Claiming His Unexpected Baby (Assassins Guild #2) - Michelle Howard Page 0,19

position on the ambassador’s team and decided he didn’t want to be with me anymore.”

None of this mattered to Sulen. He didn’t care about her relationship with some loser. The only thing he wanted to know was how it connected to him. “Get to the point, lady.”

She huffed and rolled her eyes. “I had just learned I was pregnant. When I told him, he instantly demanded I get rid of it.”

The coldness of such a request was enough to give even Sulen pause. The idea of telling a woman he didn’t want his child, whether it was planned or not, was more than he could imagine.

“Anyway, I had no intentions of getting rid of my baby and reached out to a friend who lived here and she said this Gerelin colony was the perfect place to raise a baby.”

Garik had given Sulen all of his research. He knew everything he needed to know about this place on paper aside from the feel of the community. The rules of living here were quite clear. “You need to be related to a Gerelin to live here.”

She arched a brow at him and waited. The result wasn’t hard to understand, it was the how of it.

“You pretended you were mated to me to get approval to live here.”

It was a statement but she still answered. “Yes.”

***

The truth croaked from her dry throat and Amelie stood up. “I need something to drink. Would you like anything?”

“No.”

But he got up and followed her into her tiny kitchen area. His stare never wavered as she got a glass and filled it with water. Heart pounding, Amelie leaned on the narrow breakfast counter separating them. She felt safer having a barrier between them. He emanated a vibe that fairly hummed with an undercurrent of danger.

“How did you pretend to be mated to me?” he asked in a gruff voice that sent unwanted shivers down her spine.

She’d thought Roan was attractive but his looks were more surface boy appeal. This man contained a rougher edge, one that drew her with his black hair and green eyes. It would be so easy to pretend Fleur really was his.

The striking similarities in their looks would have had Amelie questioning Fleur’s parentage if she didn’t know for a fact she’d never met Sulen Czen before today. He was just a name on a form. A blank slate.

“Pretending a mate bond existed between us was easier than I expected.” She cleared her throat and set her glass down. “I filled in your information on my forms for residency—”

He went alert and snapped, “What information?”

Amelie startled and pulled back a little from his aggression. After her confrontation with Roan, she didn’t have the energy to withstand another verbal attack. “Name only. Nothing else was required because you’d been here before. Your identity was already confirmed in the system as a Gerelin.”

His lips parted then closed. He turned away and drove both hands through his hair before spinning back around and pointing a finger at her. “You lied. You used my name and lied. There are laws against that.”

“I know,” Amelie snarled. Guilt was a heavy weight to carry and she did it daily. “Don’t you think I’m aware? I was confused and desperate!”

“How did you do it? How did you form the connection and link us because I feel you?” He smacked a palm to his chest. “You’re here! In me. And I want to know how you did it without my participation.”

The barrage pounded at her emotionally. Her eyes burned with tears from his accusation. Amelie blinked them back. She would face his anger and blame. “When you were injured and came here for medical treatment, some of your hormone was extracted.”

“Without my knowledge,” he added through clenched teeth.

Shame coursed through her. “Without your knowledge.”

He banged his fist on the counter, causing her glass to jump. “You did this four years ago.”

He was scaring her and Amelie hated being scared. She’d worked hard to get over the trauma from Roan attacking her while she was pregnant. “Yes. Four years and six months roughly.”

Lowering his head, he hunched his shoulders and braced his hands on the edge of her counter in a grip so tight it turned his knuckles white. Amelie wondered if he’d become violent. If so, she’d have to go around the counter, past him, grab Fleur and try to make a run for the door to escape.

She eyed his large intimidating figure. The odds weren’t in her favor.

When he finally