Sold To Mr. Milano (Evil Empires Book 1)
Author: Wright, Daniella
Date: 2020-07-01

Sold To Mr. Milano

Daniella Wright

Prologue

Alicia

Looking out over the sprawling plains and mountains of our country, I was filled with an overwhelming sense of both warmth and dread. I loved Argentina, and I loved fighting for the best interest of our people. And it’s not that I didn’t feel gratified from accompanying my father on his work...Quite the opposite actually. It gave me a sense of purpose and made me feel like I was truly following in his footsteps. Together, maybe we could really change things.

But sometimes the troubles seemed too big. For every small victory, there was a mountain of new obstacles waiting behind it. I was starting to wonder if we could ever make a dent in all the injustices my father had shown me through his work.

“Don’t look so glum, mi dulce hija,” he smiled over at me from the driver’s seat. “Aren’t you excited for the opportunity to help me call Alberto Milano out on his dirty dealings?”

“Of course,” I answered sincerely, feeling a renewed hatred for Mr. Milano welling up inside.

My father - Don Martino, also known as “The Great Detective”, was a legend. Alberto Milano was one of his biggest nemesis. He broke a myriad of laws that sent my father chasing after him, usually with me by his side when it wasn’t too dangerous for him to allow.

Before I could even begin to express the heaviness in my heart to my father, we arrived at Albert Milano’s newest purchase of land. If anyone could understand the feelings of defeat and hopelessness that set in from time to time when you are a public servant, it was Don Martino - my beloved papa. But we had more pressing matters in front of us.

My father had come to investigate Alberto’s land, which he suspected was acquired by force. With the ever-growing population of homeless people in Argentina, the government has placed restrictions on how land can be purchased. Rich landowners and gangsters like Alberto Milano had taken to using violence and threats to intimidate poor, hardworking Argentinians out of their lands, some of which had been in their families for generations. They would throw them insultingly small amounts of money as an empty gesture of pity. But those people were not paid for their land. They were forced to leave for fear of their lives.

The prohibitions were put into effect as those acts of violence became more commonplace, and it was one of my father’s many jobs to go and investigate the purchases, looking for any clues that something illegal might have taken place. Having been a long time enemy of Alberto’s, he was especially excited to follow up on any of his new land acquisitions. Although usually, these visits proved to be in vain. Alberto was very skilled at his kind of business and knew how to cover his tracks well. It was nearly impossible to pin him for anything.

I followed behind my father as he approached the ranch door. Sometimes following him around was scary, but I was used to it by now. My mother died giving birth to me in America. As a single father, Don Martino knew he had to bring me back to his country to raise me. He was well-known and respected here and wanted me to know the roots of my culture. I had been following him around on the job most of my life, and now, at age eighteen, I could finally delve deeper into the work I was raised to believe in. I wanted to be just like my father - helping people and bringing justice to them.

“Wait here,” Papa told me as we got closer to the small house.

“What? No!” I fumed. “What am I here for if not to confront Alberto with you?”

He suddenly grew very stern in a way that I didn’t often see, but when I did - I knew he meant business.

“You don’t know Alberto Milano the way I do,” he barked through clenched teeth. “I let you come along, but I didn’t say you could go banging on his door with me. There are other sides to an investigation, Alicia. You should know that by now. Go look around the property...in an innocent-seeming way. See what you can find.”

I nodded, feeling a little bad that I had questioned him. He wasn’t one to be too overprotective. If he was keeping me back from something, there was a good reason. I let him march on to the door without me before turning to survey the scene. I could hear Alberto’s deep booming voice as he answered, feigning niceties for now. But it didn’t take long for their talk to escalate. Alberto hated my father, and he hated anyone who went snooping around in his business.

But as I looked around the land we were investigating, the weight from earlier lifted. It was obviously well cared for and had been in use for a very long time. It was typical for this kind of thing. Argentinians depended on their land for farming and their livelihood. They were honest and hardworking people, never wanting more than what they had, which wasn’t a lot but was rich with history and meaning. Then heartless men like Alberto who are the exact opposite in every way came blazing in to steal it right out from under them.

Each step I took across the rich, tended soil made me hate Alberto more. Men like him built their family businesses on breaking the rules, and innocent people were always the ones who were left to pay the price. Without people like my father, men like the Milanos would run everything without apology or repercussion. They would sweep in and take over every last square inch of beautiful lands like this. Everyone else be damned.

As my father continued with his questioning, and Alberto continued fighting him on every word, I ventured out further. Thankfully his men were on high alert with their altercation, staying near the house in case anything should get out of hand. Nobody seemed to notice me poking around, but I made sure to look naively curious anyway.

Suddenly, I heard something rustling a few feet away. I whipped around, expecting to see a rabbit or a deer scurrying off, but instead caught sight of a small boy. He was young - too young to be safely snooping around here. He seemed frantic as he ran back and forth, staring intently at the ground. He was talking to himself in a panicked whimper as he searched through bushes and patches of grass.

“Hey,” I called out quietly, taking care not to bring any attention to us from Alberto’s guards. “You there. What are you doing here?”

He froze when he saw me with a sharp gasp. I could tell he was thinking of taking off running as I walked closer to him.

“You don’t have to be afraid of me,” I offered gently. “But it isn’t safe here. This is Alberto Milano’s property now. Why are you here?”

“My sister’s doll,” he replied, on the verge of sobbing. “She won’t stop crying without it. Our grandmother made it for her. She never goes anywhere without it, but...we had to leave so quickly. Our parents snatched us up, barely giving us time to pack.”

My heart broke as he told me his story. I knew this was about something much deeper than a doll. These poor children had been suddenly ripped away from the only homes they knew, without warning or explanation. The parents likely couldn’t bring themselves to make up any kind of reason for their move. The real reasons behind it were too shameful and scary for children to understand. This doll was his only way to comfort his sister. The only way for either of them to cling to what they once knew.

I straightened with resolve, feeling much less cautious than before. This little boy could tell my father what he told me. It’d help him prove the land was acquisitioned through force. Don Martino would see to it that the previous owners’ rights were restored, and he’d make sure they were protected. I didn’t feel like I needed to be afraid anymore. We weren’t standing on Alberto’s property. This land belonged to this little boy.

“I will help you,” I assured the boy. “Will you wait here? I have someone I want you to talk to. My father. He is a good man. He can help you and your family. Then we can make sure we find your sister’s doll. Okay?”

He looked terrified but nodded anyway. I am sure, if nothing else, his parents warned him of what could happen if he ever came back here. I squeezed his hand and looked him in the eyes, trying my best to make him understand that I wouldn’t let anything happen to him. Then, I started off back towards the house.

“Father!” I boldly yelled out once I was within a few feet of Alberto’s door. He turned around looking very alarmed, cross, and confused. I had disobeyed him by marching up to them like this, but he also knew I wouldn’t do so without a very good reason.

“Alicia. What is it?” he murmured in a hushed tone.

“I have reason to believe that this man, Alberto Milano, has acquired this land by force...which is against the law,” I proclaimed confidently, pointing my finger directly at Alberto himself.

A wave of conflicting emotions washed over my father’s face. Alberto’s men whispered among themselves, waiting to see what their boss would do. And as for Alberto...I could tell I took him by surprise. He gave me a scoffing laugh as we stared each other down.

I intended to storm up on them, seeming brave and fearless. I wanted these men to know I was powerful, and that I intended to carry on my father’s work long after he was gone. When their enemy Don Martino retired, they would still have Alicia Guevara to worry about.

But I froze the moment Alberto and I came face to face. He was a very tall, large man, which I expected from the stories I had heard. However, he was also much younger than I imagined. He was unexpectedly handsome with a certain alluring charm, which I was determined not to fall prey to the way everyone else did. Beyond all of that was a startling presence that shone out through his dark eyes. He was an intimidating force of a man, even when he was just leaning in a doorway. I didn’t know if it was my fear of him or this strange attraction to him that had me so taken back.

“This is quite the woman you have here as your daughter, Don Martino,” Alberto said with an almost stunned expression. He was impressed with me - I could tell. But mostly, he just wanted to agitate my father, who couldn’t stand to see Alberto’s eyes looking me up and down.

So he turned his attention back to me, the only thing he had any control over. “You can prove what you say?” my father asked.

“Yes. Over there. He described how his family had to leave…,” I pointed behind me, but was cut off by muffled laughter amongst the men. When I turned to look for the boy, he was gone. “No, he was just right there. I can tell you everything.”

I started looking all around, but it was too late. The boy had vanished, and I had already called out Alberto. He had people killed for less, or so it was rumored. You couldn’t call out a man’s honor without proof to back it up.

“She’s spirited, isn’t she?” Alberto grunted towards my father, but his eyes were glued to me.

It was as if he could see straight through me, but maybe not through to nothingness. No, it seemed he was studying me from the inside out. Assembling all of my pieces together one by one until he understood me. I imagined that was how he cut people down so well. He could read them well enough to tear them apart. I waited for him to say something vicious and cruel, but his intensity suddenly faded.

“If that is all of your questions for now, Great Detective,” he mocked. “And if your sharp-tongued daughter has no more ghosts of little boys to send us after...Can we be finished with all of this? I am a busy man. I don’t have time to stand here all day while you attempt to drag my name through the mud.”

My father nodded, knowing there was nothing more we could do for today. “This isn’t over yet, Alberto. We will continue our investigation of this transaction.”

“By all means...please do, Don Martino,” he replied in a smooth, smug tone.

But as my father and I turned to leave, I could feel Alberto’s eyes still burning into my relentlessly. The feeling he gave me stuck for days. I couldn’t stop wondering what happened to that little boy. I hoped he got afraid and ran off, and that one of Milano’s men didn’t catch on and do something to him. I couldn’t bear to know any harm had come to him because of me. The mere possibility made me hate Alberto even more.

Then there was Alberto’s haunting stare...the way his eyes glinted at me with surprise and curiosity, even if he kept it cleverly hidden. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I wasn’t sure if it was from the way his looks caught me by surprise, or if it was over my anger and disappointment that he got away with everything once again.

1

Alberto

8 years later….

The aisles of the black market were a lot like the underbelly of a livestock auction. The long dark, dingy building with concrete floors dripped from hoses that sprayed away bile and mess, but the odor still hung heavy in the air. Seedy looking, revolting toothless men gathered at roughly built wooden tables to make their deals. I could barely stand to look at them. We may have had some things in common with our business dealings, but at least I kept myself clean and took care to wear nice clothes. But that was what separated respected and feared men like myself from trash like them.

I had come here to track down a young man who knew too much. He witnessed a violent crime by one of the men who worked for me, and he was a bold rebel who threatened to testify against us. All the power I had obtained didn’t come without consequences. There were long lists of people constantly waiting to pounce on any chance to bring me down.

Thankfully, this man may have been taken care of for us. We heard rumors that he had gotten wrapped up with the wrong company and had been swindled off into an underground slave trade. Probably not by accident as I doubted I was the only man he had threatened. But I needed to see it for myself to be sure. I was never one for leaving loose ends untied. That’s the kind of mistake that ruined greater men than myself.

But the difference between the livestock sales and the black market were clear as you made your way through the aisles of dingy, rusted cages. Staring back at you from inside were different kinds of animals...they were human beings. It was not a sight that hit me as hard as it might some. That’s why I was even allowed in places like this, to begin with. You had to have a cold heart and a strong stomach for cruelty to be able to walk through here.

The smell of vomit and excrement was almost enough to make you forget you felt sorry for the poor souls trapped behind the bars. It was easier to shield your mouth and nose with a handkerchief and keep moving through on your business, trying to get in and out as quickly as possible. I was happy enough to do just that. I didn’t have time to waste. I was here for one reason and one reason only.

Once I saw that this young lad had been swallowed up into this dark underworld, I’d know we had nothing to worry about and could move onto other things. Whatever fate awaited him outside these walls wouldn’t be good, and it’d be short-lived, which I was inclined to say he deserved for threatening me and my men. I could be an understanding man, but not when it came to someone who tried to intimidate us or prevent us from doing our work.

I made my way to the portion of cages where I knew the younger, healthier men were held. They’d likely be sold off into slave labor until they died of exhaustion or their bodies gave out. I looked through the faces of the dirty, scared men who scowled back at me, trying to spot the guy who fit the description Pablo and Felix gave me.

But as I scoured through their features, a screaming sound pulled my attention to the cage at the end of the line. I stopped cold at the sight of a woman being tossed around by the guards. It was not an uncommon thing to see here, but I could see the rounded pregnant belly poking out from her stained and ripped shirt, which was the only thing she was wearing aside from a pair of panties. The curves of her muscular exposed legs were shining with sweat and dirt as she struggled to break free from the guards who were tormenting her.

They were grabbing at her through the bars, attempting to rip away what was left of her already shredded clothing. You could see she had a considerable amount of spunk, even in her condition, she spit and bit and clawed back at them, doing her best to keep their hands off. I was pulled into the scene by force, finding my legs gravitating towards them beyond my control.

It wasn’t an uncommon thing to see around here by any means. It was one of many horrific sights I had been hardened to long ago. But even I wasn’t heartless. I had never seen a pregnant woman treated this way that I could remember, and it was hard to ignore. I walked closer, feeling frozen inside. I didn’t know what to say or do. All I could do was watch. It wasn’t like me not to be able to turn my head and just keep walking. It was none of my business anyway, but nonetheless, something lured me in and made me feel like it was very much my business.

As I came within feet of the bars she was caged within, she turned suddenly. She was on high alert in her defense against them and could instantly spot a new figure appearing in the corner of her eye. Her head whipped around to gauge the newly added threat, but we were both stunned into stillness as our eyes met.

I knew this woman. I would never forget that face. Many years ago she had accompanied her father to investigate one of my newly purchased properties. She accused me of obtaining the land by force, and she was right. I rarely forgot anyone who spoke against me, especially not the daughter of one of my nemesis...Don Martino. “The Great Detective” as they called him had been after me and my business deals for as long as I could remember.

But it was even more rare, maybe even unheard of, for a woman to stand up to me. I remembered being both outraged and impressed by her all at once. It was no wonder she found herself pregnant and locked up in this pit. I figured that mouth and spirit of hers would get her into trouble, I just didn’t know what kind.

She stared back at me with seething hazel eyes. Somehow despite being humiliated and sullied by this place and whatever put her here, she was still fiercely beautiful in a disarming way. The rage she glared at me with only seemed to intensify her enchanting look.

“Leave her alone,” I mumbled to the guards, quietly at first. I didn’t even know I was speaking out loud until I heard the words spill from my lips. It wasn’t loud enough for them to hear, so I tried again. “Stop it at once! Let her be!”

My defense of her only seemed to make her angrier. Her expression twisted into something even darker than before. I knew she recognized me as well. But I was left to deal with the guards who had turned to me in surprise. They knew me, and they never would have expected me to meddle in something like this. I never would have expected it either.

“She was causing too much trouble,” they defended with gaping mouths. “Asking too many questions.”

“Let her go,” I demanded, once again in disbelief at my own words.

They didn’t move or respond, so I commanded them louder until finally, my bark was startling enough to send one of them scrambling for his keys. But the other guard placed his hand up to stop him before marching up to me.

“We can’t just let her out,” he argued, bucking up to me. “She’s our property now and she’s set to be auctioned off. Unless, of course, you want to buy her.” He flashed a greedy, yellow grin.

My nostrils flared as I looked down at him, not appreciating the way he questioned me. But I knew he was right. She would have to be bought fair and square...if not by me, then by some other monster. I shuddered to think what kind of man bought a pregnant woman...and what he would do with her once he had.

I looked past the guard then back to Alicia, who was still seething with rage. Her chest heaved up and down as she watched us bargaining for her life. My thoughts drifted to Felix and Pablo. They were waiting for me to confirm the fate of our witness, so they could move on to bigger, more pressing matters. I didn’t have time to be distracted, and it wasn’t like me to succumb to such a thing anyway.

“How much?” I asked in a huff, accepting that it was better to get this resolved and figure the rest out later. It actually would have been far better to just keep walking and forget I ever saw this at all, but I seemed incapable of doing so.

The guard knew how to swindle people and would not be so easily swayed. He laughed and began whispering something to his compadre. They went back to teasing and taunting Alicia, getting her as riled up as they could.

“Pregnant women are hard to come by,” he sang out as they poked and prodded at her through the cage. “They go for a pretty penny. Much more than a common whore.”

“Need I remind you that I am not your common customer?” I hissed. They’d do well to remember their place. They were nothing more than petty, swindling thieves. I was practically a god to them and everything that went on here. Nothing about the underworld of Argentina would thrive without me.

They backed off Alicia, straightening with humility. After talking between themselves a moment longer, he came over and murmured a price into my ear...as if it was too exorbitant for anyone else to hear.

“Fine,” I sighed, pulling out a wad of cash. His eyes lit up with envy as I counted out the bills, and I could see a tinge of regret flash through his eyes. He was thinking he should have asked for more. “Here,” I shoved the fold into his hands as he licked his lips.

I stared down the other guard who quickly pulled himself together and rushed to unlock the cage, but Alicia didn’t budge. Was she mad? Surely whatever fate she faced with me was better than this hell hole.

“Get on!” the guard shouted as he shoved her forward.

I had half a mind to let her crash across the floor as she tripped out of the cage, but I remembered the innocent life inside of her and leaned forward to catch her. No sooner than she caught her balance, she was shoving herself back out of my arms.

“Told you she was trouble,” the man snarled as he counted his money. “But she’s your problem now.”

I looked over at Alicia, feeling clueless as to what to do next. I rarely ever acted without a plan. But with a deep breath, I reminded myself about the old adage of keeping friends close and enemies closer. Surely there could be some benefit to saving the great Don Martino’s precious daughter and his grandchild, if I chose to take that route.

“Wait here,” I barked down at her. “Try not to get yourself into trouble.”

She was too furious to respond, but she saw the guards still eyeing her with hunger and a surge of vengeance now that they hadn’t been able to have their fun with her.

“I’m coming with you,” she insisted, picking up speed to follow me as I marched off.

“I don’t care what you do as long as you’re quiet and stay out of my way,” I answered coldly.

I could see some snide reply forming on the tip of her tongue, but I busied myself with talking to some of the other men before she could get it out. I wasn’t going to let this trip be a total waste of time. Once I had tracked down the witness in question and knew we wouldn’t be hearing from him again, I was left to figure out what the hell to do with Alicia.

She stayed nearby and kept to herself, thankfully. She wasn’t stupid enough to take any more chances for now...chances she never should have been taking to begin with, given that she was with child. The audacity of it caused a renewed rage and irritation to boil up inside. If she and her father wanted to run around Argentina like renegades, risking their lives to put a stop to any tiny wrongdoing they saw - so be it. But to risk the life of a baby was a new low, even for them.

My cause for being there was settled, so I gripped my hand tightly around Alicia’s arm and hurried out back into the light of day. I didn’t know if once we were outside I would turn her loose to fend for herself again, or if I would force her to stay with me until I figured out what to do next.

I paraded her past the howling and whistling prisoners and hustlers who called out to us as we went. Most of them were too stupid to know not to lay eyes on any woman in my possession. She was still only half-dressed and was a complete mess from the ordeal, at least on the outside. On the inside, she still seemed strong and unintimidated as steel. Maybe I should have left her to let those guards put her in her place. But I didn’t. She was mine now...for whatever that meant.

2

Alicia

Alberto marched me to his truck, keeping a tight grip on my arm despite my jerking and yanking to get away. He didn’t stop until we landed at his passenger side door. I stared at it blankly, then back to him. I couldn’t help but laugh.

“You’ve got to be kidding me. I’m not getting in there. I’d rather die than go anywhere with you.”

“Suit yourself,” he grinned in his disarming way. “But I’m afraid death is far from the worst of what would await you.” He tipped his head towards the guards stalking the entrance of the marketplace. They had gathered to watch Alberto cart me off. “They’re waiting for me to toss you back to them. They know what I did in there was purely reactionary. I know it too, and I’m regretting it already. They’re just waiting for me to change my mind.”

I turned around to see the goons waiting there with snarled lips. They were like hyenas waiting to rip me to shreds. As much as I didn’t want to go with Alberto, I didn’t want to find out what they would do to me either. I had challenged them now by nearly escaping, and if they got their hands on me again, it’d likely make everything that happened until now seem like child’s play.

“It’s your choice, sweetheart. Get in or go back to them. It makes no difference to me.”

He didn’t hesitate before getting into the driver’s side and starting the engine up, and I knew he meant it. It was now or never. If I didn’t jump in right then, he would drive off and leave me here with these animals. Neither option helped me with what I came here for. I reluctantly got in and buckled up, thinking I’d figure something else out once we were away from this terrible place.

It was taking too long for his air conditioning to kick in, even though it was a very nice, expensive car as I would have expected. Men like him drove around in luxury while the people of this country were starving. It was despicable. Between that and the sweltering heat outside, my stomach began to churn. And to make matters worse, the prosthetic belly I was wearing under my shirt was starting to make me sweat and itch.

My father and I had been trying to crack down on the local black market for a while, but it had to be done slowly. The police, politicians, and judges had all been bought by the criminals who ran that place. That’s how it kept its secretive doors open. That was what fueled Alberto Milano’s hatred for my father in the first place. He couldn’t be bought.

We knew people were being sold into slavery and sex trafficking, and so far nothing could be done. But when I learned that there was a growing market for pregnant women, I thought surely exposing something like that would appeal to the hearts of even the most corrupt officials. They would have to put a stop to it, and maybe that would be just the beginning to bringing the whole thing down.

But you couldn’t just walk in there asking questions. In fact, someone like me could only get my foot in the door by being on the other side of things...by being one of the victims. Some women who ended up in the market were kidnapped and drugged. Some were sold off by their demented husbands or families. Others, however, went in by choice. They found themselves with no other options beyond starving on a street corner, so they’d take their chances with the market just to keep a roof over their heads and to have enough food to barely stay alive. It was better than nothing.

I planned on approaching the men at the market from this perspective. I strapped on a fake belly and went charging in, hoping to document every step of the process and name as many participants in the cruel practice as I could along the way. But of course, they didn’t take kindly to how many questions I asked. I had to demand fair and humane treatment, to prove they were denying it to others. It all put one giant target on my back, and I was quickly in over my head.

But I couldn’t blow my cover to Alberto. Appearing to be pregnant might be the only reason he has been so merciful with me this far. And if I ever managed to infiltrate the market again, I couldn’t have him telling everyone my pregnancy was a farce. I’d be killed without the blink of an eye.

I glanced over at Alberto who was looking smug as ever as he drove with his arm draped out the window. If he hadn’t shown up, I would have found some way to ward off the guards. I could have gone through with my mission and potentially saved who knows how many women and their babies. Now everything was ruined, and I would have to start all over again.

I fiddled with the lock on the door, taking care to keep Alberto from noticing. But it wouldn’t budge. He obviously controlled all the locks from the panel on the driver’s side. Of course, someone like him would have their car altered that way. No one got out until he said they did.

“This is far enough,” I tried announcing. “You can let me out here.”

“No. I think I’ll hold on to you a while longer.”

“Let me go! You got me out of that place...for whatever reason. Now pull over here and let me out. I don’t need you to take care of me.”

“Oh no?” he smiled. “Sure looked like you needed someone to take care of you back there.”

“I would’ve been perfectly fine without you, I assure you.”

He didn’t budge, just kept driving. I didn’t want to find out where he was taking me. I started shouting louder, demanding for him to let me go. When he didn’t respond, I kicked and screamed until my lungs had about given out. He didn’t move a muscle. He stared blankly ahead without even so much as flinching.

“Are you done now?” he asked after I had been silent for a few moments.

“Done fighting? Never. Whatever you have in store for me won’t work out the way you’re hoping. I can promise you that much.”

