The Secret the Italian Claims Page 7

  Do you think I intend to ravish you against the wall?

  She shrank back from the fire in his eyes. “No.”

  That one word, whispered soft as a breath, seemed tangible in the air, like a wall between them. He blinked. His expression changed as if a shutter had gone down. His civilized mask slid back into place.

  “Good night,” he said hoarsely. Turning, he hurried down the hall toward the master bedroom.

  Hallie sat alone on the sofa, shivering from what had just happened. Except nothing had happened, she told herself, struggling to calm her breath. Nothing at all.

  After turning off the lamp, she stared out blankly at the lights of the moonlit city. Woodenly she ate the rest of her meal. All she could think about was how badly she’d wanted him in that moment. But the word that had escaped from her lips was no. Because she was afraid.

  Before her night with Cristiano, Hallie had barely been kissed. She’d had a few awkward kisses with her boyfriend in high school, who’d never tried to press the issue—with good reason, as it turned out, because as soon as he left for university he announced on Facebook that he was gay. And one time, Joe Larson, the mine owner’s son, had tried to force his tongue down her throat at a company Christmas party. Before Cristiano, that had been the sum total of her sexual experience.

  And now he wanted to kiss her?

  Now he wanted to marry her?

  She was way out of her league.

  Rising from the sofa, she walked heavily back to the guest room, where she found Jack sleeping peacefully. Putting on underwear and pajamas, she brushed her teeth and crawled into the bed next to her baby, knowing she wouldn’t sleep a wink.

  But, somehow, she did. She rose only once in the night, to feed the baby. When Jack next woke her with a hungry whimper, she saw golden light flooding the window. She sat up in shock, realizing that she’d just had the best night’s sleep in months. How was that possible?

  “Good morning, sweetheart,” she said, smiling at the baby, who gurgled and waved his arms at her.

  When mother and baby came out into the main room some time later, both of them were dressed—Hallie in a soft pink sundress of eyelet cotton and sandals, the baby in a onesie and blue knit shorts. She stopped when she saw Cristiano sitting at the kitchen counter. Her cheeks went hot at the memory of last night. But why? she said to herself. Nothing had happened!

  “Good morning.” Cristiano’s voice was gravelly as he set down his newspaper. “I trust you slept well?”

  Hallie shifted her baby’s weight on her hip as she stood uncertainly in the kitchen, beneath a shaft of golden light from the windows. His eyebrows lifted as he waited. His handsome face was courteous, his dark eyes civilized. Nothing like he’d looked last night...

  She shivered.

  “Hallie?”

  She jumped. “I slept well. Thank you.”

  Hallie wondered when he would kiss her. She felt the weight of that debt between them. It’s just a kiss, she told herself, but she couldn’t quite believe it. She tried to tell herself that now that he’d had time to recover from the shock of learning he was a father, Cristiano probably wouldn’t repeat his demand for marriage. But looking into his hard-edged face, she couldn’t believe that, either. Cristiano Moretti was the kind of man who would stop at nothing to get what he wanted.

  He wanted to secure possession of their child. She knew that. But now she knew he wanted more.

  He wanted her.

  Nodding toward the marble countertop and holding out a china cup edged with fourteen-karat gold, he said gruffly, “Have a seat.”

  “Thanks.” Sitting down on one of the high barstools, keeping her baby securely in her lap, she watched in surprise as he poured her a cup of steaming hot coffee from a silver carafe. “You made coffee?”

  “Room service.” He nodded at the tray. “There’s cream and sugar.”

  “Thanks.” Too late, she saw the wheeled carts nearby and felt foolish. Adding copious amounts of cream and sugar to her coffee, she took a sip and sighed with pleasure. Glancing at him, she said shyly, “Would you like to hold the baby?”

  Cristiano hesitated, looking down at the plump, babbling three-month-old. He shook his head. “Maybe later.”

  “All right.” She was surprised anyone could resist holding Jack, with his adorably goofy smile and his fat little cheeks.

