âWhen were you going to tell me, Scarlett?â
âTell you what?â
âThat youâre pregnant.â
If Raiden had told her he was an alien, then flew around the room to prove it, she wouldnât have been more stunned.
Slowly, carefully, as if testing her voice for the first time, she said, âNever, I guess. Since Iâm not.â
His eyes suddenly took on a faraway look. âI have been feeling it in every inch of you. But I didnât reach the obvious conclusion because I thought youâd tell me if it was true. But you didnât.â His eyes focused on hers again, something enormous roiling in their depths. âWhy, Scarlett? Was it because you thought weâd say goodbye and I didnât have to know?â
* * *
Scandalously Expecting His Child is part of The Billionaires of Black Castle series: Only their dark pasts could lead these men to the light of true love.
OLIVIA GATES has always pursued creative passions such as singing and handicrafts. She still does, but only one of her passions grew gratifying enough, consuming enough, to become an ongoing careerâwriting.
She is most fulfilled when she is creating worlds and conflicts for her characters, then exploring and untangling them bit by bit, sharing her protagonistsâ every heart-wrenching heartache and hope, their every heart-pounding doubt and trial, until she leads them to an indisputably earned and gloriously satisfying happy ending.
When sheâs not writing, she is a doctor, a wife to her own alpha male and a mother to one brilliant girl and one demanding Angora cat. Visit Olivia at www.oliviagates.com.
One
Raiden Kuroshiro looked down at the woman standing beside him. Megumi was indeed her name. A beautiful blessing. With flawless white skin, gleaming raven hair and naturally red lips, she looked like a real live version of Snow White. And with her small, svelte body wrapped to perfection in that vivid blue dress, she did look like a fairy-tale princess. There was something regal about her bearing as she received everyoneâs congratulations on their engagement. Their wedding was exactly ten weeks from tonight.
And he felt absolutely nothing for her.
Thankfully, her feelings for him were as nonexistent.
Which was as it should be.
The reasons he was marrying Megumi, and the ones she had to marry him, didnât necessitate they even tolerated each other. Theirs would be a pure marriage of convenience.
Megumi looked up at him, ultrapoliteness playing on her dainty lips. Though smiling wasnât one of his usual activities, it was easy to answer her smile. Not that he had anything to do with it. Known as an angel, Megumi would get along with the devil himself. Which she did. Raiden was known as a fiend. Heâd been called that during his years as a mercenary, and worse as heâd slashed his way to the top of the venture capitalism field and carved himself a permanent place there.
âI can join my mother if you like.â
He barely heard Megumi over the traditional gagaku court music and the loud drone of the five hundred people filling the ballroom. It was the first time heâd been with that many members of Japanese societyâs upper crust in one place. It was his goal not only to belong to that class but to rule it. Megumi knew that, and she was thoughtfully offering to slip away so he could make the most of the event without her hindering presence.
Though it was a tempting offer, he shook his head. He was under said upper crustâs microscope, and he knew it would be frowned upon to leave his bride-to-be in their first public appearance together, especially one dedicated to celebrating their impending union.
But at least he didnât have to play the besotted groom, as he would have had to in Western societies. It was a relief that in Japanese society prospective partners in traditionally arranged marriages demonstrated nothing more than utmost courtesy to each other. Which was easy with Megumi. He didnât have to feign gallantry with her.
Not that he liked her. He didnât like anyone. Apart from his Black Castle âbrothersââwho were integral parts of his own beingâhe categorized people in limited roles. He had allies, subordinates and enemies. Megumi fell somewhere between the first two categories. Heâd made her position in his life clear, and she seemed accepting of it.
Which she should. He was the wealthiest, most powerful husband and future father of her children she could have. Even if he werenât already the ultimate catch, as an obedient daughter, Megumi would have still married him. Her father wanted Raiden as family at any cost.
And that was the main reason he was marrying her. She was his only path to the one thing heâd dreamed of all his life, what heâd been working to achieve for the past ten years.