“Look, I didn’t ‘rescue’ you back there. I bought you fair and square. So...now you’re mine, and I never let a penny go to waste,” he cut his eyes over to look me up and down, but averted his sights back to the road after taking in the bulge of my pregnant belly.

He wanted to scare me, to torment me, but even he had his limits to what he would do to a woman in my condition. It was just another reminder that I had to maintain the lie of this pregnancy no matter what. It was the only thing protecting me as long as I was in Alberto’s possession.

“I always knew you were a monster,” I seethed. “But what kind of sick bastard buys a pregnant woman?”

He stiffened, and I knew I had struck a nerve. His nostrils flared as he breathed in deep. “If the father of your baby had done his job, you wouldn’t have been sold off to me like a goat.” He shot a disdainful look in my direction. “Or perhaps you don’t even know who the father is?”

“What are you implying?”

His voice dripped with hatred. “That for all the expectations I had for Don Martino’s one and only daughter, to be a common whore was not one of them. Dying while fighting for bums who don’t deserve a second thought? Probably. Being murdered by some corrupt official or dangerous criminal for sticking your nose in places it doesn’t belong? Very likely. But a knocked up whore being sold off in a place like that?” He shook his head in disappointment. “No.”

“I’d rather be a whore than a heartless beast who destroys people’s lives to better their own,” I hissed, trembling with anger.

I wasn’t just arguing to uphold my facade of being with child. I truly felt for any woman who found themselves in that situation in real life and was judged so harshly. I imagined all the ways in which a woman could find herself pregnant and alone with no other options. And to think someone like Alberto Milano would consider them unworthy of any compassion...all for circumstances they had no control over.

But he wasn’t entirely without compassion, or else I wouldn’t be here. The thought intrigued me, and I could see he was completely unphased by my last dagger.

“And anyway...if you think I am so beneath you, why bother buying me at all? Why not leave me to whatever was going to happen? I apparently deserve it according to you anyway.” I sulked down a little in the seat, still bitter that my entire mission had been destroyed. It would have been better for him just to leave me.

He grunted, but said nothing at first.

“Nothing to say to that? Then I have to assume your intentions are no better than whatever those men back there were planning. Let me out. Drop me off on the side of the road or take me back to the market. Just anything to get me away from you.”

“You are a feisty thing, aren’t you?” he subtly raised one brow. “I thought women in your condition calmed down a little bit. Haven’t you any maternal instincts for survival?”

“Very much so, and I can honestly say I think I’ll die if I have to spend another moment with you.”

He looked slightly stunned but then burst into laughter. “Good God, woman. You better be glad I’m driving. I’ve punched men out for saying less than that to me.”

“But as you’re clearly aware, I’m not a man. Though it wouldn’t surprise me if you treated a woman the same way.”

He slumped back down, returning to his stoic silence. I knew I was getting to him. Could it be that Alberto Milano did have his limits? He had a soft spot for pregnant women, obviously. But the subject of beating women seemed to bother him too.

“Anyway, it doesn’t matter if you’d strike a woman yourself. The work you do causes plenty of harm to be done to women and children. Just because it’s not directly by your hands doesn’t mean you’re any less responsible. I’d argue women like me ending up in places like the black market is the fault of none other than men like yourself...for running families out of their homes. Having young fathers killed by gang violence on a street corner.”

“Last week a man killed himself because he was facing prosecution being brought down on him by your dear father, Don Martino,” he shot back. “Do you blame him for that man losing his life?”

“No, I blame the man who dragged him into a life of crime in the first place.”

“Then you blame your country,” his voice raised and cracked with anger. “The government is who left him with no other options. If a country refuses to take care of its people, then it is each man for himself. You can not blame us for what we have to do to protect ourselves and our families.”

“You could do so in an honorable way that helps people rather than hurting them. You could be honest...like my father.”

He marveled sarcastically at the suggestion. “Your father!? Oh dear, young, sweet Alicia. I would never be anything like your father. He betrays hard-working men who are just trying to get by. He has us thrown behind bars because he’s not smart enough to run a business as lucratively as we do. Were you not poor growing up? Do you think the other children of the men who work with your father were so poor? No, I can assure you they were not.”

He knew they were not because he lined the pockets of those detectives himself, even if he’d never confessed to it with me here now.

“My father is a hundred times smarter than you. Because he knows how to balance his morality with his need to make a living.”

“Too bad it didn’t rub off on you,” he scoffed, shooting another disgusted glance in my direction.

My fists clenched. I wanted to keep arguing, but I was becoming so frustrated that all the words were clumping on the edge of my tongue in one big tangled knot. I refused to let him think he won by seeing me stammer through being too angry to speak an intelligent thought.

I sat back and crossed my arms, keeping it all pent up inside. I did have to remember I was with a dangerous man, and by the tone of his voice, I knew I was pushing him too far. Not far enough to pull over and throw me out of the car, as I would hope for. But far enough to hold me prisoner and do terrible things to me to make me pay. People did not question men like him, especially not women. I didn’t like not speaking my mind, but I had to play it smart to stay alive.

I didn’t challenge him on the big things anymore. He would never confess to anything of value to me anyway. But that didn’t stop us from bickering relentlessly as we continued along the long winding roads of the countryside.

3

Alberto

I had no idea where I was going or what I was doing as I shuffled Alicia into my car and started driving, and her incessant raging didn’t make it any easier to decide. I wasn’t used to being caught off guard, to act without a plan. Frivolous, impulsive actions were what led to mistakes...they led to getting caught. And when you built your fortune on the fringe of what was legal, you couldn’t afford to behave that way.

I was surprised by myself and the situation I had gotten myself into, but even more so surprised by Alicia’s tongue. She was bold and sassy, maybe more so than any woman I had ever encountered. It was why the thought of her had always stuck with me since the day eight years ago when she and her father stormed my new property, making demands and accusations so flippantly.

The spark I saw in her that day hadn’t faded a bit, even though she found herself knocked up and alone being sold off in the market. She had some nerve to criticize my way of life, but then that was the way of Don Martino. It shouldn’t have surprised me at all, but it did.

I should have been able to throw her to the wolves, or even to the side of the road like she asked, but I couldn’t. For as tough as she seemed to think she was, I felt this strange overwhelming need to protect her...at least for now. She had a way of drawing a fury out of me, one that made it tempting to see to her lowly fate myself. Maybe that was it. Maybe I just saw it fit that if anyone was going to teach her a lesson, it should be me. Surely I had earned such a right after feuding with her high and mighty father all these years.

The only thing I knew for certain was that I couldn’t let her go running back to him and tell him what happened. I doubted the story would be painted in the proper light, which was that I saved her life. She would probably spin it to make the whole deal my fault. Don Martino was waiting on the slightest misstep to bring me and my entire empire down, and this would be all the ammunition he needed to strike.

At the very least, I needed more time to figure out what to do with this mess I had found myself in. At some point in the drive, my muscle memory took over and started heading for my estate. I decided that was the best I could do for now. I’d have to figure the rest out later.

My main property was settled in the middle of nowhere down a long, winding dirt road. It was the kind of road that you’d assume nothing could be found on, and any unsuspecting person would continue to believe that if they drove past the clump of barely manicured shrubs that the driveway was hidden behind. They would drive right past, not noticing the gate that rested behind them. They also wouldn’t notice the men I kept on watch behind them, carefully hidden. As my car pulled up, they’d emerge from behind the bushes and open the gate for me to drive through. Anyone else snooping around would be interrogated and likely sent on their way. No one came to see me without an appointment.

Should an unsuspecting visitor ever find their way through, they’d have to navigate their way down another long driveway lined with tall, thick trees. I had it constructed so that it didn’t lead all the way up to the house. It stopped abruptly a few yards away, and the manor was without a courtyard in the front as well. The stone path to the door was narrow and discreet.

The manor itself was a giant square cream-colored building with black shutters, usually kept shut. The front of it was lined with big trees and hedges all the way around the circular entryway. To a stranger, it would be hard to see where exactly you entered the mansion at all. That was intentional. The point of the entire design was to make the place seem uninviting. I wanted visitors to feel off and at a disadvantage. It helped me keep the upper hand in whatever their business was there.

Alicia would find herself in the same position as I pulled her from the passenger seat, once again keeping a firm grip on her arm, ensuring she didn’t have a chance to run off back to her father before I was ready. She was in awe of the big sprawling mansion and the property surrounding it, and of course, seemed nervous not knowing what would happen next. At the very least, the whole sight made her shut her mouth for once.

The staff knew better than to question me on why I was returning with a strange, pregnant woman in my possession. But my brothers, Felix and Pablo, didn’t feel the need to be so polite. They likely heard the others inside whispering about our guest’s arrival and were quick to meet us on the lawn, staring me down questioningly.

“Find a souvenir at the market, did you?” Felix quipped.

My brothers and I were born into a rich Argentinian family with Italian ancestry. Under my lead, we manage one of the largest operations of our family’s empire. We owned real estate in a number of cities including vineyards, bakeries, and dairy farms, just to name a few. We are a good looking group of men, but each of us harsh in our own ways.

I didn’t answer and kept marching right past them, but they followed closely behind. I motioned to several of my men to walk along with us, leading everyone to one of the side parlors - one with sliding doors that could be locked from the outside. I shoved Alicia inside, commanded two men to go in with her, and two men to wait right outside. She would be no match for their big stature, much less the giant rifles they kept perched on their shoulders.

With Alicia stowed away and under close watch, I stormed into the parlor next door and immediately went to the bar cart. I prepared myself for my brothers’ questioning as I poured a glass of fernet and coke over ice.

“Whoever that is and whatever she’s doing here…,” Pablo started slowly. “Please tell me she didn’t distract you from the guy we were tracking.”

I grunted, wanting to smack him for even thinking I would be so easily detoured. But any great leader has to know when to explode and when to keep it all simmering beneath the surface.

“No, of course not. I found him. He’s taken care of. We don’t have to worry about him anymore.”

They both let a soft sigh of relief escape their lips, and we went back to discussing regular business. Soon we were settled into chairs, sipping drinks, and smoking cigars. But there was an elephant in the room. The entire time I was mulling over this whole ordeal with Alicia in the back of my head, and they were trying to decide on the best time to ask what the hell had happened.

One of the kitchen staff workers gave them their opportunity. The older woman appeared in the doorway after a gentle knock.

“Sorry to interrupt, Mr. Milano. I just wanted to inform you that dinner will be served in one hour. Asados with mollejas and chinchulines,” she paused for a moment, choosing her next words carefully as she knew they were founded purely on gossip - something I didn’t take kindly to around my house. “Forgive me, sir. But...will the lady be joining us?”

I considered it for a moment, then made a quick decision as I had been forced to do a lot that day. “No, not joining. I’ll have her put up in a room. You may serve her there. Take note that she’s with child and adjust the meal accordingly, if necessary.”

“Yes, of course,” she nodded with a subtle, polite bow and showed herself out. With that, I whistled to call in one of the men outside. “See to it that the girl is settled into a room.”

“One of the guest rooms?” he asked.

“No, but not the basement either. One of the smaller rooms in the west wing. And put several men on watch both in and outside her room. I want you to keep a close eye on her.”

I wouldn’t have a pregnant woman in the dripping stone walls of the basement where we usually took men for interrogations or to scare them into doing what we wanted. But I wasn’t about to have her be treated like a queen either. The row of rooms in that part of the manor was suitable but scarce - usually reserved for house staff.

The door kept ajar as he went to go see about the arrangements. I watched as they carted Alicia off. She was struggling with them as much as she had me, but she was still in nothing but a shirt and panties. I caught sight of a maid scrambling behind them with fresh sheets in hand.

“Hey!” I called out to her. “See to it that she gets some proper clothes put on.”

Once they were gone and the pounding of their boots had vanished, Felix and Pablo turned back to me with the same shocked expressions.

“Who is she?” they asked, almost in unison.

“Don Martino’s daughter,” I sighed through a puff of my cigar. They gaffed at my response, not sure how to reply. I decided to clear it up before they could. “She was at the black market being tormented by guards. I bought her at a steal of a price,” I lied to save face. “I’m sure we will find some way to use her to our advantage. A hostage deal perhaps...to keep Don Martino off our backs for a while. He can’t be bought with money, but maybe with the life of his daughter on the line he’ll be more cooperative.”

“Like hell,” Felix scoffed. “You know Don Martino would never submit to any threats or intimidation. He wouldn’t negotiate. He’d follow the law to a T and likely get us shot or thrown in jail. Anyway, you know how they all protect their own. It’d be like waging war against the police force.”

“Or would it?” I raised a brow, propping my boots up on the edge of my desk. “We do own the rest of the police force, after all. It would be interesting to see how it played out. And that disgrace of a woman is sadly all that Martino has left. I’m sure he would be very careful in how he chose to respond.”

“Not interesting enough in face of the risks we’d be taking,” Pablo crossed his arms.

He looked me over with confusion. He knew this wasn’t like me. Why would I have even taken the risk of bringing her here at all? Felix shifted in his seat and took note of our brother’s stance, following suit. I wasn’t about to have them start questioning me, especially not while I was in the midst of questioning myself.

“Even still, it’s a reminder to Don Martino that he doesn’t control us...regardless of how we handle it. Rest assured I have it all under control. Now, don’t you two have business to tend to?” I shot them a stern look, letting them know that any more skepticism wouldn’t be tolerated.

They were quick to obey. They finished their drinks and took their leave, finally giving me some peace and quiet to think straight...something I hadn’t had from the moment I spotted Alicia in that cage, and it was the thing I needed the most.

But with everyone gone and me locked away in the privacy of my study, it seemed the silence only confused me more. What permeated through my thoughts more than any practical solutions or ideas were completely useless flashes of memories from the morning. The vivid image of Alicia being tossed around by the guards with her fleshy thighs exposed, leading all the way up to the shadows under the hem of her shirt. The way her daring eyes sparkled at me with such hatred and rage. And the sound of her sharp tongue as she attempted to talk down to me in the car.

It all came together to stir something up inside. I didn’t know what it was, but I could only assume the unfamiliar feeling was what struck me in the market, and it was the very thing causing me to act so impulsively. It was dangerous to be off-kilter like this, and if Alicia was the reason for it, then I needed to stay away from her.

I decided I would let the staff tend to her and leave her hidden off somewhere, out of sight and out of mind. Maybe by the time I cared enough to make a decision about her, I’d be thinking more clearly. They would take decent enough care of her that if she ever did return to her beloved papa, she couldn’t say we had treated her too poorly at least.

I breathed a little lighter at my decision, and I had plenty of other things to worry about instead. I ignored the way it excited me to know she was dwelling within the walls of my estate, probably cursing my name with every breath.

4

Alicia

I didn’t know what to expect when I was left alone in the small, empty room furnished with nothing but necessities. Even those accommodations were nicer than I would have expected. The wooden floors had a rougher stain than the polished mahogany in the rest of the manor. The old pinstriped wallpaper was faded and torn in some places. There was a four-post bed, a small bedside table, and a wardrobe. The adjoined tiny bathroom was without windows or any doors aside from the one connected to the bedroom.

The most startling thing in the room was the two guards with big guns that stayed firmly planted, preventing me from even thinking about going anywhere. They also made it difficult for me to know how to act. I was grateful for the door in the bathroom because without it I had a feeling they wouldn’t flinch to keep standing there as I went about my private business.

It did afford me the chance to sneak away long enough to remove my prosthetic belly long enough to air out my sweaty skin. I hated to put the cumbersome thing back on. It definitely made me question any longing I might ever have to be a mother. I was sure the real thing would be uncomfortable, but not in the same way as having that big bulky thing strapped on underneath your clothes.

An hour or so after I had been delivered to the room, I guessed since the guards removed the only clock upon my arrival, the staff brought in fresh linens and a change of clothes. So much had happened I had somehow nearly forgotten I had been without pants this entire time. I managed to keep my head held high despite the fact that I was basically being held prisoner in nothing but a shirt and panties.

Once I had washed up and put on decent clothing, a flowing gown to fit over my falsely pregnant body, I was served dinner. It was a traditional Argentinian meal, but I could tell it had been prepared by a very talented chef. It was a wonder Alberto hadn’t ordered them to serve me scraps or some equivalent of prison food.

The setup was almost too kind to be believable, and I knew things wouldn’t stay like this forever. Alberto would have no motivation to keep me hidden away in a corner of his house, draining their food and board - not to mention manpower for the total of four guards he kept on watch over me. Sooner or later, he would make other uses of me. I knew if I didn’t play my cards right, the outcome would likely not be in my favor.

The next morning I was served a good breakfast, comparable to dinner from the night before. I was given another clean gown, and just after eleven, the guards gave me leave to take a bath and dress for the day. Of course, after that, there was nothing for me to do but sit and stare at the walls, or else stare at the two big burly men staring blankly ahead from their post in front of the door. But I was safe and comfortable...as much as I could be within the walls of the Milano estate.

The unexpected hospitality got me to thinking...If he cared enough to provide these accommodations for me, maybe I could take things a step further. The number of staff members I had seen so far were plentiful, not to mention the number of men on the property working for Alberto directly. Then there were his partners who carried their weapons more discreetly and wore expensive suits. There were probably a lot of people needed to maintain the property and all of its functions. If I was going to be here for the time being anyway, why not make myself of some use?

My plans and mission at the black market may have been foiled or at least detoured for the time being, but it did give me another unique opportunity. If I had even just a little more freedom on the grounds, I could keep an eye on the Milanos. Who knew what kind of information I could find on their underground business dealings.

Some time after lunch, I stood to address one of the men in my room. “Excuse me, sir. I request to speak to Alberto Milano, please.”

He blinked, but didn’t turn his head toward me in the slightest, much less speak. So, I tried again.

“I am sorry to interrupt your...busy workday. I just...well, as I said, it is very important for me to speak to Mr. Milano. Could you please let him know that I would like to see him?”

Finally, he responded in a brisk and irritated tone. “Mr. Milano has ordered for you to stay here. If he sees it fit to speak with you, he will come. Until then, you sit. You wait. You leave me alone.”

I straightened and lifted my chin. “I respect your duties to your boss, but you must not understand who I am. I am Alicia Martino. Don Martino’s daughter. My father is a very important man. Mr. Milano is aware of this, and I assure you...If you inform him that I want to speak to him in regards to my father, he would humor my request.”

“Alberto is a very thorough man,” he retorted snidely. “If he wanted us to take heed to such requests, he would have said so.”

“Or perhaps he trusts his men to use common sense and their own good judgment.”

“We do as we’re told. As should you. Now, go sit and stare out the window or something.” The other guard laughed a little under his breath, apparently amused by his co-worker’s treatment of me.

“Even still...would you really want to risk not meeting an expectation of Mr. Milano? Especially when it involves another important man such as my father?”

I watched him weigh the consequences before finally groaning and rolling his eyes. The whole effort seemed to be a waste of time to him, but nonetheless, he turned to open the door and murmur something to one of the guards outside. I heard boots trailing off down the hall, and I knew at least my message would reach Alberto, even if he didn’t see me. Which is exactly what I thought he had decided by the next afternoon when I still hadn’t heard from him. But finally, after the sun had set again, an hour or so after dinner, I heard a woman’s voice outside followed by a knock on the door. One of the women working in the house exchanged a few words with the guards in my room, then was given entry to step inside and address me.

“Ms. Martino,” she waved for me to follow. “Mr. Milano is requesting your presence.”

I followed along anxiously through the dark halls of the manor. I figured Alberto had been considering my message ever since it reached him, and maybe only after sleeping on it and having a few drinks after dinner did his curiosity finally get the better of him.

I was led to his study, ushered inside, and the door slammed shut behind us. It left me alone in the room with Alberto who kept his back turned to me from his seat, with his legs perched on the windowsill. It looked as if he had been taking in the night air, but now the window was closed - probably to prevent any risk of me finding a way to jump out of it.

“They tell me you have something to say...in regards to your father?” He asked curiously, still without turning around.

“More or less.” I swallowed and cleared my throat, which had become dry from barely speaking since I arrived days ago. “I was hoping...that you could help me. Or more so that I might help you. Both really.”

“What are you babbling on about, woman?” he growled, finally standing from his seat to make himself another drink. I noticed his eyes looking me up and down as he stomped across the room. “And what does this have to do with your father?”

I reminded myself of everything I had been practicing in my head since the day before. “He doesn’t know,” I said quietly, drawing my eyes and hands down to my bulging stomach. “I left home so he wouldn’t find out. What you said in the car...you were right. I don’t know who the father is. I have disgraced my family. I may deserve whatever happens to me, but please give me some chance at redemption.”

He cut his eyes over with a smug smile, seeming pleased that I told him his suspicions were correct. “What chance at redemption do I have to offer you?”

“Time. Just give me more time and perhaps, a chance to earn my own way...before sending me back out there to face him. I’m not sure what you have planned for me, but if it hasn’t been decided...I was hoping you might give me a job. Once the baby is born, and I have saved a little money, I could go back to my father’s house more dignified than I am today.”

He laughed heartily. “You think after paying to save your ass I would turn around and pay you even more money? If you did any labor around here, it would be in exchange for room and board and even that’s being generous.”

“I understand,” I nodded my head diminutively. “That would be more than fair. Anything to save me from having to face my father. Please, Alberto. For all of the bad blood between your family and mine...surely you can appreciate the position it had put me in. I certainly appreciate the fact that someone like my father could never take pity on a tainted woman like myself. Only someone like you could find it in your heart to do that.”

I didn’t know if anything I was saying was true. I could only assume that the reason Alberto took pity on me in the first place was because he related to the unborn life he thought was growing in my womb. Maybe he had known other women like me. Whatever his seedy life had dealt to him, he had a soft spot for someone in my position. And it had to thrill him to know he could offer me something I claimed my father could not.

He was silent and stern for a long time, thinking it over. After a while, he ordered me to go back to my room without giving me an answer. But the following morning, a woman from the kitchen came to collect me, ordering me to put on an apron and follow her every direction. It seemed something I said to Alberto had worked.

They gave me a job in the kitchen - peeling potatoes, chopping vegetables, and any other meal prep that was suitable for a pregnant woman to do. I kept my head down the first few days, taking care to do everything perfectly. I couldn’t try anything right off the bat. I knew they’d be watching me heavily at first.

After the first week, I seemed to fade into the background. The other workers seemed less suspicious of me and were starting to let their guards down. Late one afternoon as we started preparing for dinner, there was a fuss in the garden over missing crops. Accusations were being thrown around and it pulled most of the staff out of the kitchen. It was the perfect opportunity for me to have a look around.

In a corridor not far from the kitchen, I found a locked door. I ran my finger across the hole and did my best to memorize what size and shape of a key might fit. It took a couple more days for me to manage to grab hold of a spare set of keys that were kept in the maid’s quarters. The metal ring held several keys that seemed like they might fit.

The head kitchen staff had told me that it would be improper for a pregnant woman with no serving experience to be fumbling around in the dining room. So, once I was trusted enough to not be watched constantly, I was left alone in the kitchen each evening as the others helped serve dinner to Alberto and his men. It was especially chaotic in the evenings when they were entertaining guests or having a very formal meal. On those frequent occasions, I was forgotten about all together until it was time for me to return to my room.

One night when they were throwing a dinner party, likely for other gangsters like themselves I imagined, I took it as my chance to sneak away and try the set of keys. Just as I had thought, one of them clicked in and turned, opening the door. It opened to a dark set of stairs. I grabbed a candle from one of the tables in the hallway and used it to light the way. They led me to a huge basement filled with barrels and boxes filled to the brim with fine wines, oils, and other luxuries including jewelry and furs. There was even a classic car half uncovered in one of the far corners.

Why would they keep all of these fine things locked away out of sight? Someone like Alberto would want to show off all of his lavish possessions...unless, of course, they were not being declared to the government.

