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Cristiano’s blood went cold.
A baby stroller.
A baby.
Later, he wouldn’t even remember how he had reached her. His brain was blank, his body like ice as he walked through the faceless crowd toward Hallie Hatfield and the baby stroller she gripped by the handle. When he drew close, he heard her soft laughter as she turned to her friends. The other women’s eyes went wide as Cristiano put his hand on her shoulder.
Hallie’s face was still smiling as she turned. Then the blood drained from her face.
Cristiano looked from her guilt-stricken face down to the small, dark-haired, fat-cheeked baby drowsing in the stroller. He slowly lifted his eyes back to hers.
“Is this your baby, Hallie?”
The fear in her eyes told him everything he needed to know.
The other two women stared between them, wide-eyed.
“You didn’t tell him?” the blonde said.
“Oh, Hallie,” the redhead whispered.
“Please, just go,” Hallie choked out to them. “I’ll call you later.”
The blonde looked like she intended to argue, until the redhead tugged on her arm and drew her away.
Standing alone with Cristiano in the crowded lobby of his flagship hotel, Hallie took a deep breath. “I can explain.”
Cristiano looked back down at the baby. A baby with dark eyes exactly like his own. Suddenly he knew exactly why Hallie had come here today. And exactly why she’d changed her mind.
He controlled his voice with effort. “You have a baby.”
She bit her lip. “Yes.”
He lifted his cold gaze to hers. “Who is the father?”
Hallie said pleadingly, “Please, Cristiano, don’t...”
“Who, damn you.”
She flinched. When she spoke, her voice could barely be heard over the noise of the lobby. “You.”
That single word exploded through him like a grenade.
He had a child?
Heart pounding, Cristiano looked at the tiny, yawning baby. Emotions rose, choking him. Savagely repressing his feelings, he looked at her.
“You are sure?” he said flatly.
“Yes,” Hallie replied in the same tone. “You know I was a virgin when—”
“I know,” he bit out. “But perhaps after...”
“You think I rushed into bed with someone else after that?” Her expression tightened. “You are the only man I’ve ever been with. Jack is your son.”
He had a child? A son?
His name was Jack?
