Sold To Mr. Milano - Daniella Wright Page 0,14

than I am today.”

He laughed heartily. “You think after paying to save your ass I would turn around and pay you even more money? If you did any labor around here, it would be in exchange for room and board and even that’s being generous.”

“I understand,” I nodded my head diminutively. “That would be more than fair. Anything to save me from having to face my father. Please, Alberto. For all of the bad blood between your family and mine...surely you can appreciate the position it had put me in. I certainly appreciate the fact that someone like my father could never take pity on a tainted woman like myself. Only someone like you could find it in your heart to do that.”

I didn’t know if anything I was saying was true. I could only assume that the reason Alberto took pity on me in the first place was because he related to the unborn life he thought was growing in my womb. Maybe he had known other women like me. Whatever his seedy life had dealt to him, he had a soft spot for someone in my position. And it had to thrill him to know he could offer me something I claimed my father could not.

He was silent and stern for a long time, thinking it over. After a while, he ordered me to go back to my room without giving me an answer. But the following morning, a woman from the kitchen came to collect me, ordering me to put on an apron and follow her every direction. It seemed something I said to Alberto had worked.

They gave me a job in the kitchen - peeling potatoes, chopping vegetables, and any other meal prep that was suitable for a pregnant woman to do. I kept my head down the first few days, taking care to do everything perfectly. I couldn’t try anything right off the bat. I knew they’d be watching me heavily at first.

After the first week, I seemed to fade into the background. The other workers seemed less suspicious of me and were starting to let their guards down. Late one afternoon as we started preparing for dinner, there was a fuss in the garden over missing crops. Accusations were being thrown around and it pulled most of the staff out of the kitchen. It was the perfect opportunity for me to have a look around.

In a corridor not far from the kitchen, I found a locked door. I ran my finger across the hole and did my best to memorize what size and shape of a key might fit. It took a couple more days for me to manage to grab hold of a spare set of keys that were kept in the maid’s quarters. The metal ring held several keys that seemed like they might fit.

The head kitchen staff had told me that it would be improper for a pregnant woman with no serving experience to be fumbling around in the dining room. So, once I was trusted enough to not be watched constantly, I was left alone in the kitchen each evening as the others helped serve dinner to Alberto and his men. It was especially chaotic in the evenings when they were entertaining guests or having a very formal meal. On those frequent occasions, I was forgotten about all together until it was time for me to return to my room.

One night when they were throwing a dinner party, likely for other gangsters like themselves I imagined, I took it as my chance to sneak away and try the set of keys. Just as I had thought, one of them clicked in and turned, opening the door. It opened to a dark set of stairs. I grabbed a candle from one of the tables in the hallway and used it to light the way. They led me to a huge basement filled with barrels and boxes filled to the brim with fine wines, oils, and other luxuries including jewelry and furs. There was even a classic car half uncovered in one of the far corners.

Why would they keep all of these fine things locked away out of sight? Someone like Alberto would want to show off all of his lavish possessions...unless, of course, they were not being declared to the government.

With the faintest sound of footsteps, I bolted back up the stairs and locked the door before returning to my post just in time. No sooner than I got back, the