Sold To Mr. Milano - Daniella Wright Page 0,62

hopeful and terrified in all my life.

“Alicia Guevara, only you could bring a man like me to my knees. And I don’t intend on taking that for granted. I have your father’s blessing to try and convince you to be my wife. You can spend the next however many years fighting me on it, or we can save all that time and energy for something else...and you can just go ahead and accept my proposal now. Will you please be my wife?”

I studied him as if my life depended on it. Because it did. I needed answers and certainties that I would never have. As much as that scared me, it was also what made me want to say yes even more. What I did know for sure is that Alberto Milano would never coddle me or treat me like some fragile, breakable thing. He might try and tell me to be quiet and stay out of his way, but he would do so while also counting on me to do just the opposite.

He didn’t just expect me to be difficult, he thrived on it. And it seemed I felt the same way for him. It all culminated in something that I only knew to describe as an all-consuming love that felt like it could burn on for an eternity.

The longer I took to answer, the more he squirmed and winced for fear of what I might say. A wicked grin curled at the edges of my lips as I rather liked seeing him in that kind of agony.

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” he grimaced.

“I suppose Alicia Milano does have a nice ring to it,” I answered finally. “Or at least it would if Milano didn’t carry the reputation that it does. We’ll have to work on that.”

“Good God, woman. You’re killing me. Is that a yes?”

I smiled and shook my head yes, which sent him shooting up to his feet. He nearly dropped the ring as he swept me into his arms for a long kiss. I snickered as I realized I had never seen this man fumble over anything. I kind of liked having that power over someone who was supposedly one of the most feared shady businessmen in Argentina.

But the roll of his tongue across mine reminded me of so many other things about this marriage that would be so wickedly divine.

“Maybe it’d be better if you did keep a little of your bad streak intact,” I suggested in soft whispers between his lips. “I wouldn’t want you to become such an upstanding citizen and good guy that you became boring in bed.”

He let out a low, mischievous laugh. “Well, I think you’ve more than proven that someone can be good in the world and very very bad in bed...in all the best possible ways.”

Our kiss deepened, but the front door opened behind him. We jumped three feet apart at the sight of my father returning. It wasn’t until then that Alberto finally slid the diamond ring onto my finger to seal the deal.

My father blushed a little and looked at the floor, trying to convince himself that he hadn’t just walked in on that. But then he looked back up to me with a look of disappointment.

“Alicia! I knew you’d say ‘yes’ eventually, but I thought you’d at least make him suffer for a while first. You know...put up more of a fight. Make him work for it.”

“Oh, I’ve made him work more for it than you might know,” I assured him, thinking of everything that happened while he held me captive. “But how could you have possibly known I’d say yes?”

“I’m not an idiot. You’ve been moping around here lovesick ever since you got back. I may have pretended not to know, but I knew. They don’t call me the Great Detective for nothing.”

Alberto shot me a look, and we both smiled. It was obvious the Great Detective was still oblivious to the fact that I was pregnant. But I simply shook my head and went to take my father’s coat. We could at least give him a little breathing room before we broke that news to him.

Epilogue

EpilogueAlberto

I thought it would be demeaning to restore my reputation among the Argentinian landowners - kind of like a scolded dog skulking around with my tail between my legs. But thankfully I could still cling to the thrill of how terrified the people looked when I would first show up on their floundering farms and fields. Then to