Chapter 2

"I didn't expect you tonight,"says Sapphire, my bar manager, as I pass her to go to the office. I hear her heels clicking behind me and I roll my eyes.

"Can't I turn up to my own fucking club?"

"Of course. Are you okay?"

I drop my laptop onto my desk and turn to face her. "What's going on tonight?"

"I'm holding interviews," she says.

I frown. "For?"

"A dancer and a cleaner."

"What happened to the other cleaner?"

"She quit after you threw a bag of rubbish at her."

I smirk. "She left it on my desk."

I get lost in numbers,distracting myself from the fact I'm tired and in desperate need of my bed. There"s a light knock on the office door. "Come in," I call, keeping my head in the books.

The door opens, and I look up and inwardly groan. It's the hot classroom assistant I belittled earlier today. Fuck. She doesn't immediately recognise me, but I see it the second she does because her eyes widen and she almost drops the tray of cleaning products. Saph appears behind her. "This is Nora. She's your new cleaner," she announces brightly.

"Leave us," I order, and Nora glances back at Saph nervously. "I mean Sapphire," I snap.

Saph sighs, and it pisses me off further. I arch a brow, daring her to defy me. She pats Nora on the shoulder and backs out the room, closing the door behind her.

"Sit," I order. Nora lowers into the opposite chair and eyes me cautiously. "What are you doing here?"

"I got the job as the cleaner," she mutters.

"You work at my daughter's school, and now, you're here, in my fucking club? I don't think that's a coincidence."

Her brow furrows. "I didn't know you worked here."

"I don't work here," I snap. "I own this place."

She fidgets uncomfortably, glancing to the door before sighing. "I just wanted a job and saw the advert in a local shop."

"You've got a job already."

"I need a second job."

"Why?"

"To make money."

The door slams open and a young lad is shoved into the office holding a bloody nose. He's quickly followed by Butch, who stops in his tracks when he sees the innocent Nora staring wide-eyed. "Get out," I order her, and she wastes no time rushing for the door.

Butch slams it closed. "Who was that?"

"Mind yah business. What the fuck is this?" I ask, pointing to the lad who's bent at the knees and holding his face.

"Caught him selling out there with a mate. Didn't manage to grab the other one, though. He made a run for it." Butch drops a small bag on my desk and proceeds to pull out baggies of coke.

"Do you know who I am?" I ask the kid, rising to my feet and rounding the desk.

"It's just a bit of coke," he mutters, wiping his nose on his sleeve.

"You think it's acceptable to come into Steel Riders territory to sell your shit, let alone in our club?"

"We were told it was okay," he snaps.

"By?"

He stares at the ground before muttering, "I don't wanna get my head caved in for snitching."

"Which is what I'm gonna fucking do to you if you don't get talking," I yell.

His eyes meet my own. "Ray Johnson."

I glance at Butch, who gives a shrug. Neither of us recognise the name. "I don't know him, so he's clearly a nobody," I state.

"He's running out of Manchester and he wants to move in on London."

I scoff. "He doesn't stand a chance. Who was your mate?"

"It was his first night, man, leave him out of it," he pleads.

"Name," I bark.

"Josh."

"And do you and Josh come from around these ends?" He gives a nod. "Then why the fuck are you working for a nobody? Go call your friend and we'll talk about how you can make real money."

I hold out my hand, and he takes it. I pull him to his feet and open the office door. After he steps out and I close it, I turn to Butch. "Keep an eye on him. Bring him and his friend to me."

It'sanother half-hour before Butch returns with the two idiots who were stupid enough to step on our patch. Hunter has now joined me, and we take a seat as they file in.

"Names," I demand.

"Josh Coles," mutters the escapee.

"Aaron Smith," the other adds.

"And you work for Ray Johnson?" Hunter asks, and they nod. "How, when he's not from around here?"

"He was recruiting on the estate," says Josh.

"When?" I ask. Not much goes on in this estate without us knowing it.

"About a week ago," Aaron says with a shrug. "He was offering good returns."

"Is it just coke?" asks Hunter. They nod in unison. "What did he offer?"

"The first load was free," says Josh, and I scoff because drugs never come for free. "If we sold it all, we got a fifty-fifty split."

I frown and ask, "And if you didn't?"

"I didn't get to find out. I sold within the first two hours. So did Aaron."

"So, you're good at this?" asks Hunter.

"We just needed the money, man. We didn't mean no harm," says Josh.

"You fucking know who runs this area," I snap. "You should've come to me straight away."

"We couldn't risk you chasing him off," Aaron admits. "Some of the other lads on the estate need the money too."

