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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
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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
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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
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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
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They were all waiting in the Intensive Care room. Ariana's little body was tortured by shivers and high fever, and an ugly red rash was soiling her perfect skin. Hailee sat beside the cot and just looked on as so many beeps and buzzes played inside her head. A nurse kept a constant watch on everything, the child, the machinery, the white-faced mother. Hours had passed… Hailee didn't know how many hours. Alessandro appeared like a dark shadow on the fringes of her consciousness. Drawn, white-faced, he stared at the sick little girl then swayed, bringing the nurse rushing over to grab his arm. It steadied him. He swallowed, pulled himself up, gave a small nod to the nurse to say he was alright. She moved away… again. His shocked eyes flicked over to where Hailee sat. Then his face was working with a million differe
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