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“I—”
“I brought Nadiya to meet the baby,” he cut in before Ella could respond. “She has agreed to marry me.” He lifted Nadiya’s hand to flash a gigantic diamond, and smirked at Ella.
“No!” She realized she’d said it out loud as Nadiya’s face reflected shock. “I mean...what a surprise.”
The other woman’s eyes had narrowed and she was studying Ella in a way that made her feel decidedly uncomfortable. Nadiya’s gaze flashed back and forth between Ella and Yevgeny. Her discomfort increased. The conclusion the other woman was drawing about Ella’s hasty objection was wrong.
She hastened to correct her. “You don’t understand—”
“Let’s go visit the baby.” Nadiya smiled up at Yevgeny as her fingers walked up his arm then spread out and rested against his suit-clad biceps in an unmistakably possessive gesture. The diamond sparkled. The model turned her head, and her gaze glittered mine at Ella.
Nadiya was welcome to the man!
As the pair exited the ward, Ella glared at Yevgeny’s retreating back. He was the most devious, cold-bloodedly scheming man she’d ever come across—and she’d seen enough. He’d gone out to find the first woman to marry him—and proposed—without bothering to explain why he wanted to marry her.
He was using the young woman.
Deep down, Ella knew she was being unfair. Nadiya might be young but she was far from naive. And what man wouldn’t want to marry Nadiya?
But at the back of her mind, worry raged for the baby. Given a choice, a fashion model was hardly the kind of mother she would’ve picked out. Together, as a couple, Yevgeny and Nadiya were so far removed from her notion of ideal parents. This was a train crash waiting to happen...and the baby would be the biggest victim.
Even as anxiety noodled her stomach into a tangle of nerves, one of the caregivers bustled in. “I’ve changed the baby. Mr. Volkovoy and his friend are with her in the nursery. The baby is looking well. She’ll be fine to leave.” She stopped beside Ella and said in a tone of inquiry, “Jo said the adoption is still some time away from being finalized.”
Not if Yevgeny had his way....
But Ella was far from convinced that the Russian billionaire and his supermodel fiancée were the kind of parents the baby deserved. The last thing she wanted was to read about the baby in the tabloids and gossip magazines as so often happened with celebrities who seemed to care little for their offspring.
She might not be in a position to keep the baby. But she could damn well make sure it got the best start in life—and that meant the best parents possible.
And she’d told Jo that in as many words.
The five profiles she’d gone through with Jo earlier before rejecting them all had confirmed Jo’s statement that there were many parents anxiously waiting to adopt. But Ella had a sinking feeling that Yevgeny’s insistence to adopt might still prove a hindrance.
“The baby will stay with a foster family until I choose the final adoptive parents,” Ella answered at last.
“That will be one very happy set of parents,” the caregiver said, drawing the curtains farther back to let more light into the room.
There was nothing more to say.
Ella knew it was time to pick up the overnight bag she’d packed hours ago and for her to leave the place where she’d given birth—and leave the baby behind.
* * *
But before Ella got a chance to gather up her overnight bag and make her escape, Yevgeny and Nadiya returned—with the baby. Wheeling the cot into the middle of the room, Yevgeny bent forward to lift her out.
Ella closed her eyes. Every muscle tensed. Don’t give her to me. Don’t give her to me. The frantic refrain echoed through her head. She hadn’t wanted to see the baby before she left. Ella had hoped that the next time she saw her, the baby would be securely in her new parents’ home.
A gurgling sound broke into her desperation.
“She’s grinning!”
Ella opened her eyes. Yevgeny was holding the baby up, one big hand cradling the back of her neck. Face-to-face with the baby, his strong masculine profile provided a sharp contrast to the baby’s swaddled softness. She looked tiny against this big hulk. Ella tensed further. What if he dropped her?
“Careful!”
He didn’t even look at her; all his attention was focused on the baby.
“Look, she’s laughing.”
Nadiya leaned in toward the two of them, resting long slim fingers on Yevgeny’s arm, her silky sable hair spilling over his shoulder. “Babies that young don’t laugh. She’s yawning.”