With the faintest sound of footsteps, I bolted back up the stairs and locked the door before returning to my post just in time. No sooner than I got back, the kitchen doors swung open and I could see Pablo Milano eyeing me from the parlor. It was a reminder to be careful.

But once I had the taste of uncovering evidence, I wanted more. Before anyone could really take notice of me standing back in my corner of the kitchen, I quickly and quietly slipped out the back door leading to the garden.

It was dark enough that I knew I could get away before anyone would see me. I decided that when I returned, I could say I thought I saw someone outside, but got lost when I went to investigate. It wasn’t the most solid plan, but I knew I was onto something with the Milanos. I couldn’t stop now. I was finding the proof against them that my father and I had been after for years.

Once I was in the clear, I ran out to the stables and saddled up a horse. I wanted to ride around the property and see what else I might find to incriminate them. Maybe a whole garage with more things like what that basement held? No matter what it was, I was determined to make my father proud and bring Alberto Milano down.

I climbed onto the horse, doing my best to remember everything I had learned in the few lessons my father had been able to afford as a child. But before my feet could fully settle into the stirrups, gunshots rang out from inside the house. I jumped, assuming someone had noticed my escape and was coming after me with a gun. My alarm wasn’t as nearly as bad as the horse’s, though. He immediately reared back and took off in a mad dash across the property, nearly bucking me off.

5

Alberto

With my encouragement, our guests had excused themselves to check out one of the expansive balconies of the manor, leaving Felix, Pablo, and myself alone again. We needed to discuss how things were going and make sure we were on the right track to winning our audience over.

It was shaping up to be a successful evening of business connections as we entertained several real estate owners like ourselves from the area. When it came to struggling shop owners in the city, it was easy to bully them into letting us offer protection over their businesses for a fee. But when it came to more upstanding moguls or tycoons, we had to persuade them more skillfully. We would have them over for a fancy dinner and fine wines. We’d charm them with our jokes and stories.

They were just excited to wine and dine with the famed Milanos, rumored to be wealthy gangsters. And by the end of it, they were thrilled to accept our gifts of rare imports as trades for other commodities they could offer us in return. Considering that we never gave them a pinch of anything we didn’t already have buckets of, they were getting the stiff end of the bargain. If they knew that, they didn’t care. They were just thrilled to have the scandalous affiliation with us that they could brag about to their square friends, or to use as intimidation to anyone who tried to cross them.

“I do get tired of all this ass-kissing,” Felix lamented to me once our guests were out of sight.

“It is a necessary evil,” I reminded him.

“I prefer bullying our way into people’s favor...like we do with the poor ones in the city. At least they maintain a healthy fear of us. These people...They come into our homes and drink our wine. We laugh with them...pretend to be friends with them. It makes them too comfortable. They don’t know what we’re capable of. It makes them less trustworthy.”

“Ah, but see what they’re too afraid to admit is what they have heard about us from their rich friends. They know what we’re capable of, believe me. Our reputation speaks for itself.”

Pablo groaned and shook his head. “It’s all so fake. And exhausting.”

Pablo and Felix were all about brawn over brains. They liked busting into places and showing what big, strong men they were. They didn’t have the patience for charming people by wit or playing along with the politics of high society. I preferred a more calculated approach.

“Don’t forget that when someone like Don Martino makes an accusation against us, the only thing we have on our side are the detectives we pay for. Then it comes down to the judges. And who’s friends with the judges?” I stood to refill my drink, hating that I had to explain all of this yet again. “Those people out there on our balcony. The more of them that are indebted to us or that have some kind of soft spot for us...the more of your kind of work we can get away with.”

The servers’ kitchen doors swung open as Pablo and Felix pretended not to listen to or understand what I was saying. They didn’t have to like it, but they knew I was right.

I could see Pablo’s eyes glaring at something in the kitchen before he turned to me and said with a smug smile, “Speaking of Don Martino, I see his daughter has made herself right at home here.”

It was a typical tactic of theirs. They couldn’t change the reality of what I was telling them, so instead, they chose to challenge me on something else they might hold more traction on.

“I gave her a job,” I huffed. “She’s treated just the same as any other staff member, if not more strictly so. The other workers don’t like her. I assure you she’s not having a good time.”

“Still, it’s awfully kind treatment for a prisoner,” Felix scoffed in agreement with Pablo.

“She’s not a prisoner. More like a slave. I’m not even paying her.”

“A pregnant slave?” Pablo chortled. “You’re almost convincing enough to fool me into thinking you’re just as cold-hearted and ruthless as your reputation claims. But, no. I know the truth...which is that you’ve always had a thing for Don Martino’s precious daughter. It would be the ultimate revenge for you, wouldn’t it? To stake claim over his most prized possession?”

I rubbed my fingers around the bridge of my nose, feeling tired with their constant attempts at bickering with me. That was the downside of working with your brothers.

“Maybe at one time that would have been a fun scenario. But look at her now,” I nodded toward the kitchen doors with disgust. “She’s ruined. Knocked up...doesn’t even know who the father is.”

“Maybe that’s ideal!” he teased, trying my patience. “You’ve always had a phobia of children. Perhaps the solution is to not be the one creating them!” The two of them erupted in laughter. “I can see it now...ol’ step-dad Alberto!”

I didn’t let my anger show through on my face. I stayed perfectly still and composed, letting them howl on in laughter like banshees. But once it had gone on long enough, I stood very calmly and in one swift movement pulled my pistol from its holster and fired it at the ceiling. Pablo and Felix flinched and kept their eyes closed for a long time, as if they expected to be shot dead right there on the spot.

“I am no more afraid of creating life than I am of taking it,” I stated plainly with a grin. That’s when our guests came rushing back into the room, white as ghosts. They hadn’t seen what happened, and they did their best to play it off. They pretended not to notice the smoke lingering in the air or the newly added holes in the ceiling, joining a myriad of old ones.

“Ah! Friends!” I greeted them warmly, as if nothing had happened. “So good of you to join us again! Did you enjoy the view from the balcony?”

“Uh...yes...quite impressive,” one of them stammered.

“Splendid. Well, have a seat. Let me get you another round of drinks.”

I let them settle in and slowly forget about the gun that had obviously been fired. They dared not ask what happened while they were gone, but every so often their eyes would glance around to the corners of the room as if they expected to see a body lying there. These sorts of unanswered questions only worked to our advantage. It kept them on edge. It helped ease all of Pablo and Felix’s worries. These people would appear to be our friends, but deep down they knew who we were, and they knew better than to cross us.

“So, I am very interested in this property we discussed earlier,” I leaned forward to say after a while, once everyone appeared somewhat calm again. “If it’s not currently in use, I would love to take it off your hands. I have a few uses in mind for it. Or, if nothing else, I would like to resale it eventually. I am in the market for real estate to flip.”

“I’m sure everyone is eager to own something that once belonged to a Milano,” one of the men offered graciously. “But...I’m afraid the government is purchasing the land. They’re having it rezoned as a nature preserve. A rare species of something-something...ah, I really can’t remember what they were rambling on about. I don’t really care so long as they pay me. But the paperwork has already been started. Perhaps the other strip of land on the north…”

“No,” I waved abruptly. “I have no interest in that one.” I slid over to whisper into Pablo’s ear to confirm my plan, and he nodded in agreement. “We have connections to the wildlife conservation board,” I smiled. “Speaking of which, I’m sure you’ve heard of my expansive hunting grounds, which I’d love to show you in person some time. Anyway, I’m sure we can put a stop to the pending sale if it could be promised to us instead. We’ll top their price, of course.”

He looked skeptical but didn’t seem too keen on opposing me. “Well, wonderful.”

“Wonderful indeed! As soon as the sale is finalized we’ll take that hunting trip! One of my ranges is rampant with water buffalo and wild boar this time of year.”

The man’s interests peaked, but quickly faded again. “Oh, but they are out of season right now…”

“You’ll find we do have a number of liberties many don’t when it comes to little things...like restrictions on hunting big game. I’ve never taken too kindly to the government telling me what to do on my own property. That’s when those wildlife conservation connections come in handy,” I explained casually, popping my knuckles as I spoke.

“I’ve heard about some of your hunting properties,” another man chimed in. “But is it true that they are shared with the Mendoza’s?” With this, every head in the room turned towards me. “You’ve been too welcoming and generous with us, Mr. Milano. But I think I speak for everyone when I say I want no affiliation with the Mendoza’s.”

I took a sip of my drink and cleared my throat. “Affiliation isn’t the same as an endorsement. Do I share some land with the Mendoza’s? Yes. But other than that, we couldn’t be more separate. I don’t condone their actions any more than you do.”

They were a ruthless band of criminals, but they were also blood relatives - a fact which I kept well hidden. Our closest affiliation to them was through our half brothers, Julian and Javier, who mediated and drifted between our two rival gangs. We kept our distance with a peace treaty to stay out of each other’s business. They could commit whatever kinds of crimes they wanted to, as long as it didn’t interfere with our business and our names weren’t drugged through the mud along with theirs.

I could see Pablo and Felix fidgeting. Part of me always suspects they would rather go off to run rampant with the Mendoza’s, but even they were too civilized for those brutes.

“Well,” he considered my reply carefully. “I suppose there’s no harm in a little hunting. I have a few shared properties myself, and who knows if all of those connections are wholesome,” he decided in laughter. His associates followed suit, so the three of us joined in as well.

My stomach turned with all the fuss of the evening. None of it was so out of the ordinary. This was the life I was used to. Maybe it was Felix and Pablo’s prodding that had me feeling uneasy. I was already being too soft in giving Alicia the job and accommodations she begged for, but if doing so was going to cause the others to question my authority and the respect I demanded, something would have to change. She had thrown me off enough by appearing so suddenly in the market that day. Her only ticket to sticking around until that baby was born was staying hidden away without causing me any trouble.

An hour later, I had told a few of our guests about a special type of ammunition I had acquired that couldn’t be bought anywhere in Argentina. They were curious and asked to see a few of the shells. It was all a part of the game of shock and awe in impressing them, but none of them would ever be stupid enough to share too much of what they learned within the walls of my home.

I left them to go to the gun cabinet in one of my dens. As I pulled out the drawer and reached for the box, I noticed something fly by in the darkness outside. I squinted to take a closer look. Someone was on horseback, but the horse was galloping around erratically. I could see it was close to bucking the person off.

I raced out to the front porch, trying to see who would be running a horse around like that at this hour of the evening. Several of my guards noticed me running outside and came after me. They assumed it had to be some kind of intruder and began to cock their weapons. But as I looked closer I could see the rounded belly on the rider. It was Alicia.

I flew up my hands and ordered my men to stand down as I raced out after her. I yelled for one of them to fetch me a horse from the stables. That would be my only hope in catching up to this rogue creature before it threw Alicia off. But until they returned, I ran out to keep track of where they were. Finally, one of my men returned to deliver a horse to me. I was able to jump on and ride up alongside Alicia’s out of control horse. I stood a good chance of catching up to them in time, but the horse was galloping at full speed toward the tree line. I didn’t think Alicia would know how to keep low enough to avoid all the branches flying by while also keeping her grip on the saddle.

I rode as fast as I could after her, yelling for her all the way. As I grew closer, she seemed to be encouraging the horse to keep going. She was stubborn as always. She didn’t understand the danger she was in, and seemed to think me catching up to her would be even worse for her and her baby.

6

Alicia

My eyes slowly opened and a terrible, pounding pain instantly swelled in my head. It was enough to make me close them again, but panic rose in my chest. My heart pounded. I didn’t know where I was or what had happened, but I remembered enough to know that I needed to be afraid. The more I tried to retrace what steps brought me here, the harder the hurt set in.

My body moved before I could open my eyes again. My intuition told me I needed to be awake and alert. I needed to get away. But away from what?

Slowly my lids separated, forming two swollen slits. I expected there to be bright lights shining down on me, but it was only the blur of a faint lamp in the corner. I was in a room like the one I had been staying in before, but it seemed smaller and emptier. There was no wardrobe or bathroom door. Just a bed and a table, and four walls that felt like they were closing in on me. The sheets were stiff and cold, dampened from my own sweat, and they were tucked around me tight enough that it made it hard to move.

As I tried to gather my strength enough to break free of them and sit up, the memories started flashing back to me. The basement filled with unclaimed, prohibited, and probably stolen goods. My mad dash to find more. The stables. I remembered climbing on the horse and then...gunshots. The horse took off, rearing out of control. I did my best to calm him down, but everything I tried only made it worse. I wasn’t used to riding a horse, and the horse obviously wasn’t used to me. It threw me off, and everything went dark.

The memories made my panic grow, giving me the motivation I needed to jerk away from the sheets and swing my legs around to the floor. I expected to feel the worn-down wooden boards I had grown used to, but instead, there was something colder and harder. It was concrete - a strange flooring for a bedroom. But as I studied the bare walls and absence of windows, I quickly gathered this wasn’t meant to be a bedroom at all. This was something else. A hospital room, maybe? But no such luck. I recognized the wallpaper from other rooms in the Milano estate.

All at once, the door handle clattered. It was being unlocked from the outside, and soon an old woman came marching in.

“Oh, good! You’re awake!” she sang out, seeming too cheery.

She immediately placed down whatever was in her arms. My vision was still too blurry to make out the contents. She began ripping the dirty sheets from the bed and soon vanished again, locking the door behind her. I was dizzy and my headache got worse as I cradled my forehead in my hands. The woman quickly appeared again with a fresh set of linens.

More memories started crashing over me while she worked. She shooed me away from my seat at the edge of the bed, barely giving me time to catch my footing as I stumbled to get out of her way. That’s when I felt it...or rather the absence of the feeling that I knew should be there. My throat all but closed up with the realization, but it took me a few seconds to finally be brave enough to actually look. First, I moved my hand down to where the prosthetic belly should have been. When I felt nothing, I forced myself to tilt my head down to see that it was actually gone.

I couldn’t hide my urgency. I gasped and began to look around for some way to flee. My fake pregnancy was the only thing that convinced Alberto to show me any mercy. Now not only was it gone, but he would know I lied.

“Ah, yes. That was quite a stunt you pulled,” the old woman cackled, noticing how I felt around my bare stomach. “I’ve seen many things in my days, but can’t say I’ve seen that before. A woman pretending to be pregnant...with a belly and all! Tsk, tsk.”

“What...what happened?” I asked, playing dumb.

I knew what had happened. I had been thrown from the horse, and now I was here. But I was hoping she’d reveal what happened while I was out. Did Alberto know? Was my secret completely out?

“It’s been quite the scandal around here,” she replied. “Not that we needed any more of that with the Milanos. It’s never boring. But this is...unique, that’s for sure.”

I stammered, unsure if it would do me any good to ask if Alberto knew. Of course, he knew. He had to. It was no use anyway. The woman in her apron had finished making the bed and was already shuffling back out the door.

“Wait!” I cried. “What happens now? Where am I?”

“Can’t say really,” she shook her head.

I raced over to grab her hand. “Please! Where are you going? When can I leave!?”

She whipped around and stared back at me, her face unreadable. But soon her lips curled into a big grin with a big, hearty chortle. “Leave!?” Her laughter was snatched up with a coughing fit as she yanked her arm away from me and continued out the door, once again locking it behind her.

Once her footsteps faded away, I rushed over to the door and began frantically pulling at the handle. My only saving grace was gone. My lie was revealed. I knew I didn’t have much time, if it wasn’t already too late. I had to get out of here. My eyes darted around the room. I grasped for some plan of how I might escape, but the only thing between me and the outside world was the very sturdy, locked door. I sunk back down to the edge of the bed with my heart pounding even harder than before.

There was no way to know how much time was passing. I was alone with no way to tell the time. It was like when I first arrived at the Milano estate, only this time my head injury clouded my perception, and I didn’t have the safety of a delicate condition to hide behind. Alberto wouldn’t blink an eye at killing me now. I wondered why he hadn’t done it already, but then a chilling thought crept it. He would probably want me to be awake for it, and he would probably do it slowly.

Being alone with my thoughts only made them spiral out of control more. I was in a total panicked frenzy that I did my best to contain when the caregiver returned, bringing me a tray of food. She plopped it down on the table without a word before turning to leave again. I was suddenly starving and eager to see what she had brought. I raced over and lifted the cover to reveal a bowl of slop and moldy bread. It was a far cry from the meals I had been served before.

I had been so caught up in trying to uncover something on the Milanos, that I hadn’t thought too much about my father since coming here. I imagined what it would be like when I could go back to him and tell him everything I learned. He’d be angry, afraid for something that had already passed, but he’d be proud. I had pictured him opening a bottle of wine and saying we had to celebrate. I’d tell him all the stories of my time on the Milano estate.

But the ending had changed for certain now. Now I was imagining much darker things. Like him hearing the news that I had been tortured or killed...or worse, years going by and him never knowing what had happened to me at all.

There was no way to know what time it was aside from the caregiver coming and going for meals. She’d bring in a new tray and carry out the old, each one containing new piles of inedible trash. By dinner the next night, I was starving. Surely this is not what Alberto Milano had planned for me. If he wanted me to starve, he wouldn’t bother sending in any food at all.

“I can’t eat this stuff you’re bringing me,” I protested firmly as she came in with a new tray.

She laughed again like she always did. She was surprisingly cheerful for someone with a job like hers, and she seemed so old that her body ached when she moved.

“No, really. I can’t. It will make me sick! Some of it’s rotten! Please, I’m so hungry. Couldn’t you slip in anything else? An apple? A piece of bread...that isn’t covered in mold?”

“I’m not a chef and this isn’t a fancy restaurant with a menu,” she huffed. “You’re lucky to be getting anything at all.”

“Then you have to let me go,” I argued more desperately. “I don’t know what I’m doing here, but you can’t keep me. This is illegal...To hold people prisoner like this.”

“I have it on good authority that you’re not being held prisoner. Mr. Milano bought you fair and square, and if you don’t like it...well, then you should have never gotten mixed up with that marketplace.”

“Let me go!” I cried louder. “I demand it! Right now!”

“Not until you’re recovered.”

“Recovered!? How do you expect me to recover with no sunlight or decent food!?”

But the door was already slamming shut in my face. I wanted to take some comfort in the idea that this was just temporary. Maybe I would be let go once I was better, but I didn’t know how much better I could possibly get in conditions like this. It brought on a sinking feeling in my gut. It wouldn’t be so simple.

Each time the caregiver returned with my meals, I pleaded with her again to let me go. She’d either ignore me entirely or laugh like a madwoman. I was beginning to feel like a madwoman myself. Counting the coming and going of the meal trays, I gathered I had been awake in there for five days.

Of course, I eventually caved and started nibbling on what little bit of the food I could stand, which became more as the days went on. Sometimes it made me sick, and the only place for me to go was the same basin I urinated in. The caregiver would empty that twice a day, sometimes only once. I guessed that was easier than the risk of giving me my own bathroom.

I was laying flat out across the concrete floor, wanting to feel the coolness against my skin. I also just needed something else to do besides pacing or being in the bed. But a startling noise began rattling the walls. It wasn’t the strange old caregiver’s feeble steps. It sounded like a whole army marching straight towards me. Their pounding boots could be heard from far away, getting closer and closer by the second. I leaped up and sunk down into the corner, knowing I had nowhere to hide, but for some reason that felt safer than being exposed in the middle of the room.

The door unlocked and flew open wide as a group of five or six, maybe more, big strong men came storming in to surround me. Two of them gathered on each side of me and lifted me into the air. The others stood in front and behind them as they headed for the door, ensuring if I did manage to kick and punch my way free, they’d be there to catch me. Of course, my fighting was even more useless than it would normally be up against a group of such burly men, thanks to the five days of near starvation I had gone through.

Before we reached the door, one of them tied a blindfold around my eyes making it impossible for me to see where we were going. As they carted me off, I wondered if Alberto was stalking from the sidelines somewhere, watching me be carried away by his orders.

This is it, I thought. If he was going to kill me, this is how it would happen. The only question was...would I see it coming? Or would I just feel pain and slip away into death, never seeing the light of day again?

I was harshly thrown against something cold and hard. Stone...wet, dripping stone. Before I could even try to scramble away, they grabbed both of my hands and placed them in metal shackles that hung just low enough for me to almost be able to sit on the ground. When they finally removed the blindfold, I saw nothing but gray darkness...even darker than the windowless room I had been in before. This was the torture chamber I had heard rumors about. I could tell that I was buried deep underground, and with all that stone around me, no one would ever hear me scream.

I heard clacking shoes coming from the darkness. It wasn’t the same sound as the boots that had been pounding around me moments ago. The caregiver’s face appeared once more. She walked over to look at me, then nodded her head and turned her back.

“Wait!” I sobbed. “Could you at least tell my father where I am!? Bring me a message from him!? Next time you come! To bring food! Will you tell me if you’ve spoken with him!?”

“Next time!? There won’t be a next time!” She walked away as her wheezy laughter set in.

7

Alberto

I despised the looks on Pablo and Felix’s faces as they stared me down in my study. They were smug, vindicated, but also panicked. It was the worst thing to sense in the men that followed you and looked up to you. Not only had their own suspicions and fears been proven right, but they had lost some of their faith in me in the process.

It was too unsettling to bear. I stood and went over to toss some more logs in the fire and stoke the flames...Anything to avoid their judgmental silent expressions.

“She never should have been allowed to stay,” Pablo fumed. “Giving her a job like that...letting her roam around the property....,” he shook his head as he watched me, but quickly grew irritated with my back being turned to him. “Leave that! One of the workers can come in and tend to it.”

“Mind your place!” I shouted, quickly spinning on my heels with the metal rod in my hands. “She wasn’t allowed to roam freely. She was closely watched. I made sure of it.”

“Not closely enough, apparently,” Felix grumbled to himself.

“She’s Don Martino’s daughter! What did you expect?”

I didn’t honor their disrespect with an answer. I tossed the hot rod to the floor with a loud echoing crash. The last thing I needed was to have to submit to their questioning when I already felt duped enough. I couldn’t remember the last time I felt so enraged and out of sorts. I kept thinking - this is what happens if you allow yourself to take pity on anyone. That’s why I was known as being so ruthless in the first place. One moment of softness could only ever cause messes like this one.

“I expected that she was actually pregnant,” I huffed, reminding myself as much as them.

I could see another rebuttal quickly forming on the tip of his tongue, but one of our men came barging into the room to interrupt.

“Have you forgotten to knock!?” I fumed. It was like everyone was forgetting their place now.

“Forgive me, Mr. Milano. It’s just that...Julian and Javier have arrived.”

“Perfect timing,” Felix huffed.

Our half-brothers had come to check in on a number of ongoing business matters, including the most recent land acquisition that resulted from our dinner the week before. We’d have to speak to them regarding the shared land with the Mendoza cousins as a bargaining chip, and there was a list of many other issues to resolve.

I sighed and rubbed my temples, lamenting over just how very little time I had to be dealing with spies who weaseled their way onto our property - especially young, mischievous women like Alicia.

Our worker stammered to speak again, knowing it was a sore subject. “And...and the Guevara woman. She’s been moved down into the cellar and is ready for you.”

Pablo stood and motioned for Felix to follow him. “We’ll tend to our brothers,” he decided out loud. “You go take care of this.” He started towards the door, but paused by my shoulder and spoke to me in private. “She must know something. That’s why she was racing off on that horse like that...to run back to her father and report whatever she dug up.”

“I am well aware. Send my regards to Javier and Julian.”

They left me alone to wallow, but there wasn’t any time for that either. I was eager to face Alicia again and see what she had to say for herself. I had kept her locked up in a room on the farthest corner of the house for days until I could stand to look at her again. If I had seen her a moment sooner, I knew I would have lost it and done something irreparable.

I stormed through the manor, making my way down to the cellar. She had turned me into a fool...manipulated me just as easily as a little child. I was not about to let our whole business be put at risk over some woman. She would have to tell me what she knew and account for this whole charade. I didn’t intend for it to be a pleasant experience for her. She would have to suffer for the embarrassment I was facing.

