1 The Importance of Birth Control

If there was one thing Cassius Fenrich – or Case, the only successor of Fenrich-Knights Group – knew with all certainty, it was that having a noisy grandfather led to Trouble. The kind worthy of a capital T.

The kind of Trouble that could lead to the destruction of his respectable persona and the loss of his rightful succession of the company. Which he did not want, thank you very much.

Of course, all of that was a rather dramatic way to start a story. The real start of this story was that Case forgot to use a condom.

In his defence, he was drunk. And high. People in their right mind would not take advantage of such conditions. However, it was also hard to forget that as one of the most eligible bachelors in the state born with a silver spoon, he was an open target in said condition.

Case, being the sort of man who was very careful in building and maintaining his perfect image in the public's eyes, would never have a one night stand while being heavily intoxicated. He had too much pride to be rendered as a two-pumps-chump who slept on top of an unsatisfied girl.

As disgraceful as it was, it did happen.

Not the part with said unsatisfied girl, surely it was beneath him. No, he was sure that she just had the best night in her entire life. He meant the sex with a lack of sound and mind.

The cause of this shameful thing was none other than Case being unceremoniously informed that he would no longer be the sole successor of Fenrich-Knights Group, or FK Group – a multinational corporation founded by his grandfather, James Fenrich and his friend, Hugh Knights – if he doesn't complete the new, totally made up, rules first.

This was rather rude, as Case was, at that moment, repairing his beautiful two-seater aircraft with his own hands and was rather too distracted to realize what he'd been told.

Anyway, once he was done cleaning his jet, and beating the lazy staff in his private hangar into some semblance of corporate order, he realized what he had been informed.

It was somewhere around gulping vodka and smoking weed in the safety of Blackjack Shot's private booth, that he remembered to call one of his noisy … acquaintances.

Well, he really was the only human being who could tolerate Case's arrogance and coldness, to be honest.

A slender man came with a bottle of Everclear in his hand. "Look at this sinful thing you did at my precious club, brother."

"Again," Case took a sip from the bottle, easy as if he wasn't dealing with the threat of overdosis. "I'm not your brother, Knights. You work for me."

"Will," he emphasized, "I will work for you, in the future, when you finally take on the CEO position. But, we share a name for the company."

"And that's the end of it."

"Ouch, that really hurts." The slender man clutched at the front of his shirt, a fake grimace on his face. "At least, call me by my first name like everyone else. It's Ashton, by the way."

Case ignored that and laid a hand on the back of the couch. "I need something to calm my mind."

"That bad, huh? I guess firing your employees at random is not calming anymore?"

Being able to cut a man's source of living with a slightly raised eyebrow was a privilege only Case had. He was the only direct descendant of the founders and the sole successor of the company, so no one dared to question his motives. And, Ashton was adopted by the Knights, hence why he was out of the picture from the successor candidate.

However, that would forever be changed because his grandfather spontaneously set up Three Grand Rules for him.

1. To be the successor and CEO of FK Group, Case must marry a woman.

2. In the span of one year, the mother must have his child to ensure that it was not a fake marriage.

3. They have to live in his grandfather's childhood house.

That's it, really.

More than that, Case would voluntarily fake his death to live in the mountain with wolves, and the company will be handed to anyone else – namely the adopted Ashton Knights.

Which, brought back, in a rather round-about way, to one Cassius Fenrich not knowing, or more accurately assuming he wouldn't need, a condom.

Look, Case was not an idiot. He might gulped bottles of vodka and smoked weed – also snorted those funny white powders – but he did so in the safety of Blackjack Shot's private booth. He wouldn't get roofied. Overdose, maybe, but not roofied.

Furthermore, he would not invite a girl to his lap and hefted her shapely ass into his bed while being intoxicated. Hence, the lack of a condom in his back pocket.

So, it remained a mystery how he woke up in a hotel bedroom, with purple bra tangling around his wrist, while a stranger was curling around his other arm, auburn red hair splayed against his sculpted chest. Drooling on his very nice but rumpled white shirt.

Oh, and his morning wood was definitely free from his nonexistent cage.

The stranger woke up and groggily muttered, "Please tell me you used a condom."

Fast forward to three weeks later.

That same stranger came to his doorstep. And not in a fun way, either.

She had a rather beautiful face, framed by wavy, auburn red hair. Again, he would very much like to see that face when she comes from his fingers – or another particular part of his body – but he was none the wiser, did he?

"Cassius Fenrich," came the trembling voice, accompanied by a pair of tearful green eyes above her freckled cheeks. "My future is ruined because of you! If the scholarship committee finds out I'm having a baby, I'll never finish my studies!"

Case felt the temperature in the room dropped. Coldness travelled through his spine, and he could barely speak. Perhaps, he would stay still and pretend that he never heard that sentence nor saw the copper red-haired girl look more fragile by the seconds.

He had always been careful. With his funny little pills and powder, heavenly smokes, devil's bottles, and girls who couldn't get enough of him. Especially the last one. His grandfather would be livid if he found out about any of that.

It was a good thing he had an impressive poker face from years of playing against the casino's big bosses.

"How much do you want? A million? Two?" he said, boredly, "I can give you five if you get rid of it and disappear from my sight forever."

Call him heartless, but Case was not in the mood to deal with –

'Hold on. Isn't this wonderful?'

A sudden crash brought his sharp blue eyes to narrow at the other newcomers who stopped behind the tearful redhead, securing her away.

"I'm sorry, sir. She slipped through the emergency stairs and went up here without our notice," the Head of Security said hurriedly. He waved a hand, and they dragged her away from his office.

As he watched the girl scream and raged, he rose to his feet.

In the case of Cassius Fenrich – former potential sole successor of FK Group – being accused of getting a girl pregnant with his child was something he could use to fight his grandfather's machination.

"Let's get married."