I rub my brow. "That ain't my problem."

"He's moving big," Josh says, and Aaron nudges him, scowling. "He's gonna find out anyway," snaps Josh, shoving him back, then he turns back to me. "He's paying kids to smash your windows, just little shit for now, but he's gonna step it up."

"How?"

"I don't know, but some of the lads on the estate mentioned a fire at the clubhouse." I sit straighter. The place is protected, I have men walking the grounds as we speak, but knowing it could be the next target pisses me off. "Hire us," he blurts, and I arch a brow. "We'll get the information and feed it back to you."

I glance at Hunter, who smirks. "And what do you get out of it?" I ask.

"To work for you," he says, shrugging.

I laugh. "And why is that important to you?"

"You're the big time, right? I need that."

"A word of advice, Josh. You don't get big time by pissing off the guy you wanna work for," I say. "And right now, I'm pissed."

"We're offering to put our necks on the line," he argues.

"I've got a name," I say. "That's all I need to end the fucker."

"Fine," he says, turning to the door.

I glance at Hunter, who's still smirking. "I like this kid," he tells me. "He's got balls."

"Be at the clubhouse tomorrow, seven p.m.," I say, and Josh pauses. "You're late by a minute and that's your chance gone."

They leave, and Hunter releases a long sigh. "I reckon we're asking for trouble."

"They're kids needing a chance. We were that young once."

He laughs. "You're definitely losing your touch, Pres. It's not like you to give anyone a chance."

I grin. "You know me too well, brother."

"So, you're not patching them any time soon?"

I scoff. "Do they look like fucking bikers to you? Nah, but we'll have some fun with them first."

NORA

I wakewith a jump as the front door slams. I glance at Mum, who doesn't stir, and then step out into the hallway to find Josh halfway up the stairs. "Where have you been?" I hiss.

He looks back over his shoulder and scowls. "Get off my back, would yah?"

"No," I growl. I've let him get away with far too much as it is. "I need you to help out. I've got two jobs, and you're never fucking here when I need you."

I see a glimpse of the old Josh as his face softens. "Is Mum okay?"

"No, Josh, she's fucking dying." We never say the words out loud, mainly because I don't want to upset him any more than he already is, but I'm so tired of his behaviour. "I came back here to help, and you've done nothing but behave like a brat. I'm so sick of worrying about you on top of her."

He takes a few steps down until he's standing in front of me. He's so tall these days, and I realise I never really look at him. There's a good few years between us—I was ten when Mum announced she was pregnant—so we've never really been close. My dad had long been off the scene, but she'd dated a few different men. Of course, Josh"s dad didn't stick around either, but it didn't matter. Mum worked so hard to keep us clothed and fed, and we hardly wanted for anything.

"I've been out working myself," he says. "Here." He takes a handful of screwed-up notes from his pocket and presses them into my hand. I frown, staring at the money in confusion.

"Where did you get all this?"

"You're not the only one trying, Nora. While you were living your best life in Manchester, it was me here looking after her in the early days."

"That's not my fault," I snap. When I turned twenty-one, I'd moved to Manchester and made a good life for myself. I certainly wasn't begging for jobs cleaning strip clubs. But after Mum's final diagnosis a month ago, I'd moved my life back. "She didn't tell me how bad things were."

"If you'd been here, you'd have known. Now, can I go to bed or not? I've got college early."

I give a nod, letting guilt seep in as he rushes up the stairs. I go into the kitchen and place the money into the housekeeping jar. We used to put our change in here and cash up at the end of the month to enjoy a treat as a family. There were many good days out that I can recall, but these days, the jar is a lifeline. Mum's carers aren't cheap, but without them, I can't work at all. She needs round-the-clock care, and although the government gives us free medical care from district nurses, it doesn't cover the rest of the time she'd be alone.

I stepout into the playground to greet Elsie. Her dad gives me a disgruntled glare as I approach, but I force myself to smile brightly as I hold out the form for him to sign. "What's that?" he practically barks.

I swallow the lump in my throat. I'm tired and emotional, and this bastard might just put me over the edge. "An agreement."

"For?" He snatches the clipboard and takes a look at the form. "But I don't agree to it, so why would I sign it?" He shoves it back at me.

"Good morning, Elsie," I say, crouching to her level and ignoring him. Adults, I can't deal with, but kids, they make me feel better. "I love your hair like that."

Elsie touches her French braids and smiles, glancing up at her dad. "My dad did them," she confirms proudly.

I arch a surprised brow. This guy is massive and his hands are bigger than her head, so the thought of them working to plait her hair is unbelievable. I'd have to see it to believe it.

