Forcibly Wedded: The Billionaire’s Convenient Wife

"You expect me to believe that?" he asked. "That you're her sister?"

Stubborn man, Anzu thought. Searching his eyes, she angled her head and studied him some more. Her conclusion: she would have to prove she wasn't Ayaka.

"Seeing as you're doubting me," she started, digging into her purse. "I'll have to provide some proof." A triumphant Ah escaped her as she located her ID. "Will this do?"

Their fingers touched and she snatched her hand back as if she'd been burnt. Drawing a deep breath she realized he was still skeptical. "What? You don't believe me? The proof is in your hand."

He ignored her. "The investigator I hired is highly proficient. There is no way he could have made a mistake like this."

She was momentarily distracted by his low rumbling voice, then the moment ended.

"Ayaka is my half-sister," she stressed. "Your PI must have mixed us up. I haven't lived in Australia for almost a decade."

"Likely story," he snorted.

"It is the truth."

Anzu sipped thoughtfully at her champagne. It was a heady concoction, and a trifle too expensive. She relished it.

She had little sleep the previous night, her dreams peppered with images of turmoil and apprehension. A premonition, perhaps?

"You've never met Ayaka."

"I noticed you said that as a statement," he remarked lightly. "Mokuba rarely spoke of her. And I admit, I wanted to hear nothing of her."

"Then your investigator supplied a photo," she guessed. "Black and white, right?"

He nailed her with a slow lazy smile. "What makes you think that?"

"You thought I was her. A rookie mistake."

Anzu leaned forward on her elbows, forgetting the low neckline of her dress. "Do you always, Mr. Kaiba, make a habit of accusing innocent people?"

His gaze rolled down her chest and slowly back up. Her nipples beaded at the sensation of his very thorough inspection. "You don't seem innocent to me."

Her face ignited into a ball of flame. She was just asking for that, wasn't she? When had this conversation turned from cold as the Frozen Tundra to hot as the Sahara desert? She had to set things back onto the right track.

Leaning away, she cleared her throat. "Mine and Ayaka's personalities, like our looks, are very different." She grimaced. "It is unfortunate she has inherited her mother's loathsome disposition."

Wasn't that the honest, gut wrenching truth?

Reika Asakura was a witch, with a capital B. And she had spending issues. The woman burned through money like a wildfire zoomed through the Australian wilderness. She spent a great amount of time scouring the boutiques, purchasing everything which had a designer label.

Her poor father. Shuichi Mazaki might have been blinded by Reika's beauty and charm, but Anzu wasn't. She'd seen the opportunistic woman behind the sophisticated veneer. Had seen and said nothing. How could she when her father's happiness was at stake?

Now, Anzu thought bitterly, nine years later and more than a few millions spent, Reika's daughter seemed to have filled her mother's position. Of the money grubbing kind.

She didn't want to delve into that can of worms. Too late. The can was open and spilling its repulsive contents on the floor.

Ayaka, who very much like her mother, was dripping with good looks. She was exotic all over. Lots of tumbling dark hair and curves and lightly tanned skin. And she attracted the opposite sex like a flame would a moth.

'Tis a shame Anzu had never really known her sister outside her element. Maybe if she hadn't moved away to Britain she would have.

Smoothing a hand over her dress, she scanned the crowded restaurant, spying some of Sydney's elite. Her unexpected guest in Kaiba would outmatch every other A-list clientele here.

The Australian-born billionaire was pragmatic as he was ruthless. Tall, dark and exceedingly handsome, he was an intimidating package which twanged her nerves like the strings of a guitar.

Anzu met his eyes and shivered. In the subdued candlelight his brutally handsome face looked devilish and she bit the soft tissues of her bottom lip.

I wonder what it would feel like to be loved by a man such as he…

She flushed at the very thought, and pushed her flute away. No more champagne for her tonight! She was well past her limit of two glasses and anymore she'd be waxing lyrical about his tantalizing physique.

"Have you been in contact with your sister lately?" He handed over her ID card and she pocketed it.

"Unfortunately, no."

"Don't lie to me," he growled.

"I assure you, I'm not." said Anzu crisply. "Ayaka and I aren't very close. At an early age we were both…how do you say…estranged?"

She was suddenly anxious to pick up her neglected champagne. Damn it. She wasn't an alcoholic.

"I moved away to Britain with my mother when I was a teenager. I visited my father and his other family infrequently, and hadn't gotten to know my little sister until I turned twenty one."

Hell, she didn't intend to sound so wistful, but she had an annoying tendency to leak emotion into her words. Kaiba, however, barely noticed it.

"Did you know about her involvement with Mokuba?"

