Man of the House: A Dark Bad Boy Romance(153)

I came, grunting Janine’s name. I came in the shower, thinking about Janine’s sweet body, the taste of her *.

I leaned back against the wall and let the shower water roll over me. What a f*cking mess we’d found ourselves in. She was claimed by a very dangerous man, and I was nothing but her f*cking bodyguard.

It didn’t matter. Sooner or later, I got what I f*cking wanted. I knew she wanted it too, even if she was pretending like none of it meant anything.

I stepped out of the shower and toweled off, shaking my head.



I pulled up at the clubhouse and was surprised to see so many bikes parked outside, especially in the middle of the day.

I climbed off my bike and headed inside, pushing in through the worn door, and stopped short at what I saw.

It was packed, mostly with guys I didn’t recognize. They weren’t wearing any cuts, but they were clearly bikers. They were sitting around in groups, not really mixing with the few Demons guys I saw.

Dow caught my eye and nodded. I headed over and sat next to him at the bar.

“The f*ck is going on today?” I asked him.

“Rebels,” he said, shaking his head.

“Shit.” TomTom slid me a glass of whisky, and I nodded at him. “Already?”

“Looks like it.”

“Thought Larkin would wait at least until the news had settled.”

“Guess he’s impatient.”

I took a hit of whisky, shaking my head. “Must be bad out there if he’s rushing it.”

“You didn’t hear?”

I shook my head. “I’ve been out of the loop.”

“Yeah,” Dow said, laughing. “Guard duty.”

“What happened?”

“Snakes ambushed a deal last night,” Dow said, “killed two of ours.”

“Anyone I knew?”

“New guys mostly. James and Parkey.”

“Knew James,” I said, frowning. “Good kid.”

“Yeah, well, James took a bullet in the head.”

“To James,” I said, holding up my drink.

“And Parkey,” Dow added.

We clinked and drank.

“So we got hit. So the f*ck what?” I asked. “We hit them back. We don’t panic.”

“Been happening a lot more lately. You know that.”

“I do,” I said. “And I’ve been out there scouting out the f*cking Snakes. They have weaknesses.”

“I know that.”

“I’ve been saying this for a while. We need to take this war out to them.”

“I think that’s the plan, brother.”

I nodded, looking out around the room. The guys all looked tough, like they’d been around for a while. There weren’t any green brothers in the place, which was good. We needed seasoned guys who weren’t afraid of a fight, not a bunch of green kids who would run at the first sight of violence.

But still, these weren’t Demons. They weren’t our people. They weren’t wearing the Rebels cut, not anymore, but they weren’t ours. Their loyalty was with Jetter, not with Larkin.

I stood up, patting Dow on the shoulder. “Gotta see the old man.”

“Good luck, brother.”

I nodded and headed back toward Larkin’s office. I knocked loudly and waited. After a second, I heard him call out. “Come in.”

I pushed the door open. Larkin was sitting behind his desk like usual, a glass of whisky at his side. Damn man could drink like a f*cking fish when he was stressed, and I didn’t blame him.

“Clutch,” he said. “What can I do for you?”

I shut the door behind me. “Wanted to check in about Janine.”

He leaned back and nodded. “You’ve done a good job so far.”

“Thanks, prez.”

“How’s she been today?”

“Seemed fine this morning,” I said. “I have Slip watching her right now. He’s bringing her here when she’s done at work.”

“Good. Things are going to get more dangerous for her, you know.”

“About that.” I leaned up against the door. “You think she still needs me?”

“Why? You think she doesn’t?”

“I just mean she’s claimed now. Why not have Jetter watch over her?”

Larkin made a face. “I don’t trust that man, Clutch. I do trust you.”

“Good. I don’t mean to question you.”

“It’s fine.” He gestured at the chair. “Sit.”

I sat down. “I’m just wondering if I can’t help out here. With all these new guys patching in, you’re going to have a lot of trouble at first.”

“You’re not wrong,” he said, shaking his head, “but I need you to watch out for Janine. At least with you around her, I have one less thing to worry about.”

I wanted to tell him that he had plenty to worry about with me around Janine. We could barely keep our f*cking hands off each other for starters.

“I get you, prez,” I said. “Consider it done.”

“Good. Word is out now about Jetter and Janine. Things are only getting more dangerous.”

“I’ll keep her close.”