the way you treated me, do you really think I would ever choose to spend more time with you?” She lifted her chin. “I never, ever want to see you again. Goodbye, Cristiano.”
She turned away, clutching the check against her heart. She left him without looking back.
Cristiano stood in his private office, stunned.
Hallie would cause no legal trouble. The cost of his night with her had been minimal, one he’d been more than willing to pay. And now she was gone. For good.
His jaw tightened. It was what he’d wanted, wasn’t it? He’d wanted to permanently rid himself of the temptation she offered. He’d never felt so attracted to anyone.
He’d slept with beautiful women before. The danger—the difference—was in Hallie’s voice, so rich with heartbreak and longing. And in her deep brown eyes, which had looked at him with such frank joy. In her low, husky laugh that had melted him with her warmth and delight.
She’d made him feel things against his will.
Not with his body.
His soul.
So after he’d fired her he’d ordered his secretary to block Hallie’s calls if she ever tried to contact him again.
Yet, tonight, he’d been the one who had asked her to stay. And Hallie, without any apparent difficulty or regret, had gotten what she’d wanted and easily walked away.
His pride was in shock.
As a matter of course, Cristiano always put his own selfish desires first. You had to look out for number one.
He’d just never imagined a kindhearted country girl like Hallie could do the same.
Rubbing the back of his head, he put his checkbook back in the safe. He told himself he’d go meet Natalia and spend the evening at yet another bland charity gala, but the thought seemed ridiculous.
Hallie had looked delicious, her body even more curvaceous than he remembered. She had a new maturity about her. Her dark eyes had become guarded, he realized. Not as honest and clear as he remembered. She’d held something back. Some mystery. Some secret.
Cristiano closed the safe, then stopped.
Something didn’t make sense.
When Hallie had first met him in the lobby, she’d been nervous and tense. I have something important to tell you, she’d said. But what was it? Simply that she’d hired a lawyer?
Except she’d never actually said that. Cristiano had. She’d been slow to talk and so he’d filled in all the blanks. When he’d offered her money, she’d been surprised, even shocked. Surely that was why she’d asked to speak to him privately. Because her lawyer had told her to.
Unless she didn’t actually have a lawyer.
Unless she’d come to him for some other reason. A reason she’d decided to forget once he’d offered her a check.
Cristiano’s eyes widened.
He strode out of his private office and down the sweeping stairs that overlooked the huge, gleaming lobby with enormous chandeliers hanging from thirty-foot ceilings. His eyes scanned over the crowd of wealthy tycoons and beautiful starlets that filled the lobby and main bar of the Campania on a typical Thursday night.
He saw Hallie on the other side of the lobby, near the door, talking to two young women, a plump redhead and a pregnant blonde. Hallie smiled, her joy obvious even from this distance, as she reached out to take something from the blonde.
A baby stroller. Looking down at it, she smiled and cooed.
Cristiano’s blood went cold.
A baby stroller.
A baby.
Later, he wouldn’t even remember how he had reached her. His brain was blank, his body like ice as he walked through the faceless crowd toward Hallie Hatfield and the baby stroller she gripped by the handle. When he drew close, he heard her soft laughter as she turned to her friends. The other women’s eyes went wide as Cristiano put his hand on her shoulder.
Hallie’s face was still smiling as she turned. Then the blood drained from her face.
Cristiano looked from her guilt-stricken face down to the small, dark-haired, fat-cheeked baby drowsing in the stroller. He slowly lifted his eyes back to hers.
“Is this your baby, Hallie?”
The fear in her eyes told him everything he needed to know.
The other two women stared between them, wide-eyed.
“You didn’t tell him?” the blonde said.
“Oh, Hallie,” the redhead whispered.
“Please, just go,” Hallie choked out to them. “I’ll call you later.”
The blonde looked like she intended to argue, until the redhead tugged on her arm and drew her away.
Standing alone with Cristiano in the crowded lobby of his flagship hotel, Hallie took a deep breath. “I can explain.”
Cristiano looked back down at the baby. A baby with dark eyes exactly like his own. Suddenly he knew exactly why Hallie had come here today. And exactly why she’d changed her mind.
He controlled his voice with effort. “You have a baby.”
She bit her lip. “Yes.”
He lifted his cold gaze to hers. “Who is the father?”
Hallie said pleadingly, “Please, Cristiano, don’t...”
“Who, damn you.”
She flinched. When she spoke, her voice could barely be heard over the noise of the lobby. “You.”
That single word exploded through him like a grenade.
He had a child?
Heart pounding, Cristiano looked at the tiny, yawning baby. Emotions rose, choking him. Savagely repressing his feelings, he looked at her.
“You are sure?” he said flatly.
“Yes,” Hallie replied in the same tone. “You know I was a virgin when—”
“I know,” he bit out. “But perhaps after...”
“You think I rushed into bed with someone else after that?” Her expression tightened. “You are the only man I’ve ever been with. Jack is your son.”
He had a child? A son?
His name was Jack?
Cristiano’s throat tightened. “Why didn’t you tell me you were pregnant?”
“I tried.” Hallie’s beautiful
