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His dark eyes seemed like deep, fathomless pools as his gaze ripped into her soul. Then he straightened.
“You’re wrong about that. I’ve wanted you for a year. And now I will have you.”
“What are you talking about?”
His gaze fell to the stroller and his expression grew cold. “He’s my child, Hallie. I’m not going to let him go.” He focused on her. “Or you.”
“I won’t be your mistress, if that’s what you mean,” she said, struggling to keep her voice calm, not to show her rising fear.
“I know.” Cristiano’s black eyes suddenly glittered, and he smiled. “Because you’re going to be my wife.”
* * *
His wife.
Cristiano watched Hallie’s eyes widen in shock.
It was strange, he thought. He hadn’t known he was going to demand marriage until the words came out of his mouth. His whole life, he’d never once been tempted to marry. Of course he’d never imagined he’d be a father, either. And as he spoke the words, he suddenly realized he did want to marry her.
Call him an indecent excuse for a man?
Say he was incapable of committing for longer than a night?
Tell him he couldn’t even love his child if he tried?
No.
Cristiano wouldn’t abandon his newborn son to endure the same helpless childhood he’d known. Not when he himself had spent most of his adult life seeking vengeance on the father who’d abandoned him before he was born.
But he couldn’t wrench his son away from Hallie, either. Mother and child were obviously bonded. Still, he needed to take control of the situation.
Marriage was the brutally simple solution.
“Marry you?” Hallie choked out, searching his gaze as if waiting for the punchline. “Are you crazy? I told you—I hate you!”
“And I’m none too fond of you.” But as he put both hands on her shoulders and looked down at her, his nerve endings sizzled from the contact. He might be angry, but he’d told her the truth. He hadn’t stopped wanting her for a year.
Her gaze fell unwillingly on his lips before she glared up defiantly. “Why would I marry you?”
Looking down at the baby, who was now awake and trying to grab his own feet in the stroller, he said quietly, “For our child.”
“But...you can’t seriously want to be a real father.” There was a new nervousness in her voice. “If you want to see Jack, maybe we could talk about visitation—”
“No,” he said coldly. Her expression looked relieved until he continued grimly, “I will have full-time, permanent custody.”
Hallie’s beautiful face blanched. She whispered, “You’d try to take him from me?”
“No.” He gave her a cold smile. “I want him to have two parents. Even though you didn’t care about that.”
Patrons and staff in the lobby had been staring at them for a while, but now they were coming closer, obviously trying to listen.
“I’m not having this conversation here,” he said abruptly. “Come with me now.”
She glanced around wildly, and he wondered if she was actually considering trying to flee. To help her avoid the temptation, he gently lifted the baby from the stroller.
“What are you doing?” she gasped.
“Holding my son,” he said, and started walking. She immediately followed him to the elevator, as he’d known she would.
