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CHAPTER 22
Hailee was squatting by the cultivated border of one of the many white-painted terrace walls, carefully coaxing bougainvillea strands around a wire support that she had just constructed, secure in the knowledge that she could hear Ariana's happy voice drifting up to her from where she played on the beach with Assunta.
An electric whirring sound behind her warned Hailee of Guido's approach. She didn't turn, didn’t even reveal she was aware of his unpleasant presence. But her inner sigh was heavy.
In the six days since she had arrived here, Hailee had carefully avoided any contact at all with her father-in-law. He came to see Ariana each lunchtime, guiding his chair into the suite and staying long enough to share lunch with her baby.
But Hail
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SOMEBODY LIKE YOU CHAPTER 23
While giving her a grin, Guido nodded.“It would be difficult to deny this when she is the perfect image of you.”“And remember also that Ari is at the age when she needs her mother the most.”“Of course!” Guido looked almost shocked that Hailee should feel the need to tell him that.“All children need their mother…” he added, his attention drifting back to the beach where the game had now finished and Ariana was busy with her bucket and spade while Assunta mounted a beach umbrella over her to keep off the sun.“Alex was entirely devoted to his mamma,” Guido went on softly. “On this same beach, they would play together… just like that.”“Ariadne,” Hailee prompted gently.“Eh, sì (Ita for &
SOMEBODY LIKE YOU CHAPTER 24
Did he mean by that, that she owed him the use of her body in return for his retrieving her stolen child? Hailee looked at him in horror. “But you hate and despise me! You even hated yourself for what happened the last time we shared a bed!” “This is quite true.” His hard face tightened. “But if I had wanted the whole world to know that Alessandro Baroni was foolish enough to marry a cheating woman,” he threw at Hailee, “I would’ve divorced her three years ago and left her by herself with her illegitimate child!” Hailee blanched at the intended insult. He took the reaction as his due. “As it is,” he continued, “to the world and this household, we are still very much man and wife. And man and wife share a bed and have a certain amount of marital privacy which doesn’t include
SOMEBODY LIKE YOU CHAPTER 25
That was it… Hailee was trapped. Trapped by need. Trapped by her own body, which would respond to the slightest touch from the man who had reawaken it to its pleasures… And did he pleasure her! Night after night, hungrily, devouringly. But she never woke up to him still there beside her, and that trapped her too… Trapped her in a tight little world of self-disgust and helplessness because she couldn’t do a single thing to change the situation, to change his mind about her, to change this show where she played the loving wife and he played the ravaging conqueror. Hailee was trapped by his ruthless determination to appear the master of his own household by making her sleep with him, eat in the dining room with him and his father. Trapped in a stupid, pathetic play where she wa
SOMEBODY LIKE YOU CHAPTER 26
Hailee kept singing and humming until Ariana closed her eyes and calmed down. There was silence behind her, filled with the battle that Alessandro was having with himself at her cold dismissal. Hailee could hear him breathing, but his anger or frustration wasn’t her problem. She was interested in her little daughter. Then, without saying another word to her, he just went away. When eventually Ariana drifted back into sleep, Hailee didn’t replace her in her crib but sat down in the chair beside Assunta's rumpled bed and allowed the little girl to spread out on her lap with her warm cheek cushioned on Hailee's breast. She stayed like that for ages. How long she didn't know. It didn't matter. When Alessandro eventually came back, she barely acknowledged him. He went to stand by the window. A habit of his when struggli
SOMEBODY LIKE YOU CHAPTER 27
It was mid-morning before Hailee dared creep back into the other suite to shower and get dressed for the day, fairly safe in the knowledge that Alessandro won’t be there. He was usually working in his office upstairs by now. So, she almost jumped out of her skin when the suite door flew open just as she was coming out of the bedroom, dressed for the day in her usual shorts and t-shirt. But it wasn’t Alessandro who came sailing in but his father.“Been sinking your own ships again, I see,” he remarked. “You don’t need any help to ruin a good thing for yourself, do you?” His hunter's eyes pierced her with a sly look.“You manage so very well on your own!”“I presume you had something specific you wished to convey in all of that, Guido,” she th
SOMEBODY LIKE YOU CHAPTER 28
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
SOMEBODY LIKE YOU CHAPTER 29
Something flickered in those golden depths at last.“Am I to understand that you didn’t have this support the last time?”“No, Alessandro, I didn’t.” The flicker became a glimmer of wry comprehension.“Exactly, how bad a husband was I?” Alessandro then enquired, very drily.“You weren’t a bad husband exactly,” Hailee said. “Just a very busy, absent one.” That seemed to explain it best.“I've changed since then, Alessandro,” she felt obliged to add. “I might say that I finally grew up. I can fight my own battles to a certain extent. But not without your added support.” Hailee sent him a wry smile.“A
SOMEBODY LIKE YOU CHAPTER 30
What followed was what she supposed could be called a period of adjustment, where they both tried hard to make this new beginning work for them. They were quite successful at it too, aided by the fact that Guido left the house only a few days after Alessandro had returned. He had been booked into an exclusive clinic in Switzerland, where he was to undergo some valve replacement surgery.“Is it dangerous?” she'd asked Alessandro when he'd told her about the operation. He'd grimaced.“It may help to ease his next few months,” was all he'd said, forcing Hailee to acknowledge just how very ill Guido was.“Are you going to stay with him?”“No.” Alessandro had smiled at the very idea.“His pride won’t allow me such libe
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