Anzu blanched. "What? No." The accusation cut through her skin like a wolf's claws. "I wasn't aware of her being in a relationship with anyone."

His barked laughter was vicious. "Sex doesn't qualify as a relationship," he told her. "And that was all it was: sex."

Her skin tingled at the smoldering effect of his true blue eyes. Could a man look anymore sexy? She had to remember he had a vendetta against her sister.

"Whatever her and Mokuba's relationship was, it is none of our—your—concern."

"My brother is dead. That makes it my concern."

Yes…well. He had a point there. Kudos for his unrelenting desire for revenge. Perhaps she might slip away soon. This conversation was steering into a path she didn't want to travel.

"As charming as this tête-à-tête has been, I have to be on my way." Yeah, she was being a coward. What would you do if a man came charging roughshod on his vengeful steed demeaning your sister?

She searched for a business card in her purse. She kept a few in the event of finding a potential client eager for good advertising. She handed him one, purposefully avoiding his fingers.

"My private cell phone number is on the back. I'm staying at the Radisson Plaza Hotel. If you need help finding Ayaka give me a call." Did that come out sounding too eager?

A perfect eyebrow lifted. "You're willing to help?"

"Of course!" She shrugged one shoulder. "You're out for blood, Mr. Kaiba. And I, being the good person that I am, I have to protect my sister from you."

His mouth curled into a smirk. "I'd say I'm in for a heck of a battle."

She had to fight her smile. "It would seem so."

Her fingers fidgeted with the fabric of her dress. A beautiful creation of purple satin and lace. She wouldn't have worn such a bold frock to dinner, but Liam had insisted.

"Did Ayaka really blackmail your brother?" She had to know. She could spot a liar ten miles away.

"She did."

Her throat closed up painfully. The look in his eyes. The conviction in his voice. She felt very small inside.

"I don't believe you. What proof do you have? Those letters could have been written by anyone."

She grimaced. Sometimes denial was the only thing you had in this world. The only thing which kept you pain free.

"You do seem to coddle your sister!" He observed with rancor. "They say ignorance is bliss, but your sister has proved herself to be a feckless gold-digger!"

"There are lots of women who seek the company of rich, successful men," she argued. "That doesn't necessarily make them all gold-diggers."

"I suppose you're going to tell me the whys? About the financial stability they crave and the expensive trinkets they desire."

"There isn't any need."

"Ms. Mazaki you are truly surprising," a dark frown gathered on his brow. "Your belief in your sister's innocence is admirable. But lying to yourself won't make the truth disappear."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

He was studying her reaction intensely, those blue eyes darkening and she felt her heart leap in her chest.

Lord, he was gorgeous.

A odd look crossed his handsome features, and she wondered if he too, felt the sexual awareness between them.

"When Mokuba confessed to his involvement with your sister," he spat causally. "He told me of her interest in his business. No doubt clocking the price tag around his neck."

She lurched as if he'd slapped her.

"Why are you so confident in your brother's innocence? He could have been lying. A man can invent any excuse just to save his own ass."

"Mokuba has never lied to me."

Anzu shivered at the icy glare he cast on her. She squared her shoulders determinedly. She wouldn't show any weakness in his presence.

"Did he tell you he was having an affair? I mean, after my sister allegedly sent those letters." He was stonily silent, and she clicked her tongue. "He didn't, huh? Just as I thought."

"Are you done?"

"With proving my sister's innocence? Not by a long shot, baby."

To her surprise, he laughed. A low chuckle of heady masculinity that liquefied her bones.

"Has anyone ever told you, you are extremely sassy?"

"It's part of my irresistible charm." Joking aside, she skipped to a more serious tone. "A woman isn't always at fault when it comes to affairs, you know. A man can seduce a woman too.

"Yet, in this era of sexual freedom, it is still the woman who suffers because a man cannot control what he has between his legs!"

She was riled up and spitting fire—at him.

His lips twitched. "Do you know, Ms. Mazaki, when you are angry your accent becomes more pronounced?"

Anzu blushed, then fumbled awkwardly. "No, I...did not." She checked her slim silver watch—a gift from Liam. "This conversation is going nowhere. It's best I leave."

She gripped her purse, then used shaky legs to stand. "It's been interesting, hasn't? Can't say I'm glad we crossed paths, though."

He rose from his seat, and again she had to admire his impressive height. Even in sky-high stilettos, he was inches taller.

"Have a goodnight, Ms. Mazaki. I'll be in touch."

Their skin mingled as she accepted his hand, the smile flirting at the corners of his lips beautiful and genuine. She felt breathless at the sensation, an electric current sizzling up her arm.

"Goodnight, Mr. Kaiba."

She backed away when their hands came apart, leaving him with a polite nod before walking away in a dazed state.