The guards let me into her small, damp, and dark room where she was chained up against the wall. I nodded for them to raise her restraints to force her onto her feet. She didn’t speak to me at first. That was good. If she had started running her mouth from the moment I walked in, I knew I wouldn’t be able to restrain myself. It seemed she had finally been taken down by a healthy amount of fear after what she had done.

Once she was forced into a standing position, I nodded for the other men to leave us and began pacing in front of her. She watched each step I took carefully as she waited to see what I would do next. I let the uncomfortable silence hang there on the off chance that she might just start sounding off everything she knew without being asked. She should have been desperate enough by then without sunlight for over five days and only having been served food that was barely fit scraps for the hogs. When she started squirming in anticipation for what I might say or do, I finally opened my mouth to speak in a low growl.

“Well...it seems you were honest about one thing at least. You are a whore after all...just not the kind I thought you were.”

I cut my eyes over to her, noticing that she had started to shake in her restraints, even if she was doing her very best to hide it. She kept her chin tilted upwards with a defiant glare, but I could see the terror in her eyes.

“Go on then...What do you have to say for yourself?”

“I had my reasons,” she answered gingerly.

I couldn’t help but laugh. I let it out so freely and boisterously that it echoed off the chamber walls, making her squirm even more.

“Finally you’ve learned to choose your words more carefully! To think of how much you spewed all of your useless nonsense before, and now...Nothing? I guess you’re not so big and tough as you wanted to think you were. You couldn’t have been...to cling to a rouse like that to protect yourself.”

“I did what I had to do,” she answered through tight, trembling lips.

I marched closer, keeping my eyes locked on hers with a deadly stare. “And when you face your father now...if you ever see the light of day again, that is...How well do you think he will take to it?” I stopped within inches of her, close enough to feel her hot, labored breaths on my cheek, and trailed a finger along her cheek. “To see all of these beautiful features completely rearranged and misshapen. He won’t even recognize you.”

She jerked her head to the side to avoid my touch, writhing against the wall to move herself as far away from me as she could. I returned to my predatory stalking around the room.

“That’s good,” I grinned. “It’s better that you don’t say much at first. I’m rather enjoying thinking over all the ways in which I’m going to hurt you...and make you regret you were even born, much less charming your way onto my estate.”

“I don’t fear facing my father again,” she stated confidently. “No matter what you do to me. He is still ten times the man you will ever be.”

A different kind of anger stirred inside with her words. “Don’t pretend to know what kind of man I am, Alicia. It is far worse than anything you’ve ever heard.”

Her face twisted and then she erupted into laughter. “That’s what this is all about, isn’t it? To prove you’re some kind of big, strong, evil man...the biggest and baddest one of all. All these years I’ve heard of the infamous Alberto Milano’s reputation and it’s nothing more than a show!”

I let out a grumbling roar of rage and lunged towards her, gripping my big hand around her jaw to force her to look at me. Her nostrils flared as her chest heaved with her eyes glued to me.

“Would your father look at you the same if he knew his precious daughter had been defiled by his biggest enemy? Imagine going back to his arms knowing that I had my way with you. Would he still seem like such an honorable man then!? When you had to face the disappointment and disgust in his eyes!?”

That was enough to make her stop laughing. I was done laughing too...Done playing her games. Out of everything in life that I might have been prepared to submit to or be made a fool by...some dumb, arrogant woman like her was not about to be one of them. She was pushing me closer to the edge of showing her exactly what kind of man I was.

“You’re going to tell me what you know,” I continued. “What is it that you think you learned during your time here that you were in such a hurry to dash off and report back to the great detective?”

“I don’t know anything,” she insisted. “I was just going out for an evening ride. This whole thing has been blown out of proportion.”

I eyed her up and down with anger pumping through my veins. Her blouse strained tightly against her breasts that bulged out with her arms chained up and stretched out on either side of her supple body. I walked closer to her again, taking in her scent of sweat.

“I do wonder, Alicia. If you aren’t pregnant...have you ever been touched? Maybe all this talk of what a real man is because you’ve never known one. You’ve never had someone break you in.”

A new twisted expression of disgust formed on her face, but the door creaked open, interrupting us. Several men came filing in with a table and a leather roll of tools. With the table in place, they unrolled the assortment of torture devices. I made the usual show of holding a few of them up to inspect them so Alicia could see. I heard the faintest whimpers of anguish escaping her plump lips with the sight of what I held in my hands.

The men followed the usual routine and went over to tighten her chains. Another grabbed a few vice grips from the leather case and waited nearby. Alicia’s body whipped back and forth, hopelessly struggling to break free. She looked at me with stunned and questioning eyes. She didn’t think I would allow anyone else to torture her, and she was right. This was for me and only me to enjoy.

“No,” I barked, holding up a hand to stop them. “Leave us.” The men obeyed and marched back out of the room as I locked the door behind them.

“So, that’s the plan then, Alberto?” Her voice shaked. “You’ll torture me only to find out I still have nothing to tell you?”

“I’ll do whatever I want to you,” I answered calmly and suggestively. I wanted to see her squirm with disgust for me again.

“Figures that a man like you would just take what he wanted. You wouldn’t know how to win a woman over into actually loving you, so you’d pillage her the same way you do the lands of Argentina.”

“And a woman like you does what...lies and manipulates her way into getting whatever she wants?” I leaned in close to her ear, watching tendrils of her loose hair sway from my breath. “Don’t tempt me, Alicia. The way I pillage the lands is much more civilized than what I would do to you.”

“There is nothing civilized about you or anything you do,” she sobbed under her breath, aching from the tightened chains. “And you don’t know what kind of woman I am.”

“Let’s find out. Shall we?”

I tightened the chains again with a sudden and startling crank of the spools. She screamed, but mostly out of dread. I knew they still weren’t tight enough to really hurt her...not in the way a man would be stretched out if he were in her place. But the discomfort and the anticipation of how much further it could go was enough to make her cry out for me to stop.

“I’ll ask you again. What do you know? If Don Martino was standing in front of you right now...what would you tell him?”

“I don’t know anything!” she answered more vehemently this time.

“Nothing? Nothing at all?” I turned the crank again.

“If I did know anything I’d rather be ripped in half then ever tell you!”

I stepped away from the cranks, knowing she would be ripped in half if I didn’t restrain myself. I would have to find some other way to make her talk. I walked over to the door and opened it to give instructions to one of the men outside. They set off to fulfill my request, leaving me alone with Alicia once again.

I marveled at how disheveled and frazzled she looked, but somehow a defiant strength still shined through it all. I wasn’t sure I had ever met a woman who was so tough, but I knew I would find a way to break her down. Even some of the strongest men hadn’t been able to hold up under my questioning, and I was certain she would be no different.

8

Alicia

I was surprised that Alberto stopped cranking the chains I was attached to. I expected him to keep tightening them until my bones broke, but instead, he only let them cause a terrible sting. No real damage was done. Then there was the leather roll of tools waiting on the table in the corner - some of them not even fully washed of blood from their last use. But he didn’t use those either. At least not yet.

I knew he was a bad man. He didn’t have the reputation that he did for no reason. I had heard he was cold-hearted and ruthless. He would do things that would make other men like him squirm and feel sick. He was without a conscience. I knew all of that, but why was he not destroying me the way I expected him to?

He paced the room in front of me like a restless wild animal waiting to pounce, but everything seemed to be teaming up inside of him without fully seeping out. It’s like there was some invisible line he wouldn’t allow himself to cross, and judging by the way his skin was taking on a flushed red tint and the gleam of sweat, not being able to cross that line seemed to be getting to him.

I wanted whatever was going to happen to be over with. I was in the right frame of mind to endure this, even if it meant I died. If he did kill me, what I knew would be useless. If I told him, he would likely kill me anyway. The outcome for me was the same regardless, so all I had to cling to was the principle of the matter. I couldn’t let him win. I couldn’t give him what he wanted.

Withstanding interrogation was something I had been secretly preparing for. My father taught me many things, but this was not something he would have ever had the stomach for. He didn’t want to imagine me ending up here enough to even discuss it. But I knew my curious spirit and the drive I had for justice, and always thought I might end up in this very spot one day. I clung to what I had studied. I had to forget that I knew anything at all so that when the real torture began, it wouldn’t accidentally slip out.

But Alberto’s stalling made me squirm. Maybe that’s why he did it. If that was the case, I was determined to ruin that for him as well. I rolled my neck to soothe my tightened muscles. My bones let out a loud, soothing crack.

I sighed and moaned from the sensation. “Ah, thank you for the workout, Alberto. I needed that. My neck has been too stiff lately. The mattresses around here...they’re not what I would have expected from someone with as big of a fortune as yours.”

I braced myself for him to turn and tear into me, but he was unmoved. He wasn’t falling for my provocations. What was he waiting for? He had his torture tools right there in front of him, just a few feet away. He had these cranks and surely a million others tricks up his sleeve to put someone into agony. But so far all he had done was whisper something to the men outside. I couldn’t make out what it was. I swallowed hard and tried not to let my fear show. Whatever was coming...was it even worse than anything I had prepared myself for? Too horrifying to imagine?

There was a knock, prompting Alberto to go retrieve something from the men outside. I took in a deep breath, not knowing what to expect to see in his hands when he turned around. It seemed to be happening in slow motion. He rolled in a wooden cart on wheels, but it was covered in an old dirty tarp so that I couldn’t see what it carried. When he ripped it away with a sound that echoed against the stone walls, I saw a row of buckets. Several rows, actually, of silver buckets that were dripping with something along the edges.

A heavy feeling of dread settled into my chest. What could be in those buckets? Acid, I thought. Or something like it. I tried to prepare myself for whatever unbearable things I would feel when he did what he intended to do with them. He was no longer hesitating. He picked one of them up and rushed forward, sloshing its contents across my body.

I screamed instinctively, expecting to feel immeasurable pain. I thought my skin would begin to melt and that I would see my own bones showing through my skin by the time he was done. It would be a slow death, but I would die with honor. I was prepared for the worst.

But as I calmed down, I realized any pain I thought I felt was simply the sting of ice. It wasn’t acid at all, but simply cold water. And while it was mildly irritating to have it thrown across me, the wall, and the floor rather than to be able to drink it, it was not the horrid torture I was expecting. I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Water!?” I cackled, sounding almost evil in my relief. “That’s how you think you will make me talk!? Cold water!?” I laughed even harder as I said it out loud. “It will take more than that to make me talk. You don’t have what it takes, Alberto. You could kill me if you wanted, and yet...you splash me with water!”

He tried not to seem phased by me teasing him, but I could see the rage boiling up inside of him. His eyes twitched and his nostrils flared. With a rolling growl, he splashed another bucket of icy water across me, and didn’t hesitate to throw another one on right after that.

The double blow of the stinging cold did get to me more that time. It went up my nose and down my throat, causing me to cough. While I had been sweaty and hot moments ago, I was now freezing, and the stone wall behind me wasn’t helping any. But it was still tame compared to what I was waiting for. Nonetheless, Alberto could see that I was irritated and was looking quite pleased with himself. I couldn’t let him get away with that smug smile.

“This is nothing,” I said, hiding my doubts. “I do believe you’re losing your touch, Mr. Milano. Perhaps you aren’t everything I believed you to be. I don’t even appear to be pregnant anymore, and you’re still taking it easy on me. You’re weak.”

My voice broke with disgust as I said it, and it sent him charging towards me in a rage, but this time he didn’t have a bucket in his hands. It was just me and him, face to face. I expected to see pure hatred in his dark eyes as he stared back at me, but there was something missing. There was a softness that I knew I had to be imagining. No decent man could do the things he did. And while he may not have been snapping my fingers like twigs or ripping out my teeth with pliers, I was still freezing and chained to a wall. Whatever I thought I could see buried within him was a lie.

He broke away without saying a word and hit me with another blow of water. Each time it was sharper and painful than the one before. I realized this was the tactic. It was a slow build of my muscles seizing up from the cold. I couldn’t wipe anything from my eyes or even curl over myself for warmth. But no matter how tense it could, I refused to cave into him.

“What if I really don’t know anything?” I suggested as I spat another rush of dripping water from my face. “You might even suspect that I don’t know anything, and you’re just trying to save face. Your brothers are taunting you and belittling you because you’ve been had. I fooled you. And you think the only way you can fix it is to draw something out of me...So you can pretend that bringing me here wasn’t for nothing.”

“You take pride in that?” He asked with a sharp inhale. “To deceive people?”

“To deceive you? Yes. You are not like other people. You’re a monster, and I would lie to you all over again if I could.”

“Just because you’re not pregnant doesn’t mean you’re not a whore,” he hissed before splashing me again.

“And I’d still rather be a whore than be a sad excuse for a man like you,” I defended coldly.

He threw the remaining buckets over me with a fury, sending each one crashing to the corner of the room with a terrible sound once it was emptied. The shock of it in my ears as they echoed between the walls was a lot to take in along with the cold sting on my shivering skin. It overwhelmed my senses, and I could feel my vigor fading. I kept spouting off whatever insult I could, even though I worried what would happen now that he was out of water to throw on me.

“It’s disappointing really to see you like this...Desperately trying to prove what a big strong man you are while lacking the courage to actually follow through with anything.”

My chest heaved as my bottom lip quivered from the icy chill that pounded through my bones. My clothes were sagging heavily from my body, clinging to my curves. My nipples were hardened and cutting through the soaked white fabric that was now see-through. Alberto noticed all of this too, and couldn’t keep from feasting his eyes on the sight. It made me cringe to be stuck there with no way to ward off his wandering vision moving over me.

“I’ll ask you again,” he said in a low rasp. “What do you know? What is it that you were rushing off to tell your father?”

I almost blurted that I wasn’t rushing off at all. I wanted to confess that I was only trying to find out more than what I had discovered in the basement, if for nothing more than to rub it in his face that he was wrong. But for as much fun as that would be, it wouldn’t do me any good. And once I started letting that slip, the rest of it may start spilling out too. At least I did know about the unclaimed goods hidden away in his basement, and I could piece together how they used those things as leverage in their other nefarious dealings. I wouldn’t give that much up. Maybe I still stood a chance of getting out of here and reporting them. It wasn’t the half of what they were up to, but it only took small charges to put everything else to a halt.

“I will never tell you anything, Alberto.” My words were strong, but the delivery was weak. I couldn’t stop daydreaming about a warm blanket and a bowl of soup. It would feel so good to sit in front of a fire, curled up in a ball, relieving the strain of my stressed muscles and limbs.

His big black boots stomped across the floor, moving closer to me. They stomped through the puddling water and I shivered even more as the splashed drops hit me. It was a wonder I felt them at all with how drenched and freezing I already was.

This was it, I thought again. This was when he would snap and reach out to strangle me. But he had a strange look in his eyes that made me fear for something much worse. Flaming up with all of that rage and hatred for me was a lustful look of desire...one that he seemed to be struggling to control.

Once he was within a foot of me, he lunged forward to close the gap between us. He pressed his entire body against mine, forcing my spine up to the hard stone behind me. I realized suddenly that his hand was gripped tightly around my throat, almost enough to leave marks but not hard enough to completely keep me from breathing. His hand trembled, and I wondered what part of his urges he was fighting to resist. Was it his desire to kill me...or his desire for something else?

My throat rolled across his palm as I swallowed to speak. My voice struggled to rise over the tense grip of his hand. “Why use your bare hands? Why not use any one of those tools waiting for you over there? You’re taking advantage of me because I am a woman. You coward!”

I wanted to spit in his face, but he tightened his grip more and snarled back at me. “You’re more of a man than most men I know.”

It seemed to both pain him and delight him to admit it. There was nothing left between us, and as much as he seemed to want to choke me, he couldn’t bring himself to do it. I couldn’t turn my head to look away from him. All I could do was stare back into the abyss of his eyes and try to sort through what he might be thinking. The longer I stared, it was harder to even be certain of what I was thinking. An inexplicable warmth began flowing through me, maybe from his body heat alone. I told myself that was why I was suddenly longing for him not to move away...for him to stay close to me just like this. It had to be because of the heat emanating from his body and nothing more.

9

Alberto

I intended to choke the life out of Alicia, or at least convince her that was what I was about to do. She had lied to me, manipulated me like a little child. I had never let anyone get by with treating me this way. The level of disrespect and lack of fear...not knowing her place. It was insulting and dangerous. If one little woman could go around acting this way towards me, everyone would get it in their heads that they could do the same.

She needed to be taught a lesson. And yet, when I charged towards her body and gripped her throat in my hand, I found myself getting sucked into her big brown eyes. Something changed about them. She was no more afraid than she had been before and worse - they were softening. Something in her was inviting me, luring me in.

I lost all control. I couldn’t even give it enough thought to stop myself. This pressure built up inside of me, threatening to explode, and the only thing to relieve it was to crash my lips into hers. I broke in...and that’s exactly what I did. I gripped her jaw tight and forced her to stay still...to accept my mouth crashing against hers.

Her lips were stiff and tight, refusing to part for me. She breathed heavily through her nostrils and tried to whip her face out of my hand. When all else failed, she sank her teeth hard into my bottom lip - hard enough to draw blood. I growled and ripped away, touching my finger to the dripping redness.

The pressure started building in me again from the moment we separated. What could I do to relieve it this time? While I could see what she wanted shining out through her eyes, no matter how much she tried to hide it, she wouldn’t let herself give into it. I may have done many bad things in my life. I may have even let some people believe I had done worse than I ever actually would...for the sake of my reputation. Sometimes what people believed you did was more powerful than what you would actually do. But I was never a man who would force himself on a woman in that way.

Yet when I stared back at Alicia, rolling the blood of my lip between my finger and thumb, there was still something in her eyes daring me to come back to her. More than that...she was begging me to come back. I stepped forward more slowly this time and gently ran the back of my hand along her hair down to her cheek. She furrowed her brows and stared up at me with anger, but she did not start thrashing and trying to pull away like before. She seemed confused and frightened, but not by me. She was bothered by her own intrigue...her own inability to keep refusing me.

I watched as her eyes closed and her lips parted. She was giving into her secret urges, or at least giving me a chance to convince her why she should. Deep down, I wasn’t surprised. This was a moment we had been dancing around since she came storming up to me that day eight years ago. The moment our eyes met, a flame started roaring between us and we had been dancing around it ever since.

I pressed my lips against hers more gently this time, letting her adjust to the feeling...to the idea of me. I knew she had always wondered what this would be like, no matter how much she hated herself for it. She didn’t kiss me back, but she let her lips soften a little. She wouldn’t participate, but she let me have my way for a moment. She waited to see what I would do and how it would make her feel.

Each brush of her lips against mine felt like a tiny little spark that was threatening to send us both up in flames. The heat and longing for more surged through me, and I could see it boiling up inside of her too. But rather than dare to let herself kiss me back, she pulled away again and spit in my face.

I wiped it away and snarled at her, but the anger in her face had vanished. She looked tired...like it had taken everything in her to fight her desires, and now she was finally wearing down. A coy smile curled on the corners of her lips. She was testing me...seeing how far she could push me. She was toying with me all over again.

“I do not wish to play games with you, Alicia Martino,” I stated firmly. The tone of my voice implied that there were many other things I did wish to do with her.

“Then perhaps you shouldn’t have me chained up like your little toy.”

I laughed, wondering how stupid she really thought I was. My feet moved forward to close the gap between us once again, putting my face mere inches away from hers. “Is that what this is all about?” I asked in a deep rasp. “You think I am so stupid to let you seduce me just so I will set you free?”

“I did nothing to seduce you. You acted on your own accord.”

“What if I told you that by existing, you seduce me…” I cringed inside, hating that I would blurt out something that gave her so much power over me. But it was true. And everything inside of me was dying to take her. If one small admission would grant me that...well, I had made bigger sacrifices in my life.

She seemed conflicted - surprised and not all at once. Maybe because she understood my feelings too well. Maybe she felt the duality of her desires just as strongly for me.

“If I let you down, you will fight me, try to run away.”

Her eyes sparkled with a devilish, mischievous glare. That devastating coy smile of hers returned. “Then perhaps you will have to ensure that you are giving me reason enough to stay in here with you.”

The seduction dripping in her voice was enough to slay me. I didn’t care anymore if it was all a trick. I was certain it was, but I wanted the chance to take her. It didn’t feel like a choice anymore. I had to. I crashed my lips back to hers, and finally, she gave in to me. Only a little at first, but soon she was melting and losing herself in the kiss. We ravaged each other’s mouths with a fury. We had been sparring with each other through our words, and it wasn’t until that moment that I realized this was the only thing that could satisfy our hatred for each other.

I started ripping away the heavy wet gown from her body so that I could really see her and feel her. With her arms still chained on either side of her body, I helped myself to heaping handfuls of her curves...her breasts, her hips, down to her thighs. After kneading into every inch of her, I danced my fingers in between her legs.

I taunted her with my lips, keeping them just out of her reach. I wanted to see the look on her face when I touched her. I wanted her mouth to be free to let out sounds of pleasure. But she kept pecking towards me, trying to hide behind another kiss. I wouldn’t let her.

My fingers teased along her folds, barely touching her at all at first. But she knew it was coming, and just the quickest brushes of my touch were enough to make her breathe in sharply.

“Let my arms down,” she pleaded, her voice cracking with longing.

“Not yet.”

I pressed harder against her and watched her roll her head back. I kissed up and down her long, exposed neck, and pressed harder still. She bit her lip and tried to hold in the sounds threatening to seep from her lips. She didn’t want me to know how much she was enjoying it.

My pants strained from my pulsing erection. I moved closer to her, pressing it against her side for just a hint of relief. And with the teasing pressure, I slid my fingers inside of her. I didn’t waste any time to hook them into the place I knew she wanted them the most. I moved them quickly, causing her legs to shake and buckle.

Any lingering ounce of restraint was quickly fading. She was almost where I wanted her. I listened to her deep rolling moans turn into pleading whimpers. Her hands and arms pulled and strained, aching to wrap around me. She kept her eyes closed, unable to look at me. I pushed her further until I knew she was nothing more than puddy in my hands.

Finally, when I could see all of her resolve had been eaten away by longing and the need for more, I released the chains on her arms. I did not let her weight drop to the ground. I didn’t even give her a chance to stand again. With my pants dropped from around my waist, I caught her from the moment she fell, wrapping her legs around me. I ripped the rest of her gown away, taking in the sight of her luscious breasts. With her back pushed up against the wall, I took each one into my hand and rolled her nipples in my mouth.

Our bodies naturally aligned so that my hardened cock was ready and waiting to slide into her wet and gaping lips. I could feel the need dripping off of her, just begging me to lower her onto me. I let her suffer for a minute, relishing in the way her nails dug across the skin of my back hard enough to draw blood. She was not afraid to play rough with me. Maybe that is what made her so irresistible. She was not afraid of me.

I angled upward, sliding into her slick, pulsing muscles that tightened and wrapped around me. Every ridge of her dragged along my shaft, stirring warm and tingling sensations. The feeling of being inside of her only made me want more...and more and more. I lost control of myself and ravaged her like a beast. I pumped myself into her harder and deeper, but she didn’t resist me. She writhed over me, indulging in her own guilty pleasure.

My hand found its way back around her neck more gently this time as I thrust in and out of her. I ran my palm up and down the back of her neck, watching her red, flushed cheeks and plump red lips as she threw her head back and drowned in the satisfaction. I wanted to push her over the edge...to really break her in. I wanted her to let go and surrender to me.

But the more she trashed over my body with all of her flawless, glowing brown curves, she was getting the best of me. I couldn’t contain the swelling intensity that kept building with each second, and she seemed to be erupting in her own fit of overwhelming pleasure. We both let ourselves get closer and closer to the edge, clinging to the final moments before it all faded away.

