Page 14 of GOAT

I flipped Konrad the middle finger as I passed him. “For two men who served in the military, you two sure are dumb as fuck,” I called over my shoulder.

“Goddamn him,” I heard Shaw mutter under his breath before I shut the chapel door behind me.

Jax and Arlo came in a few moments later, and Arlo poured me two fingers of vodka before setting the glass in front of me and taking a seat. Jax took his as well.

“What’s going on?” Jax asked me. “You’ve never liked cops, Cam.”

I swallowed down the vodka in my glass before setting it back down. Arlo poured more in. I wrapped my hand around it, tugging it closer to me, but I didn’t drink it. “I overheard her talking to her partner while I was getting coffee a couple of weeks ago. She thinks we’re doing shady shit, and she’s intent on taking us down, starting with you since she thinks you’ll be the easiest target,” I explained.

Arlo frowned. “Then why didn’t you create distance?” he asked.

I arched a brow at him. “Why do that when I could get closer and find out what she knows? And maybe, in the meantime, I might find out more about this sex trafficking ring bullshit while I’m at it? Kill two birds with one stone. My goal was protection. To keep all of you safe in whatever way I needed to.”

Jax scratched at his jaw. “Brother, we don’t need you to get your ass in trouble by fucking around with a cop.” He sighed. “But I know that’s not your style.” He regarded me for a moment, and I didn’t say anything. Arlo chose to remain silent as well. Finally, he asked, “Do you plan to continue seeing her?”

I smirked. “Well, the sex is pretty fucking fantastic.”

Arlo barked out a laugh. “As good as she is beautiful?” he asked, leaning back in his seat with a smirk on his lips. The tension bled from the room just like that, and my shoulders dropped a fraction.

I licked my lips, the image of her naked beneath me on her bed flashing through my mind. “Fuck yeah.”

Jax chuckled, the sound low and raspy. “We’ll talk to Shaw and Konrad?—”

“And I’ll deal with Ace’s prying, bratty ass,” Arlo added.

“You do what you want,” Jax finished, cutting Arlo an annoyed look at being interrupted, which Arlo chose to ignore, making me snicker. “Just… be careful, yeah? Prison isn’t all fun and games.”

I nodded. “I’m always careful,” I promised him. “We done here?”

Arlo nodded. “Yeah, we’re done here.”

We stood from the table, and I finished my drink before carrying the glass out of the room and heading for the kitchen. Konrad walked in as I was rinsing the glass out to put in the dishwasher so Blakely wouldn’t have to clean up after me. She did enough around here for all of us as it was. I knew she was getting paid, but still. She was Jax’s woman—not our maid.

“Fuck off,” I told him, my tone bitter.

He sighed. “I, uh… Christ, I feel like I’m losing my shit more often than not these days,” he confessed. I glanced at him, watching as he rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m sorry. Ace had no right to pry into your personal shit like that, and Shaw and I had no right to come at you like we did. Arlo explained it to us. I…” He sighed heavily, his broad shoulders rising and falling. “I don’t like it. I won’t lie. The cops here are slimy, and it makes me worry about you. But I trust you to know what you’re doing.”

“I’m not fucking stupid,” I reminded him.

He nodded. “Yeah… I know. But still, be careful, yeah? Visiting people in prison gives me the creeps.”

I snorted before nodding once at him. He left the kitchen, and I reached for a dish towel to dry my hands on before I headed out of the kitchen. When I got to my room, Shaw was sitting on the chair in the corner.

“Christ—first my date and now my room,” I muttered, shutting my door behind me hard enough to make it slam.

“I made a mistake,” he told me. “Not my most shining moment, for sure.” I only arched a brow at him. “I’m sorry. Arlo is handling Ace. I doubt he’ll apologize to you—” Yeah, I doubted that, too— “but maybe this will teach him a lesson. I know it certainly taught me one. Tensions are high, and I have to protect Amaliyah, but that’s no excuse. I should have trusted you.”

“Yeah, you should have,” I quietly said. “Don’t make this shit a habit.”

He shook his head. “I won’t. You have my word.” He glanced up at me. “Is there any chance of feelings becoming real between you and this cop?”

Scoffing, I shook my head. “Nah.” Even if they did, I wouldn’t act on them. Outlaws and cops didn’t mix.

He hummed and stood from the chair. “And if feelings do become a thing?”

I shrugged. “Won’t matter. Family first. Always.”

He sighed and clapped a hand to my shoulder as he passed me. “Yeah… we’ll just re-evaluate that if we need to.”

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