Page 24 of Taboo

“I am but like, just having a bite to eat or something. Most people in the States don’t recognize me. All my bad press has been in England.”

She was sure there were a few Anglophiles who knew who she was, but she didn’t have a reputation like Pippa Middleton.

“So, what was David yammering on about?”

Oh, bugger. She definitely wasn’t sure if she should tell Nicola. If Julienne asked her not to tell her brother, she wouldn’t, but…well, at least in the past she was sure of that. Now that they were married, she wasn’t so sure of it.

“What did he say?’

She chuckled. “Something about running into Aleka again? Did you know him before this?”

She heard the disbelief in Nicola’s voice and knew that there would be no way around it. From what she had gathered, Alek had spent a huge part of his adult life in the military. There was no other way they could have met up.

“I met him in San Francisco.”

There is a beat of silence. “And?”

She could lie, but Nicola would pick up on it and then Julienne would feel guilty for lying to her. She was a shit liar.

“Fine. I had what should have been a one-night stand with him in San Francisco, and then my nightmare arrived at the meeting today looking just as delicious.”

“How delicious?”

She blinked. “That’s all you want to ask me?”

“Well, yeah, because I’m looking at pictures of him now, and I have to say, mama mia.”

“How do you have pictures of him?”

“Your brother had more extensive dossiers drawn up on all the people you would be dealing with.”

She rolled her eyes. “Really?”

“Really. He still feels guilty.”

She didn’t point out that no dossier in the world would have protected Nicola. The man who did that had been a longtime friend of Jensen’s, but that’s why he felt so guilty. His need for control was driving this, and since Julienne didn’t want him going on a bender again, she let it go.

“Tell me about Aleka.”

“He likes to be called Alek.”

“Ohh, I like it. Did you know that he was one of the Johnson family?”

“No. I would have if my stupid brother had shared the dossiers with me.”

“Agreed. Do you want me to tell him?” Nicola teased.

“Absolutely not. Good God, could you imagine?”

“I don’t know why both of your brothers act like you’re some kind of virgin.”

“Practically.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“The only man I had ever slept with was Gregor.”

“And how did Alek fair in comparison to Gregor?”

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