by Mandy Rosko
This wasn’t much better, however.
“Are you okay?” Orlando asked.
“Right, I’m right. I mean, I’m fine, just get in here,” she said, stepping aside and hating herself. She didn’t look into Orlando’s face as she tried to keep her distance, not wanting him to smell her. Did she smell? Shit! She couldn’t tell.
He and Silvio were in matching black suits. The only difference was in their ties. Orlando’s was navy while Silvio’s was blood red. There was a noticeable lack of anyone else in the hall, wearing a suit or not. “Is it just the two of you?”
“Yeah,” Orlando said, liking he was biting on that word.
“Big brother sent Orlando on this errand,” Silvio said, a smile on his face and in his eyes as he made fun of Arturo. “Orlando’s the nice one, so he figured it would make for a personal touch as he tried to avoid you.”
“Oh, okay. I guess he thought the same for you?”
Isla just had to excuse herself for two minutes so she could spray something under her arms. That’s all it would take.
Silvio shrugged. “No, not really. I just wanted to show up. Now that you’re not with Arturo, I figured I could make him jealous and have you all for myself.”
Even knowing he couldn’t possibly mean that, Isla’s face went center-of-the-sun hot.
“And I’m telling you, you’re not doing something like that again,” Orlando said, a very clear look of annoyance on his face. He was a little red in the cheeks, too, but it actually looked like it was more from anger than embarrassment over what his brother had said.
Again?
Silvio shrugged one more time. “I’m just kidding, don’t get your panties in a bunch,” he said, pressing his hand to the top of Orlando’s head, petting it and messing up his hair.
Orlando growled and slapped his hand away.
Silvio just laughed.
Isla had once overheard Sebastian say that Arturo and Silvio treated their younger brother like shit. It didn’t look that way to her. This looked like normal sibling teasing.
Though it was still kind of embarrassing to watch. Seemed sort of private, but either way, Orlando didn’t seem like he was a pushover. A frown pulled down on his lips and marred his brow, like this whole thing disgusted him.
He held an orange envelope in his right hand.
“Is that my contract?” Isla asked.
Orlando blinked, turning away from his brother, as though he’d forgotten she was even there.
He managed one of his nice, soft smiles as he stepped forward. “Yes, sorry about all this. We can give you some privacy if you need to read it over.”
Isla shook her head. “No. To be honest, I’d rather you stayed here. If there’s something I don’t understand, maybe you could help me out with it.”
“No problem,” Silvio said, loosening his red tie. “Orlando and I are experts at reading these things by now, and Arturo wouldn’t have made it too difficult.”
How could she say she didn’t trust Silvio without being rude?
“Actually, I was really thinking that Orlando could help me out with it. He and I know each other better, is all.”
They barely knew each other at all, but he was the one Calendri brother that Isla trusted not to screw her over, either figuratively or literally.
“That’s fine. Hope you don’t mind if I take a seat though,” Silvio said.
Orlando glared at his brother. Isla sighed. “Go ahead. Just, please, not too much noise. I think my roommate just got back to sleep.”
Orlando gave her the space she needed as she opened the envelope. It wasn’t sealed shut or anything, so it was just a matter of pulling out the pages. There weren’t too many of them, considering what she thought this was, but there were still enough that she wasn’t looking forward to reading it all.
It was only after ten minutes and four pages that she needed her first bit of help. There were some numbers on here that perplexed her, but they couldn’t mean what she thought they did.
She looked up, about to ask Orlando what he thought, but she choked on the word at the sight of him and Silvio looking around at all the romance novels on Jane’s shelves, and some of the drawn designs for necklaces, bracelets and anklets that Isla had framed.
She realized how girly her place must look, but then she realized that Orlando and Silvio barely saw her framed drawings, and were paying special attention to the books.
With a jolt, she realized that a lot of the spines were thick enough for even Isla to read from where she stood, so there was no doubt in her mind that they could see them. The ones that Jane favorited were face out, like they’d be at a book store if they were top sellers. That’s how Jane had described it, but that wasn’t the problem.
Marrying the Billionaire.
The CEOs Secret Baby.
One Night With A Billionaire.
Claimed By the Billionaire.
The Tycoon’s Marriage Proposal.
Isla wanted to crawl in a hole and die. That would make an awesome book title right about now.
“Uh, those are Jane’s,” she croaked. That twitching was back in her lower eyelid. “She’s a writer.”
She wanted to burn the sight of Orlando and Silvio staring at all of those books from her mind, especially when they slowly turned their heads to look back at her.
“I swear, they’re not mine. I just… read them sometimes.”
Her voice cracked and became more and more wispy as she spoke, probably because she wasn’t taking in a proper breath. She was going to faint. Actually, no, she wasn’t going to faint. She was just going to wish she would so that sweet, sweet oblivion could take her away from here.
She was going to kill Jane for wanting to display those.
The shock left Silvio’s face first, and he burst out laughing at her.
