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His eyes met hers evenly. “I was afraid you’d want a relationship. That you’d ask for a commitment.”
His words burned her pride. “But I didn’t.”
“No,” Cristiano agreed. He leaned toward her at the counter. “But now I’m asking you. I want us to give our son a home. To be a family.” Leaning forward, he took both her hands in his own, his eyes intense. “I’m asking you to marry me.”
She sucked in her breath as all her childhood dreams clamored around her. Could it truly happen? Could a night of passion turn them unexpectedly into a family?
A home.
Loyalty.
Family.
He was offering her everything she’d ever wanted, and unimaginable wealth and luxury, too.
For a moment, Hallie was tempted. Then she shook her head slowly.
“Why?” he demanded.
She turned away from his arrogant gaze, busying herself with tackling a thick, salty slice of bacon. “A marriage of convenience? How would that even work?”
“I never said it would be a marriage of convenience.” His black eyes pierced hers. “Our marriage would be very real, Hallie.”
Beneath his gaze, she felt hot all over. She swallowed the bacon, barely tasting it. Her full breasts were suddenly heavy, her nipples aching and taut. Tension coiled, low and deep, in her belly.
Swallowing, she pushed the plate away. “You could have any woman for the asking.” She looked at Cristiano’s elegant penthouse, and the wide windows that showed all New York City at his feet. “Why not wait for someone you love? Someone—” her voice faltered “—who loves you?”
“I’m thirty-five years old, and I’ve never loved anyone. I never thought I had the ability.” Cristiano looked at Jack, wriggling happily on the soft quilted mat of the baby gym. “Until the day I found out I had a son.”
Hallie felt her heart constrict as she saw the way he looked at Jack. In their intense love for their child, they were the same.
He turned back to her. “And now I know this. My duty is to protect you both. To provide for you. To give you a home. To give you my name. I offer you my loyalty, Hallie. For a lifetime.”
“Your loyalty,” she whispered.
Cristiano looked at her, his eyes black as night. “I will protect our son. No matter the cost.”
His words sounded strangely like a warning. But that didn’t make sense. Why would he warn Hallie that he intended to protect their son?
So much she’d thought about him was all wrong. He actually wanted to commit to her. To be a father to Jack.
Her son would have financial security, the best schools, the promise of a brilliant future.
And, even more importantly, Cristiano would always protect him and watch his back. If anything ever happened to Hallie, Jack would still be safe. She’d learned the hard way about loss.
Cristiano was offering her everything and, still, some part of her hesitated. “You’re asking me to give up love—all hope of it forever.”
“Have you ever been in love?”
“No,” she was forced to admit.
“Then how can you miss what you’ve never had?”
His words were starting to make the impossible seem reasonable. “A marriage implies faithfulness...”
“Which I would be.”
Her breath caught in her throat. She hadn’t expected that. Cristiano Moretti, the famous billionaire playboy, was promising total fidelity. To her.
