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What could he do? She was contained in the cot. She was safe. He needed to confront Ava first. And that conversation was better done away from a child.
His brain sparked with the weight of a thousand questions, and a suspicion was forming in his mind.
He counted back the dates, and then closed his eyes. Was this child the reason she had come to him in Rio? He had been so stubborn that day. He had been a fool. A foolish, childish, spurned shell of a man; hurting too much to give in to what he desperately wanted and see her again.
If he had?
He groaned into the quiet of the room. He couldn’t turn back the clock. And besides, that was only one time. She had many other means by which to contact him. She could have emailed him. Called him. Tried to see him again. This child was more than two years old. That was a long time of waking up and deciding not to tell him about his own flesh and blood.
His stomach turned over as he flashed his eyes open and saw the baby once more. She was staring at him with the same mixture of rapt fascination. Was it possible that she understood? That she saw something familiar in his face and bearing?
On instinct, he put his hands down, and wrapped them around her sturdy little body. She made a sound of happiness and then reached up to touch his cheek. “Who you?”
“A fascinating question, little one,” he said with a shake of his head. “Who you, more to the point.” He held her in front of him, one arm cupped beneath her, so that he could study her face in more detail.
She made a random connection of sounds, that was a little like mimilli.
“Shall we go find your mother?”
“Mamamama,” she agreed happily, lifting an arm and curling chubby little fingers around his neck. “Dah!” She pointed to the door and he laughed, despite the dark emotions that were inside of him.
He came down the stairs at the same time the reception door swung inwards. Ava’s helper, the young woman he’d seen bustling about the cottages earlier, stepped inside. Her cheeks were pink from the heat of the day. At the sight of Cristiano Barata, dressed only in a pair of low-slung jeans, with baby Milly on his hip, she froze.
The shock of seeing a stranger with the little girl drove away her ability to comprehend the similarities in their appearance. Besides, Marie hadn’t seen Cristiano up close before. She was not so intimately connected with the nuances of his looks to immediately join the dots.
“What are you doing?” She asked, evidently torn between a fear that this man was going to kidnap Milly, and a desire to retain a degree of politeness towards a guest. “Where’s Ava?”
His lips curled in a derisive smile. “Napping.”
“Oh.”
Cristiano was in no mood to be waylaid by this woman. And yet, she could be of use to him. “What is your name?”
“Marie,” she said, taking a step closer and holding her hands out for Milly. To her chagrin, the child stayed right where she was.
“And this is..?”
Marie looked from one to the other in confusion. “I’m sorry, sir, you’re going to need to explain to me just what’s going on here. As far as I can see, guests have no business walking in and out of the homestead. And as for handling Milly …”
“Yes, that might be true for guests,” he seethed. “But you see, Marie, I have a history with Ava. Evidently a future too,” he added for good measure.
And though his comment was cryptic, it was enough. Comprehension dawned in Marie’s mind. “Oh!” She remarked, her cheeks colouring even more darkly. “You’re … are you saying …”
“I’m saying I need to have a private conversation with Ava,” he intoned flatly.
“Of course,” she nodded, shock mingling with excitement. How had Ava kept this under wraps? She’d always presumed the baby wasn’t Angus’s, but to discover that it was Cristiano Cesar Barata’s? It was like a fairy story.
He gently disentangled Milly from around his neck and handed her to Marie, only Milly was none too happy about the swap. “Dah, Dah,” she exclaimed crossly, pointing to his chest.
And his chest was certainly feeling something. He reached over and flopped her curls then smiled curtly at Marie. “We will be gone a while.”
‘That’s fine,” Marie nodded. “I can keep an eye on things here. Take as long as you need.”
He didn’t look completely convinced.
“Honestly, I always stand in for Ava when she has to go away. You don’t need to worry. Milly and I will watch some playschool together.”
“Fine. Thank you,” he tacked on as an afterthought. He watched the young woman and child disappear into a lounge area, and then walked swiftly back to the guest bedroom. She was asleep, but she stirred when he shut the door.
