Page 68 of Taboo

“You are not,” said an American woman from the background.

“What the bloody hell are you doing out of bed?”

There was a jostling of the phone before he heard the woman say, “Sit down and think about everything you just did that was wrong.”

“I’m not the sub in this relationship.”

“You are right now. Sit down. It’s bad enough the other idiot is on his way over there.”

He waited, impatience warring with just a little humor. He had never spoken to Nic, but the reverence in Jules’ voice when she spoke of her sister-in-law told him that this was a woman who didn’t put up with any crap.

“Alek?”

“Yes?”

“I’m Nicola Wulf. I’m the idiot who decided to marry Jensen.”

“You willnotcall yourself an idiot. You are a goddess,” her husband said in the background.

“Oh, stuff it you stodgy Brit,” she said to her husband. There was a thread of affection in her voice. “I want to apologize to you right up front. I take it you know about the story?”

“Yes.” He knew this was a nightmare for Jules. He didn’t give a shit about himself, but Jules…she had been fighting rumors for a year, and he knew the toll it had taken on her. His heart ached, worried about what she was going through right now. She had a soft heart, and he knew this wouldn’t be easy for her to deal with. No one would know that she was breaking inside, but she would be. He needed to be there to protect her.

“I’m sorry it got out. If I had been on top of things, I would have heard about this, but since I’m carrying Jensen’s demon spawn, I’ve been stuck in bed mostly.”

“And that’s where you should be right now.” Jensen was just not going to let that go apparently.

She ignored her husband. “So, Jakob is on his way over there because he thinks he needs to shield his sister. Like she isn’t an adult. Either way, the story will be down by the top of the hour. The damage is done though.”

He sighed. “I just found out. I tried calling her.”

“She’ll keep the phone off. Her new number got leaked.”

“How the hell did that happen?”

“I really have no idea. Someone who has it out for one of you must of have gotten hold of it.”

He thought about yesterday and how Shelley showed up…again. The woman had been relentless and even though this was his family’s resort, she had a lot of friends who worked on the staff. People she could count on to get some kind of information. He had no proof, but his stomach clenched at the thought of that bitch doing this to Jules.

“I have a really bad feeling it could have been someone from my past.”

There was a long pause. “But not your present?”

“I’ve made itveryclear.”

“Good. David will be handling all of this once he gets there, but I sent him with Jakob because he needed a keeper.”

“He’s not a little boy,” Jensen said loud enough for him to hear.

“He’s flying halfway around the world to confront Alek, so yeah, that doesn’t inspire any confidence. Alek, I’m really sorry about this.”

“You don’t need to apologize to me. We should have been more careful.”

“Bullshit.”

He found his first genuine smile since his grandfather had burst into his office. “Is there anything my family can do? Anything I could do that would help Jules?”

“Hmm, well, if you haven’t had them hit you up yet, you’re going to have more than a few reporters trying to get in touch with you. And, unfortunately, since you’re at a resort, they’ll pop up soon. I would suggest going home. Work from there. I’ll handle all of this.”

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