Page 2 of Outplayed

Chapter One

Violet

Some have said I have a temper. Others said they didn’t see it; those people didn’t actually know the real me. I knew I had a temper, which was why I took up being a private investigator. I wasn’t a people person. I didn’t want to work in a police station or as a detective because I wanted to be in charge. I didn’t want to work alongside dickheads. This way, I got to pick the people who I wanted around me. At first, I weeded out the douches who thought being a PI was all fun and games. It took a couple of years, but finally, I had the best team with Warden and Chuck, who, unfortunately, was leaving me soon, so I hired Butch to replace him. And I knew he would fit in well.

“You’ve ruined my fucking life, you bitch,” Mr Donahue yelled as he stood in front of my desk.

“Well then, maybe you should have kept your dick in your pants,” I suggested.

Just as he started to lean over the desk, Butch strode over, grabbed Mr Donahue’s arms and hauled him towards the door.

“Get your hands off me. I’ll sue,” he screamed. “You’re dead. You’re all dead.”

Raising my voice, I called, “Thank you for the death threat. It’s been recorded, and if anything happens, the police will know who to look for.”

I caught Mr Donahue paling just before Butch forced him outside, pushing him away from the building. Butch came back in, a scowl on his face. “Do you get many of these jerks coming in?”

“Mainly the cheaters getting caught out, yes. They don’t want to take responsibility. They need to blame someone, and it’s usually us.”

The front door opened again. We both looked, expecting it to be Mr Donahue. It wasn’t. “What did I miss?” Zara, my secretary, asked.

“Another husband complaining about being found out.”

“I’m always getting lunch when the action goes down,” she complained, dropping a bag of takeaway onto my desk and handing one to Butch. He gave her a nod and went back to his desk. “Butch, you need to meet Chuck out at Stanberry’s place in an hour. Vi, you have a meeting in an hour with the Gradins.”

I groaned.

Zara laughed. “Tell me again why you hate these meetings? Ones where the client is going to praise you for your good work after finding their child, when the police couldn’t, I’ll hasten to add. Yet you’d rather hide under your desk so you don’t have to face them.”

“I’m not good with praise. I just want to do the job, succeed, and then get paid.”

Zara rolled her eyes and snorted. Since getting to know her and her bubbly personality, she’d grown on me. So much so, I would do whatever necessary to have her back. Zara shook her head before returning to her desk at the front. She’d been with us for a couple of weeks. I’d been meaning to look for an assistant but hadn’t had the chance, and then she’d walked in with her resumé. As soon as she became flustered and told me her last name, which was different to the one on her actual resumé, I’d known she had a past she wanted to escape from. After she’d left, I found out exactly who her husband was and guessed she was running from him and his shit. My guesses were usually right. I wasn’t sure if he would come looking for her here, but I wanted to be close to help if needed.

There was also the fact she lived opposite my brother’s motorcycle club compound and one of his businesses.

A brother I hadn’t seen in many years because he’d stuck with the Hawks MC even when they’d dealt with illegal things such as guns, women, and drugs.

Even after Talon had taken over as president and cleaned the place up, we hadn’t reached out to one another.

We were both stubborn.

In a way, I hoped having Zara work with me would somehow lead me back into my brother’s life where it wouldn’t look like I was the one giving in.

I made sure my life was above board. Talon also did, but without a doubt, I knew his life would be run by his rules, and not all of them would be completely legal.

We were so very fucking stubborn.

* * *

“Please, thank you again. I can’t say it enough for you bringing Angela back to us,” Mrs Monroe said, shaking my hand for the millionth time. At least I had her to the front door; I was so close to having her gone.

“I’m just glad she’s home, Mrs Monroe.” I felt sorry for Mrs Monroe. Angela was a hormonal teen with a big-arse attitude to boot, and would probably disappear with her older boyfriend in the next few weeks. But I’d done my job, and I didn’t have to do anything else. Yet, I still raised my concern. “She may do this again.”

Mrs Monroe sighed and nodded. “I had that feeling also.”

“She’s not eighteen yet, Mrs Monroe. Means you can change things.”

“I’m going to try.”

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