Brazilian's Nine Months' Notice

‘Can you even provide the essentials?’

‘Along with love and a lifetime of commitment?’ She raised her chin to stare him in the eyes. ‘Yes, I can.’

‘You’re deluding yourself, Emma, if you think I’ll let you take control of this situation.’

‘My child isn’t a situation. It’s a human being and I love it already. Just because my parents were addicts and criminals doesn’t mean I’ve grown up the same way. Or are you saying I’m just not the right sort? Is it my bank balance or my background that’s worrying you, Luc? Am I just not the type you’re used to meeting in the exalted circles in which you mix?’

For a moment he seemed genuinely perplexed. ‘I have never thought like that.’

‘Then don’t act like a jerk. Just because I don’t breathe the same rarefied air as you, it doesn’t mean I don’t have the same aspirations for my child.’

The silence was so sudden it rang in her ears until Luc said quietly, ‘Have you finished?’

‘I haven’t even got warmed up yet,’ she assured him, firming her jaw.

‘So you’re going to hide in Scotland, instead of continuing your training? And that, as we both know, can only benefit your child,’ he scoffed. ‘Know this, Emma. That isn’t going to happen.’

Lifting her chin, she glared into his eyes. ‘This is something we have to decide together.’

With an impatient shake of his head Luc growled, ‘Well, I won’t do that here.’

She relaxed a little. At last they agreed on something. Neutral territory would be better. They couldn’t stay here with the room ringing with their anger. ‘Where?’ she said, calming down. ‘I’ll meet you anywhere.’

‘Brazil,’ Luc stated coldly. ‘We’ll discuss this in Brazil.’

‘You can’t be serious.’

‘Why not? Brazil’s my home. That’s where I have decided to discuss this. You owe me that much, Emma. If nothing else, you should see the other side of your child’s heritage. If not for you, then for your baby.’

However much she fought against it, what Luc said made sense. She couldn’t deny there was another side to her baby’s heritage, but panic was already curling inside her at the thought of trekking halfway across the world with a man as hostile towards her as Luc. It had been hard enough going to London. She wasn’t an adventurer like Lizzie and Danny. She hadn’t been further away from home than Luc’s hotel, and even that time seemed a lifetime away. Once she was in Brazil she would be under Luc’s control. She’d have no friends, no one to call on.

‘We can talk here just as well,’ she insisted.

‘Let me put it another way,’ Luc suggested. ‘You come back to Brazil with me, or, if this child proves to be mine, I will have it taken from you when it’s born.’

‘You can’t do that.’

‘Are you willing to take that chance?’

She wasn’t willing to take any chances where her baby was concerned, and there was steely determination in Luc’s eyes. He had all the resources in the world to make good on his threat and she had none to fight him. And if by some miracle she could take him on, did she really want to put her child in the centre of its parents’ battleground?

‘If you can suggest an alternative plan, go right ahead,’ Luc said as he waited for her to speak.

‘My plan wouldn’t involve a trip to Brazil.’

‘Then your plan isn’t an option,’ he said flatly. ‘You’re very quick to tell me what you won’t do. Why don’t you try telling me what you will do?’

‘What every other single mother would do.’

‘But you’re not like them, Emma, because you put me in the frame.’

‘Are you saying I shouldn’t have told you?’

‘You didn’t say anything until I challenged you,’ Luc reminded her.

This was all going so badly wrong. She had thought she could stay in Scotland and work after the birth, safe in the knowledge that her child was close by in the hotel crèche. Beyond telling Luc he was the father of her baby, she hadn’t thought much further than that. She had never imagined he would want to be involved to this extent.

‘I’ll start making plans,’ he said, moving towards the door.

‘What sort of plans? I haven’t given you a decision yet.’

‘My plans to fly home to Brazil,’ he said, frowning. ‘You’ll come with me, of course. You’ll be informed when we’re leaving.’