Page 7 of The Reaper

“I don’t think the Reaper’s MC would be too happy if anything happened to one of their men’s girlfriends while he’s staying under her care at Eastward Prison. Do you? I can’timagine what they’d do to the person who harmed her…” She played her card, held her breath and waited.

He hissed, but his hand released on her arm.

“This isn’t over Hannah, you know what I can do to your family, how I can destroy their business, how your daddy depends on that income for his medical care, how your brother has mortgaged his house to the hilt to pay off the business’ debts-”

“Fuck off, Paul. You can’t scare me.”

“Oh, Hannah, has your new Reaper boyfriend taught you a thing or two about standing up for yourself? I could have given you a bit of rough, you know. He probably treats you like the slut you are-”

She pushed. “I’m obviously not doing anything with Jack lying in my care in the hospital ward, Paul. You know that would be ridiculous. While Jack is here, the Reapers MC are here. And that means if you bring Bratva drugs into this prison, you won’t be alive the next morning.”

“Oh, tough talk from a naive, silly, little girl-”

“It’s true though, isn’t it? So just fucking back off.”

His desperate snarl in response told her everything she needed to know. She was right. By claiming the Reapers MC member as her boyfriend, she had dodged a bullet. She no longer needed to smuggle drugs into the prison for her crooked ex, PC Paul Roper.

She was seeing Roper in a new light. Not just a former charming boyfriend who was now just a jealous, bitter ex. A jealous ex who needed her to do something bad. The baddie to beware of, because he was dangerous. The enemy.

But someone else was dangerous, too. Jack. And Jack was hers now. He was a strong, mysterious, dangerous man. She felt it in his presence. The doctor had said there might be mental changes, whether permanent or temporary, they said paranoiawas likely at this stage, but there was no doubt in her mind, he was dangerous. He could go toe to toe with Roper, and she was confident that Jack would win. She had a secret weapon. A handsome, strong, boyfriend who, by his very position and gang affiliation, looked after her and ensured she was safe. It thrilled her. She tried to quash it, but she felt it in her core. The warmth, the heat, the safeness. She felt like she was coming home.

Yes, there was no way she was turning this down. She wanted Jack. In whatever way she could get him. She wanted to beat Roper at his own game.

Jack was her trump card, she’d played it early, a strong, bold move.

But she played to win.

CHAPTER

FOUR

JACK

“We’ve been here before,”he said.

She startled. She startled easily, he noticed. She sat by the bed, on a chair. The curtains were drawn around his bed, bright blue hospital curtains. He couldn’t see the rest of the infirmary, but the room was quiet.

“Are we alone?” he asked, not moving, watching her. Unable to believe his luck, he couldn’t help but watch every little movement that crossed her face. He couldn’t decipher it. It looked complicated. A cocktail of emotions and he didn’t have a clue where to start.

Hannah bit her lip. “I, yes, I think so… I thought you were asleep.”

He tried to snort but it hurt. His nose was numb, they’d re-set it.

“You should rest. They’ve requested specialist neurologists to come to assess you, they will be writing a report-”

“I know, they asked about a thousand questions and I couldn’t answer any of them,” he said, wryly. “You could though, couldn’t you? Who am I, Hannah?”

She shook her head. “You know I can’t answer that, they’ve said you need to remember under your own speed, you’ve had a massive head trauma-”

He felt a surge of hot, white frustration shudder through him. It scared him. It was strong and powerful and he hoped he’d never lashed out at anyone, acting on that frustration. At her. He didn’t like her not telling him the truth.

She looked at him, and tucked the blanket closer to his body. The tender gesture from her took him by surprise. Took the air from his bruised chest and cooled the anger in his blood.

“I know we’ve been here before, you and I, in a bedroom together, alone…” His voice was deep, but quiet. His throat hurt. He turned so he was now facing her directly. “How is it that I know this, and yet I don’t know who I am?” he asked her.

She hovered, looking down at her nails.

Something wasn’t right. She was hiding something, she was avoiding his questions, almost trying to duck out of his eyeline, trying to hide in the shadows. What was it? He didn’t like it.

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