by Mandy Rosko
“That makes sense, I guess.”
Arturo didn’t call her by her first name. Was he only going to call her Miss King when he was annoyed with something? She liked it better when he used her name. It made all of this seem a little less weird and formal.
Isla was still kind of pissed off about this entire thing, though. She had reasons of her own to be annoyed. She glared up at the camera one last time just for good measure as she straightened her clothes as best she could.
She had to hold her blouse shut with her hands, and her stocking had a mysterious hole in it now. Where were those always coming from?
When she was fully covered, she definitely didn’t look as clean and proper as Arturo looked right now. It was completely unfair, but then again, she supposed this was just because he had more experience with quick liaisons than she did.
“Finish your work,” he said, “but I will expect you to be ready for tonight. Martina will be laying out your clothes for you. Look them over if you need to. She will help get you ready to meet me at seven thirty. I expect you won’t be late.”
Isla nodded. Arturo stared at her for several long, uncomfortable seconds. Uncomfortable, in the best possible way, because she was starting to get that shivery sensation on her skin and between her thighs.
Then he turned away from her, walking out of the breakfast nook and back to whatever work he’d been doing for the day.
She let out a heavy breath she hadn’t even realized she’d been holding. Her heart pounded hard and fast, as though her back was still on that table and her legs in the air.
She was never going to be able to look at that table the same ever again.
22
Isla had no idea what Arturo planned on doing with her, but considering what he’d already done to her, she couldn’t exactly get any rest after he left her alone.
She’d rushed back to her room. It was the second time she had to do that with her clothes barely hanging on in less than twenty-four hours. Part of her was annoyed, but it was difficult to maintain any anger toward Arturo when he made it so worth it to put up with his games.
Hell, she wasn’t all that sure she minded this. So long as no one saw her. Then it might be a different story, and even then, she couldn’t entirely say it would be that terrible.
Arturo was lucky he was good in bed, extremely good looking, and that he was going to replace all the clothes he was destroying.
And maybe she should stop making this list inside of her head. It was starting to sound like he wasn’t all that lucky at all.
When she got back to her room, again without running into anyone on staff, Isla put away her supplies and had to have a look around for the camera that was in her room.
There were two of them. They were on each far corner of the room, probably because it was so damned big and the cameras were needed to make sure every angle was captured.
But there were no red lights on them. They were turned off.
That didn’t stop her from getting onto a chair and then climbing up the mahogany desk just so she could make sure.
The ceilings were too high for her to reach the damned things. She damned her below-average height at that point, but as she looked into the camera, even from the distance, she didn’t see the lens adjusting to how close she was to it. It should have been doing that, right? It was a small camera, but she was about 95 percent positive she’d be able to see that.
She climbed down before she fell and broke her neck.
Isla had to get cleaned up after that. Sweat was drying on her skin, and she needed to get out of her rumpled clothes.
She grabbed her phone, her contract with Arturo, and then drew a bath.
She quadruple checked to make sure there was no camera in the bathroom. Interestingly enough, there wasn’t. She couldn’t find a single one.
She wasn’t entirely sure she understood the logic of that. Someone could easily get attacked or try to steal something in the bathroom, right? It was the only thing that made sense. The cameras had to be there for security, and Arturo had shut them off because he didn’t want to creep out a woman who was going to be staying in his house for the next couple of weeks.
The fact that there was no camera in the bathroom was at least something of a relief.
She wasn’t going to lie. She kind of wanted to steal all of these expensive bath oils that were placed around the deep edge of the tub.
Not for the first time, Isla was overcome with the feeling that Arturo was trying to impress her with how much more wealth he had than she did, even when her family had been the proper owners of their business. Why else would he bother with stocking her bathroom with oils and shampoos and other beauty products that could cost so much?
Isla recognized some of these brands. They were the ones even she hadn’t bothered with buying when she had more money at her disposal. Others were a little more up her alley.
It really was like being in a high-end hotel, only better because all the soaps and shampoos were the sort of things that came from a salon, and exactly the right brands Isla liked to use, all the way down to the apricot body scrubs and face masks.
Whatever. If Arturo thought he was going to psych her out, he was going to be disappointed. Isla couldn’t wait to sink into her nice bath at Arturo’s expense.
She was going to have herself a little mini spa day while she waited for Martina to come back and help her out.
Which reminded her, the bed had been crisp and well made when she’d walked in, the room tidied up. That woman was really efficient.
Isla filled the tub with steaming water, oil, and enough bubbles to make her bones ache for it. And that was a reaction she was having after having taken a shower under that powerful showerhead in the glass stall in the corner.
She got her towels ready, undressed, and slowly stepped in, allowing the hot water to consume her, one toe, one foot, and one leg at a time before she was able to sit down. It was a slow process, savoring that heat, and she sighed when fully seated.
