Chapter Twenty-Nine
"I can't believe your girlfriend got us our pillows," Silvio said with a moan.
His voice was muffled because of the way he pressed his face into that pillow as he lay crookedly on the sofa. It made Arturo want to walk right over to him with the pitcher of ice water in his hand and dump it right over the idiot's head, but he just couldn't bring himself to be that cruel.
"She's not my girlfriend." They were lovers, technically, but even that seemed to intimate a word to describe her.
Orlando gave Arturo a look, the one Arturo tended to be on the receiving end of whenever he said or did something untoward.
Like announce to his brother that Isla was not important enough to even hold the title of Arturo's girlfriend.
Arturo stared at his brother, daring the man to say anything.
Orlando didn't. He shook his head and returned his attention to the papers he'd been reading.
And he was reading them in a pair of cotton pajama bottoms and a navy blue T-shirt. Isla hadn't just brought their pillows from home, but also their sleepwear.
There was no way a good girl like her had rifled through their drawers. She must have sent Martina to fetch them, which made sense because Arturo didn't sleep in anything. He preferred it that way. Martina would have noticed, considering she did the ironing, and so for Arturo to sleep in, a pair of comfortable joggers.
Isla must have realized the same thing when Martina had brought out his clothing. Had it shocked her? Or would it arouse her?
Not that he could think much about fucking her in the state he was in now, and considering how shit he looked, it was likely the last thing on her mind as well.
Though, the extra gestures had been...appreciated. He would give her that. It definitely felt marginally better in here now that it was clean and they all had something from home.
They'd been running on fumes. Isla had been right. Arturo hadn't even realized things had deteriorated to the point that the empty take out containers were forming a small mountain in the trash bin. He'd been so focused on work that he hadn't even allowed Sylvia to do more for him than remind him of calls he needed to take for the company, and that there were meetings he needed to cancel.
If he continued on with dodging his work like this, he might just put himself out of business.
That might actually make Vincenzio all the more furious with him. He should probably do it. Sell the entire fucking thing off. That would teach the old bastard a thing or two, wouldn't it?
But even with everything happening around him now, he had to admit, that Isla King wasn't the stuck up princess bitch he'd thought she was that day they'd first met.
Orlando certainly liked her enough to keep coming to her defense. Arturo was going to have to have a talk with his younger brother, and soon. Apparently, where Isla was concerned, Orlando seemed to think Arturo was the big bad wolf.
The fact that she'd brought them back their pillows and some clothes to sleep in, instead of just to wear around the office, only seemed to endear her more to his brothers.
Silvio looked at him, and even when his eyes were half lidded and tired from only averaging two to three hours of sleep a night, he still had that look that Arturo knew too well. "So, not your girlfriend, huh?"
A hot, swelling something rose up in Arturo's chest. "Don't even think about it."
Silvio grinned tiredly at him. "Okay, whatever you say."
"Just do me a favor and wait until I'm not fucking her before you try to make a move, and even then, don't do it," Arturo said.
"If you don't care, then why are you getting jealous?" Orlando asked.
"Why do I need a reason?" Arturo shot back. "I've been jealous when I've been with women I didn't even like. Fuck off."
"We're all tired," Silvio said, sitting up and stretching his back until Arturo heard a popping noise. "Let's just work on this. I want to get this over with."
Arturo knew that it would never be done and over with. So long as Vincenzio was alive, he was going to be stirring up shit while in prison, trying to get out.
There were too many people who thought he was innocent, who thought that Arturo had lied on the stand just to send him away and take the company for him and his brothers.
Thankfully, this was one of those times when the law's stubborn refusal to reopen cases was working well in Arturo's favor. Which did not mean he didn't have to work his ass off to find ways of discrediting everything the old man was saying from prison.
It was the fact that they were all so tired that made them stop arguing so easily. Arturo felt that he was close, though. Just a hundred or so more calls to his lawyers, the DA, and the people whose palms he'd greased on the inside of that prison, and he'd have a better idea of what was going on.
Doing all of this while in his joggers was a big help.
***
Arturo didn't come back for ten days. When he did come back, Isla didn't even know he'd shown up for several hours.
