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Some indefinable emotion glimmered deep in the deceptively clear depths of his eyes. “Keira and Dmitri were with me—they vouched for me.”
“Keira’s here?”
Had her sister had second thoughts since Jo had spoken to her?
Yevgeny was shaking his head. “They’ve gone. Dmitri has quite a bit to finalize before I can release him to fly across the world.”
All Ella could think of was that Keira hadn’t even bothered to come past and say good morning. Hurt stabbed her. Then she set it aside. No doubt Keira was avoiding her because deep down her sister must be experiencing some guilt for the decision she and Dmitri had made.
Ella decided she wasn’t going to let herself dwell on the turmoil that Keira’s choice had created.
It was done.
Now there was the baby to think about....
But Yevgeny’s response caused her to realize that she hadn’t even asked her sister when they planned to leave for Africa. She’d been too busy trying to cope with the magnitude of the shock. Keira had said she and Dmitri had already booked the tickets but that’s all she knew.
“Do you have any idea when they plan to leave?” It rankled to have to depend on Yevgeny for information but she needed to know.
“I believe they leave the day after tomorrow.”
“That soon?”
Ella was still absorbing this new upset when he asked, “What will you be thinking about?”
“Pardon?” For a moment Ella thought Yevgeny had picked up on her earlier hurt at Keira’s failure to come say good morning and was asking about her thoughts.
“You told the social worker you’d think about it.” Yevgeny had moved up beside her, causing the space in the ward to shrink. “What will you be thinking about?”
Ella frowned as she realized he’d overheard the last part of her discussion with Jo. She had no intention of revealing that Jo thought she needed counseling. The good thing was at least he hadn’t detected her hurt over Keira. “It’s nothing important,” she said dismissively. “It wasn’t about the baby.”
“Did you tell her I am going to adopt the baby?”
“But you’re not.” Inside, her stomach started to twist into a pretzel. Ella pursed her lips. “I told her you weren’t suitable.”
“You did not!”
“Yes, I did.”
His gaze blitzed into her. “Because I’m single?”
Ella didn’t glance away from his hard stare. “Among other things.”
“But once I’m married that will change,” he said softly and came another step closer. “You know that.”
Ella blinked. And found herself inhaling the warm scent of freshly showered male. This close she could see the crisp whiteness of his ironed shirt.
What was he up to now?
“You should’ve seen her.” His voice took on a husky, intimate tone. “She’s so beautiful—”
Ella recoiled. “I don’t care what your wife-to-be looks like!”
At her interruption, he looked puzzled, then he smiled. A smile filled with a burst of charm and humor that Ella hadn’t wanted to recognize in Yevgeny Volkovoy. It made him all too human. And irresistibly appealing. This wouldn’t do at all. She wanted—no, needed—to keep thinking of him as Keira’s overbearing, bullying brother-in-law.
“No, not my wife-to-be. The baby.” He chuckled. “She was awake...waving her hands and watching them. Smart and beautiful. You’ve seen her this morning.”
It was a statement—rather than a question.
Ella squirmed, reluctant to admit that she’d barely glanced at the baby while she was in the ward during the pediatrician’s consultation. Then she told herself she had no reason to feel guilty. Keira and Dmitri’s actions were not her fault.
Rather than answering his question, she changed the subject. “So you’re going through with it? You’re really going to get married?”
He nodded. “I want that baby.”
God, the man was stubborn. Didn’t he ever accept no for an answer? Time for him to learn he couldn’t always get what he wanted in life. Sometimes someone else’s needs came first.
This time, the baby’s best interests were paramount. Not his.
Letting out the breath she’d been unconsciously holding since that first whiff of his male essence, Ella said, “Well, you need to know that you’re sacrificing yourself for nothing. I’m not going to change my mind. And it’s still my decision. As the legal mother, I get to choose the parents the baby will go to.”
He went deadly still. “You will choose me—and my wife.”