As her cries grew louder and her body tensed, every muscle in my body seized up as I pressed into the paralyzing pleasure. We both seemed to slip into a brief pocket of time where there was no clear sight or sound or even time. There were only our two sweat-drenched bodies moving together and the waves crashing over us.

Our lips somehow found their way together again. I expected her to be furious with me. I expected her to be furious with herself and immediately start punching and kicking and screaming, commanding that I get far away from her. I thought she’d be angry at herself for giving in. But instead, she kissed me gently. Her body felt limp, draped in my arms, and she kept her eyes closed. She seemed completely drained and was melting into me, purring like a kitten.

Maybe she wanted to just sink into the blissful feelings without admitting to herself how they came to be. I didn’t care. I liked her curling up against me like my little pet. I carried her in my arms while carefully gathering blankets and clothes to throw together a makeshift bed. As I put it together, I felt the heaviness in my eyes and realized I was just as drained as she was.

With a soft pad formed on the floor, I laid her out across it. I couldn’t resist running my hands along her body one final time. She was already fast asleep. I wanted to be next to her. I wanted to roll her over across my chest and feel her heart beating against me.

But there was a reason I did not have a woman in my life. One could argue that it was because I had never met another woman like Alicia. But that wasn’t the only reason. Whoever you loved could be used against you. They could be used as leverage, bait, and as a means to torture you. They could also distract you...throw you off your game and make you sloppy. That’s how people got caught.

I didn’t take risks like that. Maybe just by taking her, I had already crossed a line. I was breaking my own rules. I couldn’t stay there with her no matter how much I wanted to. I made sure she was covered and warm, and snuck out of the chamber, locking her inside.

10

Alicia

I felt warm and safe, like I had been tucked away in some secret nest. But as my eyes slowly opened the memories started coming back to me rapidly. I was not safe. I was not free. I was still trapped in this dark, cold dungeon. I wanted to throw the covers off of me and race to find some escape, but I was naked underneath and it was freezing without the blankets covering me. My old gown was in soaked shreds off in the corner. And yet, there was still some warm sense of security inside of me. How could that be?

I tried to remember what happened beyond the relentless buckets of freezing cold water that Alberto flung at me. I hadn’t told him anything. I remembered that well and felt pleased with myself. But...there was more. I shuddered as it all came flooding back to me. The taste of his lips. They were cold and stiff at first, surging with his anger. But somehow we both started giving in. There was so much more racing through my head after that...the smell of his hair and the feeling of his rippling muscles. The sensations he aroused from deep within.

I felt around in the darkness for him. He had made me want to forget everything else enough to lose myself in the comfort of his arms once. I wanted to feel that again because that was easier than facing what I had allowed to happen. But as I tore through the pile of blankets on the floor, I knew that he was gone.

He coerced me into surrendering to him and then left me here like a pile of garbage on the ground. I ignored my desperate longing to feel his chest against my face with his arms wrapped around me tight and focused instead on my disgust for him. That was all that mattered. I hated myself for giving into him. How could I let him in? And how would I ever face my father again after what we did?

I was no virgin, and if my father knew or not didn’t matter. Men were not the enemy to him, but Alberto Milano certainly was. I felt like I had betrayed him and went against everything he ever taught me. I had lied to Alberto, claiming that I was ashamed to face my father. And now here I was...I had made that very thing come true. Maybe that was his plan all along. It was his revenge.

I sank back into the darkness, pulling my legs close to my chest as I gently rocked back and forth. Would it have been different if Alberto had been here when I woke up? If I could have kept burying my hatred for him beneath the feeling of his skin against mine? I guess it didn’t matter. He wasn’t there. He didn’t even have the decency to put me back in a room. He took what he wanted and then left me here, still a prisoner.

I didn’t want to know what would have come out of it if he had stayed with me through the night, or been kind enough to offer to let me go in the morning. This was the reminder I needed of who he really was. He was not decent or kind or loving, no matter how well he faked it while he was bringing me pleasure. He was a monster, and while I may have been fooled by him for a moment, I would not let it happen again.

I finally let the harsh cold cut into my body as I yanked away the sheets. My old gown was unsalvageable, so I would have to figure out something else. I grabbed one of the sheets and began ripping and tying until I had formed a slip to put on. I didn’t leave it at that. I needed something sturdy with trousers. I was not dressing to keep laying around in this hole. I had to get out of here, and I needed clothes worthy of an escape mission.

I kept shredded, tying, and braiding the fabric until I had formed an undersuit with shorts that at least went down to my knees. Then I fashioned a sort of jacket and wrapped up the soles of my feet with several layers of cushion. It was not the most protective outfit, but it would have to do.

With my makeshift clothing on, I grabbed one of the empty buckets, hating the memory of how the ice water felt as it splashed over me. It was flimsy enough that I could flatten and warp it into a tin shield. I had formed the best weapon I could with what was available to me, so I rushed over to the door and started screaming bloody murder.

I screamed over and over again until finally, I heard footsteps running down the hall. There were muffled sounds of them asking something, or maybe yelling at me, from the other side of the door, but I didn’t stop screaming long enough to make out their words. They had no choice but to open the door, and the moment the guard did, I slammed the metal shield across his head as hard as I could.

It wasn’t enough to knock him out, but it was enough to send him flying into the stonewall of the hallway. He slammed his head against the rock behind him and slid down to the floor. I knew it was only a matter of seconds before other guards probably came to see what happened. There was no time to hesitate.

I dashed past his half-unconscious body and ran as fast as I could, pausing around each corner to make sure I wasn’t running straight into the arms of another guard. I ran towards the first glint of blue light from outside that I could find. The first beam of light led to a window that was too high to climb to, and too small to get out of anyway. That’s when a group of guards went running past, and I had to duck behind a rack of uniforms to hide.

When the halls grew mostly silent again, I raced for the next sign of light. This time it was a door that I was able to quietly sneak through. Finally, I was outside. It felt like I was free again, and the refreshing relief only fueled me to run faster. I hadn’t felt the grass beneath my feet since the night I was thrown from the horse and my secret was revealed.

And now here I was running right back to the same stables. I may not have been an experienced horseback rider, but traveling by horse was the only way to navigate the woods on the property well enough to stand any chance of escaping. I picked a horse that was smaller than before, and he seemed a little bit calmer. I worried he might not be fast enough, but speed didn’t matter if I was only going to get thrown off again.

I saddled him up and checked to see if the coast was clear. Lights were flickering on throughout the manor, as I imagined my escape had already been discovered. I didn’t have much time. While some of the guards would immediately report to Alberto, the rest of them would spread across the entire estate to hunt me down.

I jumped on the horse and headed towards the woods, this time noticing a path cut through the trees. I stood a better chance on that than I did in the thick of the brush, so I steered the horse towards it. A path would likely eventually lead out to more guards standing watch at the edge of the property, but as long as I was alert and kept my eyes peeled, maybe I could avoid them.

As I rode deeper into the woods, the path splintered off every mile or so in three or four different directions. While continuing straight on might lead me to the quickest exit back to the main road, it would also be the first path they would search from start to finish. Soon it would be crawling with guards. I took my chances on turning off to the side paths. I did this several times until I knew I was so hopelessly lost, but I figured if I went on long enough I had to find some way to freedom sooner or later.

I kept riding until the sun was starting to come up. It was still early enough that it was nearly pitch black among the trees, and the sky was just barely turning from back to dark blue. That’s when I heard something behind me. I brought my horse to a stop, just long enough to assess the sounds and decide if I should stay still and hide, or keep barreling down the path. But as I stopped, so did the noises.

I pushed forward with my horse, only slightly slower, not sure if I should be more cautious or if I was just being paranoid. I didn’t have time for either. I needed to keep moving. After a few minutes, I broke the horseback out into a full canter along the path.

The noises returned again, only this time there was no mistaking them and I couldn’t stop. A man on horseback was behind me and coming up fast. Soon he was joined by another man and another, until there were five of them chasing after me as fast as they could. I did my best to look over my shoulder at them without crashing. I assumed they were Alberto’s guards at first, but then I noticed they weren’t wearing the same uniforms. But if they weren’t Alberto’s men, who the hell were they?

I didn’t want to find out. They were charging towards me with no signs of mercy, and it was obvious they had harmful intentions. I urged my horse to gallop faster and faster, praying that some sharp turn or fallen tree didn’t send me plummeting to my death, or right into the arms of these attempted captors.

But it wasn’t a tree or turn that stopped me at all. I could see something in the distance blocking my way, but I needed to get closer before I knew if there was some way around it. The closer I got, the more the shape of it started making sense to me. It was another man on a horse in a dead stop right in the middle of the road. By the time I made out that much, it was too late.

My horse reared back and skidded to a stop. He couldn’t slow down fast enough and ended up falling over into a roll, but not before I was thrown from his back. I didn’t crash to the ground this time, but instead was swept up by one of the men chasing me. I thought maybe I would have been better off if he hadn’t.

His strong arm gripped me tightly and there was no hope of struggling free. In the cluster of galloping horses, it was too loud for me to ask questions, and they didn’t seem willing to give answers anyway. One thing I knew is that they weren’t turning around or showing any signs of going back to the Milano estate. I started to fear that these men weren’t with Alberto at all. They were after me for something completely different.

I racked my brain for some means of escape, but could think of nothing. At least not until I saw where they were taking me, and even then I didn’t know what chance I stood. With Alberto, I at least had our history to use to my advantage. I suspected he wanted me, and I had been right. The only thing I underestimated was how much I wanted him in return.

None of that mattered now. He had left me to flee, and now I didn’t know what waited for me in whatever prison I was being carted off to next. Alberto probably wouldn’t even come looking for me. He would probably just be relieved that he didn’t have to take care of me himself.

It must have been noon before we finally arrived at another estate and the men began to slow their horses. I had been bounced around on horseback since the early hours of the morning before sunrise. I felt nauseous and dizzy. They lowered my feet to the ground, but not without keeping a tight hold on me to keep me from running off. I was kind of grateful for it. My legs were tingling and felt like spaghetti, and I didn’t think I could walk.

Once again, I was carried down into a dark, stone room and locked inside. Only this time I didn’t know where I was or who ran this property. I knew it wouldn’t be Alberto walking through that door to torture me, and somehow that felt less safe.

When I was left alone once more, I started to wonder if I would ever be free again...if I would ever see my father again. Then I remembered what happened the night before and thought maybe it was best I never saw him again. I was forever changed, and I knew he would see it in my eyes the moment he looked at me. We were close, and sometimes it felt like he could make out the secrets floating in my eyes. I didn’t want him to know that about me...what I had done with Alberto. I couldn’t let him see what a disgrace I was.

11

Alberto

I sat in my chair in the corner of the parlor, thinking over everything that happened with Alicia. For all of the strange things that had ever come out of past interrogations, that was definitely a first. Looking back on it, it was hard to determine exactly how it even happened. The closer my body got to hers, and the more she refused to cave to me, the more charged my body became. It was a force I couldn’t refuse. As stubborn as she was, she seemed just as incapable of refusing it. We were pulled into it against our will. Or maybe it was what we really wanted all along, and we just got too tired to keep resisting it.

Her caramel skin was soft and warm, despite the cold water I had drenched her in. Moving inside of her felt like being wrapped in silk. I had never been a gentle lover, but something about her begged for a certain kind of softness...One I didn’t even know I was capable of. While she lured tenderness out of me, she gave fiery passion in return. She was every bit as stubborn and defiant in her movements as she was in everyday life.

Alicia was putting me in a very precarious situation to say the least. I never let myself stray from the course or my carefully laid plans. Yet I impulsively bought her at the market to save her life. I brought her here and fell for her charms. I let her deceive me, and all the while I treated her better than I would have with anyone else in her position. All of my weaknesses should have flown out the window the moment I discovered her lie, but I was foiled once again when I tried to interrogate her.

Now I didn’t know what to do with her. I didn’t know how she’d feel when she woke up, but continuing to question her seemed pointless after what happened. I still needed to protect my empire and figure out what she knew. But I wasn’t so sure chains and torture were the way to do it anymore. It would have worked if I hadn’t held back. Maybe...Or maybe Alicia really was as strong as she made you think, and she’d just as soon die rather than give in to my questioning.

I could hear a swell of commotion rattling through the halls of the estate, but I was too lost in my own head to bother with it. It seemed I didn’t have to, because Felix and Pablo soon came charging in, interrupting my solitude.

“It’s your little pet, Alicia,” Pablo fumed resentfully. “She slipped past the guard outside of her room and took off on horseback.”

I laughed a little. Her defiance knew no limits. “Was she knocked off again? You’d think she would have learned her lesson about horses the first time.”

“No,” he hissed, not finding any of this the least bit amusing. “She ventured off along the property lines and the Mendozas captured her. They’re keeping her, but she mentioned your name. Julian and Javier wanted you to know she was with them now.”

My smile faded. We had a peace treaty with our half-brothers, Nicholas and Victor Mendoza. We were supposed to stay out of each other's business. Out of all the trouble, she could have got herself into, she just had to go and get herself captured by them. I squeezed the bridge of my nose between my fingers, hanging my head. It felt like I would never be rid of the trouble she caused.

Unless I left her there. I could wash my hands of the whole thing, and she would deserve it too. She was the one who ran off yet again. It wasn’t my fault she got caught by the Mendoza’s. I was stuck on that for a moment, knowing how much easier it would be to just leave her in their hands and forget any of this ever happened. But that was the problem...I didn’t think I would be able to forget, no matter how badly I wanted to. I didn’t need another thing haunting me - looming over every day as a distraction.

I stood abruptly and began putting on my coat while Pablo and Felix watched with stunned expressions.

“Where are you going?” Felix questioned with rising panic.

“To go get her,” I grumbled.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Pablo burned into me with an incredulous glare.

“I bought her fair and square. I’m not letting that money go to waste,” I defended weakly.

“She’s been nothing but trouble from the moment you brought her here. I’d say take her back for a refund, but this is even better. Just let her be, Alberto! The Mendozas will set her straight, and what do you care anyway? You may have bought her, but they captured her out there fair and square.”

I ignored him and told one of the workers to get a car ready.

“You’ll break the pact of peace,” Felix reminded me. “You do this and you open a whole can of worms for them sticking their noses into our business. They could jeopardize things we have in the works. It’s not worth it, Alberto.”

They sounded like fools to me, but I did have the sneaking suspicion inside that it was me who was acting foolish. They were right. Alicia would get what she deserved, and I wouldn’t have to worry about her anymore. Whatever she learned about us here on the estate would pale in comparison to what she was about to see from the Mendozas. And all of it would die off the same. They would never let her be free again.

But just like I was inexplicably drawn to her lips and in between her thighs, I was now being drawn to go negotiate her back into my possession. I didn’t even bother questioning it too much, because it seemed futile. I knew I just needed to get up and go.

“What is this woman doing to you!?” Pablo shouted as I was halfway out the door. “She’s making you weak. You’re not thinking clearly. All for some lying whore prisoner. This is absurd!”

I whipped around in a fury, my voice bellowing out in a low rumble. “Don’t forget who you’re talking to! I’ve tolerated all of your questioning long enough! This is my estate and you work for me! I will see to this matter however I see fit! Understand!?”

Felix and Pablo retreated and sulked, leaving me to carry forward to the door. The car was already waiting for me outside. I was glad I snapped at them. My anger over their doubts had been boiling up for too long, and this was exactly what needed to happen to put them back in their place. Their suspicions about Alicia clouding my decision making were not entirely unfounded. I was worried about the same thing myself. But at the end of the day, they had to know their limits when it came to questioning me.

I felt tired as we traveled to the Mendozas estate. Like a man going to retrieve his dog that would just not stop 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 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 to get me out of some machismo need to claim what he thought was his - like rabid dogs fighting over a slab of meat. But no. He had risked his safety and the well-being of his seedy empire to come and get me. Something about it was comforting and all the more unsettling at the same time.

The ridiculous dress the Mendozas had forced me to wear felt like it was getting tighter by the second. I fanned my flaming chest and cheeks as I tugged at the fabric squeezing around my ribs. “I need to get out of here,” I begged. “I can’t breathe. It feels like the walls are closing in on me.”

I said it all in vain, assuming Alberto wouldn’t care how uncomfortable I was or what I needed. He certainly hadn’t led up to that moment. So, I was surprised when he marched over to the side door and ushered me back outside.

“Let’s take a walk,” he suggested.

I agreed out of necessity, but there was no part of me that wanted to go strolling along the property in the moonlight with Alberto...as if everything was perfectly fine. I would never be free. The words echoed through my head over and over again, and it was Alberto who made them true. I couldn’t pretend he was some kind of decent man for saving me or for allowing me to take a walk. I couldn’t forget what kind of monster he really was.

“I saw everything you’re keeping in the basement,” I confessed finally. I blurted it out without really thinking. I didn’t know if I needed to say it out loud to remind myself, or if I honestly wanted some kind of explanation...as if there could be one. I knew better. Nothing could excuse hoarding all those unclaimed goods.

“The wine, the furs, the cars...all of it. I’m not an idiot, Alberto. I know why you’re keeping heaps of those things stowed away. You’re evading taxes. Money that is used to support poor families struggling in our country!”

He didn’t explode in the way I expected. He didn’t even seem angry. Instead, he continued walking in a steady stride and explained himself calmly. “The government steals money from its people all the time. You don’t think they’re lining their pockets with most of our tax dollars? They benefit from those payments far more than the poor do. The only way to help the impoverished is to offer them a job.” He waved his hand across his property. “Which you can see...I have done plenty of on my estate. I certainly don’t need this many people on a daily basis.”

I had to consider his argument more than I wanted to. It was true that he kept a huge amount of staff on hand, but I found it hard to believe that it was out of some sense of obligation or a desire to do any real good.

“You really expect me to believe that? That you’re employing so many people to help anything other than your own selfish needs?”

“I’m a businessman. I recognize the need for a thriving economy. The best way to do that is to ensure people have more than enough money to live off of...and therefore, money to spend.”

I stopped walking and turned to face him. My face was wrinkled as I studied him, desperately needing to know if he was telling the truth. His features were soft and blank, maybe even a little vulnerable looking. My gut told me he really was being honest.

“I can see your point,” I admitted hesitantly. “You’re not wrong.”

He laughed a little. “You wouldn’t dare say that I’m right. Just that I’m not wrong.”

“I’m still wrapping my head around you saying anything that sounds remotely good or honest.”

“Don’t sound so surprised,” he huffed with a subtle grin.

I narrowed my eyes, not liking the uncertainty of trusting him in this way. But then again, I had given in and trusted him with my body. I supposed I had to admit that trusting his words wasn’t so far fetched.

We stood there, facing each other in the darkness. It was uncomfortably quiet, leaving too much room for tenderness to sneak in. I decided to take the opportunity to defend my case.

“Perhaps if I can admit to the possibility that there might be some good in you...You can admit to the possibility that I’m not so unreasonable.”

He squinted and looked off in the distance as if he was thinking it over, and he didn’t look so convinced. I knew he was recalling the state of raging madness I had been in from the moment he picked me up from the Mendozas.

“How would you behave if you were being held against your will?” I argued, responding to thoughts he hadn’t said out loud. “I was a free woman when you found me in that market. I knew what I was doing. You really had no right to buy me like that. Nor should anyone have the right to buy any human being like a slave. And now...I’m stuck here. Away from my home and my father.”

My breath quickened as he stepped closer, erasing the gap between us. He wrapped his hands around my arms and demanded that I look deep into his eyes.

“I promise I will take you home,” he said earnestly. “I didn’t have a plan when I snatched you up at the market, and I haven’t ever since. But I don’t have the time or energy to keep someone like you under constant watch, always worrying about what you’ll do next. I’ll just have to take the risk of whatever you’ll say to your father about me and where you’ve been.”

I didn’t expect him to give in so easily, but my heart swelled with the promise of going home. “When?” I asked impatiently.

“We’ll leave first thing in the morning.”

I would have cried if he wasn’t standing so close and watching me so carefully. As I fought back my happy tears of relief, I found myself getting lost in his dark eyes. I didn’t want to admit it, but there was more to him than I thought. Which only made things even more confusing...If he did care enough about me to rescue me and promise to take me home, why had he left me alone in that dark, cold hell hole after I gave into him?

“Why did you leave me last night?” I asked finally, afraid of what he might say next.

His voice dropped to a low rasp. “Maybe...because...you scare me.”

I knew it pained him to admit it just as much as it pained me to consider another side to him. Maybe he wasn’t the evil Alberto Milano I had grown up believing in. Or maybe he was, but there was more to him as well. Perhaps he could be both good and bad. Was such a thing even possible? My father and I had only ever believed in black and white facts. There was right and wrong, good and bad, just and unjust. To consider that someone could be on both sides of anything was hard to fathom.

But I didn’t have much time to consider any of that too deeply. Alberto’s eyes stayed locked on mine and soon he was closing his eyes and slowly sweeping his lips over mine. It was far softer than anything he had shown me the night before. It was dangerously sweet and I quickly found myself not caring if Alberto was good or bad. No truly evil man could kiss like that.

He pulled away just enough to speak. The sexy scratch of his voice struck me in my core, almost enough that I missed what he was actually saying. Almost.

“You see...I do have my ways of making you talk. You just told me everything I wanted to know. I found your weak spot.”

He smirked, and I felt a rush of renewed rage pulse through my veins with a fury. Had all of it been just to make me talk!? Surely, he wasn’t that clever and calculating...Enough to have sex with me and then lure me off on this walk just to get me to confess everything.

I felt stupid for doubting his wickedness for even a second. I didn’t know which one of us I was angrier with, but I didn’t care. My hand reared back, and I wanted nothing more than to slap him across the face. I flattened my palm and thrust it towards his cheek, intent on wiping that smug little expression away.

But his hand shot forward and caught my wrist in a tight grip. With that, his mouth lunged back to mine and somehow, once again, I didn’t care about any of it anymore. There was no good or bad or anything to confess. I forgot about feeling duped or which one of us had lied to the other more to get what we wanted. There was only me and him and the feeling of our lips and tongues intertwining.

I melted against him and opened my mouth wider, taking him in completely. He happily obliged and at some point, we slipped down to the ground, desperate to feel our bodies pressed together tightly. I worried briefly about which of the workers might be lingering nearby to see him urgently ripping away the tight dress that I longed to be free from, especially while I was in his arms. But then I remembered no one would be bold enough to disrespect Alberto in that way. They would give him his privacy.

He could do whatever the hell he wanted. This estate was like his own little country, and he ruled over other little corners all across Argentina. I knew I should feel guilty by how much his power turned me on in that moment. It went against everything I believed in and everything I thought was true about myself. Kissing him at all did the same. But my body was buzzing with too much ravenous need to really feel it. All I was aware of was my desire for him. Nothing else mattered.

He quickly and expertly slid the dress from my body until I was sprawled across the lawn, completely naked, with the stars shining up above us. It would have been romantic if it wasn’t with Alberto. But wasn’t it just as romantic regardless? All of my walls against him were crumbling by the second, and I quickly lost any ability to fight it as he kissed his way down my body, settling his head between my legs.

He sucked me into his mouth and sent overwhelming sparks of pleasure rippling through my body. My fingers dug into the grass and dirt on either side of me as the sensation swelled. It didn’t take long for him to draw the climax from my quivering body. It was almost too much to take, but the more I squirmed against his mouth, the harder he bore down.

I licked my lips as my orgasm faded, and I was left completely limp with my legs draped across his arms. He still didn’t pull away. He softened the strokes of his tongue and settled in like he intended to stay there for a while. I gave in again, thinking to myself that for as much as I never wanted to submit to him...it sure did feel good.