She hadn't even known he'd walked into the mansion until Martina had said as much with a smile on her face while she poured Isla a mango juice to go with her breakfast.
"He's back?"
Martina nodded. "Late last night. Or early this morning, I suppose. Mr Calendri and his brothers walked through the doors and went to their respective rooms. We've been given strict instructions not to disturb them. I hope you don't mind waiting a little longer for Mr Calendri's company. He's usually a better host than this."
"I don't think his guests have a habit of staying for several weeks," Isla said, and then smiled at the older woman. "Besides, you make things fun here, too."
Martina's cheeks actually darkened a little, her expression softening ever so slightly. Maybe she just wasn't used to receiving compliments like that.
Isla didn't want to embarrass the woman, so she continued on. "Besides, now that he's back, I might be able to finally give my dad a date for the dinner I'm supposed to have with him. If Arturo is finished with...what he was working on."
It felt strange to actually call it what it was, and Isla couldn't do it. The fact that Arturo was back here probably meant that he felt things were safe enough for him to stop working anyway, but she wanted to be sure.
Martina nodded, a smile on her face that could only be described as proud, the sort of smile a mother would reserve for her children. "Mr Calendri is confident in his father's place in the world. These things do tend to happen from time to time, however, and they require a lot of Arturo's attention, as well as the attention of his brothers."
"Oh. What about Sebastian?" Isla had noticed that he certainly hadn't been in that office during any of those times when Isla had gone to drop off their food.
"Ah, Sebastian is...how shall I say...not difficult, but he does not always think of himself as Arturo's brother, or even a Celendri man."
"Because he was raised by different people?"
Martina nodded. "Yes. His parents, his mother and the man who adopted him, were killed in a terrible accident when he was nearly fully grown. He had no knowledge that he was a Calendri until then. Vincenzio Calendri took Sebastian from the hospital that day with the promise of providing a home. I remember him then, so small and...different. He was a mouse then, afraid of the world he found himself in, and nothing like the angry lion he can be now."
"But why does he hate Arturo and his other brothers so much?"
Martina pressed her lips together, silent for only a moment while she thought. "Perhaps, he sees them as being responsible in some way? When Vincenzio took him, he made the promise to see to the burial of his parents. Sebastian was unaware that he would not be able to attend the funeral. He did not know it had happened until days later."
Isla's heart clenched. She actually flinched at the news. "That's really terrible."
Martina nodded. "Sebastian might believe that Arturo knew of this, but of course, he didn't, and neither did Orlando and Silvio. He certainly believes that I knew of it, considering my position on staff at the time and now, but I did not know if it then either. Had I known, I would have told him, and prepared a car to take him."
"I believe you," Isla said.
Martina's gaze was something sad but grateful. "It is not you who I must ask forgiveness from."
"But you didn't do anything wrong," Isla said.
Martina shook her head. "I should not even be speaking of this with you. It's a private matter between Mr Calendri and his family."
"Right, sorry. I didn't mean to pry," Isla said quickly.
She knew better than to take offense. She wasn't part of the family, after all. Not even a friend. Not yet, at any rate, and even then it still wouldn't be any of her business.
She was just kind of...falling into all of this.
"I was not blaming you for speaking to me, but it is unprofessional for me to be speaking like this to you," Martina said, looking very disappointed with herself.
Isla smiled. "I might have that effect on people. I always talked like a regular person to Peggy. You can blame it on that."
Martina returned her smile, though it was softer, somewhat guarded. "Is there something else I can get for you, Miss King?"
"No, I'm good...thanks," Isla said. She'd almost asked when it would be expected that Arturo would wake up and come to see her, but there were too many different meanings behind a question like that. None of which Isla wanted Martina to assume.
Martina nodded, and left Isla to enjoy her breakfast and check her email on her tablet.
Isla barely read anything, and she could hardly even focus on her food before it got cold.
Why had she wanted to ask that about Arturo? What did it matter when he got up? She wasn't going to go and see him, so she didn't need to know when he'd be ready for her.
If he even wanted to have sex with her at all. He could still be tired after he woke up and not in the mood for a five star romp.
And what was that weird tightening in her stomach when she thought about that? The sex was good, but it was nothing to feel sorry for if she couldn't get it.
