Page 22 of Our Blood, Our Pain

“Are you my fucking dad? You can’t tell me who I can flirt with, Jules. You’re not the boss of me!”

“Yes, I fucking am. You’ll do as you’re told, Kai, or so help me you’ll regret testing me.”

“You wouldn’t dare touch me.”

I grab his hair at his nape and tug on it hard until he shouts out.

“I wouldn’t be so fucking sure about that, Kai. Now, be a good boy and be quiet.”

I’m so aroused right now, it's not even pleasant. I want to rut into him and show him who’s boss. His attitude will be my undoing, and I’ve no idea what lengths I’d go to, to keep him in line. Kai slowly nods his head in agreement, so I let go and start the engine.

We drive in silence, walk into the house without a word, and part ways to our own rooms where we don’t speak or see each other for the rest of the night. I have to draw a line with this unspoken connection that’s building like wildfire between us. Too much chemistry. I’ll just stick to being his family, guiding him through life here and hope we can get past it.

But I want him.

But you can’t have him.

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.”

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