clean up after me. Next thing I know, you'll be baking me cookies and then I'll really be in trouble."
"You can be such an asshole," Isla laughed.
"Yeah, I should cut it out or else you might actually fall for me."
"I'm going to throw something at you, I swear to God." And the closest thing to her hands was an empty, stained coffee mug.
Arturo shook his head. "I appreciate the idea, but I'll get someone to come in and do that for me. You don't have to clean up. Go have fun. Accept my apology bribe and go shopping."
"It actually is kind of sexist to assume I would want to shop."
"I thought it was more sexist to make the assumption that no women liked to shop."
"I'm confused now," Isla said. "You're actually confusing me."
"I'm always confused by what is and isn't offensive."
Isla nearly shot back that he needed to work on that, but then she closed her mouth.
Arturo was...well, he was attractive. Isla was drawn to him, even if she didn't want to admit it. And a lot of the reason why she was so drawn to him was because of the way he acted. He was a man's man, and he took charge and took what he wanted. Isla had always thought she would be more attracted to a man who was more in touch with his feminine side, but none of the boyfriends she'd ever had lasted long.
Arturo wouldn't last long either, but the attraction was there, and she just knew that it was because he wasn't a feminine guy. His masculinity was drawing her in, even when he was tired and in desperate need of a shave and a change of clothes.
Arturo was looking at her, waiting for her to say something. Shit. She had to say something. "Why haven't you just gotten someone to come in here and clean up?"
"That would require us to slow down and get out of the way. I have an enormous headache and so does Orlando, and no one wants to listen to a vacuum cleaner while we read over the stupid shit Vincenzio is claiming."
That made sense. "It's not sanitary in here. Just take a half hour break. I can get all this sorted up. I won't even touch your desk, just to take out the trash and tidy up."
Arturo didn't exactly look convinced.
"Arturo, you're going to get sick, and you need a cat nap anyway. Just a quick break."
"You don't actually want to clean up in here," Arturo said.
"Would you agree to a cleaning no matter who did it? I'm trying to protect you from mice or something."
Could a building like this even get mice? Didn't seem likely, but that didn't mean caution shouldn't be given.
Arturo sighed and looked around, then he crinkled his nose in distaste, as though just seeing the mess around him for the first time. "It is something of a disaster in here."
"Okay, good. That means you'll get this place cleaned up. Now, only because I actually don't like cleaning, I'll call in a cleaning lady or something, maybe two of them so things go faster and you can get back to work."
"I knew you didn't want to clean up," Arturo said, smiling at catching her.
She tried her best to ignore him. "I will be bringing you your food."
"We've been ordering in fairly successfully on our own," Arturo said.
"Yeah, and it's all garbage. You're going to destroy your digestion. At least let me get something from your house. Martina is always worried about you. She's probably sad that she hasn't gotten the chance to cook for you lately."
The second that suggestion was out of her mouth, she wished she hadn't said anything.
She wanted to help Arturo relax and get his work done, but she wouldn't be cleaning for him, she wouldn't be cooking for him, she essentially wouldn't be doing anything.
She really wished she knew more about the law, or about actual business, but her only talents were in sales and in making her jewellery.
Arturo didn't make fun of her for it, though. He just had that same half smile on his face. "All right. That sounds...nice. Orlando would appreciate having something home cooked from Martina instead of Chinese food again."
"Good," Isla said, and then pulled out her phone, as if being the delivery girl was her new official job. "Tell me what foods he likes best, and I'll let her know."
"Martina already knows, you don't have to worry about it," Arturo said, but he was giving her a different sort of look now. She couldn't place what it was or what it meant. Probably because of the way his cheeks were so sunken.
Either way, Isla's throat felt weirdly thick al of a sudden. She had to force herself to swallow just to get her tongue working and put some moisture in there so she could speak. "Well, that's great then. I guess you're not coming back home tonight?"
Shit. When she said home, she wasn't giving off the impression that she thought it was her home, was she? She hoped not. That wasn't the intention, that wasn't what she wanted to do at all, look like some clingy girlfriend who already thought that she was living with him just because she had a room at his place.
Arturo shook his head. If he was thinking about it, he didn't mention it. "This is going to take a couple of days more. I'll try to be back soon, and I'll count this towards the four weeks we agreed to. I won't ask you to stay longer because this shit came up."
Like before, Isla found herself believing him. She wanted t make things as say as possible while he went through this. "I'll be back in a couple of hours then. Don't go anywhere."
Isla shut her eyes and sighed when she said that.
What was it with her lately and the stupid comments?
Arturo just laughed. Any other woman might have felt like she was being laughed out of his office. Isla already knew Arturo well enough to know that he just thought she was funny. Even if it was unintentionally so.