She reached for the towels she’d placed on the stool and dried her hands before taking her phone and snapping a picture of the bubbles and vast tub, and then sending a picture off to Jane.
There was a message from Jane wishing her a good morning. Isla needed to be a better friend.
She typed off a quick text, letting Jane know all was well and she might be going out tonight in a fancy dress.
She’d just texted a promise to send another picture of the dress when there was a knock at her door.
She sat up quickly in the water. “Yes?”
She had to shout it since the knock came from the door to her room, not her bathroom.
It opened and Martina called out. “Miss King? I have your gown ready.”
“Oh, great. Sorry, I’m in the bath. Can you leave it on the bed?”
A few seconds went by before Martina called out to her again. “Is there anything I can help you with, Miss King?”
“No, thanks, I’m great.”
“I will return for you when it is time to get ready.”
Isla didn’t know why she would need help getting into a dress, but she figured there had to be a good reason for it.
She yelled her thanks, and then the door to her room closed.
She relaxed in the water, listening for the buzz of her phone, but Jane must’ve been doing some writing. Sometimes she turned off her phone when she was working on a story.
Isla could be the same way whenever she was trying to get something done with her jewelry.
She thought about the necklace she was making and how much she’d be able to sell it for in her grandfather’s boutique when the doors opened up again. She sold her jewelry online for a decent profit, but it didn’t make nearly as much as it did when sitting on a velvet cushion or hanging from a rack near the checkout line.
Her name was enough to get buyers interested, but the Baciami Boutique name was bigger than the owner’s granddaughter.
Her littl
e brother had an expensive university tuition that needed to be paid, and Isla really wanted to check in on her parents. She wanted to make sure they weren’t still fighting.
She hoped not.
As much as this was turning out to be an enjoyable venture, Isla knew she would never tell her grandfather about the real nature behind this strange relationship. He was too old school, and even then, what she was doing was a little too new school even for her.
It was like that book she’d read, Alpha by Jasinda Wilder, only Isla wasn’t getting paid to be here. Not really. Her real payment wouldn’t be coming in until after the four weeks were up and Arturo had decided she’d done a good enough job of being his mistress, or playing. Whichever.
Well, okay, so maybe she was kind of getting paid, by getting back the family business, but she wasn’t going to split hairs with herself on this.
This could also be attributed to Fifty Shades of Grey, only without the BDSM. She was being courted by a billionaire after all, and there had been a detailed contract involved. Arturo was certainly emotionally damaged, but not in the same way Christian Grey had been. Christian Grey had also been so in love with Anastasia Steele as to kind of stalk her… in a way that could still be romantic in books.
Isla tried to think of other famous literary billionaires who had been so alpha and mysterious with their women. Gideon Cross? Sure, but again without the sexual abuse. She hoped so, anyway. She didn’t want that for anyone. It was one thing for that to be used in books to draw the reader closer to a character, but this was real life and Arturo wasn’t a character. He was a real, living, breathing person, and she didn’t want him to have gone through something like that. The scar on his body was bad enough.
Even if he could be a cocky asshole at times.
Ultimately, there might not be any reason for why he was doing this, other than to get back at her for telling him to fuck off.
Real life didn’t have to have an answer that made sense. That was for books alone, according to Jane, and sometimes books didn’t even bother with a realistic answer either.
She didn’t think so, however. She hoped not. Isla hoped Arturo was a different sort of man than that.
As for other book boyfriend billionaires that Isla had read over the years, the only other ones she could think of were the vampires from J.R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood series, and a number of other fanfictions she’d read that mixed up characters from multiple book worlds and just switched their stories around.
Yes, she read fanfiction.
Isla was practically pruned up by the time she got out of the tub. She’d nearly dozed off while thinking about her favorite books in the steam with the citrus scent of the oil and bubbles. All the bubbles were gone by the time she stood up, overheated and tired.
She hadn’t even looked over her contract. Finding potential loopholes that she’d missed was going to have to wait. She needed to towel off and get dressed.
Isla was so tired after her bath that she thought she might just climb back into bed and nap until her date with Arturo tonight. Then she spotted the dress on her bed, waiting for her, and her eyes snapped open wide. All thoughts of napping flew through the window, shattering the glass, never to be heard from ever again.
Holy shit. She was going to have to show this to Jane. Right now.
But then Isla thought better of it. She couldn’t call Jane if her phone was turned off anyway. No, she might as well do that later. She snapped a picture and texted it off with a message in all capital letters.
WILL YOU FREAKING *LOOK* AT THIS!?!?
Right. Probably not the most mature text she’d ever sent, but she couldn’t help herself.
This dress… it was from Baciami Boutique. It had to be. This was designed by one of the artists her grandfather had hired while in Italy. Isla had seen this design proposed and accepted, but then it had just never had the chance to be made, not after the takeover had shut everything down.
