Sold To Mr. Milano - Daniella Wright Page 0,35

running away. I could only hope Nicholas and Victor found it so harmless and amusing. They were notorious for being unpredictable, killing men on the spot, or bringing their work down in ruins over the smallest offense. So, it was unlikely that they would be understanding of my cause, especially when I wasn’t so sure I understood it myself.

I wondered if Pablo and Felix relayed a warning to our half-brothers because they were already gathered with our cousins in waiting when I arrived. Julian and Javier were seated across from each other with Nicholas and Victor to their left, and I was directed to sit in the chair to their right. It seemed they were prepared to act as mediators should things get out of control.

“I’m sure you know why I’m here,” I stated after the formal niceties of my arrival.

Nicholas’s hands were pressed together in front of him, but he spread his fingers apart as he spoke. “You heard about our latest catch?”

“I’ve come to retrieve her.”

They looked displeased, but not surprised. “I’m afraid that’s not possible. We have plans for her.”

“I do hate to spoil your plans,” I replied, glancing over to Julian and Javier who would be sure to warn me if I was pushing it too far. “But you see, I bought her fair and square at the black market. She appeared to be...with child then. So I paid quite a big sum.”

Their brows furrowed and they both smirked back at me as Victor chimed in. “Appeared to be? I don’t understand.”

I couldn’t admit to them what really happened and expect them to have any sympathy for my cause. “I do not wish to marry, but I was ready to have a child to raise in the ways of my business,” I lied. “She was meant to birth the child to me to be raised as my own. But...unfortunately, the pregnancy did not make it to full-term. She lost the baby. I didn’t want my time and money to go to waste, so I kept her around as a servant. I was considering trying again...only this time with my own seed. That seemed like an even better solution.”

They nodded sympathetically, but still seemed unmoved. “I am very sorry for your troubles,” Nicholas said. “But we have similar plans for the girl. She is of ripe child-rearing age, and we have no wish to marry either. I’m afraid we can’t give her back to you. After all, we are rivals, and why would we want to assist in the growth of your empire?”

“But we are family as well,” I griped.

To this, Julian and Javier shifted, letting me know to lay off some or else I risked Nicholas and Victor flying off the handle. Neither one of them would hesitate to shoot me in the head right then and there if I so much as looked at them in a way they didn’t like. Not only would I be dead, but the gang war to follow would result in many more deaths of people I cared about.

Nicholas leaned forward with a new sternness to his voice. “You may have bought her, but she was clearly too much for you to handle. She got away, and we caught her so she is rightfully ours now. I wouldn’t come showing up on your doorstep to argue over some stag I had my eye on that you managed to put a bullet in first.”

They both chuckled at the absurdity of such a thought before Victor put in his final two cents. “Perhaps she’s better off with someone who is a little more capable of controlling her.”

They both looked smug and their condescending words stung into me. I did my best to hold it together and not to snap, but we were interrupted by one of their workers coming into the room. He leaned down and whispered something to my cousins which I couldn’t quite make out at first.

“Again?” Nicholas groaned.

I could hear the worker’s muttered words more clearly this time around. “Yes, this is the third guard she’s injured since she’s got her, and she’s making a terrible mess. You’ll have to come beat her into submission, or else give one of us the orders to do it.”

I couldn’t pretend to hide my amusement with what was happening. My laughter got the better of me and I burst out, much to Nicholas and Victor’s disliking. “Yes, I do think she’d be better off with someone who was more capable of controlling