Page 20 of Taboo

“That’s why I wanted you here now. I want you to learn the business again. It’s not like it isn’t in your blood.”

Alek wasn’t sure if that was the case anymore. The things he did for God and country had washed away some of that, the blood he’d spilled had marked him. He knew that most people didn’t see it, those dark stains on his soul. But Jules had. She hadn’t turned away from the scars that littered his body, and she wasn’t turned on by it like some women. She’d acknowledged them. That was more than most people did.

“Tutu,” he started out, but saw the determined look on his grandfather’s face and inwardly sighed. “I said I would try, but I can’t guarantee anything.”

He nodded, his gaze steady. It was hard to see him like this. He wasn’t feeble by any definition, but his thick head of hair was now completely white, and there were more lines around his eyes. He still stood tall, but there was a weariness that wasn’t there before. Alek knew it wasn’t easy running a family business, but the economy hadn’t been easy on them. That had resulted in them not having enough money for the upkeep of the resort. One thing about tourists coming to Hawaii, they expected everything to be perfect, luxurious. If you couldn’t provide that, you couldn’t charge enough to keep running.

“That’s all I ask. Just make sure you be nice to any of the Wulfs. They are good people.”

With that, his grandfather came around the desk and clapped his shoulder and then left him with his thoughts. Alek wandered around noting all the changes and many of the issues. The lobby alone wasn’t as grand as he remembered. Not that it was trash, but it definitely needed a facelift.

He needed to talk with Jules. And by talk, he meant talk her back into bed. He wasn’t a virgin and he’d had his share of women, but he wasn’t a manwhore. Nothing could compare to his one night—and morning—with Jules. He knew she would have to come by this way to get to the elevators, so he stole into one of the empty rooms and waited.

And maybe, he would be able to put his mouth on her again. Even as he thought it, his dick twitched, and his entire body heated. It made no sense this need that was clawing at him, driving him to lurk in a dark room.

His phone buzzed in his pocket. Keeping his eyes on the corridor outside of the empty office—yeah, it was creepy—he retrieved it and saw a text chain from his Army buddies.

Darling: So, how is life as a man of leisure?

Reynolds: Like his life has changed. We were always picking up his slack.

Smith: Who cares, tell us more about that wahine.

Alek rolled his eyes. Smith was the furthest thing from a local with his light blue eyes and blond hair. He couldn’t tan either. He was possibly the whitest person Alek knew.

Alek: Suck it. All of you.

Alek: And Smith, get your own woman, and don’t use wahine. It makes you an asshole.

He was smiling when he slipped his phone back in his pocket. He was going to miss those jerks, but at the moment, all he could do was wait for Jules.

Like a freaking creeper, but it was impossible not to. It was a compulsion he didn’t really understand, but he couldn’t fight the overwhelming need he had for Jules. So he would wait and find out just what the fuck was going on.

chapter eight

Once Jules finishedup with Sammie Roberts, she sighed.

“That went well,” David said rising from his chair.

“You think?” Jules asked, her mind still trying to deal with the ramifications of who Alek actually was.

“Yes. From what I understood from Nic, they weren’t exactly open to us when she and Jensen first proposed the business deal.”

She knew that the family had misgivings at first, but Jensen had worked it all out. She understood. Wulf Industries was a huge company with holdings all over the world. To a small operation like the Johnson’s resort, they had probably looked like a massive shark coming to gobble them up. But her mother had a thing for family businesses, as had her father. They didn’t always do this kind of project, maybe one every year or two.

“How about that Aleka. He’s…dreamy.” David sighed.

“Yeah.”

“It was odd the way he kept looking at you…and touching you.”

God, when he pressed his knee against hers, Jules had almost lost it right there. There wasn’t anything overtly sexual about the gesture, but it had sent her hormones into overdrive. She still wasn’t sure how she made it through the meeting without climbing on top of him. Her panties were so wet just from that little contact.

“Jules?”

She glanced at her best friend. She knew without looking in a mirror that her cheeks were red.

“Yes?”

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