Page 67 of Taboo

She laid down and cried for the loss of a love that was just beginning. She knew most people would tell her to give Alek a chance, and that was exactly what she was doing. She was toxic and a man like Alek deserved so much better.

chapter twenty

As Alek madehis way into the office on Friday morning, he found it hard not to smile. Which, from the reaction of some of the employees, was weird. The double takes he kept getting must be because of that. The whispering though, that was odd.

He stepped into his office and his phone was already buzzing in his pocket. His smile widened because he was sure it was Jules. Unfortunately, it was from an unknown number, so he hit the ignore button and went about getting to work. He needed to look at some of the marketing plans his brother had come up with for their fall promotion, and he needed to sign off on some kind of radio promo that was recorded.

His computer hadn’t even warmed up enough for him to sign in, when his door opened. The person didn’t knock, but, then again, his grandfather never did.

“What the hell is going on, Aleka?”

He glanced around the office, confusion swamping him. “What?”

“These rumors and the pictures…”

He blinked. “What are you talking about?”

“You mean you don’t know?”

He shook his head as ice slipped down his spine. This didn’t sound good because his grandfather didn’t get upset like this over nothing. He turned his phone around so that Alek could see the pictures. Oh, shit.

It was hard to make out who the people were, if you didn’t know who they were. He did, because he had been there. The shadows told him it was nighttime at Jules’ house, and the pics had to have been taken with a telephoto lens.

Double fuck.

“I see you recognize yourself.”

He raised his gaze to meet his grandfather’s. “You cannot tell who it is.”

“According to the site, it’s you and Julienne. Aleka, how could you?”

Anger hit his blood turning it hot. He didn’t like his grandfather’s tone. “How could I what? Be normal?”

“She’s a good girl.”

“And I’m a bad boy?”

“No, not that. I meant that she’s had a hard time of it in the last year and this…well, her family is not going to be happy.”

Triple fuck. He knew after spending the last few weeks working on the books, that without the infusion of money from the Wulf’s, they would have lost the resort. So many things had gone wrong in the last few years, but thanks to Jules’ family, they were now in good standing.

Alek ignored his grandfather and tried to call Jules, but she didn’t answer. It just kept telling him that her voicemail was full. A sinking feeling filled his stomach.No. They couldn’t end this way. Not when he had just started to realize what she meant to him.

“Aleka?”

He glanced up at his grandfather. Understanding swept over his face. He knew. Of course he did.Tutualways understood him better than anyone else. “It wasn’t just a one-night stand.”

Alek shook his head and started to work on what he should do, what could be done. Before he could, his phone was buzzing again, this time, it came from Wulf Industries, and he hoped that maybe it was Jules. It wasn’t, of course.

“Is this Aleka Johnson?” a very angry Englishman asked him.

“It is.”

“Good. Let me tell you how I’m going to cut your bollocks off your body.”

“Who the fuck is this?”

“Jensen Wulf, and I’m going to fly over there and take care of this business myself.”

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