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“John,” Marina sighed briskly. “What on earth is going on? I called and called but I was told you weren’t staying here. Then I turn up here, and this… thisstrangertells me you aren’t here when you clearly are. What are you hiding, huh? What’s going on that you’re avoiding me?”
“I’m not avoiding—”
“Don’t give me that,” Marina scoffed. “I dragged myself across the world to ensure my daughter is safe, and you don’t even invite me to the dinner tonight?”
“Marina, I didn’t—”
“Not that I needed an invitation, but this is ridiculous. You think you can do this to me, John? Did you forget who I am? Keeping a mother from her daughter isn’t going to look good for you now, is it?”
She spoke like a tornado, a flurry of bitter words that cut through the air and silenced Jax each time he tried to speak. Slowly, I closed the door as the chill danced around my ankles.
“Where is she?” Marina demanded. “I want to see her.”
“No,” I spoke up boldly. “I’m sorry, but she’s down for the night.”
Marina spun to face me, and her eyes, like knives, cut right through me.
“And who are you?” She turned back to Jax. “Who is this? You know how I feel about strange people around Bonnie. Are you even serious about this case? You really are just doing it to hurt me, aren’t you, throwing all the rules out the window. Well, this won’t stand. Who is she?” She spun back to me. “Who are you?”
I took a breath, and Jax answered for me.
“My fiancée,” Jax said suddenly. “She’s my fiancée.”
17
SUMMER
Fiancée?!
Frozen in place, my mouth moved like a goldfish as Jax stepped across the lounge and slid an arm around my waist. This close, I could feel the tremble moving through his body, and when he looked at me, his pleading eyes silenced all truth in my heart.
“What?” Marina barked shrilly. “Fiancée? Her?”
Immediately heat flushed up my neck, and I fixed Marina with a cold stare. What the hell did she mean by that?
“Yes, me,” I replied sharply, “so I don’t appreciate you barging your way in here shouting while children are trying to sleep. From where I’m standing, you’re causing a disturbance, and you’re being obnoxiously loud so if you would be so kind andloweryour voice.”
Marina gaped at me, then her eyes narrowed hatefully toward Jax. “Since when are you even dating?”
“That’s… none of your business,” Jax said as his hand curled tighter to my waist.
“It absolutely is my business,” Marina scoffed. “Any new person in your life that can affect my daughter ismybusiness.”
“Summer, could you give us a moment?” Jax offered me an immensely apologetic look and I nodded, although I didn’t really want to leave him alone with her. What he’d told me had not at all prepared me for what she was actually like. Still, I took my leave and headed for the kitchen as Marina started another tirade toward Jax. I made a beeline for the fridge and sought out one of the bottles of light beer. With shaking hands, I popped the lid and took a swig to try and calm the frantic patter of my heart and the churn in my gut.
Fiancée.
Three mouthfuls and I started to feel calmer. The door slammed, and a few moments later, Jax appeared.
“Summer—”
“Fiancée?” I barked at him. “What the hell? And your name is John?”
“I know, I know!” He stepped forward, his hands twisted together at his abdomen. “I’m so sorry, I panicked. She’s so… she does have this thing about people being around Bonnie but it’s not from concern. She knows of my past. Back then she found it exciting that I was rough around the edges, y’know? That I knew shady people and got up to things that were less than legal. She’s hell-bent on catching me in the act, convinced I’m still like that, and I didn’tintentionallyforget to tell her we’d hired a nanny I just…”
“But I’m ananny,” I stated, pointing the bottle at him. “There’s nothing shameful about that.”
“I know, I know. But it means you’re around Bonnie a lot, and I panicked. I justpanickedthat it would be that one mistake, and I would lose Bonnie to her so I just said the first thing that popped into my head.” Jax placed his hands on the counter and his face was so crestfallen, his words so heavy that what little anger that simmered inside me promptly fizzled out.
