“Oh, pequena,” he gasped.
She held out her thin arms. Diogo raced halfway up the stairs and took the little girl in his arms. This time, there could be no doubting the brilliance of her smile.
“After all,” she chirruped happily, “someone has to teach those babies how to play!”
He hugged the child fiercely, looking at Ellie over her shoulder.
“Thank you, Ellie,” he whispered, and there were tears in his eyes. “Thank you.”
“She can't be trusted,” Angelique howled shrilly. “Who are you going to believe, her or me?”
With his free hand, Diogo took his wife's hand in his own.
“I believe my wife fired you,” he said coolly. “You have five seconds before I toss you out the door.”
“You wouldn't.”
He took a step toward her, and Angelique fled.
Diogo turned back to his little family.
“Come,” he said tenderly. “Let's go home.” He kissed the back of Ellie's hand. And in his dark eyes, she saw a new warmth—and beneath it, the promise of fire.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
I'm going to take her from you.
DIOGO STARED DOWN at the note in his hands.He'd shrugged off the notes at first. The first one, in his briefcase when he returned from a business trip to New York in early June. The next on his private plane in September. Now this one, tucked in the car that his wife and daughter used in Rio.
Guilherme swore he didn't know how the notes got into the Bentley, and Diogo believed him. So how had they gotten there?
But he already knew who'd sent them, knew it down to his bones. Timothy Wright. The ruined lawyer had gone underground, hunted by the American police—and now apparently determined to take his revenge against the former boss who'd given evidence against him.
How was Wright leaving notes like this, in Diogo's private, protected world? In spite of all his bodyguards? Was the man a ghost—a demon?
I'm going to take her from you.
Diogo crumpled the note in his hands and tossed it into a trash can on the street outside the Carlton Palace. His men would track Wright down. But why was it taking so long? Diogo couldn't protect his family if he couldn't find his enemy. He'd had enough, he thought with a growl. It was time for him to call all his men—and call in some favors.
He wanted the bastard found.
Getting out of the elevator on the ninth floor, he gave his waiting bodyguards instructions. Pedro promised he'd take extra care, but Diogo was still tense as he pushed open the door into the penthouse.
Two pairs of feminine eyes looked up at him happily from the kitchen. Catia wore a fancy pink dress and a tiara. Next to her, Ellie was heavily pregnant, gorgeous and radiant wearing a simple black knit maternity top and straight-legged pants.
“Papa, you're home just in time!” Catia chortled. “I made dinner all by myself!”
He raised an eyebrow, glancing from his pretty, glowing wife to his daughter. Ellie was due to have the babies any day, while Catia had really blossomed from the five months in her care. Her young face sparkled beneath her tiara.
“Dinner smells delicious,” he told her. “I've never had a princess cook my dinner before!”
“Oh, Papa. The dress isn't for cooking your dinner,” the little girl giggled. “I'm a princess for Beatriz's party!”
Diogo dimly recalled that a Brazilian general's daughter was having a slumber party for several friends from their private school. Halloween was increasingly celebrated in Rio—Cariocas always on the lookout for another excuse for a party.
“Do you like my tiara?” Catia reached up on her head to touch it. “Mom and I glued on the rhinestones ourselves!”
“It was fun,” Ellie said, hugging the little girl and tousling her hair affectionately. She glanced up at Diogo with a sudden laugh. “Oh, I just spoke with my grandmother…”
“Yes?” he said innocently.
“She got the birthday present you sent, and she's the envy of all her friends. You really don't fool around when you give presents, do you?”
“The grandmother who raised you deserves the best.”
Ellie's blue eyes glowed. “I can't imagine what possessed you to send a seventy-year-old woman a yellow Ferrari, but she's been joyriding all over Pennsylvania.”
“I saw that orange lipstick, and knew it would take a lot to impress her.”
“Gran says she's never had so much fun in her life. She really wants us to move back.” She paused. “She sent me a link to all these great schools in New York…”
Not this old argument again. Irritated, he shook his head. “There are good schools here.”
“I know. I know. But New York…” Her voice trailed away wistfully.