Forbidden Temptation My Mafia Fiance's Alpha Father (Brooklyn and Aden)

Chapter 8

Brooklyn

Blood rushes to my face, and I know it has to be bright red. How the hell did she know?!

"Oh my god," she says, leaning forward, all eagerness. "Is he!?"

"No!" I protest, stabbing at my eggs more with my fork. "He's —"

Whatever I was going to say is drowned out by Jolie's roar of laughter.

Jolie means well, but she's not great at filtering her responses. She's always been over the top, and that's part of what makes her great. That she's so unapologetically herself.

But it also is part of what makes her not so great at times.

Like right now when I want to melt into the tiled floor.

"Come on, Jolie," Dad says sternly after a few moments of her laughing and watching my embarrassment. "I'm sure this young man is a great guy." He looks at me then, a little pity in his eyes. "Like she says, he's just a gentleman.'

"Okay, okay." Jolie wipes away tears of mirth. "I just want more for our Brooklyn baby! You deserve passion in your relationship, as well as respect and...book talk, or whatever you do." She shrugs. "I'm very happy," I mutter, finishing my eggs as quick as I can.

"Come down to the club with me." Jolie reaches out and takes my hand. I can tell that she's trying to make amends. "I'm not working tonight, and we can go have some fun! We'll get free drinks, and you can meet the girls! Plus, maybe we can find you some hot, sexy wolf or some broody vamp willing to...show you the ropes."

I look up at her, hesitating. I love Jolie, but we live in totally different worlds. While I've spent my life at school and coffee shops, Jolie has been a night owl, working at various clubs as an exotic dancer. Not cheap sleezy places, either, but really high-end ones where they respect her work as a kind of art. She's very talented, and she makes a ton of money.

"Come onnnn," she whines. "We'll get you more in touch with your body, get your blood flowing." She dances in her chair, showing us some of her moves, ending with a sexy flick of her long purple hair.

I laugh. Jolie has such a bubbly personality, it's hard not to want to go wherever she's going.

"I'll think about it," I say, finishing my plate. "I've got some work to do—"

"Work work." She rolls her eyes, scooping up her plate and mine. "You work way too much. Have some fun, baby!"

I roll my eyes at her and pat Dad on the shoulder as I head into the living room. He picks up his paper, eyes already on the sports section. He flips a page and shakes his head.

"Can you imagine if they formed leagues for shifters? It would be so much more exciting than watching all of these weak humans play," he muses.

He's moved on from the conversation now that Jolie is talking about clubbing.

When Jolie first got started in her profession, I wondered if it bothered Dad. But he just said that there's

no stopping Jolie from doing precisely what she wants, so why not go along with it?

"Besides," he had said, "as long as she respects herself, why should I care if she dances in a thong or a

tutu? She's a strong, willful she-wolf, and I won't stand in her way. Let her be happy."

I smile at the memory, grateful yet again for such a good dad.

In the living room, I get on my laptop and open a search engine. My mind drifts to Jolie's idea that I should get more in touch with my body and my instincts. My cheeks grow red for what feels like the millionth time today and I find myself typing "Aden Kenwood" into the search bar.

iel

I'm surprised by the results. The news channel that Dad watches every night calls Aden Kenwood the Werewolf Mafia King-or just "the Wolf King sometimes, to appeal to the human demographic and pearl-clutchers. They are always the

detailing his dirty deeds to

sites I'm looking show him standing in front of a tech company in Silicon Valley, calling him the CEO.

Another site lists positive reviews of his many businesses, with employees suggesting that he's a great boss. Still another... God, is that Brad Pitt he's shaking hands with in that photo?

Scrolling farther down, there are reports and articles about packs wanting to form and make him their Alpha. It appears he always declines...

I gather my hair in my hands, passively starting to braid it as I look through the results, trying to match what I'm seeing here with the man I met in the prison the other day.

"Whatcha looking at?" Jolie flops onto the couch, grabbing the laptop out of my hands.

"Hey!" I squeal, snatching at it. "Jolie, give it back!"

"Oooohhhh," she says, scrolling through the photos of Aden. "Now this is a hottie who could light a little fire under me, for sure." She nods appreciatively. "Who is this?"

"Aden Kenwood," I say, hugging my knees to my chest. "I had to interview him at the prison the other day because the shifter who usually does it was out and I was their only other shifter. He was...unnerving." Jolie flicks her eyes to me, considering. "Did he scare you?"

I shrug. "A little."

She narrows her eyes a bit, snapping the laptop shut.

"Okay, that's it. You're coming out

with me tonight, baby Brooklyn," she says, sliding across the couch to give me a big hug. "You've had a

hard week with your gay boyfrienet

and the scary Mafia King. You've got

to have some fun!"

I laugh, letting her wrap me up. "Okay, okay! Geeze, I'll come."

Little did I know how much these separate aspects of my life would collide in just a few hours.