It was a red gown with a diamond shimmer. The color was soft at first along its only sleeve, which would be on her left shoulder, but along the bottom, the color gradually turned darker. The waist was slimmed down, and when she touched it, she realized there was a corset built in.
She had to look at the back of the dress just to make sure, but there were a lot of ribbons back there. Had it not been for them, her back would have been completely exposed.
She liked the exposed look, but this, with the added red ribbons tied off, she already knew it would make her look fucking amazing. She couldn’t wait to wear it.
On the bed were a matching set of heels. There weren’t jewels all over the shoes, but there were a few placed decoratively to look like a falling star, or maybe a comet.
She loved them.
She loved all of it.
She was half shocked that there was no jewelry to go with it. Didn’t all those billionaire stories Isla read or watched on TV show him picking out a matching set of jewels?
Unless he wanted her to wear something from her own collection, and she had just the thing for this.
23
She definitely couldn’t get any resting done while she waited for Martina to come and help her into the dress. She constantly sent off texts to Jane, knowing she would get them when her phone turned back on. Isla couldn’t wait to give her all the details.
Martina arrived about an hour before Isla was expected to leave to meet Arturo. Isla had never had anyone help her dress before, not since she was a little girl at any rate, so Martina gave instructions for what Isla had to do in the bathroom. It involved sucking in her stomach immensely in order to get into the dress itself, but almost worked as a corset, keeping her figure when she finally did get into it. She didn’t have to wear a bra. The dress would keep her breasts high on its own.
It did a very good job of it, too.
She looked herself over in the mirror of the bathroom, hardly able to believe how good she looked. No bra, just her panties. Red to match the dress, because that seemed like the proper thing to do on this occasion. Some men who Isla had dated had liked it when she’d gone commando, so for a time, there had been a period in her life when she hadn’t worn any panties, only her bras, because she liked those.
She got the feeling Arturo was a man who liked a girl in nicely fitting panties. He’d mentioned at one point that he would buy her some lingerie, and he certainly seemed to enjoy tearing her panties apart.
Her decision was made. She was wearing her panties, but no bra. That was kind of a switch, but apparently the dress called for such a decision.
Then there was her jewelry. Arturo knew she took pride in designing her own necklaces, rings, and earrings, so why would he buy her expensive jewelry when she would just think hers were better? The answer, of course, was that he wouldn’t. Arturo was a smart man. Smart enough to know better. Isla was only a little hesitant to admit to herself that his foresight was impressive.
Really impressive.
She just had to get Martina to help with the rest, the parts that Isla couldn’t do herself. She stepped out of the bathroom.
“Are you ready, miss?” Martina asked, looking toward her, then stopping short.
The older woman’s face softened. Her hand came up to her chest. “Oh, you look so lovely.”
Isla blushed, unable to hold back a smile. She almost wanted to make a little twirl. “Really?”
Martina nodded. “Yes, very much so. Come here and let me help you.”
Isla did as she was told.
Yup, the dress was definitely going to be enough of a statement. She had the perfect set of earrings and matching necklace to go with this dress. They were in her bag, and she was going to get them once Martina was finished with the red ribbon laces at the back, which held the corset part of the dress in place.
She tied them tight, and Isla was starting to see why she didn’t need to wear a bra. Even while wearing a dress that had only one sleeve, her tits had never been so high before. She probably looked
like she had a Hollywood actress’s chest. It was amazing.
“Do you have any idea where Arturo is taking me tonight?” Isla asked.
What in the world could warrant needing a dress like this?
She looked over her shoulder, and Martina smiled as she finished tying off the ribbons. “He wants it to be a surprise, but yes, I know where he is taking you.”
“Can I take a guess?”
“You may,” she said, nodding and pulling her hands back. “Your dress is now finished. If there are any jewels you prefer, we can lay those out while I do your hair.”
Her hair, too? Where the hell was Arturo taking her?
Isla went to her makeup case and she pulled out her rose necklace and earrings.
These were her favorite things to wear when she wanted something elegant but simple.
She wondered what Arturo would say when he saw her chosen jewelry for the night was actually just a couple of roses on a chain, and some dangle earrings with rose buds on them.
This dress screamed high-class, and she was choosing to wear something that could just as easily go with jeans and a T-shirt.
Oh, well. She hoped he wouldn’t mind.
At least the bracelet looked a little more expensive. It was a thick metal shackle made up of intertwining green rose stems. All of which were metal, of course, but the look was pretty good, especially the red painted roses that were dotted throughout the stems. That looked good.
Isla set them out and then sat down in the chair that Martina had pulled out for her.
Martina had dry shampoos from name brands that Isla didn’t recognize, but was willing to bet were incredibly expensive. She had mousse, hairspray, spray on conditioners, and various hairpins that would no doubt keep her hair in place. There were also a number of other items on the table, such as clips and thick bun elastics.
“So, you know how to do hair and clean up after Mr. Arturo?”