Page 22 of Staking His Claim

“I caused it?” Her eyes widened. “I simply told the poor woman the truth. Don’t blame me. You should’ve explained things to her.”

Perhaps Ella had a point.

But he’d wanted to assess Nadiya’s reaction to the baby first—and it had been more than he’d hoped for. He and Nadiya had never talked much about family...or children. They hadn’t shared that kind of relationship. Yet when Nadiya had taken the baby into her arms like a woman created for motherhood, and revealed she was used to her sister’s children, Yevgeny had been overcome by relief. He couldn’t have gotten a better outcome if he’d planned it for a month. And he’d thought the baby would be safe....

Then Ella had interfered.

He stared blankly at the woman he despised as she moved the baby to and fro in small motions.

Nadiya had made it clear she wasn’t prepared to raise someone else’s child. In seconds his plan had started to unravel and he could do nothing but watch impotently. It was all Ella’s fault. Yet she didn’t even want the baby. He could understand Nadiya’s stance. It was more acceptable than the distinct lack of warmth that Ella exhibited toward a child she’d carried for nine months. That coldness, that lack of feeling, he would never grasp.

And Ella already had the next step planned—to identify a couple to adopt the child.

Which raised another thought. He’d seen Jo Wells waiting at the elevator when he and Nadiya had arrived. Had the social worker been to see Ella to discuss prospective parents?

Didn’t Ella realize it was a waste of time choosing other parents? He was going to adopt the baby. What Ella didn’t appear to get was that he was a man of immense financial reserves and infinite patience. Those attributes had made him into the mega-wealthy man he was today. He studied the fake Madonna-child tableau in front of him through narrowed eyes.

From her hesitation, it was clear that Ella had had little to do with babies. She knew as little about them as he did. But he was willing to learn—she wasn’t. He wanted this baby...and he wasn’t about to let her win this round.

The sooner she got that into her stubborn head, the better.

“Well, I no longer have the prospective wife you considered I need. But I still intend to adopt the baby.” He was proud of the lack of emotion in his voice.

Ella’s chin came up in a gesture he was starting to recognize. Instantly his muscles tensed.

“I’ve been looking at portfolios of couples who’ve already been screened. You have not been interviewed or checked yet.”

That answered his unasked question. Jo had been here to discuss the baby’s future parents. And it was equally obvious that his own proposal had not been on the agenda—because of Ella’s prejudice against him.

“Then I’ll have to remedy that,” he said quietly. “This baby carries the blood of generations of Volkovoys in her veins—she is not leaving my family.”

“Not even if it would be better for her?”

“You don’t know that.” He glanced down at the baby. Her mouth was moving up and down, tempting him to smile. But now was not a time to smile. “You could be letting the baby in for a life of hell.”

“That’s unlikely. The couples have been assessed and police checks carried out—”

“Who really knows what happens in the privacy of a couple’s home? And do you really want to take that risk?”

That silenced Ella.

As color drained from her face, leaving it a pasty shade of white, Yevgeny realized he’d overdone it. Of course, he didn’t even believe his own alarmist statement—he and Dmitri might have been better off adopted by a loving couple than ordered by a bamboozled judge to stay with his mother after his parents’ divorce. But if his scaremongering changed Ella’s mind, then it would be worth it.

The end justified the means; he’d always lived his life by that creed.

Yet unexpectedly, shame lingered within him as unhappiness and worry clouded her eyes. Her fingers had clenched, whitening her knuckles against the Disney print of the baby’s swaddling wrap. He glanced away—and caught sight of Ella’s overnight bag.

After a beat, he said, “Your bags are packed. You’re leaving.”

Ella nodded.

“The baby will be going with you.”

He told himself she wouldn’t walk away now that she’d held...engaged with...the baby. He waited for her affirmation of what he hoped to hear.

She shook her head. “No.”

Ella intended to go through with her vow not to keep the baby. She would leave her daughter behind. What kind of woman would do that? Yevgeny still found it hard to believe she could be so callous. “You will leave the baby here?”