Page 8 of Under Her Skin
Another long silence. “You know, you could always come visit,Melly.”
Hero waited for her sister’s response and was surprised when she said, “You know what, Hero? I might just take you up onthat.”
Hero was stunned. She and Imelda had never been close, never been the sort of—adoptive—siblings who hugged each other or visited regularly. Imelda’s visits had been even less since Beth died, although she still managed to harangue Hero by phone regularly. Hero felt a strange shift in their relationshipnow.
“You are always welcome, Melly.Always.”
Her sister cleared her throat. “I’ll call you soon. Don’t disappearagain.”
And the phone went dead. “And goodbye to you, too.” Hero dumped her phone in her bag. Today she was going to spend all day out of the hotel, not because she had any particular place to go, but because she was terrified that Arturo Bachi would turn up at the hotel to find her—and she didn’t have the strength to resisthim.
She closed her eyes now and relived the previous night: his hands on her body, his lips against her skin, his huge cock thrusting ever deeper inside her…she shivered with pleasure. That the man was an expert in bed was undeniable; he knew exactly what she liked without even asking, her body completely under his control. She could get lost in those eyes ofhis…
“Stop it.” She opened her eyes and took a deep breath in, pushing all thoughts of Arturo away. She knew men like him. Arrogant, rich, thinking they could buy anything they wanted. Yes, he’d clearly wanted her, and yes, he’d had her—but only because she had wanted him, too, at least for anight.
Those wild, dark curls, that hardbody…
“Nope, nope. Nope.” Besides, when he found out it was she who’d outbid him at the auction, he’d certainly lose any desire to be friendly towardsher.
Hero pulled on her Chuck Taylors and grabbed her purse, strapping it across her body, and grabbed the room key. She would go out, find somewhere to buy art supplies, and have a look around for furniture for theapartment.
She would not, she told herself, not think of Arturo Bachi for one more second. She wouldn’t. She reallywouldn’t…
Arturo foundhimself preoccupied as he sat in a meeting with Peter and the board members. He kept thinking of her soft hair, her pink lips, the fresh scent of her skin, the way her clit tasted in hismouth…
Peter nudged him. “Turo? What do youthink?”
“Ofwhat?”
Peter glared at him. “Ludo is making aproposal.”
Arturo looked apologetically at the older man. “Ludo, forgive me, I’m sorry. Could you repeat thequestion?”
Ludo, an old friend of Arturo’s father, smiled kindly at him. “The hotel. I’m proposing we renovate the apartments in the Villa Patrizzi and then sell them as separate units. We should see some profit, and then we can use that to seek out another property to turn into thehotel.”
Arturo shook his head. “No. I want the Patrizzi. We need to get thatapartment.”
Peter sighed. “Turo…we simply do not have the budget to buy the purchaserout.”
“Mio Dio!”Arturo exclaimed in frustration. “It’s only five million! I’ll put it inmyself.”
“No.”
Arturo narrowed his eyes at his best friend. “And you’ll stop mehow?”
Peter met his friend’s gaze steadily. “I can’t. But if that happens…I’m gone. Turo, I mean it. This is not what this conglomerate agreed to. We all put in the same amount of cash; we all take the same risks; we all reap the same rewards. That agreement is watertight. Five million for one apartment is nonsense, and we don’t have to make the same mistake as that buyer. What Ludo is proposing is the best wayforward.”
Arturo sat in silence before glancing around the room. He could tell the others agreed with Peter, and he knew his best friend was right.Still…
“Fine. I’ll begin the search for some newpremises.”
He saw Peter visibly relax.Good. Let him think he’dwon.
But Arturo knew in his bones, Villa Patrizzi would one day be the site of his dream hotel. If the apartment’s buyer wouldn’t sell to him, then there were other ways to force them to sell or to quit theplace.
Arturo hid a smile. He was going to make their life hell—and his business partners were going to help do that, whether they knew it ornot.
Hero wasaware of the man gazing at her as she sat outside the café. She shot a look at him, and he smiled at her, friendly and warm. She looked away, and then sighed as she saw him out of the corner of her eye, get up to approachher.