Sure, it had been a little boring around here, not knowing when Arturo would be coming around, and thinking about how good it had been when he'd put her over this very table and had his way with her.
Isla's face still burned when she thought about how he liked to keep her legs around his thighs, and it was kind of nice. The orgasms were pretty great. Okay, spectacular, and when she'd finally taken Arturo up on his offer to go shopping even taking Jane with her for the fun, it still hadn't been enough to take her mind off of it.
Whatever it was.
The next time Isla had gone out, she'd had to go without Jane because she'd honestly just been sick of all the questions, asking her if she was all right. Was she sure? Was Arturo hurting her? And that maybe there was a good lawyer they could get to make him pay for the bullshit contract.
Isla had thought about the lawyer bit for about two whole seconds before she dismissed the idea. Not because she didn't think she didn't have a case, but because she didn't want to sue for her family company back, and she definitely didn't want to accuse Arturo of sexually abusing her when she was here of her own free will.
No, that option was one she wouldn't even consider looking into, and she had to make it perfectly clear to Jane that she wasn't to try anything either. She wasn't about to make things harder for Arturo just because Jane thought Isla was a little sad.
Which she most definitely was not.
What the hell had she even been thinking about again? Arturo coming to see her? Yeah, that was it. Isla was only thinking about this because it had been so long since he'd fucked her, and now that she'd had it, she could honestly say that she wanted more of it. She wanted to get laid, and she wanted it to be done in whatever way Arturo wanted.
He was so good in bed it was practically stupidity to not let him take the lead. If anything, this wasn't just about getting the family company back anymore. This was about Isla discovering herself, about the sexual needs she didn't even know she had, and about how she liked being treated in bed.
With the way she was thinking about it all now, one might think she'd found a dom billionaire like in Fifty Shades or something.
Not quite.
Isla finished her breakfast and got to her feet. She took her laptop and figured that the only way she could finish with her emails in time to get back to her designs, was to work in peace. Arturo would be up in a couple of hours, so it was for the best if she used them wisely and worked.
Working out on the patio seemed like a good idea. It was sunny out there, there was shade so it wouldn't be so hard to read on her screen, and another table was set up out there.
Arturo had a whole outdoor living room set up that Isla was insanely jealous of. It made her not like the condo that she and Jane shared. They didn't get something as awesome as all that.
Oh, and there was an in ground pool.
It was pretty perfect.
The glass doors to the backyard patio weren't that far from where her breakfast nook were, she just had to walk around to them and go outside.
The fresh morning air felt good on her skin. Someone had mowed the lawn, and Isla took in a deep lungful through her nose. Fresh cut grass always smelled like watermelon to her. She loved it.
Isla was just about to walk over to the table to sit down, when a pair of strong hands wrapped around her waist.
She jumped and dropped her tablet, but Arturo held on tight.
His mouth came whisper close to her ear, and his voice brought a pleasurable shiver that rippled through her body, from her arms and legs, to her breasts and inner thighs. "Martina told you I was back over an hour ago, and you didn't come to see me."
*********************
End Chapter Twenty-Nine!
Thanks everyone for waiting on these :) Still trying to stay ahead of the game while working on my other projects, but so far this is working out nicely and things should continue at this pace so long as there are no issues :) I'm loving the feedback and it all helps a whole lot :)
Anyway! Hit a writing milestone with this story today. This book is now passed the 70,000 word mark. after looking at it long and hard, it probably won't be finished until 100,000 words or more. Not without rushing things, at least. And this story has nearly reached the 1000 read count! :3 I'm super stoked for when that happens, and thank you all for reading and voting.
As a cool bonus, here are a couple of songs that I'm adding on as the "soundtrack" if anyone wants to listen. There's only two so far, and maybe more will be added, but I tend to listen to only the same songs over and over while writing, unless I happen to hear something else on the radio. Anyway, I like thinking about this story when these songs are playing, so here they are with some links:
Good for You by Selena Gomez Ft A$AP Rocky: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wp0hWIO8DiU
River Flows in You by Yiruma & Skullee Dubstep Mix: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROnXjvRmcNQ
And just for fun, here's the dress that Isla is wearing :)
http://www.desigual.com/en_CA/women/clothing/dresses/prod-tie-52V28B7