Taboo

Juliet had always known one truth: when her world fell apart, Bastian was the one who showed up.

He was her step-uncle, rough, scarred, and restless. He was the kind of man who never stayed in one place for long, but every single time Juliet needed him, he was there… even if he always left again.

Now her life in the city had imploded, and she’d decided to come back to the family lake house for the summer because it was the only place she’d ever felt safe. And for the first time in years, Bastian was back too.

Only this time, something was different.

The way his eyes lingered on her when he thought she wasn’t looking, and how he clenched his jaw and kept his distance when she was near. There was a thick, heavy tension that crackled between them every time they were alone in the same room.

Bastian knew it was wrong. She was his step-niece. Twenty-two years old, way too young, and way too good for him. Wanting her was deviant on every level. It was taboo, dangerous, and a betrayal of the only family either of them had.
But God, the pull was getting impossible to ignore.

The longer the hot summer dragged on, the more they circled each other with stolen glances, late-night conversations on the dock, and moments where his hand almost brushed hers.

They both knew they were playing with fire.

And when the restraint finally snapped, and they crossed that line they could never uncross, it might destroy them both.