Page 31 of Brazen Being It

No one says shit.

Still, I know the clock is ticking.

Fake marriages don’t last forever. Not in a world like this. Not when secrets rot from the inside out. But I’m not thinking about the future yet. Not when the present finally feels like something I built with my own damn hands.

The clubhouse is quiet when I walk in that morning. The last of the beer from Hawk’s party still clings to the floors, and Bug is scrubbing blood off the wall from a punch that went too far. I nod to him, and he nods back, eyes wide. The kid’s eager. Maybe too eager.

Toon’s waiting for me in the garage.

“Big run coming,” he says, tossing me a set of keys. “Rex wants you on point.”

My eyebrows lift. “Me? Not Axel?”

Toon shrugs. “Axel’s busy with the west line. You’re up.”

A strange feeling rushes through me—somewhere between pride and dread.

This is the moment I’ve been working for. Responsibility. Trust.

But it comes with eyes. Lots of them.

“Where we headed?”

“Memphis. Some new supplier wants to meet face-to-face. We run the shipment back. Easy in, easy out.”

“Right.”

Nothing’s ever easy.

I check the bikes, run through the plan twice, then once more for good measure. I can’t afford mistakes—not now. Not with the entire club watching how I carry this load.

Back at home, Cambria’s folding clothes when I walk in. She’s wearing one of my shirts again, sleeves rolled up, legs bare except for a pair of old socks. It’s too domestic. Too perfect.

It makes my chest ache and my cock harden.

“You’re going?” she asks without looking up.

“Memphis. Couple days, tops. Club business.”

She nods. “You need me to pack anything?”

That question. The casual way she says it, like we’ve been doing this for years—it nearly knocks me flat.

“No,” I say. “But come here.”

She walks over and slides into my arms like she was made to fit there.

And maybe she was.

“You gonna be okay here?” I ask.

“I’m not the one you need to worry about.” She kisses my jaw and steps back. “Bring you back home safe,” she says.

I will.

For her.

The run kicks off at dawn.

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