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.  &

          The afternoon dragged on interminably. Lunch, which Hailee didn't even bother to turn up for, came and went. Then more hours… hours where she roamed from room to room, drifting out if someone else came in, wanting to be alone, needing to be alone because there was no one she could share her torment with.          Dinner that evening was another grim, silent affair, if only because none of them were prepared to pretend that there was anything even vaguely normal about it. Hailee had joined Alessandro and Giovanni for the meal, but only because Alessandro had sent up a message to her room ordering her to attend, and she just didn't have it in her even to try to argue.          So, she sat at the table, tasted Mrs. Bradshaw's delicious chicken soup, cut up the light, fluffy omelette that must’ve been specially prepared to tempt her fa

“No!”          She was in shock. They were both… naked. Her nightdress was gone… His clothes, too… The crisp hair on his chest was rasping against her breasts, and one wonderfully muscular thigh was heavy across her own.“You want me, Hailee,” Alessandro insisted. “I can feel it. Your body wants me. Your subconscious wants me! Don't tell me no when I can see you burning with desire for me!”“I don’t… I don’t want this. And you said comfort,” Hailee reminded him whimperingly.“This is comfort, Hailee,” he declared. “The most exquisite comfort there is.”“But…”“No,” he gritted. “I need this too, piccola! We both do.”          Then he cut off her protests with the hungry crush of his m

          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

          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