Chapter 1
Sakura pushed her bathroom door open and was about to sneak back into bed when she saw a figure standing over her daughter’s bassinet. As sore and exhausted she was, the young mother threw a punch but her fist was caught and she tumbled to the floor. A strong arm wrapped itself around her waist.
“Gods help you, woman.” A gruff voice said. “You’re gonna hurt yourself even more if you do that.”
She looked up in surprise and in the moonlight, she recognized Takuya’s looming figure. The last time he loomed over her like this was when they first met. The man helped her to her feet and made her get back into bed.
“You weren’t going to tell me, were you?” He asked.
The young mother flushed guiltily. She couldn’t deny it. The man was as dark and dangerous as they came, and she didn’t want her baby to be exposed to him. Takuya grabbed her by the face, making her squeak in surprise, and forced her to look him in the eye.
“I may be lots of things, Sakura, but irresponsible isn’t one of them.” He growled.
The baby began to whimper.
“Shhh, Aiko.” Sakura soothed.
Takuya turned his gray eyes on the bassinet. A pair of violet eyes fluttered open and looked at him. He saw a bit of himself in the shape of her face, the shape of her eyes, and her dark hair. There was a bit of her mother, too. He let Sakura loose and carefully picked up his daughter.
“Don’t!” The woman hissed.
The man shot her a warning glance but said nothing as he held the child. His child. He placed a gentle kiss upon her head and stroked her tiny face. Aiko simply continued to look at her father, not at all frightened by his presence.
“Aiko, huh?”
There was one thing wrong, though. His daughter’s name held her mother’s maiden name. That would be rectified once Sakura was discharged from the hospital. He would not be denied of a child he created. She would be an heir to his fortune, one day, along with any siblings she would have in the future. Ikeda Takuya wasn’t done with Adachi Sakura. Not by a long shot.
