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CHAPTER 5
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2024-10-29 19:42:56That accusation hardened him, canceled every bit of solace she’d seen on his face as Alessandro struck her with a narrowed glare.
“You leave my father out of this, Hailee,” Alessandro commanded grimly. “I’m warning you… Stop it right now.”
“Oh, trust me, I wish I could do that,” she replied, “but I absolutely can't cut him off my list. You know very well why I can’t do that. It all started when you went against his wishes and married me, Alessandro. A complete stranger and not Italian,” Hailee reminded him. “Even if I went above and beyond, learning to speak a language that wasn’t mine, even if I kept our conversations at the minimum required, Guido never forgave me for going against the Almighty Baroni.”
‘Thank you for the pills, doctor!’
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The door flew open. As Alessandro came back into the room, Hailee leaped to her feet, forgetting all about Giovanni Masini. Alessandro gave both of them a sharp glance. The air had to be thick with tension after their discussion. And, even if it wasn’t, the way Giovanni was standing aside, very stiff and with an offended expression, was giving everything away.“Well?” Hailee asked anxiously. “Have they...?” Her words faded away… Seeing his expression it was enough to wipe what bit of life her heated discussion with Giovanni had put into her face right away again.“Be calm, Hailee,” Alessandro soothed as her arms whipped around her body and she began to shiver. “They are still negotiating. Try to keep in mind that they want what I have the power to give them more than they want to keep your child.”
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The house had returned to its usual smooth running like nothing had happened. Before going down the stairs, Hailee glanced out of her bedroom window and saw Mrs. Bradshaw, the housekeeper, rushing in search of her husband, who was busily working on the new play area for Ari he and Hailee had been planning at the bottom of the garden. Her heart almost broke seeing him rhythmically spreading bark chippings over the specially prepared patch where, next week, a garden swing and a slide were due to be fixed, yet, oddly, it comforted her. Mr. Bradshaw didn’t lose his hope on Ari’s return, so neither would she. When Hailee eventually forced herself to go downstairs to the dining room, she found Alessandro standing at the window watching the old man at his work.
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Alessandro was tall and she wasn't, the top of her head barely reaching his chin, so she had to tilt her head to look into his face. The rain had caught him too, but only briefly, so the drops sat on the expensive silk of his jacket in small crystal drops that could easily be brushed away. His hair was so black that it reminded her of midnight, gleaming damply but not dripping wet like hers. She didn't know then that the great Alessandro Baroni stood there like that, in silence, because he was completely and utterly love-struck. He admitted that to her later, weeks later when his single-minded campaign to break through her shy reserve was successful, on a night when she was lying in his arms on a bed of fine linen, their bodies damp, limbs tangled, his hand gently caressing her long hair across the pillow.&n
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She began to quiver at the expression on his face.“I won’t… because I w-want to talk this t-through...” Alessandro began striding around the bed towards her. Hailee backed away, her hands outstretched toward him off, long, delicately boned fingers trembling.“Please, Alessandro, don't,” she whispered unsteadily. “You're frightening me right now. And I don't want to be frightened of you too…” But he wasn't listening, or maybe didn't care at that moment that he was about to murder the one firm bit of faith she had in him… That he, this hard-headed, ruthless hunter she had married, wouldn’t, couldn’t hurt her. He hurt her. Oh, not in the physical
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His face darkened. His walk as he came down the hall towards her, became a statement in itself. He wasn't used to being spoken to like that, especially in front of his minions. And he didn’t like it that she was daring to do so now. Alessandro flashed the guard a slicing look that had him abruptly letting go of her arm then melting away like ice under the burning summer sun.“Now,” he said shortly, “would you like to tell me what that was all about?”“No, I won’t,” Hailee replied, her face still tense with anger and disgust. He wouldn't understand if she did try to explain how no man would ever touch her again without her permission. Not without her retaliating accordingly, anyway. She had learned that lesson the hard way, at Ryan Lewis's hands.&
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His reply to what she just said was a short, hard, mocking laugh.“You’re really something else, you know that?” Alessandro said in scathing disbelief. “Your own sins are not allowed to linger long enough to place a single line of guilt or shame upon your lovely face! It’s no wonder you remain so stunningly beautiful when you can shed blame as easily as you do! It must be the perfect recipe for eternal youth!”“And what's your recipe, Alessandro?” Hailee countered, then went very still, realizing what she had just said. He was still too, silent, unbreathing, pumping the wretched Freudian slip for all it was worth.“For my beauty?” he prompted silkily after a while. Her nerve-ends went into panic mode, forcing her hands to move again in short, jerky
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“Oh, no…” Alessandro gritted. “He lied to me, wasn't he? The manipulative old devil was put on a pathetic act to make me jump to his bidding!” “Guido assures me he knows he's a wicked old man,” Hailee put in soothingly. “I should kill him,” he muttered. “Please, Alex… Don't do that!” Hailee cried, looking genuinely alarmed. “Your daughter will never forgive you! She adores that nasty old man!” She shouldn't have said that… Hailee realized it the moment the words left her mouth and his face suddenly darkened, his body rolling sideways out of her slackened grasp. “My daughter… My own flesh and blood…” he mumbled. “The child I rejected before she was even born, because of him.” “Oh, Alex, don't,” she murmured, coming to lean over him, arms holding now instead of clinging. “Blaming your father will only make you bitter. And I don't want you to be bitter! I want us to finally be happy,
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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