  “I ordered you a breakfast tray. It’s been here an hour, so it might be cold.” Cristiano turned back to his newspaper.

  “Thanks.” She didn’t feel hungry at all. She gave him a sideways glance. “You’re reading in Italian.”

  He didn’t look up. “Yes.”

  “And on paper rather than on a tablet.”

  “So?”

  “It’s very retro,” she ventured.

  He didn’t answer. He seemed barely aware of her, while her hands were shaking from being this close to him. Had she somehow imagined the way he’d looked at her last night? Had he already forgotten that he’d demanded a kiss—and marriage?

  Sitting at the marble counter that separated the sleek kitchen from the great room, Hallie looked slowly around his penthouse. Modern art was splashed across the walls. Strange, heavy sculptures were displayed on columns. Once Jack started to pull himself up and walk, those would be dangerous.

  But such unimaginable luxury and style. So different from how she’d grown up. A flash of memory came to her of the cabin in the West Virginia hills, with its worn wood exterior, sagging furniture and peeling linoleum.

  But so comfortable for all that. So full of love. Her beloved home. Her parents. Her older brother.

  Gone. All gone.

  They would never know her son.

  A sudden pain, like a razor blade in her throat, made her gasp as fresh, unexpected grief ambushed her.

  Setting down his newspaper, Cristiano looked at her sharply. “What is it?”

  Blinking fast, she looked at him. She swallowed. “I was just remembering...”

  “What?”

  Jack fussed a little in her arms. She was grateful for the excuse to turn away. “Nothing.”

  Getting up, she set the baby down in his new play gym with a padded blanket on the floor, so he could bat at the brightly colored mobile overhead. She felt Cristiano’s gaze on her as she went to the room-service carts and lifted a silver lid. Taking the plate of food and silverware, she returned to sit beside him at the counter. She forced herself to take a bite, then another. The waffles and bacon were indeed lukewarm, and all she could feel was sad.

  “Can I ask you something?” Cristiano asked, setting his fork down on his own empty plate.

  “What?”

  “Why did you refuse my marriage proposal yesterday?”

  She glanced at him. “I told you—”

  “That we hate each other. I remember.” He took a drink of black coffee. The dainty china cup looked incongruous in his large, masculine hands. “It’s just funny. I always thought if I ever asked a woman to marry me, the reaction would be very different.”

  “But you didn’t ask. You told.” Hallie looked at her limp waffles. “And I’m not convinced you know what commitment means.”

  “How can you say that?”

  Setting down her fork, Hallie stared out at the view of the city and bright blue skies. “My parents married straight out of high school. They fought all the time, but never threatened to leave. We were a family. And family means sticking together, no matter what.” Her voice choked, and she looked down at the marble floor. “After they died, it was all I dreamed about. Having a family again. A home.”

  “That’s why you were still a virgin when we met,” he said slowly. “You were waiting for the man you could give your life to. Not just your life. Your loyalty.”

  She nodded, unable to meet his eyes, bracing herself for his cynical, mocking re
sponse.

  Instead, his voice was quiet. “I destroyed all your plans by seducing you.”

  Hallie’s gaze lifted to his. Then she looked at their baby in his play gym. Jack was stretching out his chubby arms, waving them like a drunken sailor as he tried to reach the mobile hanging over his head. With a trembling smile, she shook her head.

  “How can I blame you, when that night brought our baby? Besides.” She stared down at her hands. “What happened wasn’t just your fault. It was also mine.” With a deep breath, she said, “If I had really wanted to wait for marriage, I wouldn’t have let you or anyone else change my mind. No matter how badly I wanted you. Because I knew even then that I could never be more than a one-night stand to a man like you.”

  “You’re wrong.” His voice was low. “You were always more than a one-night stand to me.”

  “So that’s why you had me fired and tossed out of the hotel?” Her lips lifted humorously. “Because you wanted to spend more time with me?”

