Sold To Mr. Milano (Evil Empires Book 1) Read online

  “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 de
spicable. 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 cou
ntry,” 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.