Sold To Mr. Milano - Daniella Wright Page 0,61
things he might want. But that was a dangerous thing to hope for, so I played dumb.
“No,” I insisted, but my voice wasn’t as confident as I would have liked.
“It was me that your father was meeting with.”
“What kind of trouble have you gotten yourself into now!?” I fumed.
“Something very troubling indeed, I’m afraid. You see...I’m in love with you.”
Finally, my brain and heart could agree on something because they both stopped cold. I felt like I slipped out of my body entirely.
“What did you just say?”
“I have asked your father’s permission for your hand in marriage,” he stated, once again as if it was all so ordinary. Or was this just Alberto’s way of accepting defeat?
I couldn’t help but laugh. “I’m sure that went well.”
“Better than it’s going with you actually,” he huffed. “You are far scarier than the Great Detective.”
“Well, then you’ll be especially terrified to know that I am pregnant.” I blurted it out as if my life depended on it.
I was desperately seeking safety, feeling certain he would turn and run for the door, and then I wouldn’t have to bother processing his ridiculous request. I wouldn’t have to feel how strongly everything I wanted and cared about seemed to hinge on the next few moments.
His eyes widened ever so briefly. It was a short display of extreme emotion that only Alberto could pull off. Unless he was completely outraged, he kept everything else so well hidden. But I could see it, even if I was the only one. He truly was as terrified as I thought. However, I was not expecting the smile that quickly spread across his lips.
He flattened his palm against his heart. “You’re with child?”
“Yes, so now you can just go home and forget any of this ever happened. I have to tell my father and start making a plan. That’s what I was intending to do before you came barging in here!”
He stepped closer and took my hands in his. “You stubborn woman. Have you not been listening to anything I’ve been saying? I want you to be my wife. This baby is wonderful news. We’re going to be a family.”
He seemed so unfamiliar all of a sudden. He embodied a gentleness that I had only seen hints of before. It was a side to him that I always thought could make its way to the surface, but I never thought it actually would. I blinked and swallowed hard, wanting desperately to pinch myself and see if I was dreaming. This wouldn’t be the first dream like this I had recently, but it did seem a great deal more real.
But my good sense finally caught up to me. It didn’t matter what I wanted or what I thought I saw in Alberto. I could never marry into a life of crime. I wouldn’t raise my child with his warped values and all that stingy wealth.
“It would never work. We are too different. All you care about is money and profit. I want my child to be a good person. I want to be a good person, and I could never sleep at night if I was sharing a bed with you as husband and wife.”
“You seemed to sleep fine the three nights we slept together before,” he argued with a coy grin.
I jerked my hands from his and turned my back to him. This wasn’t some joke and it wasn’t a time for all of his witty banter, no matter how endearing it was.
“Alicia, look at me,” he pleaded.
My face twisted with bitterness, but slowly I turned to face him again even though my blood was boiling. He never failed to have that effect on me, which only begged the question - did I really want to spend the rest of my life all riled up like this? I ignored the way my heart answered with an unwavering - yes.
By the time I was facing him again, he was down on one knee. He pulled a velvet box from his back pocket and opened it to reveal the most spectacular diamond ring.
“I retrieved this from my basement of goods. It’s just one of many clever ways I intend on finding to sort through all of those things. I’m not quite ready to concede to paying back taxes, but I will make good use of the loot if nothing else...in a way that pleases you.”
Tears started streaming down my cheeks and I swallowed down a big gulp. I had never been so