7. Get Married

Stephanie:

My whole body froze completely at the sudden question. “What?” I stuttered, hoping he'd repeat the question and give me a chance to think of a lie.

Zane did not look away. “You heard me.”

“I—”

“You wouldn't.” He answered for me.

“Well, would you?” I threw back the question right to him, ready to watch him fumble for an answer, but he didn't waste a breath before he answered.

“I wouldn't.”

The realization that none of us would have stopped even if we knew it was each other settled slowly into the air, making me breathless.

Zane’s eyes flickered away from mine, but only to settle right on my lips. “You see why I refuse to push this under the rug?”

Before I had a chance to answer his question, he stood straight and asked carefully, “If it had been someone else?”

Once again, his row of questions turned me completely mute. “It would have still happened.”

Zane didn't say anything and gave no reaction to my words, simply staring at me. My gaze trailed low and I noticed how tight his fists wrapped around his phone.

A moment of silence passed, and he cursed under his breath, finally looking away from me.

He took a while to let my words settle in, giving me the chance to think about what I had said too.

Truth is, if it had been someone else, I doubt I would have lingered in the room at all. I’d wanted to forget last night and forget everything going wrong in my life, yes.

The air had been thick with the scent of his cologne when I entered. Unfortunately, I couldn't get it out of my head for the past seven days. Maybe that’s why I didn’t move and let the moment envelop me instead of running when I had the chance to.

I hadn’t stayed simply for the comfort of a faceless stranger. I had stayed for him—without even realizing it was him yet.

As twisted as it sounded, it was the truth.

When he finally did speak, and the voice was so familiar, it didn't deter me, but it ignited something primal and reckless, sending sparks down my spine.

So no, it wouldn’t have been the same with someone else.

“Do you frequent this club?” His sudden question pulled me out of my thoughts.

I squared him with a look, unable to ignore the underlying question. “Are you accusing me of sleeping around?”

“No. I'm asking how often you come here.”

“Hardly. My friend dragged me here last night.”

Speaking of which, that reminded me of Sloane. She would be worried sick by now. Thinking of her, I grabbed my bra and looked up, expecting Zane to turn away and give me a chance to dress up, but he didn't.

I turned away from him, wearing my bra and clasping it back into place, before pulling my shirt inside out and wearing it too.

I reached for my panties and trousers. “Look, I really don't know what you intend to do. But I do know what I intend to do. We were intimate; that was all. We didn't even know it was each other. Fortunately, your friend didn't see me, so this is just between you and me. I'll forget this happened.” I was certain I wouldn't but continued because I needed to prove a point. “And I hope you do eventually.” He didn't say a word, so I went on.

“Your family knows about me already; I was supposed to marry Cole, and it would be insulting if they realized I slept with you less than a week after the wedding that should have happened. Putting that into consideration, I hope you take this to your grave because I'll do the same.”

I turned to him and nearly faltered as his intense eyes burned through me. “It’ll be our little secret.”

Without giving him a chance to talk, I stood up, wrapped the sheets around me, and made my way straight into the bathroom.

The moment I opened the door, I stepped inside and slammed it closed, hoping that by the time I stepped back out, he had left already.

My back hit the door, and a deep sigh escaped me. I stood there for close to five minutes, needing to process everything that had happened.

Finally, I pulled on my panties and trousers, then stood by the mirror. Placing my glasses aside, I turned on the faucet, rinsed my face with cold water, and tried to smooth down my messy hair with my wet fingers.

I picked up my glasses and wore them back. The girl staring back at me didn’t look steady, but at least she looked put together enough to step out.

I straightened my shirt, breathed out once, and opened the door, certain he would be gone by now. To my utmost shock, he was in fact still there. He was leaning against the wall like he had all the time in the world.

I froze at the sight of him. “You’re still here,” I muttered, more to myself than to him.

Zane pushed off the wall. “I am.”

A deep sigh escaped my lips, and my finger brushed through my hair. “What do you want?”

I took my time to drink in the sight of him and regretted it the moment I looked up and realized he caught me staring.

“My family wants me to get married,” he suddenly said. I tried to keep a straight face, wondering how that concerned what happened between us.

“And?”

He looked at me deeply. “I need an heir.”

That still wasn't connecting any dots. “Okay?”

He continued, “So, they wouldn't care about this. In fact, they’d be glad about this.”

Slowly, the dots started setting in place. “I'm confused here; can you just go straight to the point? You aren't going to tell them about what happened, are you?”

His gaze pinned me in place. “I won't—”

I interrupted, “Well, that's a relief.”

He added, “But Niko would. I'm pretty sure he's halfway through announcing it to my grandfather by now.”

My brows pulled into a tight frown. “He didn't see me; my face was covered.”

“He saw you,” Zane said with a straight face.

If the room was a little more quiet, I was certain he would have heard the sound of my heart dropping to my stomach with a thud.

I stuttered frantically, “We can't let that happen. What would your family think of me?”

“Like I said, they wouldn't care.”

“What do you even mean by that? I was going to marry your brother, and—”

“They care more about me getting married than any other thing.” Zane said.

I pushed my glasses up the bridge of my nose. “So what’s your point?”

Not once did he look away from me. “Don’t you want a chance to get back at Cole?”

My mouth went dry at the sudden question, “What do you mean?”

He held my stare. “Don’t you want payback?”

What—where on earth was this even heading to? I opened my mouth, then closed it.

“Hey,” he said softly. “How about we strike a deal?”

“What?” I swallowed.

He didn’t smile. “Cole embarrassed you in front of everyone. Don't you want to make him the laughing stock and get back at him with the way he humiliated you? To make your stepsister pay and to make your father pay for abandoning you?”

My brain tried to catch up and failed. “What—how do you even know about my family?”

“I did my research.” Zane’s face stayed serious.

My face went stiff. He said it so casually like going deep about my family was supposed to be something so casual to say. “So what?”

He continued, “You’ll get the chance to make Cole a fool and get payback with your family for brushing you away. And most importantly, I’ll give you any amount of money you want, anything at all.”

My ear perked at that. He listed every single thing I wanted. After racking through my brain to find ways to get around 300,000 in less than seven days, I came with nothing. The only other option I had was reaching out to Cole to help me, which would be the most pathetic thing ever.

The offer was loud in my head, and clearly, there was a catch for it: “And this is in exchange for…?”

Zane did not look away. “You’ll bear me a child.”

“A child?” I repeated, blinking rapidly to comprehend his words. Everything went numb, and it was replaced with fury filling my chest. “You think I go around sleeping with people for money? You want to make me your mistress?”

He frowned. “Mistress? No.” Then shook his head. “In exchange, we get married.”