  “You were an employee. A virgin. But from the moment I first heard you sing, from the moment I saw you, floating my sheets softly through the air, I had to have you. I smashed every rule.”

  “You knew I was a virgin?” she breathed.

  He gave a slow nod. “I could tell when I kissed you. But I still couldn’t stop myself from taking you to my bed. And once I had you,” he said softly, “I only wanted more.”

  “Then why did you send me away?” she said, trembling.

  His eyes met hers evenly. “I was afraid you’d want a relationship. That you’d ask for a commitment.”

  His words burned her pride. “But I didn’t.”

  “No,” Cristiano agreed. He leaned toward her at the counter. “But now I’m asking you. I want us to give our son a home. To be a family.” Leaning forward, he took both her hands in his own, his eyes intense. “I’m asking you to marry me.”

  She sucked in her breath as all her childhood dreams clamored around her. Could it truly happen? Could a night of passion turn them unexpectedly into a family?

  A home.

  Loyalty.

  Family.

  He was offering her everything she’d ever wanted, and unimaginable wealth and luxury, too.

  For a moment, Hallie was tempted. Then she shook her head slowly.

  “Why?” he demanded.

  She turned away from his arrogant gaze, busying herself with tackling a thick, salty slice of bacon. “A marriage of convenience? How would that even work?”

  “I never said it would be a marriage of convenience.” His black eyes pierced hers. “Our marriage would be very real, Hallie.”

  Beneath his gaze, she felt hot all over. She swallowed the bacon, barely tasting it. Her full breasts were suddenly heavy, her nipples aching and taut. Tension coiled, low and deep, in her belly.

  Swallowing, she pushed the plate away. “You could have any woman for the asking.” She looked at Cristiano’s elegant penthouse, and the wide windows that showed all New York City at his feet. “Why not wait for someone you love? Someone—” her voice faltered “—who loves you?”

  “I’m thirty-five years old, and I’ve never loved anyone. I never thought I had the ability.” Cristiano looked at Jack, wriggling happily on the soft quilted mat of the baby gym. “Until the day I found out I had a son.”

  Hallie felt her heart constrict as she saw the way he looked at Jack. In their intense love for their child, they were the same.

  He turned back to her. “And now I know this. My duty is to protect you both. To provide for you. To give you a home. To give you my name. I offer you my loyalty, Hallie. For a lifetime.”

  “Your loyalty,” she whispered.

  Cristiano looked at her, his eyes black as night. “I will protect our son. No matter the cost.”

  His words sounded strangely like a warning. But that didn’t make sense. Why would he warn Hallie that he intended to protect their son?

  So much she’d thought about him was all wrong. He actually wanted to commit to her. To be a father to Jack.

  Her son would have financial security, the best schools, the promise of a brilliant future.

  And, even more importantly, Cristiano would always protect him and watch his back. If anything ever happened to Hallie, Jack would still be safe. She’d learned the hard way about loss.

  Cristiano was offering her everything and, still, some part of her hesitated. “You’re asking me to give up love—all hope of it forever.”

  “Have you ever been in love?”

  “No,” she was forced to admit.

  “Then how can you miss what you’ve never had?”

  His words were starting to make the impossible seem reasonable. “A marriage implies faithfulness...”

  “Which I would be.”

  Her breath caught in her throat. She hadn’t expected that. Cristiano Moretti, the famous billionaire playboy, was promising total fidelity. To her.

  That thought was too outlandish to believe. She shook her head, her lips curving up at the edges. “Have you really thought this through? No more Russian supermodels?”

  “You persist in underestimating me,” he said softly. Reaching out, he tucked hair behind her ear. “When will you learn the truth?”

  Hallie swallowed. “What’s that?”

  His gaze cut through her. “I want only you.”

  Her heart was pounding. A year ago, when he’d tossed her to the curb, she’d thought she’d made the worst mistake of her life. For the last year, she’d barely held on sometimes, trying to keep a roof over her baby’s head. Security had seemed like a fairy tale.

