Page 27 of The Sicilian's Obsession
Katima
Holy wow. My thoughts were disjointed. If that was a punishment, I couldn't wait to know how rewards worked in Arturo's eyes. We lay, panting, just staring at each other and basking in the aftermath. I had never felt like this for anyone. Granted, I had never let anyone in before.
Arturo rolled over onto his back staring at the ceiling, before he broke the silence between us. "I was thinking that you could meet my family for Sunday dinner before I take you to the safe house." His words lifted the hazy fog hanging over my brain.
"Wait, what? A safe house? Why am I going to one of those?" Sitting up, I started to sputter my word vomit all over him. In my haste to get up, I almost fell off the bed. Arturo's big hands wrapped around the back of me as he literally stopped me from falling to the floor. I melted into his embrace.
"Yeah, remember, I want you to eat with my family and introduce you to them." He gathered me against him.
I was still astonished he wanted me to meet his family. I have never been introduced to someone's family before. Arturo chuckled into my hair, which I was certain looked frightful after what we had done.
"Yes, you, baby girl."
My stomach clenched at the new nickname. It was so sexy coming out of his mouth.
"Do you think you could get packed, so we could head out today? The drive is long, and I want to get there before it's too late and surprise Ma."
"She doesn't know I'm coming?" I almost jolted out of the bed.
Arturo was flat out laughing at me. "No, I want it to be a surprise. She's been hounding me for years to bring someone to family dinner." He stared deeply into my eyes. "I finally found someone I thought was worth it."
I could have melted into a pile of goo on the floor at the gentleness in his gaze. I never had to wonder what Arturo was thinking; it was always in his eyes. We might have started out rocky, but I thought we were finally on the same page.
"You know I would really like that. I think time away from this place would be good, and we can figure out the culprit who is harassing me." I laid my head on Arturo's wide chest. The man was a god among men.
"That's what I was thinking. Besides, we have a ton of people on the hunt now. The safe house is just because I raised the threat level. I don't trust anyone around you, and with your father MIA, I want you to be safe."
I nodded in agreement. No one could ever say that Arturo didn't know how to do his job. I briefly worried about the deterioration of professionalism between us, but when was the last time I'd had fun? Arturo made me feel safe. He also had seen me at my worst and hadn't looked at me as someone any different. I snuggled into him, soaking up his body heat, and letting my eyes drift shut.
A few hours later, after a shower and food, we hit the road. Arturo wanted me to be surprised to meet his family. All he would tell me was that the drive was long, and I should bring my A game for car games. I figured we were going to do the get-to-know you type things, but Arturo decided the first thing we should do was play I spy. He was giddy like a kid, telling me how he'd never had a person to ride along with. While the music in the background was on low, we played a slew of car games for the first hour. I knew it wasn't going to last. Arturo seemed like the kind of man who wanted to know everything about a person before introducing them to his family.
"So, tell me about the girl who worked as your PA and lab assistant." His voice was casual, but I couldn't help feeling the stab of jealousy in my chest. Why was he asking about Rebecca? Was he just with me to get to her? My mind was swirling with negativity. I was naïve enough to believe that there was something happening between Arturo and me. Arturo looked over at me and then stopped my train of thoughts. "Wherever your mind just went, you need to pull it out right now, baby girl. I am not remotely interested in anyone but you." He reached over and grabbed my hand, squeezing it in his.
I blew out a pent-up breath and smiled at him. He was right. I shouldn't jump to conclusions before having all the facts. That was not rational. I also had never felt jealous of another woman before. Not in this sense. I was jealous of people, sure. But usually, it was about how they interacted with other people.
"There's not really much to tell you. She's always had it out for me. I never really did anything to her or even interacted with her, except for what you saw in the grocery store, situations like that."
Arturo kissed the back of my hand, leaving me swooning in my seat. The change in him was astounding. "Why do you think she treats you the way she does?" he asked. It was a question I had always asked myself.
"I used to obsess about it, but honestly, I have no idea. I treated her like everyone else. I kept away from her and made sure we both did our jobs."
Arturo was contemplating what I said, and I wanted to turn the conversation back to him.
"How long were you in the service?"
He raised an eyebrow at me. "Someone did her homework on me."
I flushed under his gaze, but he wasn't admonishing me, only stating the obvious. I was so used to people making fun of me that it was easy to misconstrue what was being said.
"I did ten years." He didn't seem to like the change of topic, but fair is fair.
"Did you like serving?" I had a whole file on him, and I knew there were some things that were a landmine he wouldn't speak about.
"I liked protecting our country and doing it with my brothers-in-arms. Don't get me wrong, not all of them were the greatest people in the world, but in my unit, all of them were decent dudes. We were together since basic, which wasn't really heard of. We felt lucky to have known each other and been able to all serve together."
Arturo grew quiet. I knew he was probably thinking about the men he had served with. He was also probably thinking about the injury he sustained. I wasn't stupid enough to ask about it. I knew it was his last mission and he was touted as a hero. That was all I needed to know. In my opinion, there was absolutely no reason for anyone to hassle a veteran about his or her time in the service unless they were a licensed professional. I couldn't imagine the things he had seen and been through, the decisions he had to make under pressure. That would turn anyone surly for sure.
"If it makes you feel better, I have nightmares of my childhood," I blurted out.