Orlando’s face brightened. “Shut up, Silvio! Don’t laugh at her. This has to be embarrassing.”
More so now that he pointed out what a horror this was.
Silvio didn’t shut up. His spine actually arched backward a little as he laughed. Anymore and he would topple over and fall.
She hoped that would happen.
“What the hell?”
Oh, shit.
Isla turned. Jane stormed back into the room, looking as grumpy and ready to rage as ever. “Isla, who the hell is—?”
Isla was still bracing herself to get yelled at for disturbing Jane’s sleep again when she realized Jane wasn’t saying anything.
And Silvio wasn’t laughing, either.
Jane and Silvio yelled at the same time.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
It was one of those strange things Isla hadn’t expected, hearing two different people shouting the exact same thing at the exact same time in the same high-pitched voice.
They both stared at each other, and as Isla looked between them, Jane’s face became mortified, while Silvio’s turned eager, his eyes brightening with some sort of victory that Isla didn’t understand.
“So this is where you live?”
“Shut up. Get out of here,” Jane said. Her hands were clenched into fists at her side, her head ducked just enough to try and hide her eyes beneath her bangs.
“I’ve been looking for you for a while, you know.”
“You have?” Isla asked.
“Okay, well, you found me. Go home now, please.”
Jane turned and promptly started marching back to her room.
Silvio followed, still with that eager, gotta-have-it look in his eyes. “No way, get back here!”
As he rushed passed her, Isla felt like she was in a whirlwind. Then she heard Jane’s bedroom door slam shut.
From the sound of Silvio’s muffled voice, he’d managed to get into her room before she could lock him out.
“What was that?” Orlando asked, blinking wide.
It must’ve really been something if Orlando didn’t even expect that from his own brother.
“May
be… they know each other?” Isla asked. She didn’t hear screaming, so there wasn’t exactly a lot she could do.
Orlando took one step forward, but then stopped himself. He clenched his fists and shook his head.
“Are you worried he’ll do something?” Isla asked.
Orlando shook his head. “I know he wouldn’t. They must know each other. I don’t know why I bother.”
She felt herself soften a little toward him. Well, she’d always felt a little on the soft side for Orlando, but that was just because he was a nice guy. He didn’t want his brother to do anything stupid.
And because she wanted to take his mind off what a horn dog his brother was, she figured now was a good time to ask for his help.
“Can you read this over for me? I don’t think I understand it.”
“Gladly,” Orlando said, stepping forward and looking genuinely pleased to have something else to focus on.
“This right here?” he asked.
Isla nodded, watching as Orlando’s eyes skimmed over the page.
When he told her what it meant, she nearly hit the damned ceiling.
No way. There was no fucking way she was letting him get away with it!
Orlando called after her, and he had no choice but to follow her out the door. It was either that or stick around while his brother had sex in the next room.
39
She was going to kill him. She was totally going to kill him. Isla clutched the contract in her hands like it was a stress ball that she needed to take her aggression out on.
She was practically ripping it.
Orlando stared at her from the other side of the limo like he was worried she was going to take some of that aggression out on him.
“Are you okay?”
She barely noticed any of the worry in his voice, and she absolutely could not have any sympathy for him and the fear he clearly had his eyes.
“I’m fine,” she said through her teeth.
The papers ripped just a little bit.
Sam was driving, but even he had been able to see from the look on her face that it was probably a better idea if he said nothing at all. Isla was so pissed that she didn’t even want to ask him how his relationship with Robert was going.
She’d feel like a bitch later. For now, she had big plans to take that bitchiness out on Arturo.
If Orlando said anything else to her on the ride to Calendri Corp, she didn’t hear it. She barely realized she was zoning out even when they drove into the underground parking lot and the limo came to a stop.
She opened the door and rushed out even before the limo came to a full stop.
Orlando’s voice called out to her. “Isla, hey!”
He was right behind her, but she was heading to the elevator.
It was one of those happy surprises when the elevator doors opened for her the second her finger touched the button. She stepped inside and pressed the button for the penthouse office.
Orlando just managed to stick his arm through the doors before they slid shut on him.
The doors opened, he stepped inside, and then they closed again.
Isla stood on her side of the elevator while Orlando stayed on the other. He was only slightly red in the face, but she didn’t think it was because he was out of shape and that little sprint had taken anything out of him.
He was probably just a little annoyed with her for constantly running off. And stunned that she’d jump out of a moving vehicle.
They were halfway up the building when he finally spoke to her. “Don’t be too mad at him.”
“Why shouldn’t I?” she asked. Her voice was probably something Satan would love.
Orlando sighed. “I’m sure he has a good reason.”
Isla huffed, but said nothing.
At least not at first. “Why did you follow me in here? Not that I’m not thankful for the ride or anything,” she said. “Thanks for the ride, by the way.”
Isla had just run downstairs, saw Sam in the limo, and immediately hopped inside. She’d completely taken it for granted that Sam and Orlando would take her anywhere at all. Sam had never been her personal driver even when she’d been living in the Calendri mansion. Now that she had a couple of seconds in the elevator to think about it, the guilty, bitchy feeling she’d been avoiding stomped all over her.
