Sold To Mr. Milano - Daniella Wright Page 0,52

house.”

“Your mistress?” I chuckled.

“She’s pregnant.”

I stopped laughing and let out a big sigh. I felt for him. Having a mistress was one thing. Getting her pregnant was another. For as ruthless as our reputations would lead people to believe we were, we did have certain values...especially when it came to family.

“She can’t have the baby,” I stated plainly. He knew it was true, even if he was inclined to not admit it to himself.

“Paula hasn’t been able to get pregnant,” he reminded me.

“But she is still your wife. You made a vow. You can’t just toss her to the dumpster like all of that means nothing.”

“I know.” He blew out a gush of air and raked his hands across his face before promptly starting in on another drink. “But it’s more than that. It’s not just about the baby. It’s...ah, I don’t know how to explain it.”

I could see the agony in his expression and had a feeling I knew exactly what he meant. I wouldn’t admit it, but I was feeling the same indescribable things for Alicia. The things that kept us apart didn’t seem so big in light of what Felix was going through.

“Do you think our parents loved each other?” he asked after a long silence.

I had never even considered it before. Our father had his life with us, but then a whole other life with Javier and Julian’s mother. It was barely kept a secret, even though our mother and theirs tried to pretend they knew nothing about the other. I didn’t know what love was mixed in with all of that. I only knew Felix didn’t need to live the same kind of double life.

“I’m sure they did love each other in their own way,” I decided finally. “But it was more out of a sense of duty. They had committed to their life together, for better or for worse. Upholding that was more important than love.”

He nodded like he understood, but he didn’t seem to want to accept what that meant for him. Under that logic, Zoe could not have their baby. Or if she did, Felix couldn’t be a part of their lives. He would have to find some other way to have a family with Paula and forget about the rest of it. His eyes darkened with a miserable look, like doing any of that was unbearable.

“It’s just that...I can’t stop thinking about her,” he confessed, his voice cracking with emotion.

I tipped my glass to him. I’d never say it out loud, but of course, I knew exactly what he meant.

“If I hadn’t been so reckless back in the day, our parents never would have forced me into this stupid arranged marriage. I could’ve chosen a woman I truly loved.”

We were all wild in our younger years up into early adulthood. But our parents knew Pablo and I were too business-minded to get into the kind of trouble that would ruin our lives. They trusted that if we didn’t settle down with a wife and kids, we would at least earn more than enough money to make up for it. Felix didn’t show the same promise, so it fell on him to give them grandchildren. He wasn’t able to do so while they were alive, but their death almost made the demand even higher. He had to make a family to honor them.

They insisted that he marry Paula, and they arranged the whole thing with her family with no input or approval from Felix. It wasn’t a bad deal. Paula was a beautiful young woman and a pleasure to be around. But I could see now that he did not love her. At least not in the way he loved Zoe. I had never spent much time thinking about love, but I was quickly learning it seemed to strike in the most inconvenient ways possible.

I leaned over and patted Felix on his shoulder. “You’ll be alright. It will be hard, but I know you’ll do what you have to do.”

“You still have hope,” he smiled lightly. “You didn’t have some woman promised off to you the way Zoe was with me, with our parents forcing you the whole way. You have the luxury of not marrying if you don’t want to, but if you ever do...only do it if it’s for love.”

“Listen to yourself,” I snickered. “Me? Love? Come on now, Felix. You know better.”

“I guess so. But if you ever do find the one, never let her go.”

A flash of Alicia