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He laughed at the way Pia cooed at the three-year-old in fractured Italian, begging her to let go of her hair; at the way she instantly dropped to her knees when Alyssa deed Pia in that boisterous way of hers

Ahter and Pia charhter, who barely tolerated strangers, instinctively trust Pia, and he watched as Pia, who’d been so uncoirl

Slowly, Alyssa began to shere she stood Pia gathered Alyssa—who didn’t let anyone except him or his mother put her to sleep—and she neatly cuddled into Pia’s chest, sucked her thumb into her mouth and promptly fell asleep

“Don’t wake her up,” Pia hissed at hihter’s fist

Only this woh just as much as she could turn him on with one look “Unless you want her to rip out your—” his gaze fell to the thick honey-brown strands that were like rough silk between his fingers “—lovely hair, which would be a shaers until Pia’s hair was free “Believe me, she has ripped out my hair from the roots far too many times”

“You don’t look like you’ve lost any,” she threw back, and then blushed when he grinned He took Alyssa frolance at the both of them

Having lost their buffer, Pia stepped back from him hurriedly She frowned as she noted Gio and his mother in deep discussion outside the French s “You didn’t tell hter”

“Alyssa is no one’s business but mine,” he said before he could modulate his tone

Hurt flashed in her eyes before she lifted her chin in defiance “Is your ex-wife here too? I’ in between—”

“Allegra is not a part of our lives anyhts to Alyssa”

“I wouldn’t have suggested this ridiculous charade if I’d known you had a daughter I won’t be a part of anything that could har to understand which woman her father is…has…”