13

Alberto

I relished in the sweetness of Alicia’s taste and felt like I could get lost there for a long while. In fact, I did. Time seemed to dissolve as I licked and sucked at her folds until she was trembling and limp. By the third eruption of pleasure that erupted through her body, I couldn’t resist it any longer. I was hard and throbbing and yearning to thrust inside of her. I remembered how divine she had felt while we were in the interrogation cellar, and could only imagine how much more thrilling it would be out in the open night air, under the stars.

As I moved over her, she eagerly wrapped her arms around me and moaned. Her fingers raked through my hair and ran down my neck, clawing into my back as I slid inside of her wet silkiness. Her muscles tightened around me and intensified the relief and building blissful sensation.

I kept my eyes glued to her, loving the way she clenched her eyes tightly shut and threw her head back with her long black hair flowing out around her. She bit into her bottom lip, and I felt a pang of jealousy. I crashed my mouth back to hers with the swell of my climax, needing to have that bite all to myself. I stayed there until the pleasure was too great, and everything went black and blurry.

I nuzzled my damp hair into the curl of her neck for a moment to catch my breath before finally rolling over to the side. We didn’t bother hiding our naked bodies. The yard was still and empty. If anyone had noticed us when we started, they knew well enough to leave us alone.

Alicia watched me curiously and laughed a little to herself. “What happens now?”

“We sleep. I’ll deliver you back home, as I promised. Which means we have a long journey in front of us. We should get an early start.”

She rolled over and pressed her lips to my shoulder. “Yes, but where do I sleep? I suppose it’s back to the dungeon with me?”

Once again, I hadn’t thought it through too carefully - a foreign feeling that was becoming far too common with Alicia. But sending her back down to the dungeon didn’t seem right. Sending her back to the little room she was locked up in before that didn’t seem appropriate either.

I imagined what Felix and Pablo would say to the alternative, but shook it off. I didn’t need their approval, and hopefully, we would be gone before I’d have to face them again. By the time I returned, Alicia would be gone, and they wouldn’t have to worry about it anymore.

“Get dressed,” I told her as I pulled up from the grass to find my own clothes. “I will take care of your sleeping arrangements. You don’t need to worry about it.”

Being around her was like getting lost in a cloud of perfume that kept me from seeing clearly. As much as I longed to stay tangled up in her arms, I wanted, even more, to be alone in my own bedroom. It seemed like the only way to break the spell, and I would need the time to pull myself together before traveling alongside her for three days.

Without saying another word to her, I left her just as coldly as I had after our first night together. I could feel her eyes burning into my back, but I didn’t look back. Instead, I walked inside and found the first housekeeper I could and gave them instructions for putting Alicia up in one of the guest suites. It just so happened to be the nicest guest bedroom in the manor, usually reserved for the wealthiest, most distinguished guests that I wanted to impress or win over in some way. I wasn’t trying to do that with Alicia. I just figured a nice room was something I knew I could give, and maybe it would make up for all the things my heart seemed unable to do for her.

After ensuring that she would be provided with nice, clean clothes, the finest soaps, lotions, and perfumes, and a big dinner and breakfast, I retired to my own room and tried not to let my thoughts wander. But as I layed in my bed, I couldn’t help but imagine the sight of her soft, brown skin as the silk robe slid around her naked flesh. I imagined the scents of lavender, rose, and vanilla wafting from her hair and the curves of her body. I had such vivid images of her licking soup from the corner of her deep red lips or biting into a juicy strawberry. I wanted to be in those moments with her, but knew we were both better off with me in my own bed...alone.

The joy of those simple luxuries manifested in her face the following morning when she emerged from the manor with a content and peaceful smile. She glided over to stand beside me as I waited for my men to finish loading up the horses. Her face wrinkled as she took in the scene.

“Are all four of those men coming with us?” she puzzled.

“Yes, I am bringing my best men for our protection.”

“But there are only five horses, and there are six of us.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “After your track record with horseback riding, do you honestly think I’m going to put you on your own horse?”

She was not amused. Her smile faded into a frown as she crossed her arms and turned her back to me. “I’m not going to be stuck on a horse with our hot and sweaty bodies right on top of each other for three whole days. I demand to have my own horse. I’m getting better at riding, and you’ll be around to look after me anyway...Not that I think I need it.”

“I thought our hot and sweaty bodies being on top of each other for three whole days was exactly what you wanted,” I teased.

Her cheeks turned red as she looked to the nearby men, waiting for them to shoot her looks of judgment and accusation. They didn’t even notice, but it didn’t seem to make her any less bothered by the remark.

I watched the anger brewing inside of her and figured the last thing I wanted was for her to be furious with me the whole trip. I sighed and waved one of the men over. “Will you please get a sixth horse ready for the princess here?”

She huffed at my little insult but seemed happier with the new arrangement.

“I knew you’d be difficult,” I grumbled. “I just didn’t know you’d start in before we even set foot off the property.”

The benefit of traveling through the countryside of Argentina for three days was all of the beautiful sights around us to take in. We rode through vast canyons with big blue mountains lined up along the horizon. My men surrounded us for protection with one of them in front and in back, and the other two on either side of us. Alicia and I were left in our own little bubble in the middle. It saved us from having to talk about anything, which would have been awkward with the others around to hear. But at night, they set their camp up at a good distance and gave us some privacy.

“Only one tent for the both of us?” she asked as she watched them prepare our campsite for us.

“Why not?”

Her eyes cut over to me with an offended glare. “You just assume I’ll climb in there with you like we’re lovers or something?”

“Aren’t we?” I grinned. “At least for now?”

She crossed her arms again and gave the same little cross pout she did over the horse debacle.

“Good God, woman. You are going to drive me mad. Look, there’s only one tent for us, okay? Do you honestly expect me to make two of them share a tent just so you can have your own? When you know damn well you’re just going to end up crawling into mine anyway. Don’t act like I wasn’t in between your thighs just last night.”

“You’re awfully sure of yourself. I can promise it won’t be happening again tonight,” she scoffed.

“Fine. We’ll sleep on opposite ends of the tent. I don’t care, just stop nagging me about every little thing.”

We sat in silence around the fire, but Alicia was about as good at staying quiet as she was at riding a horse. I could see her trying to resist the urge to talk to me out of spite, but too much was teeming up inside of her. Finally, she gave in and the words started spilling out.

“You never stop surprising me,” she remarked, sounding only a little insulting. “In some ways, you’re not what I expected at all, and in others...you’re too much of what I expected.”

“Whatever that means,” I said under my breath.

“Tell me about yourself.” It was an order, not a question or invitation I was allowed to refuse.

There was nothing else better to do than poke a stick around in the fire. So, I let out a heavy sigh and told her what she demanded to know. “I was born into a very wealthy Argentinian family with Italian ancestry.”

“That explains a lot,” she snipped. “I can see the Italian in you. A big stubborn bully.”

“I could say the same for you,” I shot back. “It wouldn’t surprise me at all to know you had some Italian in you. My mother would have liked you.”

I noticed her smile a little at that sentiment. “No, not Italian. My mother was American. She died while giving birth to me.”

I had always known Don Martino was a single father raising Alicia on his own, but somehow it seemed more real coming straight from her own lips. “I could say that explains quite a lot about you as well, you know. You act like you were raised by a man.”

Her dark eyes glinted over to me, and I could see her trying to decide if she wanted to take it as an insult or a compliment. But never ceasing to catch me off guard, she did something else entirely. She stood and walked over to me, stopping just inches from where I sat. She undid the back of her blouse and let her clothes fall down around her feet.

“Oh, but in your arms...I feel very much like a woman.”

I rose to the call, wrapping my arms around her naked body and urging her mouth open with my tongue. Trying to figure out what was going through her head at any given moment was a losing game, but I figured whatever prompted her to give in and undress in front of me like that was probably a fleeting opportunity. One that I intended to take full advantage of before she changed her mind.

I scooped her up and carried her off into the tent to give her what she wanted. Our third time together was just as exquisite as the first two times. I had my fair share of women in my bed, but it was different with Alicia. It felt like the earth cracked and shifted beneath us as I moved inside of her. Only this time, when we were finished, there was nowhere for me to run away to. It was something I obviously knew would happen, but the reality of it felt much scarier than I predicted.

As she laid draped across me, swirling her fingers through my chest hair, I felt an immense need to make her happy...to protect her, even if she didn’t want to be protected. But the feeling had a weight to it that made it seem like much more than just delivering her back to her father’s safely. I wanted more than that, even though I had no clue what that even meant.

“This is so strange,” she said softly. “Sleeping with the enemy.”

“Well, you are not my enemy,” I answered, hating how true that was. “I admire you. And the way you stick to your values.”

“If only you could do the same. If you’re going to be so stubborn, you could at least have some morals to go along with it.”

I groaned in a low growl, hating the way she would never let herself stop fighting me for long. It was like she just had to keep digging into me with her words to forgive herself for handing her body over to me so willingly.

“Maybe some of us just aren’t so keen on declaring our values to the world every chance we get,” I argued, wondering how long it would take for her to no longer want to be laying in my arms. “There’s something untrustworthy about people like that who act so high and mighty...like they’re better than everyone else.”

“You mean there’s something untrustworthy about people like me?” Her eyes sparkled with anger and, sure enough, she was soon sitting straight up, not wanting to be draped across my chest anymore.

I knew anything I said would only make her angrier. She was looking for an excuse to be furious with me. So, I put out the lantern and rolled onto my side to try and sleep. The blankets rustled as she slung them around and settled to the far opposite corner of the tent, just as she had promised she would.

“At least you kept part of your promise,” I teased.

We both knew that she had been wrong when she swore I wouldn’t be making love to her that night. I could practically feel the heat of her rage coming off of her body. Good, I thought. A pissed off woman will keep the tent warm through the night at least.

14

Alicia

Being around Alberto was like a rollercoaster ride that was as bumpy as the endless horseback journey we continued on. The only thing that was more unpredictable than the words that came out of his mouth was my reaction to them. One moment he could give me a look that made me want to rip his clothes off and let him ravage me, the next I wanted to slap him across the face.

At least I had the sights of my beloved country to calm me. I told myself that I would make more time for things like this when my life went back to normal. I spent so much time devoting myself to me and my father’s fight for justice, that I hadn’t spent nearly enough time slowing down to enjoy the country we were fighting for.

When we stopped for breaks, Alberto would come over and offer a hand to help me down from the horse. Even though we tried to be subtle around his men that were accompanying us, there was no mistaking the look that flashed between us when our eyes locked in those brief, tender moments. I had been foolish to kid myself into thinking we weren’t lovers when we were obviously just that...even if only for a short while.

But other times I felt like another one of the guys as I washed up in the creeks and rivers and ate beans from a can while sitting on rocks. I was glad Alberto didn’t always treat me like some fragile thing that needed his protection. Or maybe he was just learning not to bother.

All day, there was an electric current crackling between us, building up a ferocious force of something we could hardly wait to release. By nightfall, we did exactly that. We didn’t even bother bickering before tumbling into the tent to lose ourselves in each other’s bodies with an animalistic passion.

He didn’t treat me like some fragile thing in bed any more than he did in the outdoors. He was rough in the most exquisitely pleasing ways...in ways I never knew I wanted from a man. And he let me tear into him with the same amount of grit. We didn’t hold back.

But the third day had a different sort of cloud over it. I would be home by the next morning, and we would never know each other in this way again. For as happy as I was to return to my father, something about parting ways with Alberto made my stomach turn with a sick uneasiness. It was strange to feel that way about leaving him, when just looking at him used to inspire the same feeling.

I didn’t think it was a mistake that we stopped earlier than usual to make camp. We were getting closer to my town, and it was almost like Alberto wanted to keep a distance between us and my home on the final night. Maybe he didn’t think he could make love to me in the same way if we were too close to my father’s house.

Setting up camp early afforded us the chance to watch the sunset together. We did so over the fire while we ate fish for dinner. We were both quiet, but not in an uncomfortable way. I was lost in my own thoughts about what all of this meant...about what he meant to me. I could only guess if he was just as unsettled as I was about us parting ways. He stayed strong and silent, not giving a single hint to how he really felt. I was finding it hard to swallow as I studied him and wondered...would I miss him?

“What are you thinking about?” I asked finally, needing a break from the confusion swirling around my brain.

He took a long time to answer as he watched the last of the sun vanish over the horizon. “I guess I was thinking...that I’m sure you’ll be happy to be home.”

I swore I detected a tinge of pain in his voice. His face tightened as he said it, and his throat seemed to close up on the words. His stoicism irritated me. All I could do was lean back and reply, “Yes.” I kept it cold and short, just as he was behaving towards me.

As the darkness fell, Alberto kept staring off into the black canyons around us. He seemed to be looking at something specific but well hidden in the night.

“There’s a cave just over there beyond that ridge,” he explained finally. “There’s a famous story about a couple that went across the country robbing banks together. They got carried away and knew they were probably going to get gunned down on their next job. They hid out there for the night, knowing it was their final night alive...their last night together. So now some people call it the rebel lover’s cave.”

He smirked as he told the story, and I could tell the idea of it made him happy. It was a relief to see him happy about anything besides making biting remarks to me or the sight of my naked body.

“We’re not so different from them I suppose,” I quipped, staring off in the same direction as him. I thought maybe if I looked long enough I could see the cave for myself. “We have been pretty rebellious. The villain and the detective’s daughter falling into bed together.”

“I could see you robbing banks by my side in another lifetime,” he smirked.

“We would never be able to agree about what to do with the money. You’d want to keep it all for yourself, and I’d insist we give it to the poor.”

“Not for myself, but for us,” he argued. “You’d think differently when you saw the kind of jewelry and furs I could buy you with that stolen money.”

I laughed, knowing I was not the type to fall for such frivolous luxuries. But then again, I also never thought I’d be the type to sleep with Alberto or feel so drawn to his power. Even his machismo airs had a way of turning me on.

“I couldn’t sleep at night knowing I was hoarding so much for myself while there are starving children in our country.”

He didn’t mock me the way he usually would. Instead, he replied, “Well, I have a feeling you could talk me into a lot of things that didn’t make sense to me. Even giving money away to people who had done nothing to earn it.”

I rolled my eyes at him, not wanting to fall into another one of our political debates. I walked over to him and put my fingers to his chiseled jaw, drawing his eyes up to mine. “Why?” I asked. “Because I am a woman?”

I undressed in front of him again, just as I had done on the first night of our trip. I loved how powerful I felt as I towered over him, letting him drink me in with his eyes.

“No,” he insisted, dropping to his knees before me. His dark eyes stared up at me as he kissed his way along my inner thighs. “I have never met a woman as convincing as you before. Even if it is just a matter of you wearing me down until I’m too tired to fight you anymore.”

I decided to take that admission as a win, which was easy to do as his tongue flicked across the bundle of nerves between my legs. That feeling of powerfulness only grew as he pressed his mouth harder against me, squeezing his hands around my ass. He was bowing down before me, pleasuring me, and it made me feel like a damn queen. I raked my fingers through his hair and rolled my head back, relishing in the feeling of his tongue.

I soon had to push him onto his back, even though I hated for his mouth to part from my folds. My legs were already shaking, and I didn’t think I could stand there and cum without falling over any more than I could wait another second to feel him inside of me. He laid back in the grass once again. I wondered if we would even know what to do within the walls of our bedroom. It seemed like the only places we could let ourselves give in to these urges were out in the wild, or in some cold, dark dungeon.

I straddled him, sliding him in between my legs. As my body lowered over him, I lifted my arms high above my head, running my hands through my hair. I tilted my neck and moaned out with the feeling of him filling me completely. There was no time for timidness or shyness. This was my last night to take pleasure in the body of a man who was so forbidden. I let go of any insecurity and just let myself ride him without inhibition.

His hips buckled as I went, my breasts bouncing in the light of the fire. He took them into his hands in big greedy squeezes, delighting in how I threw all reservations to the wind. I felt like I was conquering him as he laid out on his back before me, surrendering himself and offering up his body for me to use in any way I wanted. I shifted my hips and found the perfect angle to slide up and down across him, bracing one hand on his chest. I dug into his perfect, hairy muscles with my nails, loving the way he hissed between his teeth. I didn’t know if it was the bright red scratch marks I was carving into him or the feeling of my wet, clenched muscles stretching over him that made him make those noises. I didn’t care. I just wanted more.

But with every devilish and delightful moment of it, there was this feeling of loss looming over us. We would never know each other like this again. We let our bodies say our goodbyes - the ones neither of us would submit to saying with words. The finality of it all only made us make love more fiercely than ever before.

My cries grew louder as I kept riding him, feeling him grow harder inside of me. I didn’t care if his men could hear us from their tents in the distance, or that coyotes were howling back at me. He made me feel just as wild as them and I howled right back with the moans of my pleasure. I could feel the tension swelling, just dying to send me crashing over the edge. I went harder and faster, letting it swallow me whole.

My eyes drifted from Alberto up to the stars until finally, they closed. I felt the heat of his chest press up against me as he sat up, begging me to come back to him. He pulled my face towards his and rolled his tongue into my mouth, urging me to go faster and harder still. He wanted me to take what was mine. He sucked at my hardened nipples and ran his hands up and down my back.

I stayed focused on him for as long as I could until everything slipped away into darkness for a few blissful moments. I screamed out into the night, letting the intense sensation wash over me completely. It felt like I was hit with a tidal wave that knocked me over and took away my breath.

I collapsed into Alberto’s arms as he rolled over, not letting me have even a moment to recover. He thrust into me with a relentless, rough passion, not giving up until he could feel me being pushed right back to the cusp of another orgasm. He laid back and let me use him to get off the first time, but he wasn’t going to give up the reins for my second time. He plowed into me, letting me know he was claiming that one all for himself. He wanted to be the one in control, drawing it out of me.

He rocked back onto his knees, lifting my hips into the air as he pounded deeper into me. My curves and breasts rippled and bounced with every sublime collision of his body to mine, each one pushing me closer and closer. It was building up inside of him too, but we both seemed to be clinging to those final moments, not wanting it to be over.

We held on until it was impossible to do it any longer and finally we let the formidable force take us under. I held tightly onto his body as we both trembled. He collapsed over me with a loose vulnerability he had never shown before. For a few brief seconds, we didn’t bother fighting it or acting strong. We melted into each other without fear or hesitation.

For those same few moments, everything inside of me felt just as clear and as the intense pleasure I had just felt. There was no denying it. Of course, I would miss Alberto. I didn’t know why when half the time I hated him just as much as I had all those years ago, when I was just eighteen and saw him for the first time. But all along there was another driving force behind that hatred...a curiosity, a need to know more...a longing. A million unanswered questions that still weren’t answered, but only seemed to quiet down when I was pressed close against his body like that.

His arms closed in over me, and his hands ran through my long hair. He squeezed tightly, and I could almost swear that he didn’t want to let me go.

15

Alberto

It seemed fitting that it was raining the next day as we packed everything back up on our horses. Each time thunder and lightning boomed over the distant mountains, I could feel pangs of anger shooting through me. I didn’t know if I was angry about having to make the last leg of the trip in the rain, or that I knew I would be traveling back in this weather...without Alicia.

While she was cozied up with her father by the fire, telling him all about her adventure - or at least the parts of it he could bear to hear, I would be soaking wet riding home in silence. I was never good at managing my anger. I was good at keeping it bottled up, but not at knowing where to direct it. And on that morning, I was inclined to be angry at Alicia.

It was her stunt in the market that dragged me into this mess in the first place, and it seemed the only thing I had done since then was deal with one thing after another with her. I shuddered to think how much time I had wasted...how much money I had lost by being pulled away from my work. And the fact that it all seemed worth it only baffled and enraged me more.

She took her time getting her horse ready and even more time to finally mount the damn thing. And she had kept me up far too late the night before. By the time we finally made it into the tent, exhausted after draining each other’s bodies under the stars, she was ready for more. I didn’t have it in me to deny her. One look and that certain sway of her hips that she was so good at, and I was putty in her hands. I hated that she had that kind of power over me.

“We don’t have all day, woman,” I snapped as I watched her dolly around the empty campsite.

She was getting used to my moodiness, so much that she rolled it right off her shoulders most of the time now. I didn’t like how comfortable she had become around me. Everyone else was afraid of me, and she seemed to think I was just some harmless dog for her to play with. It made me feel tamed and powerless...two things I never cared to be.

The clouds parted some as we traveled into her town. People stood in the yards in front of their tiny, run-down homes and marveled at the sight of me riding by. They looked fearful but humble. Of course, people with no money hated men like me. Alicia was no different. They claimed it was because I did bad or immoral things to gain my fortune, but I thought it was really out of envy. They hated that I had the drive to do what it took to get what I wanted, while they let themselves wallow in pity over what they didn’t have.

The sight of the poorly cared for town just added to the sourness in the pit of my stomach, as did the light in Alicia’s eyes. My estate and big mansion did nothing for her, but she looked at this sad excuse for a community like it was a damn palace.

“I cook dinner there two or three times a week,” she beamed as she pointed to a community center on the corner. “Tons of people in town come and sit down around a big table together and laugh and eat. Sometimes people donate wine or liquor. You would actually enjoy it...if you could ever bring yourself to show your face at such a thing.”

“I’m sure half the people have starved since you’ve been gone,” I scoffed sarcastically.

“Not as many people as you’ve managed to starve when you force them away from their homes and jobs so you can stick another piece of land under your belt,” she snapped back.

My bitterness didn’t stop her from pointing out all the places that were near and dear to her heart as we passed. The longer it went on, the more my grumpy mood faded into something different. I watched her glow with pride as she looked around her hometown. I couldn’t imagine why her father forced them to live in a place like this when surely his detective salary could have afforded them something better. My protectiveness came back, and I hated him for not giving Alicia a better life.

But her eyes were filled with nothing but love as she went on and on about all the people she knew and the places they went. A fit of sad jealousy sparked inside of me. I wished that she looked at me with that kind of innocent love in her eyes. Or that I loved anything in the way she seemed to love her home.

I turned my thoughts to all I needed to do when I returned home, or I tried to at least. There was an emptiness to it all now that I had never felt before. Life had always been a game to me. My parents never had high expectations for what I might accomplish because we were already wealthy. I took it as a challenge and decided I would just add to our riches in ways no one ever thought possible. But the prize for it all was just endlessly acquiring more and more...And for the first time, that prize seemed boring to me.

I ignored the way Alicia watched me as we rode along. She always did that. Stared at me for a long time as she gathered her thoughts. Every time I knew she was deciding something about me and that she’d soon have something new to bother me with.

“What will you do after this?” she asked, sounding curious and accusing all at once.

“What I’ve always done. What else would you expect?”

“I didn’t know if I had managed to inspire any change of heart in you...after all of our talks about what’s right and wrong...and what’s good for the people of Argentina.”

“Don’t flatter yourself,” I muttered, laughing to myself. But my laughter faded into an awkward discomfort. Something in me had changed it seemed, but I didn’t know how or why. And I would never admit to it regardless.

“What about all of those unclaimed goods?” she pressed. “Sure, you give a few jobs to people who need them, but that doesn’t make it any better than depriving the people of those tax dollars.”

“I suppose I should sell it all off and give the money to these people?” I mocked her, glaring at the barefoot children running down the side of the street and the worn-down workers walking on their lunch breaks.

“Or better yet, donate the goods. Perhaps I could talk to some officials and see to it that you don’t face any penalties or repercussions...if it was all going to charity,” she suggested with a smug tone.

“Is that what this is all about?” I grumbled. “You making up your mind about what to tell your father?”

“I’ll have to tell him something,” she said grimly. “He’ll have all sorts of questions about you and your estate, and he knows me too well to believe that I’d come back empty-handed.”

“Haven’t I done enough for you!?” I fumed, thinking about how disruptive all of this had been. But the reminder was a relief. Soon she would be gone and I’d be free of her incessant questions and snide comments. Maybe that wasn’t so bad after all.

