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

Brooklyn

The next day, I go down to the kitchen in my riding clothes and wait.

And wait.

I have my breakfast with Hudson, waving him off as he goes to class, and then have about four more tiny cups of espresso as I wait some more.

I'm practically buzzing when Aden finally deigns to come into the room, which is, as usual, busy with activity.

My body responds to his presence, practically reaching toward him, but he doesn't even look at me as he sweeps through the room, then heading to the back corner, where the older captains sit.

He joins them, and they consult for a while, making plans for whatever their next move is.

I grit my teeth, realizing that I'm going to have to wait a little longer.

Forty-five minutes later, Aden walks swiftly past me, headed for the door.

Pissed-I know he saw me sitting here, I know he's doing this on purpose-I stand up and call after him. "Aden!"

He stops in his tracks and then slowly turns to look at me, an eyebrow raised.

Otherwise, though, his body gives no indication of what he's thinking or feeling.

"Can I get a ride, please?" I ask. "To the stables?"

Aden's eyes flick over me.

"No time today," he says as he pushes through the door. "Maybe tomorrow. If I'm feeling generous."noveldrama

I glare at the door as it swings shuts.

So this is my real punishment.

I head back upstairs and get changed, opting for a comfortable pair of leggings and a sweater.

Then, I flop onto my bed. I sigh, glancing over at my books, but not wanting to read them.

It's moments like this when I really miss Jayde. She was always a bright spot in my day, making me laugh,

dressing me up and playing with my hair like her own little human-sized Barbie.

Sitting up, I wonder about where she is now. I hope she's okay, that she got somewhere safe.

It's so strange, realizing someone you'd come to love is your biological family in the moment when you say goodbye to them.

Jayde was good to me perhaps because I am her cousin.

She taught me so many skills that I've found useful already in this mafia life, skills I'm not sure I truly appreciated until now.

I wonder, too, if she was also giving me hints about how to defy Aden. Considering that she was,

apparently, here the whole time as a spy herself—

Perhaps she was preparing me to take her place.

I pale a little at the idea, still not knowing-not really-where my allegiances lie.

With Hudson, I know I'm loyal. But between Aden and my father, the true real powers at play here? Whose side am I on? Perhaps neither.

But Jayde. She was the one who showed me, first, that there's more to this house than meets the eye. And that if I'm sneaky, I can find some really interesting and potentially useful-stuff in the house's most under-explored corners.

A wicked little smile crosses my face then.

Well. If Aden won't keep me out of trouble by taking me to visit my horse, then I guess...trouble it is.

I bounce out of bed, put on my slippers, and head out into the hallway.

I look both ways, realizing that I know very little about this house.

There's a linen closet next to my room, and then on the other side there's Hudson's room. Beyond that is the room that Jayde used, and then some other guest rooms.

I blink, realizing that I have no idea where Aden sleeps.

I wonder if he hangs from the rafters like some kind of evil bat. That would suit his personality, for sure. Thinking of the rafters, though, my eyes travel up the next set of stairs, which wind slowly upwards beyond my room.

I had asked Jayde once where they went, but she had dismissed the question off-hand, telling me there was nothing up there but a whole bunch of junk in storage.

I consider this now, mulling over her words.

What kind of storage? Especially if all of the family heirlooms and photo albums were kept downstairs in that little room in the basement... What the hell did they keep upstairs?

Curious and feeling bold and bored I look around for any evidence of prying eyes and then tiptoe forward, heading up the steps without a sound.

There isn't even a landing at the top. Instead, there's just an ugly brown plywood door, its shabby material clearly at odds with the fine woodworking in the rest of the house.

This, clearly, was installed late.

I reach out a hand, firmly grasping the round knob, and give it a twist-but it doesn't budge.

Disappointed, I drop my hand and screw my mouth to the side.

I make a mental note to ask Hudson what's up there and, also, to look up some basic lock-picking methods on the internet.

Shrugging, I skip back down the steps and decide impulsively that if I'm denied knowledge of the storage centers above, I might as well explore those below.

Without stopping to let myself think much about it-lest I chicken out-I hurry down the stairs and push through the kitchen door.

I walk confidently across the kitchen, not avoiding eye-contact with anyone, but not initiating it, either. Instead, I simply glide through as if this is precisely what I'm supposed to do. As if, in fact, Aden expressly told me to do it.

My tactic works, and I smile as I push through the little white door, heading downstairs. Nobody stops me and I think-nobody really noticed me going by.

As I reach the hallway below, I realize that this place doesn't hold any terror for me anymore.

My experiences yesterday got rid of those, replacing them with...well, with a little tremor of excitement that pulses through me.

I consider this, for a moment-consider whether that's healthy, really.

Honestly, a girHike me should have

a healthy fear of the Wolf King's torture chamber basement. I was still naïve and new to this world. There was still so much danger for me, and yet here I was, walking through without a care.

Who am I anymore?

As I come to the end of the hallway and push through the door into the archives room, I realize that a big part of me doesn't even care about the changes that I'm going through.

I like myself like this-this bold, somewhat careless new Brooklyn.

Maybe this new version of me was just some kind of trauma response to what happened yesterday? But I shrug as I stand in the middle of the room. Whatever. It's better than

being terrified all the time.

I take a minute to look over the stacks of porn sitting in the corner, but then I shake my head, deciding against it.

I am definitely curious-especially knowing that some of it is Aden's homemade stuff-but...no. Not today. Today I am after something else.