She shook her head. “But...but someone. A partner.”
Antonio exhaled, knowing she was right. “Any man would want you,” he said quietly. “But even with the best stepfather on earth, the baby will always wonder about me. Why I left. What will you tell him?”
“The truth.” Her hands tightened at her sides, and her beautiful face looked down as she added, “There’s no other answer.”
The truth. That Antonio was a selfish, shallow playboy, more interested in his airline than his child. That he didn’t have the capacity, or the desire, to commit. Not to his child. He looked at Hana. Not to her.
Unless...
Staring at her bowed head, he blinked, and the world seemed to spin on its axis. Suddenly, the solution was astonishingly clear.
The only way to get everything he wanted. To protect his child. To have Hana in his bed. Everything.
As they stood across from each other in her hotel suite, he said bluntly, “You know I don’t love you.”
“Of course you don’t.” She rolled her eyes. “Luckily, I don’t love you either. Heaven help any woman who does.”
He gave a wry smile, then his expression became serious. “But you’ve never betrayed me. Not once. You’re the one person I trust most on earth. The one I most respect.”
“Thanks.” Hana snorted a low laugh. “That changes nothing.”
She was trying to protect herself from hurt. He knew that cynical tone. He’d used it himself. “It changes everything.”
“How?”
“I want you in my bed. I want you in my company and in my life. And...” He took a deep breath. “I want to be a real father to our baby.”
Her lips parted as she said hoarsely, “What are you saying?”
His lips curved as he looked down at her. “I want you to marry me, Hana.”
* * *
Hana stared at him.
The twilight from the hotel penthouse’s windows left a strange reddish glow on his hard, handsome face, leaving a shadow behind him on the translucent shoji doors of the suite.
Had he gone crazy—or had she?
Marriage?
“Is this a joke?” she choked out.
“I’m deadly serious.”
She stammered, “You don’t want to marry anyone.”
“I just asked you.” Antonio lifted his dark eyebrows. “But perhaps I didn’t do it properly?”
In front of her horrified eyes, he folded his powerful body, falling to one knee before her. Taking both her hands in his own, he looked up. “Hana Everly, will you do me the honor of becoming my bride?”
“Stop it,” she hissed, tugging on his hands. “Stand up.”
Slowly, he rose back to his feet. His dark gaze burned through her. “Will you?”
“You’re being ridiculous.”
“I need an answer.”