No, no, no. She was not going to think that way until after. She had to push it back. She wasn’t going to look weak in front of Arturo when she shoved his stupid contract in his stupid face.
“I almost don’t want to answer that question when you have that look on your face,” Orlando said.
Isla rubbed her brow, as if that would get rid of the scowl that had formed on her face. “Sorry.”
“I don’t know why I followed you in here, other than I thought a girl shouldn’t be walking in the basement parking lot by herself.”
“But I made it to the elevator.”
Orlando nodded. “I didn’t think of that.”
She glared at him from the corner of her eyes. He was a gentleman and everything, but she was pretty sure he was full of shit on this one. He was probably just following her to the top floor to keep her from going off on his brother, not to protect her from rapists in a basement parking lot.
Whatever. She wasn’t going to let him being a nice guy stop her from yelling at his prick brother.
The elevator was fast, and the doors opened to that bright space with the high windows. Sylvia was at her desk on the phone. Her brows furrowed at the sight of Isla walking toward Arturo’s office door, but she probably didn’t get off the phone to say anything because Orlando was with her. He might’ve even signaled to her to not say anything behind Isla’s back as she opened the door.
When Isla pushed open those doors with the contract still in her fists, she stopped dead at the sight of Arturo at his desk.
That same leggy blonde Isla had met the first time she was in here was sitting on his lap.
Their faces pulled back from each other. There was nothing so obvious as bright-red lipstick left over on Arturo’s mouth, but it did have that darkened, just-kissed look.
Even if she hadn’t just walked in at this moment, the way his tie was askew and how his mouth looked made it clear that she’d been all over him. His hair was even a little messy, like her slender fingers had been in it, gripping the strands tight just minutes before Isla walked in.
She didn’t know why she wanted to yell at him for this, but she did. The urge was definitely there. She just wanted to let out an ‘are you kidding me’ kind of yell. She had to bite down on her lip just to keep that yell from getting out, especially when the blonde giggled, pretending to be embarrassed as she slid off Arturo’s lap.
She actually straightened her skirt.
Fucking Christ.
“Sorry, is this someone who works for you?” she asked, looking from Isla to Orlando and Arturo, that annoying smile on her face.
If Isla voiced what she wanted to do right at that moment, the cops might get called on her.
Arturo looked right at Isla, and for some reason, his eyes were darker than usual. “No, you can go now. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
The vein under Isla’s eye twitched. Tomorrow? He was going to call her tomorrow?
The blonde whined. Isla couldn’t tell if her disappointment was real or faked for manipulation purposes. “Awe, but that’s so far away.”
“Don’t worry about that.” Arturo got up from his desk. Isla half expected his pants to be undone, her heart lurched at the thought of what she might see, but they weren’t.
Despite Blondie’s skirt messed up, his zipper was right where it needed to be.
When Arturo pressed his lips to her perfectly creamy cheek, however, she may have wanted to explode just a tiny bit.
“Go out front and talk to Sylvia. She’ll have something for you.”
Those big eyes widened at the thought of a gift. “Really? Thank you!” She threw her arms around Arturo’s shoulders and
kissed him like there weren’t two other people in the office watching.
It seemed worse that Arturo allowed it. He didn’t exactly embrace her back with the same amount of enthusiasm, but he did hold onto her. His hands seemed to fit nicely on the small of her back. They looked like they could slide down to grip each of her perfect ass cheeks if he just didn’t have an audience to watch. Arturo even closed his eyes. He actually closed his eyes.
Isla crossed her arms and looked away, disgusted with him and with her for having no sense of decency. She wouldn’t kiss anyone like that in front of other people, let alone her own brother or a woman who was, well, only sort of an ex.
When the kiss ended, Blondie bounced out the door. She may have even winked as she waved and left. She was like a Disney princess come to life, all perfectly drawn lines and flowing hair, and Isla decided right then that she hated her.
Arturo straightened his tie, waiting for the door to close completely behind the blonde. Before it clicked, Isla heard the woman interrupting Sylvia, asking for whatever gift it was that Arturo had left with her.
Probably an expensive perfume bottle or jewelry. The bitch.
Isla finally noticed Orlando just then. He was still standing beside her, his face bent as he pinched the bridge between his eyes, like he was warding off a coming headache, or the red that was climbing his neck.
Her pity for him almost overtook her anger over this entire situation.
Then Arturo had to open his damned mouth. “Was there a reason you decided to come back to my office?”
Oh. Right. She was here to yell at him.
Isla pulled up the crumpled contract and pushed it right into Arturo’s face. She was probably a good inch away from making it actually touch his nose. “What the fuck is this supposed to be?”
He very calmly, very slowly, reached his hand up and curled strong, tanned fingers around Isla’s wrist. Her pulse jumped when he lowered her hand. His eyes were harsh when they were revealed.
