Forcibly Wedded: The Billionaire’s Convenient Wife

"So, you can be had after all, Ms. Mazaki. "

The harshness of Seto's voice was like a slap to the face. It was a cruel stab of harsh reality which pierced her skin, left her eyes and throat burning with humiliation as she scrambled out from under him.

However much she enjoyed making love with him…having sex, Anzu amended…the intensity of such an experience evaporated in a flash.

She dragged on her dressing gown, belting it fiercely while Seto pulled on his trousers and reached for his shirt.

Inflamed with a shocking urge to strike out, she averted her eyes, silently wishing him to get dressed, leave and disappear from her life—in that order!

"There are some phone calls I need to make," Anzu said, her voice sounding not quite like her own. "You should leave."

A slight tremor shot through her, her fingers shook. She had to get out of here fast before she broke down completely. She forced her unsteady feet to carry her forwards, to Elian's room where he was waiting for her.

Choked with guilt she reached for him, stared into those wide violet-blue eyes, praying her trembling would cease.

"I've found you."

The lazy drawl taunted her, Seto's mocking tone leaving her totally exposed, naked.

"I thought you'd left," Anzu flung over her shoulder at him, still not daring to turn around.

"And I thought you were making phone calls," he said on a note of irony which made her grind her teeth.

Some movement he made caught her attention. She turned her head to see him standing near her, in front of her, so close she could taste the musk on his skin.

A dark emotion swirled in his gaze, his mouth bracketed by white lines. "I didn't use a condom. And you might already be pregnant."

Anxiety evaporated, driven away by the deadly stare of his gaze, as if he blamed her for his neglect of protection.

She glanced at Elian before settling him on the bed, then whirled around to face the man she was set on hating.

"Don't worry," Anzu began coldly. "I won't get pregnant, I'm protected. Consider your conscience soothed!"

The words were said with relish and the thinning of his lips was an enjoyable bonus. The IUD she'd employed three years ago never failed, thank God!

"You can leave now." Anzu instructed crisply, her insides a quivering mass but her voice was thankfully strong.

"I'm not leaving," his tone was as low and as deadly as a serpent's strike. "You have something which belongs to me."

His gaze sought Elian, almost gentle but with something dark that shredded her painfully raw nerves.

"Do you mean the bastard your brother and my sister left behind?" The words left a bad taste in her mouth, burning her throat as she swallowed.

"He is a bastard," Seto sounded so calm that her mouth fell open in shock. "He was born to unmarried parents, so you can stop this perversion of yours to throw my words back in my face."

"But I do so enjoy it," Anzu flounced past him, her stumbling footsteps cushioned by the carpet as she started for the kitchen. Without realizing it, she found she had prepared a bottle and was back in Elian's room.

As she fed him, she was equally aware of her nephew's suckling enjoyment and his uncle's unwavering stare. The latter leaving her stiff and tightly wound.

"He's dropping off again," Seto observed as Elian's lashes drooped. "Does this always happen after feeding him?"

The wonder in his voice clenched her heart with icy fists. "I don't know. I've only had him for two days and I'm a novice when dealing with children."

He was wise not to comment further, watching as she laid him down on the bed, boxing him in with a line of pillows.

Leaving Elian, Anzu moved to the living room, contemptuously spying the empty snifter sitting on the coffee table.

"I'm not giving him to you," she spoke to Seto when he joined her. "It might have been Ayaka's intention, but we both know she was very selfish and stupid."

His breath hissed in through his teeth in a sound of fierce determination. "Elian is not your child."

"Nor yours."

His mouth drew a grim line, the shadows in his eyes and bland expression revealing nothing. "You think you are well suited to raise him? What with your lover hanging in the background receiving most of your attention?"

"My lover…?" Anzu sputtered.

Seto's snarling and triumphant smile twisted her insides. "Your Zachary Dalton, of course." His tone was light, almost casual, but the sharpness of his gaze slashed her skin like fine sword.

"Zach?" she croaked, her voice imprisoned by the massive lump stuck in her throat.

"Yes, Zach," he echoed mockingly. "The president of Dalton Advertising Agency—and according to the London media, a once very happily married man."

He aimed the vicious taunt directly at her, accusing with a swift and dark frown.

"Are you insinuating I'm a home wrecker?" she asked, indignant color flaming her cheeks. "That I intentionally came between a man and his wife?"

"Did you?" he questioned sharply.

Anzu recoiled, asking herself with a strangled voice how could he slam her with accusations after what they shared.

Well, what had she expected, silly little fool she was? Had she really thought that he gave a damn about her when he took her to bed? When he made love to her like a starving man eager for her warm body underneath his?

Realization hit home, knocking her sideways. Because to him, it meant nothing. Not one damn thing.

"Well?" Seto demanded, breaking her thoughts. "Aren't you going to deny it? Tell me I'm wrong and you aren't his mistress?"

She lifted her chin. "Why would I do that? You've already formed your opinion of me. Whatever I say will mean nothing to you."

And because it hurt to say anything else, she refrained from muttering another word. Sighing, Anzu could still feel the brutal kick of his words, the painful memories it evoked.

What she had with Zach outside of their working relationship was a mistake—a huge mistake, fueled by grief and loneliness.

But the past was indeed something to be left behind, untouched, and hopefully forgotten.

"What about you, Seto?" she asked, forcing a light tone. "Don't you have someone waiting in the wings?"

His smile was indeed wicked. "Jealous, sweetheart?" he mocked cruelly. "At the risk of sounding like a bastard, there is a woman I am compelled to marry."

"Oh."

The words were like poisonous arrows shot through her heart, reminding her painfully she had went to bed with a man who was promised to another. Again.

"Does she know about Elian?" Anzu asked, sounding horribly broken.

Seto's eyes glittered humorlessly. "Yes," he replied succinctly. "Anzu…I have a proposition I want to put to you."

"A proposition?" she eyed him warily, confusedly. "What sort of a proposition?"

A shadow chased across his features, then rapidly disappeared without a trace of ever having been.

And then outrageously casual, almost jokingly—he exclaimed, "We should get married; how about it?"