Page 66 of Taboo

“We barely know each other.”

Dee shrugged. “Sometimes you know right away. You just click.”

Julienne sighed. “I have obligations.”

Dee patted her hand. “It will all work out. Believe me, I didn’t think Micah and I would make it. But we did, against all the odds.”

“Because Micah wasn’t about to let you go. He hunted you down.” May looked at Julienne. “He did. Her brother stole her, then Micah had to find her. He used to be a bounty hunter you know.”

“Really?” Julienne asked. “I need to know this story, right now.”

Dee smiled, completely at ease with the direction of the conversation, but Julienne saw the look in the other woman’s eyes. She definitely knew that Julienne was trying to deflect attention, but apparently, she was going to let it go for now.

Around six the next morning, Julienne’s mobile buzzed on the table next to her, jolting her out of sleep. It amazed her she had slept this late. After stretching, she reached for her mobile and saw Nic’s face on the screen. Panic set in as she started to get some texts, but she ignored them. She clicked on the FaceTime call.

“What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

“No, but we have a nightmare on our hands, Jules.”

Then she realized Nic was frowning at her. Anger was easy to see in the set of her eyes and the dark frown she had on her face.

“Tell me,” she demanded.

“I guess you didn’t see the pictures?”

A sense of foreboding hit her. “No. I’ve been sleeping.”

Her sister-in-law sighed. “Okay, I’ll send you the stuff fromRoyals.Your mother is furious.”

Julienne nodded but said nothing. She saw the text and clicked on it and then the link. Oh, bloody hell. They were pictures of her and Alek from…it looked like Friday night. It was when she was giving him head. Some bastard had taken what was a beautiful memory and ruined it. Anger and pain shifted through her. He was going to hate her.

Before she could register the fact that she was crying, the tears were streaming down her face.

“It gets worse. Someone got hold of your number. They just posted it.”

Now the texts made sense. “They’re already texting. I’m turning this off,” she said. “Get me another phone with a new number and call Alek.”

Nic nodded. “Don’t worry. We will take care of this. I am so sorry.”

“This isn’t your fault.”

“Not for that. Sorry that David, Jakob, and Lillian are on their way over to Hawaii.”

“What? Why? And why didn’t you tell me before now?”

“Sorry. I just now found out about all of this. They up and left in the middle of the night.”

Oh, god, this just kept getting worse and worse. And all through the conversation, her phone kept pinging. Dick pics, calling her the worst names…all of it horrible.

“Please tell Alek so he knows what’s going on. I would hate for him to be hit with this before we tell him.”

“Anything. I got this. Turn off your phone and I will get a new one to you. I love you, Jules.”

She nodded, but she couldn’t say anything else. She shut her mobile off and tossed it across the room. She buried her face in her hands. How did this keep happening to her? She wasn’t a horrible person. Truly. She could be a bitch, and a little fussy about her tea, but she must have been a monster in another life to have this happen to her.

And now her relationship with Alek was ruined. There was no way she could make this up to him. And that was what she got for trying to start over. She made one mistake, trusting Gregor. Their relationship had been expected, as was their engagement. But even in the beginning, with their lackluster sex life, she’d had misgivings. The problem was that she didn’t trust her instincts back then. Now, she understood that she was right and everyone else was wrong. And now Alek had to pay the price.

Her heart actually hurt as if someone stabbed it. She knew what bone deep sadness meant. It went beyond the embarrassment of that photo. She was in love with the man. She could see it clearly now. The idea that she would never see him again almost stole her breath, but that was what would happen. The press would be too much and she couldn’t blame him.

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