Any softness she was carrying quickly vanished. Her spine straightened and I could see her face tighten with annoyance. We went the rest of the way in silence, but not until she got in one last little jab.

“I guess some people never do change.”

No matter how much I tried to convince myself that I was happy she would soon be gone, the closer we got to Don Martino’s, the more severe the aching in my chest became. Her constant nagging and insistence that people in need were worth helping...It was all so infuriating, and yet, it seemed better than the silence I would soon be facing on the long journey back alone. And again once I returned to my empty bedroom at the manor.

“We’ll stop by Pablo’s on the way back tonight,” I informed my men, prompting them to exchange a few grins and winks. I had to set something up for myself to look forward to.

“The brothel!?” Alicia gasped with disgust.

“Like I told you before...it all fuels the economy, sweetheart. And that’s good for all of us. That place is how some of the women in your beloved little town pay their rent.” I felt my heart swell with something good for the first time that day. I liked seeing how much the thought of me going to a brothel seemed to bother her.

“And how they end up pregnant and being sold off in the black market,” she replied, but not with spite. She stared off in deep thought, and I could see the wheels turning in her head.

“Don’t even think about it,” I barked.

“What?” she looked at me, feigning innocence.

“Don’t bat your lashes at me like that. I know exactly what you’re thinking. If after all this I walk back into that market next week and find you there all over again, I’ll buy you up and throw you back into my basement. Only this time I’ll get rid of the key and let you stay in there until you’re old and gray.”

“You mean you wouldn’t just leave me to fend for myself?”

“And give you the sick satisfaction of proving that you could find out what you wanted without getting yourself killed? Not a chance in hell.”

She smiled, looking awfully pleased with herself. I couldn’t help but smile a little myself, but that got harder to do as we approached the edge of Don Martino’s property. I waved for my men to hold back and let Alicia and I go the rest of the way alone.

We rode along to the entrance of the long driveway, being careful to stay hidden behind the tree line. “I’m going to leave you here,” I told her, eyeing the distant house through the trees. I wasn’t about to put up with whatever the Great Detective would have to say to me if he saw his precious daughter in my custody.

She nodded and stared down at her hands, but didn’t move. The moment felt so final and desperate. I could just stay on my horse and send her off like that. There were so many things raging inside of me, none of which I seemed able to say out loud. But the least I could do was get off of my horse. She did the same and we marched towards each other, still being careful that nobody could see us.

Not knowing what to say, I inched closer to her and stared at her plump red lips. I could admit to that much...the way I longed for her body. I knew no woman at the brothel would compare to her or the feeling of laying her down. I knew it because every woman I had ever been with paled in comparison. Maybe I was forever ruined. It pained me to look into her dark, glinting eyes and those swollen lips, knowing I would never have her in the same way again.

“Thank you for bringing me home,” she said finally, breaking the silence.

I couldn’t say I was glad I did it. Part of me wanted to snatch her up and hold her down as I galloped like hell back to one of my properties. I could spoil her with the finest clothes and jewelry and wines until she admitted living the modest, moral life wasn’t so great after all.

Since there was no right thing to say or do, I crashed my lips against hers, gripping her body tight. I was still never entirely certain if she’d give into me any time I kissed her. It was hard to know when we walked such a fine line between hatred and desire. But she melted into me just as she had done before, not seeming to care that I had been so grumpy all morning. I guess it was what she expected of me.

I kissed her until the longing and ache inside of me swelled so greatly that I couldn’t stand it anymore. I ripped my mouth away from hers and briskly turned to get back on my horse. She watched me with a pained expression before finally grabbing her horse’s lead and turning to approach the small metal gate.

I planned to watch until I saw she was half way down the driveway so I’d know she was safe, but she stopped as she lifted the latch and looked back at me. I knew she was either gathering up the strength to say something, or was waiting for me to start talking. I didn’t want either of us to say anything, and watching her walk away was harder than I thought it would be. It seemed neither of us would budge if I stayed there like that, so I was left with no choice but to ride back to my men...leaving her behind.

“That’s one feisty broad,” one of them noted as I returned.

“Just shut up and ride,” I barked, blazing up ahead of them all.

I stayed alone at Pablo’s that night, not wanting to have another woman next to me but also not wanting to go back on my promise to the men. While the sounds of other men’s pleasures echoed through the walls of the brothel, I laid alone in the room I rented for the night and thought about Alicia curled up safe and sound at home...where she belonged. I had to say it to myself over and over again. She belonged at home with her father...Not with me.

16

Alicia

I don’t know what I expected from Alberto when he dropped me off. It was hard to ever know what to expect from him. At night when we were alone, he could be so tender and loving. But he spent the entirety of our last morning together griping and brooding over every little thing. Was I crazy to think he was upset because we were parting ways? Or was he just ready to be done with me and eager to set off on his stupid little trip to the brothel? And why did I care anyway?

All I should have cared about was returning home to my father. But as I walked down the cobblestone path to our front door, still leading the horse Alberto left with me, I felt a tug in my heart. Some kind of pull that made me long to turn around and run right back into Alberto’s arms.

I did my best to push those urges down and keep walking. I was sure that once I settled back into my home and saw my father’s face, all of these ridiculous feelings would fade. After all, for every act of kindness Alberto had shown me, there were just as many acts of cruelty. It was absurd to be pining over him as I returned to the place I wanted to be more than anywhere.

Tears started streaming down my face as I lifted my hand to knock on the door, but I quickly wiped them away. I didn’t want my father to see me crying the moment he answered. He came to the door in a frenzy, as if he had spent every day storming around the house just waiting for this very moment...waiting for me to knock and be home with him again.

As the door flung open, Don Martino froze in disbelief. His mouth was gaping and his gray hair was disheveled, sticking up in every direction. The lines on his face seemed deeper, and he had dark circles under his eyes.

“Papa,” I whispered under my breath, still holding back tears.

“Alicia!” he cried, wrapping his arms around me.

As he sobbed, I let my own tears fall freely. There was no use holding it in. We laughed and cried as he pulled me into the house and quickly locked and shut the door behind us as if he didn’t plan on ever letting me leave again. We were both pretty speechless for a while, barely getting a word out here and there. Mostly we just marveled at the sight of each other. I wasn’t the only one who started to think I would never be coming home.

He knew well enough not to ask me too much right away. He threw another log on the fire and let me settle in before bringing me a tray of tea and crackers. Then he just sat across from me and waited for the story he knew was coming. It was the same way we spent many afternoons and nights, only usually we were talking about the crimes he was investigating or politics. It was strange to be back here after having such a huge adventure of my own.

“Was it the black market? The selling of pregnant women?” he asked in a knowing, fatherly tone.

“Yes,” I confessed. He let out a big sigh of disappointment that I went despite his warnings, but relief that I was sitting here in front of him to tell him about it. “Things didn’t exactly...go as planned. But that was how it all started.”

“I told you not to go, Alicia,” he scolded.

“It was okay, Papa. Someone saved me. Well, sort of. They took me away from the market, and...eventually returned me home to you.”

He was quiet for a moment as he took it in, then a strange smile crept across his mouth. “And I suppose whoever this man was...You have fallen in love with him?”

“What!? No!” I shrieked with wide eyes. “Papa, what on earth would make you think that!?”

“It’s the look in your eyes. The dreaminess in your voice. You look like a woman who is in love.”

My heart started pounding. “No, that’s not it at all. You see...it was Alberto Milano who saved me.”

His little grin was gone in a flash. A wave of emotions flashed over his eyes ranging from anger to fear to something else entirely...something much darker.

“Saved you?” he scoffed. “Ha! Why don’t you tell me what really happened!? Alberto Milano doesn’t save anything that doesn’t put more money into his pockets. Nevermind,” he decided out loud as he got up and stormed off into his bedroom. “You don’t have to tell me anything. I’m sending men out after him right now.”

I leaped up to chase him through the house, trying to calm him down. “Papa, don’t be ridiculous! You can’t send anyone after him when he was the one who delivered me home safely! He didn’t do anything wrong!” I defended him vehemently, but the words weren’t exactly true. He had done plenty wrong.

My father turned his attention to looking out the windows. “So, where is he!? Is he still out there!? I want to have a word with him!”

“No! He’s gone! Will you please just…”

“Of course he’s gone! He dropped you off and ran like a coward!”

It took forever to calm him down enough to sit across from me by the fire again. I hated insisting that Alberto wasn’t so bad and that there was no reason to go after him. He had treated me horribly at times. I remembered the way he chained me up and the cold buckets of water he nearly drowned me in. But somehow, all of that was overshadowed by everything that came after.

“I guess...I can see that you’re safe,” my father admitted after a while, but he did so with a pout. It wasn’t easy for him to put his grudge aside.

“I think, perhaps, Alberto is not entirely who we thought he was. There’s...more to him than that.”

At least I could say that much honestly. He wasn’t a good man, but he wasn’t an evil one either. I wanted to believe he was decent but had learned to do bad things to further himself in life. But before all of this happened, I never would have believed such a thing was true.

“I don’t know if I’d go that far,” Father grumbled. “Well, at least tell me what you found out. If you were at his estate this entire time, I know you must have seen and heard things. No daughter of mine would miss an opportunity to spy on the Milanos.”

“I learned things...Yes,” I answered slowly. “But nothing incredibly useful.”

“You’re lying,” he fumed. “Just a little time with that bastard and you’re already lying to cover things up for him!?”

“Will you please calm down!? Look, I don’t like Alberto any more than you do. But I was also captured by the Mendozas, and he came to rescue me. He could have just left me there, and I’d still be buried in their basement now or who knows what else. But no, he came and got me and then brought me home to you. Whatever I saw or learned while I was at his estate...none of it was bad enough to overshadow what he did for me by saving my life and bringing me home.”

My father stared off into the fire as he considered it all carefully. “Okay,” he sighed finally. “I can’t promise I will ignore his shady business forever, but I suppose we do owe him at least a little gratitude for what he did.”

I hugged my father tight and kissed his cheek. “Thank you, Papa.”

“But I still don’t trust him, and I never will. He’s manipulative, and I’m certain that’s the only reason you’re defending him now. Once you’ve had some time away from him, you will see him differently.”

I hoped my father was right, as sick as it was. I didn’t want to believe that I could be so easily swayed by Alberto, but there was no denying my longing to be with him again. And each time I thought of his bad ways, the way I had been raised to do, I felt a softness that was never there before. Something in me that said he wasn’t as bad as we always thought or that he at least stood a chance at redemption.

It was a relief to think maybe in a few days or weeks that I wouldn’t yearn for him at all. The fog would clear, and I would see him for the monster he was. I could go back to hating him right along with my father, just as things had always been.

We sat and talked for a long time, but I didn’t like having so many secrets from him. I had always told my father most everything, and now it felt like I had lived a whole other life he could never know about. It was a relief when he suggested we gather at the community center and cook a big dinner. No one had starved like Alberto had teased, but everyone had missed me.

We called up all of our friends and acquaintances, and they were eager to gather and celebrate my safe return home. Papa refused to tell them it was Alberto who had delivered me back safely. He didn’t want a single redeeming quality seeping into Milano’s reputation. He simply said it was all over now and there was no use talking about it.

Rather than me cooking for them, the women in our town insisted that I relax and let them do all the work. It felt good to be surrounded by the people of our community again. There was laughter, and hugs, delicious home-cooked food, and wine. I really did think it was something Alberto would like, but then again...I didn’t know if he had ever experienced anything like it. This was friends and family. It was warm and comforting. He didn’t seem to make room for anything like that in his life.

By the time dinner was winding down and we were starting to clean up and make our way home, I wondered if Alberto really was at the brothel at that very moment. I surged with anger and jealousy to imagine another woman putting her hands on him, as ridiculous as that was. He didn’t belong to me, and he never would. I didn’t even want him to belong to me, did I? I just kept reminding myself about what my father had said. After a little while, I would see everything more clearly. Maybe I just had some sort of Stockholm syndrome.

Finally, my father and I returned home. He gave me a long hug goodnight and was happy to say he would sleep much better that night, knowing that I was home safe and sound. I thought I would sleep much better too. After all, I had been dreaming of coming home all this time. My bed did feel even better than I remembered it. It was like a dream to put on my own gown and crawl under the sheets and quilt that were once so familiar.

I let out a big contented sigh and curled up against my pillow, but easy sleep was not what followed. Instead, all I could think about was Alberto. I tossed and turned, wondering what he was doing at that moment, and if maybe, just maybe, he was thinking of me too. It was confusing and frustrating and left me tossing and turning all through the night.

What I knew for certain was that most of Alberto’s life and work revolved around everything I stood against. He was selfish and greedy and valued money over people. It didn’t bother him in the least to turn his cheek to the suffering of others, even if it was his actions that caused it. He didn’t seem to have any purpose in life beyond just getting more and more and more. I didn’t believe for a second that he actually cared about any of the jobs he created, or that he really thought his hatred and distrust of the government justified any of his actions.

No, Alberto was a bad man. He had treated me terribly, and had he not been able to sleep with me, he probably wouldn’t have shown me an ounce of kindness. The sooner I really believed all of that again, the better off I would be.

17

Alberto

It seemed returning Alicia home did nothing to free my mind up so I could go back to focusing on my work. Even with her so far away, she still managed to devour all of my thoughts. I sat in my parlor alone, smoking a pipe and sipping on a glass of rum. No matter what I tried to busy myself with throughout the day, I longed for the quiet evening hours when I could finally just be alone with my memories of her.

She was an infuriating beast of a woman with all of her morals and self-righteousness. But then again, not in the way most men I knew were. Rich businessmen would throw pennies at the poor and claim to be philanthropists. They didn’t really care. They just wanted something to brag about at dinner parties and a reason to look down at men like me, claiming that they were somehow better.

At least Alicia really dedicated her life to her causes. She was willing to risk her own life for other people and wasn’t afraid to get her hands dirty with the hard work to back up all of her big ideas about justice. I had to admit it was admirable, even if it was irritating.

And did she ever have a mouth on her. She wasn’t afraid to stand up to anyone and she couldn’t keep her mouth shut even when her life depended on it. But she didn’t just prattle on senselessly. She spoke with wit and purpose. I missed our little sparring matches. I would run our spats through my head over and over, and when those got old...I’d start making up new ones. I’d imagine her sitting in the chair across from me and think about what remarks I’d throw out to get under her skin. I’d picture her snapping back at me and us bickering our way all the way to the bedroom.

I was somewhat relieved when Felix came barreling into the room, looking upset. I needed something to save me from these ridiculous fantasies. But then I figured he was coming to lecture me about some new problem to worry about...Something that likely wouldn’t be an issue had I not been so distracted lately. This had become a common occurrence.

But judging by the way he charged in without saying a word and began chugging down liquor, I knew this was not about business. Nothing that bad would be happening without me already knowing about it, or at least seen it coming.

“What’s gotten into you?” I asked through his gulps of the glass he was quickly emptying.

“It’s Zoe,” he sighed. “I’ve just come from her 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 walking back to her father’s house appeared before my eyes, but I quickly shook it away. I might have been caught up in some sex haze with her, one that dug its claws in deep and had a lasting effect, but it was not love. I figured I was immune to love.

“There is no ‘one’ to find,” I scoffed. “Not for any of us. You pick one and you commit to her. Or you pick none and you commit to your work. Or you pick one and have your mistresses on the side, but you can’t have families with them. I’m positive that’s what had our father meeting an early grave. Besides, our mother and Julian and Javier’s mother...they were different kinds of women. They were all head and no heart.”

“Maybe it’d be easier if Paula were that way. She would just turn a blind eye to everything. But no, she’s so emotional and says she loves me. She’d be destroyed if she knew about Zoe. But I’m telling you...Zoe is the one. You don’t have to believe in that sort of thing if you don’t want to, but when you find them, you know.”

I wanted him to say more. What did he mean you’d know? The only thing I could ever really know for certain is how much money was in my hands as I was counting it. Everything else was abstract and fleeting and really unnecessary. But I didn’t dare to ask. He was drunk and emotional and there’s no telling where the rant would lead.

Pablo joined us after a while, but Felix kept his troubles to himself when he was around. We drank and carried on laughing and telling stories late into the night. I thought about Alicia and the dinners she spoke of. I did love a good drink and good company, even if it only ever happened by accident. Or through us entertaining potential business partners or clients...but that was all a show. It was work, not a good time with friends.

Was she out there somewhere having a night like this with people she loved? Was she happy to be home with Don Martino? Or worse, had she already marched back into the black market or gotten herself into some other kind of trouble?

A frightening thought settled in. Out of all the women I could have, suddenly it seemed like they were all just a blur. They were just other people about as interesting to me in that way as my brothers sitting across from me were. There was only Alicia. Was that what it meant to find “the one”?

“You two both must have had some good sex lately,” Pablo remarked over his drink as his eyes sparkled at me and Felix. We had both grown quiet and gotten lost in our own thoughts. “You look like little lovesick puppies.”

Felix shifted uncomfortably, not wanting to confess what was happening with Zoe. It was the perfect opportunity for him to turn to me and start putting the pieces together. He had been so distraught before, he hadn’t noticed that I was apparently caught up in the same stupor as him. But at least I was smart enough to know mine was only temporary.

“Alberto definitely does,” he teased as it clicked.

I wanted to smack him. He knew I wouldn’t betray his confidence, so I’d have to sit there while the spotlight turned on me.

“Alicia?” he asked.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” I scoffed.

“I might have taken her myself had she not been our prisoner of sorts,” Pablo admitted, just trying to get riled up enough to give myself away. “I wouldn’t mess around with the kitchen staff. Or slave...or whatever the hell she was.”

“She’s Don Martino’s daughter,” I reminded him, my voice rumbling with defensiveness.

“But she came to us as a pregnant slave. I knew you had a soft spot for her. Or else she wouldn’t have been here in the first place. I guess it’s good you sent her off. She was too much of a distraction for you.”

Pablo’s words were slurring and Felix couldn’t stop laughing. We had all had too much to drink, and I was not pleased with the turn in conversation at all. Talking about love and romance was bad enough. I didn’t need them running their mouths about Alicia on top of it all.

“I’m calling it a night,” I announced as I slowly stood, taking care not to stumble.

I didn’t bother listening to their taunting remarks as I left the room. I was eager to be wrapped in the warmth of my bed without all of their chattering. As I crashed down to the pillow, the room spun a little. And I could swear I could see Alicia standing in the corner. I didn’t try to fight it. I pictured it so vividly...Her crawling into bed beside me, pressing her warm body against mine. I knew she wasn’t really there, but it was as if my longing for her was so strong that it conjured up a ghost to take her place. I swore I could smell her hair and hear her soft voice whispering to me in the darkness. My heart ached with desire for it to be real.

18

Alicia

The sights of my hometown were still enough to get me out of bed every morning. I stood in our kitchen, staring out the windows at the chickens and goats grazing around the women who were putting out their laundry to dry. I was busy preparing my famous medialunas from scratch for breakfast. While I watched the other women tend to their domestic tasks at the break of day, just as I was doing, I felt a pang of longing for something else.

My father came in, singing cheerfully. It was a welcomed distraction from my own discontented thoughts. He stopped to take in a big whiff of the sweet scent of my pastries and the strong coffee that was brewing.

“Mmm, good morning mi hermosa hija!” he beamed, leaning in for me to kiss his cheek. “That looks and smells wonderful.” He chuckled and patted his hands over his belly. “I believe I’ve gained ten pounds since you’ve come home.”

I had always tended to the cooking and housework for my father, ever since I was a young girl. But I had to admit I was doing more than ever since I returned. I needed to keep busy so I wouldn’t have as much time to think.

“You are going to make some man very happy one day,” he added. “Anyone would be lucky to have you as their wife.”

He seemed so pleased with my role as caregiver and homemaker, even though he had raised me to be so much more than that. I think my most recent scandal scared him into thinking I was better off in the kitchen. At least then I was safe from the men he made a living putting behind bars. Men like the Milanos.

I thought back on my three-day-long journey with Alberto. I remembered the cave he told me about on our last night together. The rebel lovers and their bank robberies. I couldn’t help but laugh at the memory of us bickering over what we’d do with the money if we ever fell into a life of crime together.

I served my father his plate of medialunas and jam alongside his cup of black coffee and then started cleaning up the kitchen while he ate. I hadn’t been eating breakfast lately. I felt too queasy in the mornings, likely a side effect of my long sleepless nights.

“What are you smiling about?” he asked, eyeing me with suspicion. “I love anything that makes you happy.”

That only made me snicker to myself more. That particular moment, it was memories of Alberto that were making me happy and sad all at once, and I doubted my father would love that in the least.

“Nothing,” I sighed, trying to contain myself. “The neighbor’s goats were doing something funny is all. So, tell me Papa...what investigations are you currently working on? We haven’t discussed the injustices of this world since I came home. I’m dying to know what you’re doing and how I can help.”

He grew stiff and silent as he swirled the roll around in some jam. “Nothing, Alicia. Nothing worth mentioning.”

“What’s gotten into you? Since when do you not tell me all about your work? Surely there’s something useful I can be doing besides cooking and watching kids around the neighborhood.”

He seemed stressed and worried, refusing to look me in the eye. I wouldn’t let it go until he told me what was on his mind.

“I’m worried I have failed you,” he admitted finally with a heavy heart. “I didn’t know what to do with you...raising you on my own. I thought teaching you to be a fighter and working for the greater good was the right thing to do. But...there were so many other things I neglected. Like how to be a good wife and mother. And now here you are...twenty-six years old and no signs of settling down any time soon.”

“Oh, nonsense,” I waved dismissively. “What are you saying, Papa? You know we have never cared about those kinds of things. We are a part of a resistance to the crime world. We have plenty of work to do. There’s no time for these traditional ideas of home and family. Besides, who would take care of you? This is the only home I need to tend to.”

“I always thought so too, but when you were gone...so were my hopes of seeing you fall in love and have a baby of your own someday. I started to be afraid that I’d never be a grandfather. I didn’t realize how badly I wanted it until I thought I lost you.”

I grew so frustrated I could barely stand to sit across from him anymore. I collected his dishes and stood up to finish cleaning. How could he say such things? My father had never been one to pressure me into being a wife and mother, and I loved him for it. I thought he saw potential for more in me. My time away with Alberto had changed so much inside of me, I thought the least I could hope for was for everything between my father and me to remain the same. I had kept so much from him just to ensure that would be the case.

“I should get going,” I told him in a huff. “I’m helping Deanna with the kids after school today, and there will be lots to do to prepare.”

I stormed out without much more of a goodbye. I guess it made him happy that I was spending my days helping at the community center with the neighborhood kids. Those who needed it could come early for breakfast before school and many of them would return afterward for snacks and help with their homework. Many of their parents worked long hours and we gave them something to do besides returning home to an empty house. I was happy to help, but my father’s confession suddenly made me resentful of it. I wanted to be out there in the world in the thick of things. Not slaving away over a stove or wiping snotty noses. There were plenty of other women who were content to do those things.

My friend Ava and I helped Deanna prepare sandwiches and some other activities for the kids to do to pass time. I was quieter than usual, still seething over everything.

“Alicia, I think you’ve put quite enough jam on that one,” Ava snickered.

I snapped to and looked down to see I had been piling more jelly onto the same slice of bread for who knows how long. It was soggy and dripping by that point. I groaned and tried to move on, paying more attention this time.

“What’s gotten into you, child?” Deanna asked with her hands on her hips.

“Just tired,” I murmured.

But she wasn’t buying it. “Oh, no. Look at that glow on your cheeks. I’d know that look anywhere. You’re either in love or pregnant or both.”

My heart stopped with her words. I couldn’t spread any more jam or cut off any more sandwich crusts. All I could do was stand there and stare. Ava noticed my startled reaction but was kind enough not to say anything until Deanna was out of the room. She came over and gently placed her hand on mine, speaking in hushed tones.

