Forbidden Temptation My Mafia Fiance's Alpha Father (Brooklyn and Aden) novel Chapter 99

Chapter 99
Brooklyn

Aden doesn’t wait for me to climb the steps up to the house. Instead, he goes in ahead of me, leaving me to follow dutifully behind.

I would feel better, frankly, if Aden would just freak out at me. Yell at me, lose his temper. Give me a command.

At least I’d have something to follow or fight against.

But this Aden? The quiet, controlled, considered Aden?

He’s the one I’m most afraid of. This is the Aden that Lena is also very unsure of, cowering inside me.

I look down at my feet as I climb the steps, feeling every bit the naughty schoolgirl about to get yelled at for breaking the rules.

The pleasant buzz that the tequila built in my mind gets wiped away by anxiety and adrenaline. It’s as if my body knows that I have to be focused right now to face him.

When I walk into the house, I see that his office door is open, a silent demand for me to enter.

I take a deep breath, steeling myself, obeying that command and then walking into the office, stopping just as I cross the threshold.

It’s okay, I tell Lena as she whines. We’ll be okay.

“Close the door,” Aden states, his back to me as he leans his arm against the mantel of the fireplace, staring down into the flames.

I jump into action and push the door shut behind me.

I’m afraid to turn and face him. But I do, leaning against the door, waiting for him to deliver his judgment.

Aden just stares at me for a long moment. Then, he begins.

His voice is low when he asks, “What the hell did you think you were doing today?”

I open my mouth, then close it, not really knowing what to say.

Not only do I not know what I was doing, but I apparently don’t know how to respond to this question, one that I very much should have seen coming.

So, in the absence of anything else, I just tell him the truth.

“I acted on instinct,” I tell him, my voice a whisper. “Colsen was there, his car in the road. Lucas was going shoot at him and get himself killed.”

“So you decided to put yourself at risk.”

I shake my head. “No. I knew Colsen wouldn’t hurt me. I went to tell him not to come any farther, and he said he wouldn’t if I…left with him.”

“So you went on a date?” Aden asks condescendingly, putting his hands in his pockets and slowly walking over to my place by the door. “With that low-life, scumbag shifter?”

“It wasn’t…” I start.

But he’s not finished. “You thought that the best response to my enemy, the wolf dead set on bringing all of us down?”

I blush as he comes to stand before me, his feet spread wide in a powerful stance.

“It wasn’t a date,” I murmur, looking down at my feet, feeling the redness on my cheeks deepen.

He laughs at me then. A low, disdainful thing.

“Drinking all day at a bar. Laughing, kissing,” he chides, leaning forward towards me. “It sounds like a date to me.”

I whip up my head glaring at him. “We didn’t kiss,” I blurt out, defiant.

He takes a breath, scratches his chin. “You were seen today. Did you know that? That place he took you—it’s a gathering place. Filled with shifters and the underworld alike.”

I take a breath. Of course. I had noticed the other wolves there. Had wondered why it was filled with them.