CHERUB: Brigands M.C. - Robert Muchamore Page 0,40

He liked his dramatic red hair and muscular torso, but he wished his skin wasn’t so pale and he tutted at the sight of a burgeoning zit on his shoulder blade.

‘I’ll get the Hoover,’ a girl out in the hallway shouted. ‘It’ll be fine as long as nobody treads it into the carpet.’

The voice took Dante back to his first day on campus. He grabbed the handle of his bedroom door and made the girl scream.

‘Oh my god! I thought I’d seen a ghost!’ Lauren blurted, placing both hands over her heart before breaking into a huge smile. ‘Dante, where the bloody hell have you been?’

‘Ducking and weaving,’ he grinned. ‘Here and there, around and about.’

‘You’ve got an Irish accent!’

‘I guess if you spend three years anywhere you’ll pick up an accent,’ Dante explained. ‘You smell better than the last time I saw you.’

‘When was that?’

‘You’d spent the day on ditch-digging punishment after you hit Mr Large with a spade,’ Dante grinned. ‘You were muddy and smelled vaguely like a cow’s bottom.’

‘That was so awful,’ Lauren groaned. ‘It was impossible to get the stench out of my hair.’

‘You were about to restart basic training and I got sent off to Belfast before you qualified. Judging by the black T-shirt and your beautiful smile you’ve done OK since then.’

Lauren was flattered. ‘Oh aren’t you a charmer?’ she grinned. ‘You look like you’ve been hitting the weights. Do you still want to be a wrestler?’

Dante laughed. ‘It’s been a long time. I’ve even heard a rumour that some of that wrestling is faked.’

‘Get out of town,’ Lauren giggled. ‘We’re in the middle of Bethany’s birthday party,’ she continued, as she grabbed Dante’s wrist and gave him a tug. ‘Come to her room, everyone’s in there.’

So Lauren forgot all about fetching the Hoover and Dante found himself stepping into Bethany’s crowded room, bare-chested with the new black T-shirt in his hand.

‘Look who it is,’ Lauren said enthusiastically.

Some kids like Rat and Andy had joined CHERUB after Dante went off on his mission and had no clue who he was. Others knew Dante, but they’d all aged three years and it was tricky putting names to faces.

‘Oooh, a hunky boy on my birthday,’ Bethany grinned as she approached Dante. ‘Are you gonna strip for me?’

‘I was just changing,’ Dante said. ‘Lauren practically dragged me in here.’

‘This is definitely the best present so far,’ Bethany smiled.

Over by the balcony, James positioned himself behind Andy and Rat. ‘Are you boys sweating?’ he teased. ‘Because I think you have competition for your girlfriends.’

‘You’re full of shit, James,’ Andy said dismissively.

‘I’ll kick his arse if he tries anything with Lauren,’ Rat added.

Once Dante had shaken some hands and hugged a few girls, Bethany noticed that Dante had his black T-shirt in his hands.

‘Put it on,’ Bethany squealed. ‘Oh my god, you’re the black-shirt superstar!’

Dante had five girls watching as he theatrically ripped the cellophane packet open with his teeth and pulled the shirt over his head. When the shirt was on there was a bit of clapping, and Lauren and Bethany kissed Dante on opposite cheeks.

James saw the annoyed looks on Rat and Andy’s faces and whispered in their ears in a feminine tone: ‘Oh that Dante’s so gorgeous! I want to strip down to my little pink panties and let him ravish me.’

Andy gave James an angry stare and told him to shut up.

Rat’s Australian accent always grew thicker when he got annoyed. ‘Well, I’ve never had a conversation with this Dante fellow,’ Rat growled, ‘but he’s clearly a total git.’

15. DEVON

The London Brigands are the largest UK chapter with thirty-nine full-patch members, but the South Devon chapter run by Ralph ‘the Führer’ Donnington is the wealthiest and most influential. Successful property developments in the Salcombe area have made Donnington a millionaire and many long-standing South Devon Brigands are also wealthy men.

Although South Devon only has nineteen full-patch members, the chapter effectively controls two large puppet clubs: the Dogs of War based in Exeter and a three-chapter Devon and Cornwall gang known as the Monster Bunch. These have a combined total of more than one hundred full patches and up to three times that number of associates.

Wealth generated by the successful redevelopment of the Salcombe clubhouse has not stopped the bikers from engaging in criminal activity. Local police say that South Devon Brigands exercise ruthless control over the local drug trade. They own companies that provide door security on every major pub and nightclub venue in South