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“I’m afraid this is going to be a big shock.” She took a deep breath, then said very gently, “Cristiano, your father is Luigi Bennato.”
For a long moment, he stared at her. Then he turned away, his shoulders shaking. At first, she thought he was crying. Then she realized he was laughing. His laugh was harsh and strange.
Hallie stared at him, wondering if the shock of the news had disjointed her husband’s mind.
“Don’t you understand, Cristiano?” she said in a low voice. Reaching out, she put her hand on his shoulder. “The man you betrayed—he’s your father. I’m so sorry. Such a horrible coincidence—”
“Coincidence?” He whirled on her, silhouetted in front of the windows overlooking the sea. His dark eyes glittered. “I knew Bennato was my father. Of course I knew! And from the moment my mother died, I vowed to make him pay!”
Hallie drew back, astonished. She whispered, “You knew?”
“My mother told me how he ruined her life. She was just an innocent girl when he seduced her. He gave her her first drink, and when she got pregnant, he told her to go to hell!”
Hallie thought of Luigi’s heartsick face, at the tears in his wrinkled eyes when he said, “I tried so hard to find them. But I should have tried harder. I never should have given up.”
“Luigi told me, after Violetta got pregnant,” she said slowly, “he tried to make her stop drinking. But she hated that, and she ran away. He said he tried so hard to find you—”
“He was lying,” Cristiano said coldly.
She shook her head. “I believed him.”
“Of course you did.” His lips twisted in a sneer. “A man as devious as Bennato could easily twist your innocent little heart.”
His scorn made her shiver. She lifted her chin. “You’re wrong. If you’d only speak to him—”
“What else did he say?” He came closer to her, his face like stone. His powerful body left her in shadow.
Hallie saw the cloud of darkness around him, and for the first time she was afraid.
This was the darkness she’d feared. The darkness she hadn’t wanted to see.
“You’ll never talk to him, will you?” she whispered. “You hate him beyond all reason. You’ll never be free.”
Cristiano’s black eyes narrowed into slits as he repeated dangerously, “What did he say?”
“He regrets not protecting you when you were a child. He’s all alone now. He wants to make amends. He wants a family.”
“He wants money.”
“No.” She shook her head eagerly. “If you’d seen his expression when he touched Jack’s head—”
“Jack?” His expression changed, then his folded hands dropped to his sides as he roared, “You let him touch our son?”
“Of course I did. He’s Jack’s grandfather!”
“Don’t call him that!” Furious, he turned away. “Where is Jack?”
“Sleeping in his stroller. In the foyer—”
Cristiano strode out of the salon. When she caught up with him in the foyer, she found him cradling their sleeping baby tenderly against his powerful chest. When he looked up at Hallie, his dark eyes glittered.
“You will never,” he said in a low voice, “talk to that man again. Or allow our son anywhere near him.”
His voice frightened her. “You’re being ridiculous!”
“You will give your word,” he ground out. “Or I’ll never allow you to leave my sight again without six bodyguards at your side.”
“You won’t allow me?” she cried.
