she breathed, “Just because you’re his biological father you think you have the right to take him from me? I’m his mother!”
“And I have an entire team of lawyers at my disposal. What do you have? Nothing. You’ve already indicated you’re a liar and a flight risk. I’d request an immediate injunction from a judge to prevent you from ever leaving New York.”
“Liar? When did I ever lie?”
“Just now. When you took a hundred thousand dollars from me under false pretenses, then tried to run away with my son without telling me he existed.”
Hallie’s face was deathly pale. The baby’s whimpers rose to soft wails.
“I am a liar,” she said suddenly. “You’re not Jack’s father, Cristiano. You never were. It was all a...a plot. To get money from you.”
“You’re the worst liar I’ve ever seen.”
“I slept with five men right after you!” Her voice rose desperately. “Any of them could be his father. Here—take your money back!”
Pulling the folded check from the pocket of her sundress, she held it out to him.
Cristiano’s lips curved.
“Why, Hallie,” he said, without moving to take it, “are you trying to bribe me to give up my parental rights?”
Stuffing the check back in her pocket, she rose trembling to her feet. “I wish I’d never come here!”
His voice turned hard. “Sit down.”
“And I don’t care what you say.” She lifted her chin. “Our justice system wouldn’t take a baby from his mother!”
“So dramatic.” He added with dark amusement, “You have a lot of faith in something you clearly know nothing about. How do you think judges and juries decide the truth? They believe the best lawyers with the best arguments. And what kind of lawyer would you find to represent you? An inexperienced pro bono attorney fresh out of law school? Some tired hack working on contingency? You’ll have no chance. You will lose.”
Cristiano watched the emotions struggle on Hallie’s beautiful face. Remembering how she’d almost walked out with his child, he didn’t feel sorry for her. At all.
He looked down at Jack, now loudly complaining in Hallie’s arms. It had been so close. It scared him to think about it. If he hadn’t been suspicious and followed her into the lobby, he never would have known. His son would have grown up believing his father had abandoned him. Rejected him.
Exactly as Cristiano’s father had.
Hallie looked down at her wailing baby. “He’s hungry,” she said, avoiding his gaze. “Where can I go?”
“Right here.”
“I’m not nursing him in front of you.”
“I don’t trust you not to run off.”
“Fine,” she bit out as the baby’s wails increased. “At least turn around.”
“Of course.” He turned toward the wall of windows overlooking the city. The baby’s crying ceased almost immediately, changing to soft, contented murmurs.
Cristiano’s shoulders relaxed, and he realized that he’d been tense, feeling his son’s unhappiness. He felt more sure than ever that his impulsive decision, demanding marriage, was right. It was the only way to ensure the baby’s comfort and security.
His son’s childhood would be completely different from his own. Jack wouldn’t be abandoned by a father who cared only about his business empire, or left to the devices of a mother who cared only about her own selfish needs. He would never worry about getting beaten or having enough to eat. Jack would always have a stable home. And two loving parents.
Cristiano would do whatever it took, make any sacrifice, to make it so. And so would Hallie.
He would leave her no other choice.
Rising from the white chair, still with his back to her, he pulled out his phone, pressed a button and lifted it to his ear.
“Contact Dr. Garcia,” he told his executive assistant, Marcia Lattimer, when she answered. “Tell him I’m bringing a woman and baby in twenty minutes for a checkup and paternity test.”
“Yes, sir.”
“What?” Hallie said in alarm behind him.
“Ask Matthews to pull the limo around,” he continued. He remembered the baby. “On second thought, the SUV. Have the concierge arrange a new baby seat to be sent down. Whatever is required for a three-month-old. I want it installed and ready by the time we’re downstairs.”
“Of course, Mr. Moretti,” Marcia murmured. She was well paid to be on call around the clock. “Anything else?”
“I’ll let you know,” he said, and hung up.
“Paternity test?” Hallie’s voice was low but enraged. “You don’t even believe he’s yours?”
“Can I turn around?”
“Yes.”
He looked at her calmly. He was pleased to see the baby now sleeping contentedly in her arms. “You said he was mine. Then you said he wasn’t.”
She looked furious. “You know!”
“I believe he is mine, but I want proof.”
She tossed her head. “What kind of quack doctor will do a paternity test in the middle of the night? It’s after nine!”
Cristiano was amused that she thought of nine o’clock as the middle of the night. His own nights out often didn’t start until eleven. “Dr. Garcia is my personal physician, one of the best in the city. He also appreciates that I fully fund his medical research.”
She ground her teeth. “Is everyone in this city on your payroll? Do you always get what you want?”
“Yes,” he said simply, to both.
Ten minutes later, they were seated in the back of a huge black SUV with tinted windows and a brand-new baby seat installed between them.
“Nice to meet you, ma’am,” called Matthews from the driver’s seat. “Cute little guy you’ve got there.” He looked at Cristiano in the rearview mirror. “I understand congratulations are in order, sir?”
“Thank you,” Cristiano said. He tenderly lifted a soft blue blanket against his sleeping baby’s plump cheek. Feeling Hallie’s gaze, Cristiano looked up. A current of electricity passed between them.
Biting her full, pink lower lip, she abruptly looked away. But his body was still aware of her. A new thought went through Cristiano.
He’d intended to marry her as a matter of honor and duty, but there would be compensations.
A
