Page 5 of Fletch

“How exactly did you do that?” demands Grizz.

I glance down at my hands, picturing the hurt on Gemma’s face the last time she saw me. “I screwed her best friend.”

A few of the men laugh, but Axel doesn’t look impressed. “And how did that go down?” he grits out.

“As you’d expect. Like a fucking lead balloon.”

“Is she the type to target us because of what you did?”

I shake my head. “Nah,” I reply. “She’s all good. Besides, wouldn’t she have already come for me by now?”

“Not if she didn’t know where you were,” Smoke points out.

“It wouldn’t be hard to track me, I’ve been arrested enough times.”

“Either way, she’s not going away,” mutters Grizz. “Any chance you can sweet talk her?”

I laugh. “She’s made it clear how she feels about me,” I reply.

“Wouldn’t hurt to grovel a bit though,” he adds.

I narrow my eyes. “You trying to punish me?”

He grins. “You know I like to see you squirm.”

“He’s got a point,” Axel cuts in. “It wouldn’t hurt to sort it out with her.”

“She won’t give a shit, Pres. It was ages ago, and besides, she’s engaged.”

“Brother, if I know anything about women, it’s that they never get over anything like that. Now, go fucking apologise,” he snaps.

Gemma

There wasn’t one fucking thing at the club, not even a tenner’s worth of weed. My superior glares at me while my father paces the room. “It’s like they knew we were coming,” I mutter feebly.

“Impossible,” snaps my father. Everyone assumes I got to where I am because he’s Chief of Police, but it’s crap. He wouldn’t give me a helping hand in anything, let alone a career where he feels I don’t belong. Women don’t belong in power. That’s what he told me when I decided to go for the position of Sergeant. I did it anyway, moving well away from him and settling in Leeds. I worked my way up, not bothering to speak to him about my success because he’d only have pissed on my parade. Now, there’s no hiding it.

When I turned up to interview for this position, he about shit his pants. And I’m certain I wasn’t his first choice, not because I wasn’t perfect for the role, but because he’d hate that I’d be proving him wrong. Luckily for me, I had plenty of people backing me, as well as a panel of eight other superior officers who clearly went against him.

“We knew there’d be a possibility they’d see us coming. Since Lexi Cooper, they’ve been hiding things much better. They’re less cocky. We just keep up the pressure, and they’ll slip up eventually,” says Karen, my Chief Superintendent, and I give a nod. “Good work today. The plan went without a hitch. It just wasn’t our day.”

I get in my car and bang the steering wheel several times. “Fuckkkkk,” I scream. “Fuck, fuck, fuck!” I was certain there’d be something in that clubhouse. They knew we were coming, and I don’t give a fuck what my father says. They must have spies on the inside.

I start the engine, and it rumbles before dying. I groan, turning the key a second time. It splutters before coming to life, reminding me it’s due an MOT. I’m almost home when the traffic lights turn red and my car dies again. I growl, turning the key and listening as the engine ticks over. “You piece of crap,” I hiss when it refuses to start.

Glancing in my mirror at the long line of traffic, I wince as I put on the hazard lights before climbing out and opening the bonnet. I have no idea how to fix a car, but at least I can hide behind the hood until the traffic has cleared. The light changes to green and some cars begin to beep while others take their time to manoeuvre around me and into the second lane.

The rumble of motorbikes slows as they near me, and I close my eyes briefly when I see two Chaos Demons slow beside me. Fletch removes his helmet and gives me a big grin. “Car trouble?”

“Nope, I just love holding up traffic.”

His friend removes his helmet and he also looks smug. “Pity you don’t know a good mechanic.” They share a laugh.

“Don’t let me hold you up,” I mutter, slamming the bonnet.

“You want a lift?” asks Fletch.

“No.”

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