14. CHAPTER 14

14

JULES

A month flies by, and I swear I’ve aged another twenty years. On the positive side, Kai is doing well, he has adapted fast and spends most of his time on jobs with Simon or at Desire. The negative is that the line is slowly becoming blurred between us. I’ve caught him watching me on more than a few occasions, which I can hardly berate him for as I’ve been focused on him just as much. I can't help it. My eyes just find him in any room, and I’m transfixed. I should feel revulsion. He’s my step-sister’s son, but being cocooned here within the Kozlov family, everything outside of it doesn't seem to matter. All these feelings and emotions and the need to claim him have overridden the fact that he’s a guy and is Kai. I always thought I was straight. Maybe being straight for me is subjective. I’m not gonna freak out about it as I’m surrounded by gay men; it’s just a little surprising because it’s an attraction I’ve never felt before. But it's more than surface-level attraction. There’s no denying Kai is gorgeous. But his combination of bratty and sweet nature nearly brings me to my knees. I would love nothing more than to spar with him and then rock him to sleep with my cock in his mouth. That’s just a dream. Kai is the most off-limits person to exist as a potential lover, and I need to get my body’s reaction to him to fall in line with the rational thoughts in my head.

That’s the drama in my personal life, but what’s aged me is the fucking mess we have going on in one of our crews, which has resulted in one of them becoming Lev’s fuck buddy? Partner? Who the hell knows at this point. We know Lev is fucking Aaron, who, by the way, is the most bizarre person I’ve ever met. But his brother, Jake, who heads up the crew in question, is planning to try and ruin Lev and Dima’s business and take over. We know they were working with some of Carlos’s men without Carlos’s knowledge, and we’re now biding our time to swoop in and take Jake down. The fucker has a perverted obsession with Aaron, and his downfall will be a welcome result.

Standing in the kitchen of the main house, I pour myself a coffee as I wait for Dima and Lev. This is the new norm since both of them have partners that have taken up their lives, me waiting around like a chump. You’d think now that Dima is married to Seb, and Lev is having regular sex with Aaron, that they would be nicer. They’re not. They're worse. More impatient, more fucking crazy. The only thing that’s changed is that they take their sweet ass time in the mornings.

“Hey Jules,” Aaron says as he walks further into the kitchen, heading over to the coffee machine. His black hair is all disheveled, and with his black ripped jeans and tee, he looks like he just rolled out of bed.

“Hey.”

Aaron turns to look at me with a large smile on his face that I still can’t tell if it’s real or not. It looks more demented. I can see why he and Lev fit so well together. I’ve warned Aaron multiple times about what he’s letting himself in for with Lev, but the more I get to know him, the more convinced I am that it’s Lev who needs warning off Aaron.

“Where’s Kai?” he asks.

“He’s gone with Simon to see Carlos. Why?”

“No reason. Just wanted to say sorry to him for last night.”

“What happened last night?” I ask, my voice tightening as scenario after scenario races through my head of why he’d need to apologize. I just know that whatever Aaron is about to tell me, I won’t like it. The fucker’s big brown eyes shine with fake innocence, aware that what he says will piss me off. Aaron may be off living in cuckoo land half the time, but he knows how to push everyone’s buttons.

“I came onto him to make Lev jealous. Didn't he tell you?”

“You did what ?”

“I mean, he’s sexy as fuck, but nobody can beat Lev.”

“That was stupid, Aaron. Lev could’ve hurt him.”

Aaron rolls his eyes and rinses his mug in the sink just as Lev enters the kitchen.

“Don’t be dramatic, he hurt my ass instead,” Aaron says, laughing, before stopping abruptly when he turns to see Lev standing there watching him, with a less-than-amused expression. It's an expression I've seen over the years that he normally wears before he fucks someone up, but I get the impression this is meant more as a warning, or foreplay.

“That was nothing compared to what I’ll do if I see you flirting with him again, doe,” Lev warns before walking up to Aaron and grabbing his neck, stealing a brutal kiss that looks borderline painful. It’s the only way to shut Aaron up, apparently.

I continue to stand here like a fucking ornament as I wait for the horny duo to finish. I don’t mind them kissing, but I mind the intrusive thoughts of what it would be like to have Kai’s lips attached to my own.

“Jules, let's go. We can drop Aaron off on the way to the club.”

I nod and walk ahead of them to Lev’s car, getting in to wait for them to follow. As I wait, I send a quick text to Kai.

Why didn’t you tell me Aaron came on to you last night?

The reply is almost immediate.

Kai

Because it wasn’t a big deal. It was only to make Lev jealous. No harm done.

That’s not the point. He could’ve put you in Lev’s firing line.

Kai

You need to chill. Nothing bad happened.

Don't tell me to chill, Kai. This is serious.

Kai

Whatever.

Whatever?! What the fuck kind of response is that? I’m fired up now. Texting ‘whatever’ is a written eye-roll intended to annoy its recipient to explosive levels. Mission accomplished. I swear I will give him a lesson in taming his belligerent ways. Kai has become more snarky with me over the past few weeks. How I can enjoy that trait and hate it just as much is beyond my understanding.

As Lev and Aaron get into the car, I drive on autopilot, all sounds drifting off into the distance while my thoughts are firmly filtering all things Kai, no different from every other day that has passed since I brought him here. As I look in the rearview mirror and watch Aaron in the backseat, I notice how good-looking he is when he’s not grinning like the Joker. Christ. What if Kai wanted Aaron? What if Lev had hurt him? How the fuck would I explain all this to Jenny?

I try to convince myself that I’m more concerned about Lev hurting Kai than being jealous that Kai would actually want Aaron. It’s so stupid. Kai is an adult, and he can fuck who he wants. I know that. But just the vision in my head of that happening with anyone makes me want to smash the window screen with my fists. Screw it, I won’t allow him to fuck anyone.

He’s not yours, Jules. He’s family. But not in blood. Shut the fuck up, Jules .