*****
So, because Isla made it her own personal job to deliver food to and from Arturo's office for him and his two brothers, she decided she wasn't just going to do it. She would do it like a champion, dammit!
Sylvia gave her something of a concerned look when Isla left the office, and Orlando and Silvio seemed to have vanished.
"Where did they go?" she asked.
"To stretch their legs, and I think to grab a shower in the gym downstairs," Sylvia replied, and there was genuine worry in her eyes as she looked towards the elevator, as though expecting it to open and for Orlando and Silvio to come out at any second. "I feel bad. I want to do something for them, but Arturo just keeps asking me to order him food."
"Oh, well, I convinced him to get his office cleaned, you can probably call for a couple of maids to come in. The faster they can get that mess cleaned up, the better. Oh, but no touching the papers on the desk. In fact, any papers that are on the floor should probably be put onto the desk."
If anything impotent got thrown out, then Isla would have a hard time forgiving herself, through probably not as hard of a time as Arturo.
Sylvia nodded and quickly pulled out her phone, presumably to give the right people a call. "Will you be seeing to things from here on out?" she asked.
"Oh, well, yes, I will."
It was strange, having Sylvia look at her as though Isla was the one with any authority around here. It was also a welcome change.
Sylvia's bunched shoulders relaxed, as though that was the exact thing she's wanted to hear. "Good, Mr Calendri wouldn't listen to a word I said. I could barely get in the door to get him his food order."
"That seems like him."
"Anyway, things were starting to get desperate. I was going to call Martina and have some clothes brought over, but you're here now, so you can do it."
"Oh, I'm only going back to Arturo's house, though," she said.
"That's okay. Orlando and Sylvio have rooms there from when they were kids, and they have some suits there for when they stay over. I can send Martina a text and let her know to pick something out for you to bring back."
"Sure, that's a great idea," Isla said.
Sylvia didn't seem like the sort of woman who was intimidated by her boss. The last time Isla had seen her, Sylvia had seen pretty comfortable around Arturo. Friendly even.
Isla didn't know the full extent of their relationship, but the fact that she'd been worried about even contacting Martina just reinforced how serious this was. At least to Arturo and his brothers if they'd been that determined to not be disturbed.
And what did that mean that he'd allowed Isla to see him? To take up a good twenty minutes of his time when he could've been working with his lawyers, trying to keep his father in prison?
Isla didn't need many more instructions from Sylvia other than that. She just had to send a quick text to Sam that she was getting ready to leave, and that she wanted to go back to Arturo's house.
The first thing she did when she got back was to collect the sandwiches from Martina, who had started preparing healthy foods for Arturo, Orlando, and Sylvio the second Sylvia had called her.
There were turkey sandwiches on fresh bread, potato salad, garden salad, water bottles, fruit salads, and another container of assorted deli meats and cheeses.
It was making Isla hungry just looking at all of it, and none of this was even for her.
"Did you put all of this together while I was driving back here?" Isla asked.
"And while you were on your way to the office. I had a feeling you would need these," Martina replied. "Are you sure you want to drive back with Sam? Someone else can be called to deliver this."
No. That just wouldn't do. Isla wanted to do it. She practically needed to do it, which was strange, but that was just the way it was. She needed to do her part, however small it was, to make this easier for Arturo and his family.
She hadn't forgotten her original promise to herself. She was going to get Arturo to like her. He didn't have to love her. In fact, she would prefer it if he didn't since that would just make things messy. The little flutter he caused in her stomach was already bad enough. At the very least, she wanted to walk away from this knowing that she didn't have an enemy. She wanted Arturo to...think fondly of her, she supposed.
"Anyway, this all looks great. It's like a picnic in here," she said, noting the plastic plates and forks that were in the giant container as well. "They'll also need a change of clothes," Isla said.
Martina's eyes widened in horror. "Of course, I should have thought of that," she said, and turned and waved to another servant girl, about to send her off to collect the things.
Isla had to stop her. "Actually, there's something else I want her to get. I think this will help him when he's working."
**********************
Chapter End,
Okay, so I'm starting to put in little hints that they can get alone. I can't even really help it at this point, it just seems like a natural progression for them and I don't want to purposely drag out any drama between them. It all just has to change slowly over time as they get to know each other. I think this is working out for everyone reading :) So far I'm getting no complaints :)
Also, I noticed I'm getting close to the 1000 read marker. I can't wait for that. I didn't think I would get that many and I'm super stoked for it. I know the reads are counted by how many reads per chapter and not per book, but it doesn't matter :) It's still cool, and you're all awesome.
Thank you for reading! If you liked this chapter please leave a vote with the star * button, or the heart button if you're on the After Dark app <3 They really help, and hugs and cookies for everyone who already did ;) Will try to have the next chapter up asap, don't want to leave anyone hanging too long.
Cheers!
~Mandy