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CHAPTER 14
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2021-08-13 08:00:44“But your father doesn't like me.”
She'd tried to make him understand.
“I'm not what he wanted for you, Alessandro, and he lets me know it at every chance he gets!”
“He teases you for your shyness, that's all. It’s your own paranoia that makes you see everything he does as malicious!”
Alessandro was always so blind when it came to his father. Guido hadn’t been just malicious in his dealings with his son's unwanted wife, he had been downright destructive.
“Okay, I’m listening,” Alessandro said gruffly now. “Let’s talk about it.”
The command made her blink, simply because she had been so lost inside her thoughts about him that she had forgotten he was actually there.
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She sucked in a breath of air, her heartbeat pounding in her head. But it was no use. The fact that Alessandro had actually convinced himself that Guido, his father, had nothing to do with Ariana's abduction, only made this moment of truth more impossible to deal with.“Oh, my God, you’re still protecting him, aren't you?” she derided bitterly. “No matter how many dirty tricks he pulls on you, you still refuse to see what a nasty, cunning, evil man he is… Even when the proof of it is shoved right under your very…” His hand snaking around her neck and yanking her forcefully towards him stopped the words.“Hold your tongue, you little shrew!” he rasped. “Before I bite it off!”“Right now, I hate and despise you so much… You have no idea…” Hailee threw into
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The car stopped and her heart too, for a few seconds. The driver got out, stepping up to open her door. Her senses were assailed by the sweet scent of flowers and the crisp tang of fruit, the quietness, the sheer peace that enveloped her just another deception she had to do battle with. The house from the back appeared quite humble when compared with its dramatic front. It had a big white wall with blue-painted shutters thrown back from small windows and a terracotta-tiled roof. Twin blue doors stood open to offer a welcome. Hailee gritted her teeth, tried to make her suddenly shaky legs move. A cicada sawed lazily, hidden somewhere in a tree. No other sound. Nothing. She remembered that silence and felt her back frozen even if outside the sun was high and hot. &n
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It was like witnessing the most spiritual communion life could offer. And no one privy to it couldn’t be moved by the vision. Not Guido, who lowered his silvered head and shook it with a sharp, jerky motion that was almost pained. Not the thin, dark-haired woman standing quietly in a corner of the room. Not even Alessandro, still standing tensely in the open doorway, who had to close his eyes to block out the heart-wrenching vision. The seconds ticked by. No one moved. Not Hailee. Not the baby. Not father or son or the strange woman present in the room. Not even the air in the room... Then the small head lifted, still frowning, still cross as she fixed her mother with a condemning look.“I love you, mummy,” Ariana said. Hailee's legs gave away beneath her. Hearing her was such a sweet but also a gut-wr
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Frustration and fear that came from experience in dealing with Guido Baroni, made Hailee tremble inside. Black and white… Alessandro dealt in black and white. The grey area in Guido's favor was that Hailee would never be able to prove she didn’t go to bed with another man! “Signora? (Ita for ‘Ma’am’)” The demand brought her eyes flickering into focus. Assunta was standing by her chair, her smile warm. “Signora Baroni… La bambina, (Italian for ‘little girl’)” she prompted softly. “No need to give you my baby… At last, Ari sleeps peacefully with her mummy's arms around her.” Asleep… Hailee glanced down in surprise to find that Ariana was indeed fast asleep, her body heavy and her limbs slack, her steady breathing a sign that, just as, Assu
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Hailee went hot, then cold, then began tingling all over as his softly provoking tone sent disturbing little messages to all her senses.“Alessandro, if you don’t mind, I will eat my dinner here in the suite,” she said coolly as a way to counteract the disturbance.“Out of the question! You will eat in the dining room as is the custom in this house,” he ordained. She didn’t feel bothered by it. At least that other tone, the more intimate one, had gone from his voice. Hailee shook her head.“No. I won't leave Ari here alone. She may wake up and be frightened.”“Assunta is here, with her, is she not?”“Yes, she is,” Hailee conceded that point. “But Assunta is not Ari's mother, is she? She's had enough upsets in her little life recently without waking to a str
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It began to rain, quite suddenly… An absolute deluge that completely halted her miserable thoughts and sent her running for cover as fast as she could. By the time Hailee reached the villa steps, she was drenched to the skin. She began running upwards, head down to shield her face from the worst of the rain. So, Hailee wasn’t aware of the person hurrying down the steps with a big umbrella open ready for her, until she crashed right into the solid wall of his chest. Hailee cried out, almost tumbling backward with the impact, and would’ve done if a strong hand hadn’t caught her arm to steady her. She looked up, a shaken ‘thank you’ ready on her lips, then was struck silent when she found herself staring into a pair of guarded golden eyes. Alessandro… Her b
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What did he just say to her? What kind of a game was he playing now? The impact that shocking announcement had on Hailee resulted in a complete collapse of everything inside her just for a moment, but it showed in the way her body gave an awkward jerk, in the way her breath was sucked sharply into her lungs.“Hear me out before you say anything,” Alessandro added quickly, obviously reading her reaction as a negative one. “I’ve spent this last week trying to find some solution to this situation we’ve created between us. There isn't one,” he announced heavily. “At least, not one where we both keep what bit of our pride that is left, anyway.” He turned his head to look at her, while Hailee kept her glazed eyes fixed on a point somewhere between Ariana and the table.&l