"Why don't you go into class and sit on your mat for registration? I'll be right behind you."

"I want to play in the home corner," she exclaims, her brows furrowing. It's the look she gets just before she tantrums, so I remove my lanyard and hold it out to her.

"But I need you to make sure everyone sits quietly until I get there. So, if you could do this big job for me, I'll make sure that right after registration, we can play together." Her eyes light up and she takes the offered lanyard, placing it over her head and turning to her dad. I stand and take a step back while he lowers to speak with her.

"Tell me the plan, Tinks." My heart warms slightly at the way he addresses her.

"Play nice with everyone," she vows, tapping her lower lip while she thinks. "Help Miss Coles."

"Good plan. What else did we talk about?"

"Trying hard to make friends."

He taps her nose. "Great listening. And how are you gonna do that?"

"By being kind and inviting others to play."

"I know you've got this," he says, kissing her on the head.He stands and they fist bump, actually fist bump, before she skips into class. I almost melt into a puddle at his feet.

By now, all the other children have gone in too, so the playground is empty apart from us. His cool eyes fix on me. "I'm not signing your agreement. Elsie doesn't need one-on-one support."

"She's gonna get it anyway," I mutter with a shrug. "This is just so we can say we told you. I'm just gonna write that you refused to sign it, so . . ." I trail off, realising I've said way more than I should have.

"Saph tells me you start tonight." I give a nod, looking back to check there're no staff lingering to overhear. We're supposed to declare second jobs, but the club is paying cash in hand and I don't intend to pay tax on it. "You ever worked in a strip club before?" he asks, looking amused.

"I should get back inside."

"You never told me why you need a second job."

"Was that kid alright?" I ask. "He'd taken a punch or two."

He grins. "You should get used to seeing that shit. Men get out of hand when there're tits and ass about." I feel my cheeks blushing, and he laughs. "Fuck. You're way too innocent to work at the club. I give you one night before you're running out of there screaming."

"I'll see you at pick-up," I mutter, turning to go inside.

"Looking forward to it," he replies, and I glance back to see him checking out my arse. It shouldn't send a thrill through me, but it does.

The day passes quickly.I telephone home at lunchtime to check in with Mum's carer and relax when she tells me all is well. She's staying on until six, which means I can join Jessie for a drink after work. If I'm thinking of staying here, I need to make friends. All my friends from before have either moved away or married and settled down.

I walk Elsie out at the end of the day. She rushes to her dad, and he swings her into his arms. "She did really well today," I begin.

"I told you, I'm not interested."

I sigh. "You should really engage and work with us."

He steps closer, fixing me with a pissed-off glare. "And why's that?" I step back, biting on my lower lip. "Are you threatening me?" I shake my head as he narrows his eyes. "You wanna hang out with Tinks all day, fine. Do what you gotta do to get paid, but I don't need a daily update cos she can tell me herself. And I don't need all these bitches listening in to my business so they can judge my parenting."

I glance at the other parents in the playground. They're pretending not to watch the showdown, and I feel myself burn with embarrassment. "So, in the future, you wanna update me, you pull me aside and do it privately. You got me?" Tears brim on my lower lashes. "I said, do you got me?" he repeats, more firmly this time. The fact Elsie is paying attention to the way he's reacting hurts me more than his venomous tone.

"Well done for today, Elsie. You did great," I say, fixing my eyes to her concerned expression. I force a smile and turn to go back inside.

I sipthe glass of wine and close my eyes. "That's good," I whisper, more to myself.

"I can't believe he made you cry," Jessie repeats for the third time.

I feel my cheeks heat again. "It's just been so full-on these last few days. At least Elsie did well."

"You always seem to find the positives," she remarks, smiling. "I love that."

"Why is he like that, yah think?"

She shrugs. "Woman hater?"

"But he's got a daughter."

"Doesn't mean he can't hate the female sex. Although his wife was always smiling and happy, so I guess he was nice to her."

"How did she . . . yah know?"

"Die? Car accident."

"Oh."

"They were all in it. Elsie too. He was driving."

I shudder and my heart twists. No wonder he's the way he is—he's probably suffering from the loss, and the fact he was there to witness it.

"I bet he's great in bed," says Jessie wistfully. "He's always the hot topic of the staff room. Have you got a man?"

I shake my head. "No. I did back in Manchester."

"Didn't you fancy the long-distance thing?"

"I just have things going on," I mutter, shrugging. My ex being a complete narcissist was the main reason for our spilt, not that he's got the message yet because he continues to text and call me relentlessly. "And I don't have time for a relationship right now."