Epilogue
epilogue
Alek looked over the crowd gathered behind their house in Maui and smiled at his bride. Jules stood in a gaggle of women, some of them his family and hers, along with a few people from the Rough ’n Ready family. She glowed with happiness. The dress she wore was simple, a beautiful ivory sundress that reached her ankles. Blue flowers decorated the soft fabric. And she was barefoot. Of course, he was too.
When her brother Jensen had walked her down the aisle today, across a carpet of pink flowers, Alek realized he was the luckiest bastard in the world.
“That dopey smile is kind of embarrassing,” Jensen said, slapping him on the back. He was holding his son Justin, who had slept through a huge part of the ceremony. The youngest Wulf blinked his eyes open and stared at Alek, then a cute little smile curved his lips. He had been a big baby, over eight pounds. Nic had blamed Jensen for that.
Alek held out his hands and the baby moved closer. Jensen gave him up.
“Good lord, I think he’s gained ten pounds in the last two days,” Jensen said with a laugh, shaking out his arm. Justin settled against Alek’s chest. “You’re a natural.”
“Kind of hard in my family. Lots of little ones.” Plus, one more on the way soon. Not that he and Jules were telling anyone just yet. She was only two months along, and they had already been planning their wedding when she found out, so they thought they would wait to tell people. It was their little secret and he liked that idea.
“I hear that Shelley Lancaster pleaded out.”
He nodded. Things with Shelley had gone from bad to worse. She continued to break their ban on her at the resort until she got so wasted one night, she keyed a bunch of cars. None of them had been his though, but one of them turned out to be a rather nasty Instagram influencer who—after seeing the footage—insisted that Shelley be arrested.
“Oh, and you’ll be happy to know that Gregor is going to avoid trial too.”
Yeah, Alek didn’t know how he felt about that. He wanted the bastard to pay for what he did. Once it was revealed he had been the one to pay off someone at Wulf Industries—who was fired on the spot—to get Jules’ phone number, Nic and David had gone to town on the man. With help of a few sources, Nic had discovered the bastard was actually the one behind Royals , the tabloid who seemed to focus a lot on Jules. His career had been in tatters and there would be no coming back from that. Nic had promised that she threatened Gregor with even worse dirt if he should ever think of getting back into politics. Alek was a little afraid of the woman.
“How can you like him more than you like me?” Jakob complained as he walked up and frowned at his nephew.
“Standards,” Alek said.
Jensen laughed. Once everything settled, the two brothers came around to liking Alek. They gave him shit and he gave it right back. Michael and Alek had always been too different for that. As brothers, they were friendly, but unfortunately, Alek didn’t know if they would ever be this comfortable around each other. He loved Michael, but they would never really be close. It was odd to feel more comfortable with Jules’ brothers. Their backgrounds were so different.
He felt a small hand on his back and, even without looking, he knew who it was. “Are you behaving yourself?” she asked.
He turned and smiled at Jules. “Always. Your brothers are a bad influence though.”
Her lips twitched. “Well, you know, bad blood in that lot.”
“Hey, now,” Jensen said.
“I demand a retraction,” Jakob said at the same time.
“I was wondering if I could get you to dance with me Mr. Johnson?”
“Your wish is my command, Mrs. Wulf-Johnson.”
He handed Justin back to Jensen, then led his wife out onto the floor. They had gotten a few of his cousins who had a band to play, installed a temporary floor, and strung a bunch of Edison lights above the dance floor. As he drew Jules into his arms, his heart filled with happiness. This woman was his whole world.
“You looked very sexy holding Justin.”
He chuckled. “That sounds a little wrong.”
“I know, right? I thought it would sound alluring.”
“You are always alluring.”
She smiled. “Thank you. And you are always sexy.”
He pulled her closer, enjoying the feel of her generous curves against his body. The scent of her filled his senses. He pressed his lips against her temple. “Are you still feeling okay?”
The last two months had been hard on her. With planning the wedding and launching her new design business, she had had a lot on her hands. But when she started getting sick, it had made things difficult for her. She pulled back just a little. “Actually, I’m feeling pretty good today. Just don’t twirl me around too much or I might yak up on you.”
“That would be your right.”
She threw back her head and laughed, the happy sound drawing more and more attention. Yes, they were the couple who had gotten married and why everyone was there, so they already had a lot of eyes on them to begin with, but this happiness she exuded drew everyone. He liked to think he was part of the reason for her cheerfulness, which she told him every day.
“Are you ready to show me your town?” he asked. They had decided to go the opposite of tropical for their honeymoon. They planned two weeks in England and Scotland, starting with London. She also had to sign off on her flat that she just sold.
“I am. It’s going to be cold and dreary, though.”
He shook his head. “No worries, kuuipo . As long as I’m with you, I’ll always have sunshine in my life.”
She settled her head against his chest, and they danced the night away.
Thank you so much for reading Taboo! Alex and Jules were two of my favorite characters I’ve ever written in the opposites attract trope.
If you loved it, please think about leaving a rating or review online. Reviews help readers find my books and I appreciate any reviews.
The first book in the trilogy is Faith :
Ms Schroeder does a very detailed plot with significant intricacies and the characters are developed to where one can understand them.
If you haven’t read Faith, check out the excerpt!