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She drew back, genuinely surprised. “Really?”
He scowled. “Plaintive, heartbreaking folk songs. Are you trying to wear me down?”
“I didn’t realize...”
“From now on, sing happy songs to our baby,” he ordered.
“Okay,” she said, biting her lip. The songs she knew were mostly old Scottish-Irish ballads, a repertoire that didn’t exactly specialize in “happy” songs. “Um... I’ll try to think of some.”
“And we don’t need to buy a house. You should be happy living all over the world in penthouse suites with spectacular views, waited on hand and foot by staff. That should be enough.”
She paused.
“It’s...nice,” she said carefully. “For a honeymoon. But we need a permanent place of our own. Maybe with a garden.”
“A garden? In Manhattan?”
“They exist,” she said defensively. “I worked once at this amazing house on Bank Street. There was a garden tucked in back.”
“By garden, do you mean a few pots on a stoop?”
“A real garden,” she said indignantly. “My employers let me go because the owners lived overseas and were never there. They were going to put it up for sale.”
“We would never be there, either,” he said. “My work requires constant travel, and I want you with me.”
“But soon Jack will go to school...”
“Truly you think our son is a prodigy if he needs to go to school when he has not yet learned to roll over.”
Defiantly Hallie lifted her chin. “You talk about building an empire. I want to build a family.” She hesitated. “I’d prefer New York, but I can compromise. If you want to live in Italy, I can make it work. I’ll learn Italian and try to make friends—”
“We’re not staying. After the new hotel is launched in Cavello, we’ll spend a few weeks in Tokyo, then Seoul, Sydney and Mumbai.”
“All those places,” she said faintly. Beautiful places she’d only imagined. Normally she would have been thrilled at the thought of seeing them with her own eyes. But tonight, she thought longingly of her friends. Lola’s baby, now one day old. “After that, we’ll go back to New York?”
“Briefly. Then Paris, London and Berlin.” He paused. “I have twenty-two hotels, and they all need my attention.”
Her heart sank. Circling the world, she would barely see her friends. And forget about a garden. Her eyes fell forlornly to her plate. “Oh.”
Cristiano scowled at her. “Surely you’re not complaining about traveling around the world in a private jet, staying in luxury hotels.”
But a life of luxury had never been Hallie’s dream. Licking her lips, she said, “I’m sure all those places are amazing, but...”
“But?”
“How can we ever have a home if we never stay in one place for long?” Her voice was small. “How will I make friends? How will Jack?”
“Learn all the languages, as I have. Be a citizen of the world.”
“A citizen of nowhere.”
“Everywhere,” he corrected coldly.
Angry tears lifted to Hallie’s eyes, though she didn’t want to fight, not on their first baby-free date. She tried to keep her voice calm.
“Traveling is fine, but eventually we need to stop and have a home!”
“What you call home I would describe as a prison. I’m not buying you a house, Hallie. It would be a waste of money.”