“I know of a doctor you can see,” she told me. “They’re very discreet. They can tell you if you are...you know.”

“Please,” I grumbled, holding back tears. “My father is Don Martino. Nothing I can do in this town is discreet.”

“No, I know them. Trust me. I can tell them you’re coming and show you in through the back door. My sister went there when she was pregnant.”

I whipped my head around to her with wide eyes. I knew their family well and never once heard anything about her sister being pregnant. That meant not only did this doctor confirm it for her, but they also took care of it and no one was ever the wiser. Maybe Ava really meant it when she said they would respect their patients’ privacy.

I nodded and stared back at her with desperation. She knew I was silently pleading for her help. While she scurried out to set it up for me, I stayed behind and tried not to think about anything at all. I wouldn’t let myself fall to pieces until I knew for sure.

The kids had already returned to the community center by the time Ava came back. She brought several of her friends with her to stay behind and help Deanna while she and I snuck out. As promised, she delivered me to the back door of the doctor’s office. They were waiting for me and went through the exam quickly. It all happened so fast. I was hardly prepared when the nurse told me what I was dreading to be true.

“You are pregnant.”

I felt like I was sinking into a hole as the words resounded through my head over and over. She told me I had “options” if I wanted to come back later and talk to her. The thought made me sick. I didn’t feel like I had options. Maybe before I ever laid down with Alberto, but not now.

Thankfully, Ava was waiting for me outside. She walked me home and helped me to bed, promising that she’d make up some excuse to tell Deanna for why I vanished. I was grateful for her, but barely had the strength to express it. All I could do was lay in my bed and stare at the wall. I felt numb and in shock. But that was better than the panic that set in a few hours later.

My heart soared with hopes about glimmers of something good I thought I had seen in Alberto. He cared about family and honor. Maybe this would mean something to him. Maybe he could win over my father. Maybe this would all be okay. I grasped for anything and everything I could cling to, to convince me it was a possibility.

But I couldn’t keep a grip on any of that. I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about Alberto. Whatever spell he had me under hadn’t been broken. In fact, the longer I was away from him, my feelings only seemed to grow more each day. But the truth was...how I felt or what I thought I wanted didn’t matter. Alberto was a criminal...a gangster. And to make matters worse, my father was his known rival - the Great Detective who had made it his life’s mission to bring Alberto Milano down. Whatever restraint he had shown since my return would fly out the window the minute he found out about this.

Alberto was not fit to be the father of any child. Especially not my child. I couldn’t let myself forget that, but it also seemed...I couldn’t really let myself believe it either.

My father had always told me that you had to trust your gut. That would lead you to proof and evidence to back up what you already thought you knew. My gut told me that no matter what I thought I knew or what I had been told my whole life, Alberto Milano had it in him to be a good man.

These feelings of mine didn’t come from nowhere. I had never been one to pine over someone who didn’t care for me in return. No, I was convinced if I was feeling this way...Alberto had real feelings for me in return. Why else would he have saved me more than once then delivered me home safely?

Alberto may never have wanted to settle down in some modest little countryside cottage with goats and chickens. He wanted his big house and his nice things. But with a little convincing, could he learn to do some good with all of his wealth? And maybe I didn’t want to die off in domesticity either. Maybe I wanted something different. We could be the rebel lovers like the ones who hid out in that cave - stealing from the rich and giving to the poor.

I knew it was all just a ridiculous fantasy, but I didn’t know what else to cling to in my panic. I locked my bedroom door and hid under my covers. I didn’t know what to do, but for now all I wanted to do was hide.

19

Alberto

I had several important meetings lined up for the day to negotiate some property sales, and I was eager to throw myself back into business and feel some sense of normalcy again. Nothing had felt right since I delivered Alicia home, and Felix’s own personal problems weren’t helping. I was showered, dressed, and ready to get down to it.

But when I walked into the dining room, no one arrived to serve me my breakfast. The usual flow of staff coming in and out was absent. Not knowing what the problem could be, I finally stormed off into the kitchen myself to see why everyone was slacking.

When I walked in, the kitchen staff and a few of the maids were crowded around a young woman who also worked for me. She was in the corner crying and everyone seemed to be trying to console her.

“What the hell is going on here?” I thundered.

They all straightened and went back to work, offering their apologies. The woman who was upset did her best to pull herself together, but couldn’t stop sobbing.

Finally, one of the cooks came over and whispered to me softly. “Her husband was shot last night. It was gang violence. He got wrapped up in the wrong crowd...trying to make some extra money to put food on their table.”

I sighed, not wanting to concern myself with any of this. But while the rest of the workers went on with their business, the young woman remained inconsolable. I couldn’t very well have her around distracting everyone all day when she was obviously of no use in this state. I called out to her and nodded for her to come with me.

Normally my employees were too afraid of me to show anything outside of a “yes sir” or “no sir” with their heads down while they kept busy. But the poor girl was so distraught that she sniffled and sat across from me at the table, looking completely broken.

“Will you need some time off?” I asked her in a half grumble, seeing that I obviously didn’t have any choice but to grant her just that.

“No, senor!” she cried back in desperation. “I can’t afford to take any time off! Perdón, Discúlpame. I will get back to work. My love has left me behind with our three children to care for. We don’t have any family to help. It all depends on me now.”

Her voice broke with tears, and I could see her trying her best to pull herself together. But it was no use. I felt a pang in my heart that I couldn’t quite place. She had only just lost him last night, and here she was trying to work through her grief while worrying about feeding her children and keeping a roof over their heads.

I was suddenly hit with the strangest picture in my mind. I imagined Alicia sitting with us at that table shooting me disapproving looks. She would want me to show this woman sympathy. Even by my own claimed values, the woman was doing all that she could do. She was working hard to provide for her family under terrible circumstances. I was hit with an appreciation for my privilege in this world that I had never felt before. And I couldn’t stop asking myself - what would Alicia do? What would she expect me to do for this grieving widow and single mother?

“Take as much time as you need off,” I decided out loud. “I will continue to pay your salary, and, in fact, I will double it until you are back on your feet.” I waved to one of the nearby workers, who were now filing in and out of the room like usual. “Take her down into the basement. You can take whatever you need from there. Wine for the funeral perhaps? You will find bread and grapes and other useful things too. Take the things and go home to be with your children. You may tell the funeral home directors to send their bill to me, and I will take care of it.”

Everyone froze for a moment in shock. It was enough to finally make the woman stop crying, but only briefly.

“I don’t know what to say, Senor Milano. Gracias.” The tears started flowing down her cheeks again, only this time with a small sense of relief.

I waved for them to leave me and waited for my breakfast to be served as usual. While I ate, I couldn’t stop thinking about the woman and also everything Felix had said about his love for his mistress. True love was rare for anyone to find, but Alicia had melted my heart in ways I never thought possible. That was the most unexpected thing.

I started thinking about it like a real estate deal or acquiring a shipment of rare, imported goods. If such a rare opportunity fell into my lap in my business, I would never pass it up. I had to think of Alicia in the same way. I knew what I had to do.

I called one of my men over. “Cancel my meetings for today. Set up one instead with Don Martino.”

He seemed confused. “Don...Martino, Senor? The detective?”

I didn’t answer. I only glared at him until he thought better of questioning me and scrambled off to do what I had asked.

I suspected Don Martino would be too curious to refuse my meeting, and thankfully I had been right. I got into a carriage and was taken to a private room of a restaurant in a nearby city. Don Martino was already waiting for me in a booth. I hesitated for a moment before stepping into his line of sight. For all the years I had come face to face to him with potential criminal charges against me on the line, this was the only time I had ever been nervous about meeting with him.

He stood to greet me before we both settled into our seats across from one another. He wouldn’t look me in the eye, which was an odd behavior for him. He seemed like he was doing his best to hold something back. I could only imagine what Alicia must have said to him.

“I’m sure you are wondering why I asked to see you today,” I started slowly.

“I imagine you want some sort of thank you for bringing my Alicia home,” he huffed. “Some sort of pardon or leniency on whatever new terrible thing you’ve done. When she told me you were the one who pulled her out of the market and brought her home, I assumed it wouldn’t be long before you wanted to use that as some sort of bargaining chip.”

“A few months ago, perhaps you would have been right.”

“And what has changed exactly?” His voice grew stern, and finally, he looked me dead in the eye. “Alicia may think that you are some kind of savior, but I still see you for exactly what you are. A criminal.”

“In my past, I have been what some would call a criminal. Si. But I have come to declare to you my intention of changing my ways. Today, I come to you as a man who is in love with your daughter.”

His eyes lit up with anger and fear and sadness all at once. “No.”

“I have come to ask for her hand in marriage.”

“No! Absolutely not! My daughter is a good woman! The finest there is! She deserves a decent, hardworking man who lives an honest life! Not some seedy criminal who cuts corners and hurts people to line his own pockets!”

I couldn’t help but smirk just a little. It was obvious where Alicia had gotten so many of her ideals from.

“I suppose you think you can bully and negotiate your way into marrying my daughter just as you do with all of that land you swindle from innocent, struggling people!”

“I will not attempt to bully my way into anything. You see, quite the opposite has happened. It is Alicia who has bullied her way into my heart.” I paused for a moment, surprised by my own admission. It was strange to hear it out loud. “She has inspired me to change. To try and be a man that she can be proud of. If you cannot accept me as a man who truly loves her, then consider this...You have wanted to put a stop to my dealings for my entire career. And now...I am offering to do just that. But I have no reason to change unless it is for her. If you won’t grant me her hand as her father, then please do it as a detective facing his nemesis.”

He sat in quiet consideration for a long time. He didn’t seem happy about any of the outcomes he was reviewing in his mind, but I didn’t expect him to burst into laughter so suddenly.

“The funniest part is,” he chortled. “Is that if Alicia was here she would probably tell me to take your offer! She cares more about putting a stop to your shady business than I do!”

We both laughed at just how true that was. “Yes,” I agreed. “She is more than willing to martyr herself for the causes she believes in. It’s very admirable. She is the strongest, most courageous woman I know.”

Don’s laughter slowly faded, but he seemed softer to me and more open to what I had to say. He even called for a round of drinks to be delivered to the table. I let out a deep breath. The conversation stood a chance of being less volatile now.

“The things you admire about her...They are what I always hoped a man would love her for. But I’m afraid I have not raised her to be a good wife. There are not many men who would appreciate such qualities.”

“She is unique. And I think we can both agree that I am as well. This whole situation is.”

He nodded with a grunt and took a big swig of his drink. “But...I do not want to sacrifice my daughter for the sake of my life’s work. Even if she would tell me to do just that. I want her to marry for love. How can you be so sure that she loves you back? Or that she would accept your proposal?”

I sat back and thought about all the times Alicia lashed out at me or told me off. I could see her angry, wrinkled face and her furious little pout. But I could also see a number of other memories that weren’t appropriate to recall as I sat across from her father. I could see hints of tenderness in her eyes. At one time, she had loathed me. But somewhere along the way, that changed at least a little.

“I am not so sure of anything,” I explained to him. “I can’t predict anything Alicia will do from one moment to the next, so I don’t pretend to try. But I can say that if you will grant me my request for your daughter’s hand in marriage, I will spend the rest of my life trying to win her over if that’s what it takes.”

“I wouldn’t take those words lightly if I were you,” he warned with a tip of his glass. “That’s exactly what you may be signing up for.”

I chuckled and agreed. He questioned me a while longer, wanting to be sure that I meant it about changing my ways. I told him the truth. There was a lot I would need to discuss with my brothers, and getting out of some things would be harder than others. But I had plenty of money to see me through the transition, and I wouldn’t stop until I was the kind of man Alicia wanted and deserved.

“I’ll do whatever it takes,” I assured him. I could see that he still didn’t trust me, but he was willing to give me a chance to prove him right or wrong.

He lifted his glass and clinked it to mine. “I never thought I would hear myself saying this, but...you have my permission to go after her. If nothing else, it will be quite entertaining to see her shut you down.”

20

Alicia

I paced the living room of my home, anxiously watching out the window for my father to return home. He had to leave suddenly for an important work meeting but was set to arrive back that evening. I was grateful to have the house to myself for a while to come to terms with my pregnancy, but I knew the time had come for me to tell him everything.

I had never kept many secrets from my father. What really happened during Alberto and I’s time together was the first thing I had ever kept from him really. But now it seemed that I couldn’t even hide that from him. Even if I tried to for a little while, he would have to know the truth sooner or later. There was no point in delaying the inevitable.

I tried to be optimistic. He expressed wanting grandchildren, and I had been doing my best to hold back from expressing just how badly I did not want to become some farmer or police officer’s wife who stayed home, barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen. Maybe now we could both have our way. I could give him a grandchild and keep my independence. That was the best I could hope for.

Alberto would never step up and be a decent father to my baby, and I didn’t want my child raised in his world. So, I decided never to tell him about it. Hopefully, I would never have to see him again. And if my father could not piece together on his own who the father was, I was not going to come right out and say it. If he did have any suspicion after hearing my news, he’d probably be just as happy to pretend he didn’t know Alberto was the father. That is, if he could even bear to ever look at me again.

My legs were growing tired from walking from one end of the house to the other, jumping at every sound - thinking it might be him returning home. But I couldn’t manage to stay still either. I laughed every so often at how ironic it was for me to be pregnant after everything. I went into my adventure pretending to be so, and it ended with me actually being with child. If I didn’t tell my father about my condition, I’d likely have to run right back to the black market...only this time I wouldn’t be faking anything.

Finally, I heard his arrival outside. It was the first time I had been able to stand still for hours, and it was only because I was frozen in fear of what I knew I had to do when he walked through that door. I grabbed the tray of coffee and pastries I had been keeping warm for him. He would come in, and I would lead him to sit by the fire while I served him a snack and a drink. Then, once we were comfortable, I would spit it all out.

The door opened, and I braced myself with a deep breath. My father came shuffling in, and I was so nervous, I barely paid any attention to how he left the door open behind him. I barely paid any attention to him at all. I sang out a hello and fired off questions about how his trip went. I didn’t even hear his replies. It seemed like he didn’t reply at all, but I could have just been imagining it. I was too busy rushing him over to sit down and bringing in the tray, just as I had planned. It was now or never.

It all happened so fast that my eyes took it in faster than my brain could process it. I sat across from him and parted my lips to speak, but before I could get out a single word I saw a second figure emerge from the front door. I looked up to see a familiar face, but I was so shocked I couldn’t believe it was him at first.

“Alberto,” I murmured breathlessly.

It was only then that I realized my father had been fighting me on sitting down the whole time. I just hadn’t taken no for an answer. But now that I was completely paralyzed, he stood up and told us he would leave us alone to talk.

“What are you doing here!?” I stared back at him like a deer in headlights. “You came with my father?”

He nodded and took the seat I had forced my father into moments ago. “It is good to see you, Alicia.”

Something slipped from my mouth, but I didn’t know if they were actually words or just muffled breaths of nonsense syllables. I wanted to say it was good to see him too, but was it?

“How have you been?” he asked casually as if this was all so ordinary. “Have you been enjoying your time back home?”

I grew angry with him, as I usually did. I hadn’t heard a word from him since he left me at my father’s gate, and now weeks later he came strolling in like it was nothing. As if it wasn’t the most unexpected thing in the world for Alberto Milano to walk into our home, escorted by Don Martino himself. And my father left us alone at that! What the hell was happening?

He looked calm and collected - his default mannerisms. He even reached for one of the pastries and poured himself a cup of coffee. But I finally pulled myself together enough to fly to my feet and yank the tray right out from under him.

“These were for my father!” I hissed. “I obviously wasn’t expecting to see you here, and I don’t have the faintest clue of what you could possibly want...so I won’t be showing you any hospitality.”

I stormed off to the kitchen and slammed the tray into the sink hard enough to shatter one of the little glass mugs. By the time I turned around, Alberto was standing there. He didn’t look so calm anymore, but he did look dead serious. There was a light in his eyes I had never seen before.

“You really don’t have any idea of what I could possibly want?” He stared at me intently with a look that took my breath away.

My heart and my brain were at war at that moment. Of course, I could think of a few 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 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 see how they transformed with relief when I made my proposal...It was more gratifying than I ever could have expected.

I was experiencing just that as I shook hands with the smiling man in front of me. The vineyard had been in his family for years, but as they struggled to make ends meet, the property had become neglected. I was offering him hope to not only provide a better life for his family but to also uphold the legacy of his family’s business and turn it into something he could be proud of again. The profit I made from it wasn’t to be ignored either.

“I will take these crates you have here with me today, but I expect there to be more to fill the demand when I return,” I told him sternly.

“Absolutely, Mr. Milano. We won’t let you down. Thank you.”

I ordered my men to start loading up the goods. I would market the local wine and boost their sales, giving them more money to invest in the upkeep of their vineyard. Supply and demand would do its thing and soon we would both be a little richer for it.

This was only my first stop for the day. I had two more struggling landowners to visit that day. Each one had something they could offer with a little help. They got to keep their jobs and enjoy more profits, and I got to skim a little off the top for helping their lands to become more lucrative. The whole thing exercised my business skills in a way that was much more challenging and satisfying than any work I had done before.

I smiled at the sound of our infant son fussing in the distance. We turned to see Alicia walking towards us with a smile, but she of course stopped to shout a few directions at the workers loading up the wine. She had surprised me with how demanding of a boss she could be, though I guess it shouldn’t have been surprising at all.

“Ah, here comes my wife and son now,” I beamed to the family. Showing the two of them off had become one of my favorite things to do. It made my heart swell in a way that no expensive car, cigar, gun, or big game ever had.

I introduced them as Alicia proudly took her place by my side. We went over the last details of our deal and then continued on to the next stop. By the end of the day, as we returned to the estate, I was exhausted but content.

I settled in next to the fire and waited for Alicia to join me, which she always did once our son was down to bed for the night. She soon came gliding into the room with a grin eased across her mouth. She seemed to smile a lot more these days but make no mistake, she could still turn cross in the blink of an eye. It was enthralling and never boring. She sank into my lap and draped her arms around me, helping herself to a sip of my drink and a puff of my cigar.

“My father called today,” she informed me. “He’s still hoping you will give him some useful information on the Mendozas.”

I grumbled under my breath. “What did you tell him?”

“That I would talk to you about it...again. But that he shouldn’t get his hopes up.”

“I promised that I would change my ways of doing business...Not that I could get my entire family to. You know I have an agreement with them. You wouldn’t like it if they started trashing all these farms and small businesses we’ve been working so hard to turn around.”

“Well, can you blame him? He did give you permission to marry his only daughter.”

“Si, he didn’t ask for nearly enough in exchange. I got you at a bargain.” I squeezed my hand into her rear. “But it’s not my fault the man didn’t barter with me when he had the chance.”

“Would you have agreed to giving up your cousins if he had?”

“I would have allowed every corner of Argentina to be pillaged by all the scorned gangsters if that’s what it took to get you. But I don’t think that would have made either of you very happy.” I playfully nuzzled my face into the cleavage bursting from her blouse as she squirmed and laughed.

“You never know. What makes us happy can be surprising at times. I’m surprised by how much I love this big expensive diamond on my hand and my closet of furs...even if they are scandalous and a little immoral to have. I’m surprised by how happy you are as a tamed man.”

“Tamed!?” I scoffed. “I am no more tamed than you are, woman.” With that, I scooped her up into my arms and started carrying her off into the bedroom. “I guess I will just have to remind you of that...yet again.”

She cackled as I kicked open the door to our room and tossed her down onto the bed. I moved over her like a ferocious beast, biting at her neck and ripping away her clothes with urgency. Her laughter soon faded into moans of desire, and she was quick to start eagerly tearing off my clothes in return.

I pinned her arms down to her sides and wasted no time at sliding inside of her. There were some nights for hours of foreplay and teasing. I had spent countless hours between her legs, making her completely limp before I ever moved an inch inside of her. But when my wild manliness was in question, I knew she was provoking me to ravage her all at once. She knew all the ways to draw what she wanted out of me, and I was happy to oblige.

But just as the warm wave of pleasure started growing, she quickly overpowered me. She rolled me over and pinned me underneath her instead, smiling wickedly as she lowered to take a big bite of my bottom lip. Of course, she had to force me to surrender to her. Once again, I was happy to oblige.

We made passionate love late into the night, as we did most evenings. Afterward, we’d lie with her hair spread out across my chest as she pressed her ear to my heart. She sometimes joked that she needed to hear it beating to have proof that I had a heart at all. It was something I wasn’t so sure of myself until I admitted to my love for her. Now I felt its palpitations daily, minute by minute. Just one look at her was enough to make it start pounding.

“I am proud of you, Alberto Milano,” she said softly with her cheek against my hairy chest. “You are doing so much good for the people of Argentina. Of course, you are doing it in your own way...but it is good, nonetheless.”

“I know you would have just as soon had me give every penny I had a way to every person you deemed in need,” I quipped.

“You weren’t wrong, though. It’s really something to see their faces light up with the hope of restoring their businesses and farms. It means so much more to them to have a way of making their own living.”

I teased her, moving my ear closer to her mouth. “Say that again, dear. I didn’t quite hear you. Did you say...I wasn’t wrong? Or...dare I say, that I was right!?”

She slapped my chest and giggled. “Can’t you just take a compliment as I give it without rubbing it in?”

“Never. And you’d expect nothing less. I think you’d get bored with me and run off if I did.”

She climbed on top of me and straddled her legs around my waist. “I’d admit you were right long before I’d ever admitted to the possibility that I could grow bored with you.” Her voice broke into a deep, sexy rasp that drove me mad.

I flipped her back over with a growl and ran my hand down the length of her body, landing on her ass, which I squeezed firmly to angle her back up towards me. I was instantly hard again and ready to be back inside of her. No matter how tired I was or how many times we had already made love that day, she always had a way of inspiring me to go again.

With my eyes locked on hers, I relished in the parting of her lips as the sweetest gasp of pleasure escaped. In moments like those, when I watched her head thrash back against the sheets, I would think back on myself standing in that market all that time ago and almost laugh. I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I bought her from those dirty guards. But for as hefty of a price as I thought I paid then, I would pay a million more and then some to do it all over again.

More By Dany

Her Double Punishment

Get It Here

Daddy's idea of punishment:

Send his babygirl to Italy for a year,

To work at uncle Stefano's family farm.

Oh boy, was daddy wrong.

Dad thinks I'm too spoiled,

In need of some serious taming.

He wanted me to be a lawyer, but I hated college.

In his last attempt to make me a proper lady,

He figured he'd send me to Italy.

So I can learn what hard work really is.

So I can get my bratty girl's hands dirty.

And oh, did I get them dirty.

If only daddy knew how hands-on I've become.

He'd be so, so proud of me.

Although I'm sure the kind of work I've been doing is not the kind of work dad would feel proud of...

I'm so, so sorry, daddy.

This is a stand-alone novel with a happy ending. 18+ only!

Auctioned To The Armitage Brothers

Get It Here

"There are private auctions, held by the wealthy elite of this city.

It may be your only option for a better life for you and your daughter.

But I have to ask, are you still able to bear children?"

The chills run through my spine.

But what other option do I have?

A single mom.

A convicted, abusive ex-husband.

A world that is crumbling.

What else can I ask for?

I will keep my daughter safe, no matter the cost.

"OK", I said.

"Sign me in."

Four days later, a letter shows up in my mailbox:

"Dear Mrs. Robson,

It is my pleasure to inform you that you have been purchased by Mr. George Armitage, Esq.

Mr. Armitage is a pillar of the Chicago community, and is the CEO of Armitage pharmaceuticals.

They are an extremely wealthy household, and I am sure you will settle in very nicely there.

As for what services you will be providing, Mr. Armitage is looking for..."

But I couldn't read anymore.

Oh Lord...

What did I get myself into!?

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