Forbidden Temptation My Mafia Fiance's Alpha Father (Brooklyn and Aden) novel Chapter 8

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.