Sold To Mr. Milano - Daniella Wright Page 0,36

her,” I chortled. “Listen, cousins. Don’t feel defeated. She was the same way at the market. That’s what caught my attention. I really do wish you the best in creating your own heirs and I want good things for you in all of your endeavors. But this one caught my eye because she’s so feisty, and quite frankly...I’ve been a little bored. I need a project, and breaking her in is just the thing. Won’t you reconsider? You could find another woman who would be much more agreeable.”

They sat back in thought for a long time, carefully considering whether or not they should argue with me on principle alone. But their faces drooped in defeat, and I could see they didn’t think it was worth the effort.

“Fine,” Nicholas huffed. “She’s too much of a pain anyway. We thought we’d have to force feed her. She keeps throwing her food at anyone who goes near her cell. I’d be content to let her starve, but that wouldn’t do us much good for what we had in mind for her.”

I didn’t let the fullness of my relieved sigh show through as they agreed and sent someone to get Alicia. Her hands and feet were tied, and she was screaming every obscenity known to man. She stopped briefly when she saw me, but picked right back up again. They tossed her into my arms like a bag of potatoes and sent me on my way.

There were a few things I wanted to say to her, but she was as mad as a hornet and wouldn’t stop shouting long enough for me to get a word in edgewise. I let her carry on and nodded for the driver to take us back home. Once again, she didn’t have an ounce of gratitude for me saving her life.

12

Alicia

When I had cursed and shouted so much that my voice was starting to give out, I submitted to silence. I sat with my arms crossed, staring out the window and refusing to speak a word to Alberto. I was glad not to be held captive by the Mendozas and subjected to whatever sick plans they had for me, but being back in Alberto’s imprisonment was not the happy ending I had hoped for. It made me hate and resent him even more, and just the heat of his body nearby was enough to make my blood boil.

All I could think as I watched the trees go by on the journey back to his estate was that I would never be free again. All that I had learned about Alberto’s stock of unclaimed goods and my foiled plans at the black market - all of it was a waste. For nothing. None of it did me any good while I was hidden off at the Milano estate, knowing that I would probably never see my father again.

Back at the manor, Alberto shuffled me through a backside door that led directly into one of his private studies. He shut and locked the doors before any of his attendants could greet us. I guess I should have been grateful that I wasn’t immediately handed off to the staff and carted off back to his dungeon or locked in some other small room that was comparable to slave quarters. But that didn’t seem to matter either if I wasn’t going to be free. Whatever he had planned for me, no matter how civil it might have been in the private quarters of his office, I didn’t care. The audacity of it all sent me into another fit of ranting and swearing.

“And you! What do you have to say for yourself!?” I circled around to say eventually. “Don’t you have any thoughts? Or is this your plan? To just stare at the walls in silence, ignoring how miserable I am!?”

“Oh, I have thoughts. I was just thinking about how ungrateful you are.”

His words knocked the wind out of my chest, but I managed one very loud and appalled gasp. “Ungrateful!? How dare you! I suppose I should get down on my knees and kiss your feet!? Thank you for how you’ve treated me!?”

“I could have left you there at the Mendozas!” he argued back with a deep, thundering voice. “I’m not supposed to interfere with their undertakings. There’s a peace treaty between us which I have just violated to save you...again!”

My breath was restored, but I was speechless. I paced back and forth as I took it in. I assumed he came