He'd thought that it was enough for him to bring Ellie to Rio. To take care of her, to keep them all safe. But now he saw that he'd been wrong…so wrong.
A son. A daughter.
Without his name.
His precious newborn children wouldn't be protected. They would be…bastards. Just like Diogo had been.
He still remembered the pain of his childhood. First he'd had no father—then later, no mother. No money. No home.
He'd had to toughen up fast.
He didn't want his children to grow up that way. He had to protect them. He had to keep them safe.
His hands gripped the edge of the sofa as he looked up again at the blinking lights on the monitor.
He heard the plaintive whisper of a woman's voice from long ago. Will you marry me? Will you?
But he hadn't asked her questions; he'd just been furious. Marry her? He'd been incredulous that she would try to pin him down after three dates in as many weeks. If you don't care about me, she'd whispered, then I'm done with you.
He'd never seen her again. He'd forgotten her swiftly. Until he got the call from the Brazilian lawyer at Christmas last year. She was just found—beaten to death. Your name was in her will.
Diogo's whole body was tense as he clenched his jaw. He wasn't going to make that mistake again. Too much was at stake. Ellie was his new chance to do it right—from the very start. The happiness of his children depended on it.
Allow Ellie to take them to the States?
What kind of home would it be for them, caught between two continents, between two families? His children would barely know their father. Perhaps they, too, would hate him….
Maldição, he swore soundlessly, no! He would not let his children suffer—not let them be torn away from the father that loved them! They would be respected. They would be loved.
By both parents.
Ellie was traditional, not like the modern women of the age who were happy to make a go of parenthood alone.
Isn't it bad enough that my baby will be born without a name? she'd cried. Bad enough that I'm an unwed mother—bad enough that everyone thinks I'm your whore? Are you so selfish that you want to make it true? To take the last bit of pride I've got left?
He could solve this problem. For all of them.
Suddenly, it was all so clear.
He looked straight into Ellie's eyes.
“You will marry me.”
Ellie's jaw dropped. “What?”
He'd never thought he would propose to any woman, but it was strangely easy. “You will stay here. We will raise our children together. It is simple, Ellie. You will be my wife.”
He waited for her to exclaim with joy, to throw her arms around him, to proclaim her thrilled gratitude. But she didn't.
She flinched.
“Stop it, Diogo. We know you're not the marrying kind.”
He frowned at her. “I've changed my mind.”
“Just stop it!” Blinking hard, she turned to the doctor. “The babies are healthy, aren't they? My cycle has never been even, so I didn't even take a pregnancy test until recently. But I never drank alcohol or—”
“Do not worry. They look fine,” the doctor said soothingly, glancing between them. “The pregnancy is going well. You'll just need to take good care of yourself.” She gave Diogo a hard stare. “You'll need to help her.”
“Sim, of course.” Biskreta, he was trying to take care of her as he'd never taken care of any woman—he was trying to make her his bride! Leaning forward, he persisted, “Ellie, I am serious. I wish to marry you.”
She cast her blue gaze on him, then looked away. She didn't believe him.
The thought was ironic. He'd never thought he would so willingly give up his freedom, but here he was, begging a woman to marry him. Only to have her turn him down!
But Ellie would be his. Diogo wanted to keep her for his children, sim. But also for himself. He would keep her in the nursery. Keep her in his kitchen.
Keep her in his bed.
Diogo had made up his mind. Marriage was the best—the only—solution for all of them.
He glanced back at the monitor. Watching the tiny flickers of two heartbeats on the ultrasound screen, his own heart enlarged in his chest. He glanced down at Ellie. Her sweet, pale face looked back at him.
“Twins,” she said in a low voice. “Can you handle two?”
“I can handle more than that.” But two children needed two parents. He opened his mouth to inform her that they would be married today, whether she wished it or not.
Then, looking at her pale, beautiful face, he stopped.
He'd seduced Ellie. Gotten her pregnant. Broken up her wedding and dragged her to Rio. He had completely turned her life upside down.
She was the mother of his children. She deserved his care. So why not be gentle? Instead of bullying her into marriage, why not simply woo her? After all—he smiled to himself—he'd never had any woman resist him for long.