Page 56 of Fletch

She pushes me into my cell but remains in the doorway. “You’re right, it was never going to work. I’ll go back to my life, and you go back to yours.”

I eye her suspiciously. “What do you mean?”

“Just what I said. I have stuff going on.” She looks away and her expression is troubled. Suddenly, I have the urge to know everything, but before I can ask, she forces a smile. “And I’d rather not make my life more complicated by chasing your club down. So, you win. Go back to your life and I’ll leave you alone.”

“Really?”

“The big man at the top won’t fund this forever, and we’ve found nothing so . . .” she trails off. “Goodbye, Fletch.”

She leaves, slamming the door and locking it. I sigh. If she’s being honest, it’s exactly what we wanted . . . so why the fuck does it feel so shit?

I’m released pending further enquires at eight a.m. that morning. They’ll find nothing on the knife. It’s brand new and purely for protection, and it’s been under my mattress for months. I’d just forgotten about it and the last search wasn’t thorough enough.

Axel is waiting outside the station in one of the club’s cars. He gets out when he spots me. “You good?” I nod, getting in the car, and he does the same. “What the fuck was all that about?”

“I’ve been ghosting her,” I admit. “She wasn’t happy.”

“Jesus, Fletch, why didn’t you let her down gently?”

“Cos I thought it was better to just cut it off. Anyway, it doesn’t matter. She’s dropping her vendetta.”

I feel his eyes on me. “Really?”

“I was suspicious too, but she told me the guys at the top won’t fund it anymore. They haven’t found anything, so she’s stepping back.”

“Do you believe her?”

“Yeah.”

He smiles. “That’ll do for me.”

At the clubhouse, Nyx is still in my bed with whoever this latest conquest is. I give him a nudge, and he stirs, opening one eye and smiling. “You’re back?”

“Why are you in here?” I ask, kicking off my boots.

“Didn’t wanna ruin my sheets, Duchess said she’s sick of washing them.” He yawns, stretching out. “Did she get the message?”

I give a nod. “Yep. Think she got it loud and clear.”

He grins. “I thought you’d cave and tell her you didn’t fuck her.”

I run my eyes over the sleeping blonde. “Nah, she needed to think the worst of me so she’d move on.”

“Well, if that didn’t do it, the recording certainly will.”

I frown. “What are you talking about?”

“The sex tape. The police took it.”

I freeze. “What?”

“They took it.”

“How the hell did they find it?”

“They forced Axel to open the safe. It was in there.”

I run my hands through my hair. “That was for us to use to get her to lay off, not for the police to find.”

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