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 th
e 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.
Sold To Mr. Milano (Evil Empires Book 1) Page 8