  Now Cristiano was offering her everything she’d dreamed of. She could secure her son’s comfort and give him two parents and a stable home for a lifetime.

  The only cost would be her heart. Their marriage would be about partnership and, yes, passion. But not love.

  Could she accept that? For the rest of her life?

  Or would her heart shrivel up and die?

  Getting up from the barstool, Hallie crossed the great room uncertainly. She looked down at her sweet baby, cooing and playing happily. Holding her breath, she stared out the windows at the gray city and brilliant blue sky.

  Silence fell in the penthouse. She felt the warm morning sun against her skin, the rise and fall of her own breath. Then she heard him cross the floor. Putting his hands on her shaking shoulders, he turned her to face him. His dark eyes burned like fire.

  “One more thing,” he said in a low voice. “Before you decide.”

  And pulling her roughly against his body, he lowered his mouth to kiss her.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  HIS LIPS WERE hot and yearning, burning through Hallie’s body and soul. This kiss was different from the hungry, demanding passion of their first night. This time he tempted rather than took. He lured rather than ravished.

  His hands tangled in her dark hair, stroking slowly down her bare shoulders and back. Shivers of need cascaded through Hallie’s body. She could not resist his embrace, as wistful and tender as his whispered words, which still hung between them like mist.

  When will you learn the truth?

  What’s that?

  I want only you.

  Her mind scattered in a million different directions, the penthouse whirling around her. She felt his desire for her through his low-slung pajama pants. She gripped his naked, powerful shoulders, feeling that Cristiano was the only solid thing in a world spinning out of control. His skin felt warm, his body solid and strong. This kiss, the sweet dream of his lips on hers, was all that felt real.

  He deepened the embrace, pushing her back against the white sofa, his hands running over her body—over her naked arms, the spaghetti straps of her sundress. As the kiss intensified, hunger built between them until she kissed him back desperately, her wh
ole body on fire. She gripped his shoulders, his mouth hot and demanding against hers. Feeling the sweet weight of his body over hers, the hard warmth of his muscular chest, she would have done anything—agreed to anything—to make this moment last...

  “Say you’ll marry me,” he whispered against her skin. “Say it—”

  “Yes,” she choked out. She didn’t realize she’d spoken until he pulled back, searching her gaze.

  “You won’t take it back? You won’t change your mind?”

  She shook her head. “It’s what I want most. Loyalty. Family. Home.”

  “And this.” And Cristiano kissed her, consuming her, until all that was left of her was fire and ash.

  * * *

  Cristiano had to take her to bed. Now.

  If he didn’t have her, now that he knew she was going to be his wife, he thought he might explode.

  “You’ve made me so happy, cara mia,” he whispered, kissing her forehead, her cheeks. The sweet intoxication of her lips. He started to lift her in his arms, intending to seal the deal immediately in his bedroom.

  Then his baby son gave a low whimper.

  “Jack,” Hallie said immediately, and the sensual spell was broken. Looking at each other, they both gave a rueful laugh. Moving back, he let her get off the sofa.

  After hurrying across the room, she scooped Jack up from his play gym. The baby immediately brightened in his mother’s arms. “But I’m being greedy.” Walking with him back to where Cristiano stood, she gave him a shy smile. “Do you want to hold him?”

  He shook his head. To be honest, the baby seemed happier with his mother. And he couldn’t blame Jack for preferring her. What experience did Cristiano have with children? He couldn’t bear the thought of his son crying. What if he held him wrong again and Hallie scorned him for being a clumsy fool?

  “Are you sure?” Hallie said, looking disappointed. But she didn’t wait for an answer. She just smiled down at her son, crooning, “How are you, sweet boy?”

  Cristiano’s heart expanded as he looked at them, his tiny baby son with the chubby cheeks, held by his incredibly loving, sexy bride-to-be. Reaching out, he put his hand on his son’s soft, downy hair. His eyes locked with Hallie’s and he felt a current of emotion.