Chapter 7

The two of them stepped out of the room, Bella walking as majestically as her heels would let her. She wasn't great at walking in heels, but tonight had given her enough practice. Arthur was slow and considerate and she was so glad to finally be this man's woman. Well, her joy increased from knowing that she would soon have the money for her brother’s treatment. That was her aim after all.

The moment they arrived at the party arena, Bella’s cheeks curved in a smile as she watched everyone freeze as they watched them walk down the aisle. The music was still playing in decibels, but all eyes were on them and Bella was enjoying the attention. If this was what it meant to Authur Lorenzo’s woman, then she could do every bit of it and enjoy it.

Without an iota of attention to the people who had frozen to watch them, Arthur led her to a pair of gold-plated steel doors that were manned by two hefty men. Despite the size and power of the bouncers, Arthur was still more enigmatic than the two men combined and Bella felt like a goddess standing by his side.

One of the bouncers pressed a button by the door and the steel plates of the door slid apart, revealing another alleyway. Bella felt chills run through her body as they entered and the doors slid back close. Everything in the house was well programmed and the precision of everything almost scared her.

“Where are we going to?” She couldn’t help but ask.

“I told you I had special guests to host.” He said to her.

Bella swallowed as she nodded. This shouldn’t be hard. She just had to smile at the men she would be meeting at Arthur's meeting.

Following his lead, they arrived at another set of doors and this time, Bella could hear the laughter emanating from the room. The laughter was of men and somehow, she had the inkling that these were powerful and dangerous men.

“Make sure you smile all through.” He said and pushed the door open.

Bella nodded and picture picture-perfect smile appeared on her lips.

The hearty laughter of men greeted them. Seated in the room were half a dozen men who were clad in the best suits. Smoke from cigars filled the room and oddly, Bella was comfortable here. There was about the same amount of women in the room and each one was better dressed than the other one. It was almost as if she had come into a mini fashion hub with each woman trying to outdo the other. The heated stares from the men as she walked into the room hooked on Arthur’s arm were enough to let her know that she was more desirable than the other women who had been in this room before their entrance. Maybe being with Arthur made all the difference. He was an enigmatic after all.

He smiled at the other woman while casually greeting the men in the room. He didn't bother to introduce Bella to the men and Bella preferred that. These men were game shakers and were some of society's richest folks.

“Let us begin,” Arthur said the moment he had sat down on the chair which was left for him.

Like the words of a king, he was quickly obeyed and the room became quiet as the men settled into quiet discussions discussing business. What business? Bella couldn’t tell because the men spoke in codes and low tones. But she wasn't interested in that.

“You are Arthur’s new woman?” A tall blondie in a tight short black designer dress asked.

“She has to be.” Came the voice of another woman. She was dark-haired and had heavy makeup on.

“Well, you are nothing like his normal picks.” Another lady snickered as she glared at Bella from head to toe.

Bella couldn’t believe what was happening. Were the women picking on her? This wasn't what she had wanted when she decided to come be Arthur's woman, but she should have known it would have happened. She wasn’t made for a life like this but her situation had called for desperate measures. She wasn't sure how Arthur would react to her exchanging words with these women, but she wasn't going to tolerate being disrespected.

“Can you ladies kindly leave her alone?” The blonde with the tight black dress said so protectively that Bella wondered if there had been a fight between the women before.

The other women stared at the blonde, their displeasure so evident that Bella feared the women might pull at her hair any minute now. However, when the women did no such thing and the blonde cocked her head at them, Bella let out a small throaty laugh. At that moment, all the eyes in the room turned to her and Bella could have died from the embarrassment, but before her embarrassment could be so evident the blonde threw her head back and laughed with Bella, easing the tension in the room.

Soon, everyone was smiling and the men went back to their discussion.

“Thank you,” Bella said, grateful to the woman who had helped her prevent a rather embarrassing moment.

“Oh, it's nothing. I faced worse when I first became Lawrence’s girl.” She nodded at Lawrence Pajoel, a famous hotelier and nightclub owner. “It's still a miracle that I didn’t die from all the hate when they heard that we were engaged.”

Bella smiled at the woman, finding that they could be good friends. “My name is Bella.”

“And I am Patricia. I think we would make good friends. That is if Arthur keeps you long enough and I have a pretty good feeling that might happen.” The woman said with a wink.

Bella forced a smile as she nodded. Yeah, that was exactly what she had proposed. Her virginity, her pride. Well, it was her last resort and for her brother, this was a trade she was willing to make though she can't deny her on personal interest of wanting to be by his side.

“Well, it seems that I would have to leave you now.” Patricia’s voice filtered through Bella’s clogged mind.

Bella’s eyes darted to the woman and she saw that she was standing to her feet already.

“Where are you going to?” Bella asked, scared that the other women might begin to pick on her if Patricia wasn’t near to protect her.

“The meeting is over and while some of them may stay back to play some games, some of us love to retire early.” She nodded to her heartthrob.

“Well, have a great night,” Bella said to the woman, missing her company already.

“I will see you some other time. I would make sure of that.” She said and walked away, linking her arm around her significant other.

Bella didn’t have to ogle them for long because Arthur was by her side, giving her his arm. There wasn’t a smile on his face, but he wasn’t mad either.

“I think you play Arthur Lorenzo’s woman in public pretty well.” He said as they slipped past the door. “Now, let's see how well you do in the bedroom.” He whispered to her ears, filling his nose with her strawberry-like shampoo.

Bella’s body was filled with chills, but she had proposed this herself. Well, no time for dilly-dallying, she thought as they made it back to his bedroom.