𝐃𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐘 𝐂𝐎𝐏 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Clay’s arrest couldn’t have come at a worse time. Jax had seen his stepfather behind bars before, but this one felt different—not because of the charges, not because of the risk of conviction, but because of what it meant for the club. SAMCRO was fragile these days, one bad decision away from breaking apart, and Clay behind bars left too much open for the vultures circling Charming. Rivals didn’t need a reason to move in; all they needed was the faintest hint of weakness.

Jax told himself it was about the club, about survival. But that was only half the truth. The other half was standing behind the front desk of the station, your hair pulled back, badge gleaming under the fluorescent light.

He hadn’t seen you in months. Not since the night you told him it was over, your voice breaking even as you tried to sound firm. You’d been the one person in this town who refused to let him drag you into the dirt—and he’d loved you for it, even as he tested your boundaries again and again. What started as stolen hours in motel rooms and quiet mornings after had turned into something heavier, something dangerous. He hadn’t just wanted your body; he’d wanted your help. Your access. Your willingness to look the other way when the law and the club collided.

And you had, at first. For him. Because he knew you cared. But there were limits. Every request chipped away at you until you couldn’t look at him without seeing the risk he brought to your doorstep. When You walked out, it wasn’t because you stopped feeling—it was because you couldn’t keep feeling and survive.

Now here he was, standing in the one place you never wanted to see him, asking for exactly the kind of thing that had ruined them before.

Your eyes flicked up when he entered, that professional mask sliding into place. But beneath it—he caught it, just for a second—there was something else.

“Jax,” you said, clipped, like his name itself was a problem you didn’t have time for.

He leaned against the counter, a smirk on his lips. “Hey, sweetheart.”