Man of the House: A Dark Bad Boy Romance(177)

I nodded. “Okay.”

“Scream,” he repeated, and then he looked away again.

I took a deep, steadying breath and then walked over toward my future husband and away from the man I really wanted.

Jetter spread his arms wide. “What do you think?”

I shrugged. “It’s nice.”

“Nice?” He laughed. “Don’t be shy. It’s f*cking great.”

I smiled weakly. I had no clue what this little visit was about, or why he was trying to impress me. Maybe the reality of our situation was hitting him pretty hard and he was just beginning to realize that he was marrying a stranger.

“It’s great,” I said.

“Come on. I’ll give you the tour.” He disappeared inside the door.

I glanced back at Clutch, but he wasn’t watching.

Clutch was right. I had to do this myself. I couldn’t keep relying on that man to keep me safe. I took a step and then another. Then I followed Jetter into the trailer.

It was about what I expected, but a little nicer. The cabinets were all wood and the countertops were granite. The door led right into the kitchen, and that had a small table and a small couch.

“Kitchen and living room,” he said. He opened up a cabinet and there was a flat screen TV inside. “We got satellite out there. Works pretty good.” He shut it and beckoned for me to follow him.

My heart was beating fast in my chest. “Bathroom,” he said, pointing to a door. I peeked inside, and it wasn’t that bad, although it only had a standing shower.

We moved into the back room, which was the whole end of the trailer. It was the master bedroom, and I had to admit that it was pretty nice. Everything looked new, including the sheets, and the room was fairly large.

“Walk-in closet,” he said, “for all your clothes and such.” He pointed out a few other features like a realtor trying to make a sale. Finally, he sat down on the bed. “What do you think?”

“It’s nice,” I said.

“Liar.” He smirked at me. “I know you’re not used to trailers, but you’ll like it here.”

“Never lived in one,” I said. I leaned up against the wall, keeping distance between us.

“I know you don’t like me, Janine,” he said. “I can’t say I blame you.”

“Why’s that?”

“All the history with me and your old man.”

“You betrayed the club,” I said simply.

He laughed. “Is that all he told you people?”

I raised an eyebrow. “Is there more to the story?”

“Of course there f*cking is.”

That surprised me. I always assumed that my father told me everything and didn’t hold anything back. I always assumed that the story about Jetter was entirely true.

“Want to hear the real story?” he asked.

“Is that why you brought me here, to tell me a story?”

He laughed again. “I brought you here because we’re getting married soon. Might as well try and get to know each other before we get hitched.”

I nodded slowly. “Okay. Tell me a story then.”

He grinned. “Happened a while back. The Demons weren’t always as strong as they are now.

“Your daddy was our leader back then like he’s your leader now, but he didn’t have as much strength back then behind him. We were fighting for survival in Austin, fighting with a few other club. The Rebels were one, but there were also the Broken Gates, the Hellfire, and a bunch of other little groups.

“We were f*cking young back then. Larkin wanted to grow and wanted to do it aggressively, but we were really nothing. We started by taking on a few of the smallest clubs, absorbing them where we could and taking them by force where we couldn’t. It was bloody war, year after year of it.

“And then I met Jolene. Fuck, Jolene was beautiful. She was hanging around this little club—they were the Black Aces if I remember right. Anyway, we killed off her club, and her and I took to each other. You know how that can be with young people. Fuck, we were in and out of bed. That girl was just too incredible.

“Anyway, I was f*cking in love. Me and Jolene, we went everywhere together, did everything together. I couldn’t picture my life without the girl.

“And then your old man met her. I don’t know how or when, but Jolene and Larkin, they started up with each other. You know what I mean, messing around behind my back.”

“I never heard about this person,” I said.

“Of course not,” Jetter said. “You think Larkin wants people to know that he stole a woman from one of his club members?”

“Anyway,” he said, continuing the story, “they got together and that was that. She left me one night, just up and packed her things and moved in with him. Needless to say, I was f*cking devastated. Fucking destroyed.

“But I didn’t let it get between me and the club, because that’s how things are. You did what you did for your club and that was the most important thing. We kept fighting, cracking skulls, and we were winning. We were growing.

“We were growing too fast. One of the biggest clubs was called the Gentleman Bastards. For some reason, Larkin thought we were ready to take them on. He picked a fight, started pushing onto their territory, basically got the guys to be real aggressive.