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She wished she’d followed her initial impulse when Cristiano had first come into the lobby, and turned and run.
But he’d have caught up with her before she’d even made it out the hotel’s revolving door. A single glance at his supremely masculine, muscular body and the cold ruthlessness in his hard gaze was enough to tell her that.
Everything about Cristiano was dark, Hallie thought with a shiver. Dark hair. Dark eyes. Dark tuxedo. A five-o’clock shadow that stroked his hard cheekbones to the slash of his jawline and, most of all, his dark fury as he came closer to her, his hand still on her shoulder, his hulking body almost threatening.
“So this is what you think of me.” His black eyes narrowed to slits. “That I’d coldly write you a check and abandon my child to your care.”
She was quivering but refused to be cowed. “Money is all you could ever offer as a father. Why don’t you just admit it?”
His grip on her shoulder tightened. “You lie to me, you take my money. Then you insult me to my face?”
He had a point, which made her want to throw the check back in that face. Her hand was already rising to do it when she remembered Lola’s harsh words. “Is pride going to feed your baby?”
With an intake of breath, Hallie clutched the check more tightly. This money would be her baby’s security and hope for the future. It would also give Hallie a chance to finally give up her stupid dream of becoming a singer and let her train for a real job, like an accountant or a nurse.
She wasn’t going to let pride ruin her life. Not anymore.
Or Cristiano Moretti.
“You should thank me,” she said.
He grew very still. “Thank you?”
“We both know, whatever you might say now, that you couldn’t truly commit to anyone, even a child.”
“How do you know?” he ground out.
“You, commit? For a lifetime?” She gave a choked laugh. “You couldn’t even commit for a night.” She tilted her head. “Were you that quickly bored, the night we were together? Or did you have another date afterward?”
His expression changed infinitesimally. “You think I sent you away because I was bored with you?”
Hallie thought of the glamorous supermodel she’d just seen on his arm. “What else?”
She couldn’t let him see how badly that hurt her. When he’d first taken her in his arms that romantic night, she’d been so naive. She’d thought it was fate, an irresistible force drawing them together. She’d thought it was magic.
Hallie had been startled when he’d walked into his penthouse early that afternoon. She’d been warned to be invisible and that her cleaning must be spotless. After spending so much time dusting pictures of his handsome face, seeing Cristiano in the flesh had shocked her.
Cristiano Moretti was a dream come to life. A famous playboy, the self-made Italian hotel billionaire who dated princesses and heiresses.
And inexplicably, he’d wanted her.
One moment she and Cristiano had been talking by the bed; the next she’d been in his arms. After so many bleak years of anguish after losing her family and her home, when her handsome billionaire boss had lowered his lips to hers, Hallie had imagined all the pain was behind her. She’d thought her life had just changed for the better.
And it had, in one way: her baby. Jack was all that mattered now.
“I’m leaving,” Hallie said defiantly. “Once I cash your check, I promise you, we’ll be gone for good.”
Cristiano lowered his head until it was inches from hers. “And I promise you. You’ll do nothing of the kind.”
Her mouth went dry. As their eyes locked, her heart pounded in her throat as she realized her stupid, idiotic mistake.
She never should have openly defied Cristiano. Because he’d taken her words not just as a challenge but as an insult to his masculinity. To his honor, even.
All this time she’d been thinking about her pride. She hadn’t considered his. And now he would make her pay for it.
“You don’t want me,” she whispered, her voice almost pleading. “Y
ou know you don’t.”
