Page 2 of Staking His Claim

“So what will happen to the baby?”

Silence.

Keira’s eyes turned pleading, just like those of Patches, the     beloved spaniel from their childhood.

“No! It is not staying with me.” Ella made it a statement. A         firm statement. The kind she used when     delivering an ultimatum to opposing counsel.

Keira opened her mouth.

The baby chose that moment to kick.

Ella squeezed her eyes shut and suppressed a gasp at the hard     jab against her ribs. Perspiration pricked at her forehead. She rubbed her     side.

Thrusting the pain away, she opened her eyes and said to her     sister, “Have you spoken to Jo about your new plans?” Ella suspected Jo Wells,     the social worker who had been involved in helping arrange the paperwork side of     the adoption for Keira and Dmitri, would be as floored as she was by Keira’s     change of heart.

“Dmitri is right. We’re too young to become parents,” Keira     said, sidestepping Ella’s question. “We haven’t even been married a year.”

Drawing a deep breath, Ella said slowly, “A bit late to come to     the conclusion that you’re not ready to be parents.”

Nine months too late to be precise.

Ella patted her own swollen stomach and watched mercilessly as     Keira flushed.

“This baby is due next week. All your life you wanted to get     married, start a family...that’s why you did an early childcare course.” It was     why Ella was now stuck across the sofa from her sister like a stranded whale     with a bulging belly. “How can you walk away from your child now?”

She had a nasty suspicion that she knew what—or rather, who—was     behind the change of heart. Dmitri’s big brother. Yevgeny Volkovoy.

Bossy big brother. Billionaire. Bigot.

Ella couldn’t stand the man. He’d been furious to discover that     Dmitri had gotten married without his say-so. He’d caused poor Keira endless     tears with his terrifying tirades. Only by signing a post-nuptial agreement that     allowed Keira the barest of maintenance in the case of divorce, and skewed     everything in favor of the Volkovoy dynasty had Keira escaped his ire. Ella’d     had a fit when she’d learned about the contract—and her alarm had grown when she     read the terms. But by then it had been too late. The marriage was a done     deal.

And Keira hadn’t asked her for her expertise...or her help.

Of course, Yevgeny hadn’t been in favor of the baby plan,     either. Ella had known from the moment he’d switched to Russian. Dmitri had gone     bright red—clearly he’d been less happy with Big Brother’s opinions.

Now it sounded like Big Brother had finally gotten his way and     managed to persuade Dmitri that he wasn’t ready to become a parent.

Shifting again to ease her body’s increasing discomfort, Ella     tried to stem the emotions that were swirling around inside her. Disbelief.     Confusion. The beginnings of anger. None of this cocktail of emotions could be     good for the baby. And, even though Ella had never had any intentions of having     her own child, she’d taken great care of this one. She’d eaten well—going to     great lengths to cut out her four-cups-a-day coffee habit—she’d even shortened     her workday and made certain she’d been in bed by ten o’clock each night. She’d     even taught herself to meditate so that the baby wouldn’t be contaminated by her     stressful workday thoughts.

All because she’d wanted to make sure the baby was perfect. Her     gift to Keira.

A gift Keira was now returning. Unborn, rather than     unwrapped.

How did one return a baby, for heaven’s sake? A baby that was a     week away from becoming a live person?

Which brought Ella to...

“You’re not leaving for Africa before the baby is born.” She     made it a statement. “There will be decisions that have to be made before you     go.”

Panic turned Keira’s eyes opaque. “No! I can’t.”

“What do you mean you can’t?”

“I can’t handle those decisions. We’ve already booked our     tickets. You’ll need to make the arrangements.”

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