Free His Conspiracy Girl (Emerald City #4) by Allyson Lindt

having to deal with another asshole like you. Just because she’s a little loose doesn’t mean she deserves to be used and tossed aside.”
    That caught Camden’s attention, and for the first time that night, his blood raced with anger. “Excuse me?”
    Matt stepped closer, half-bouncing, half-stumbling on the balls of his toes. “Just because she’s kind of slutty doesn’t mean you can treat her like shit.”
    Slutty? Camden let the fury fill his veins. He stepped in so one foot rested between Matt’s. He clapped Matt on the shoulder with his synth hand, and looked him in the eye. “What she doesn’t need”—his voice was a low growl—“is people like you, calling themselves her friends and then insulting her behind her back.” He drove his organic fist has hard as he could into Matt’s diaphragm.
    Matt let out a soft grunt and doubled over. It took all of Camden’s restraint not to deliver another blow.
    Fuck it.
    He pulled his fist back again.
     
    ****
     
    Camden stood at the processing counter at the police station, his jumbled thoughts slowly separating into distinct snapshots. Being arrested for the fight in the bar. Cooling his heels in a cell. Being contrite and apologetic to the grumpy night judge. Paying a fine to secure his freedom, but finally getting out of there.
    The man on the other side of the window held up an envelope, turned it over, and unceremoniously dumped the contents into a waiting tray. The policeman shoved the box through a spot to the left of the safety plastic. Once Camden closed the door on his side, he was able to retrieve the belongings that had been confiscated when he was arrested.
    Camden watched his own feet shuffle toward the door. He’d have to take a Mag-Car home. The last thing he wanted to do was ride in one of those deathtraps. He tried to summon the normal animosity he had for the vehicles, but he couldn’t find it in him. He was just too drained. His shoulders ached. The organic muscles in his back were stiff. His eye had to be bruised and swollen at this point.
    “Cam.” A familiar voice interrupted his reverie. He didn’t want to turn. He didn’t want to look at Ana. But he couldn’t help himself.
    Her expression was impassive, as if it had been carved out of ice. She stood near the entrance to the hearing room. She nodded behind her. “I’m here with the company attorney for Matt.”
    He should have guessed. “That’s nice.”
    “He’s completely wasted still. I have a feeling he’ll feel like shit for a few days.”
    It serves him right . Camden bit back the angry words, and fingered the sensitive skin under his eye. What does she want from me? “Probably.”
    She glanced down at her feet, before meeting his gaze again. Her expression was still hard, but something wavered in her eyes. “When he talked to the lawyer, he did a lot of bitching and whining about the asshole Tinman who socked him in the gut. He spent almost as much time apologizing to me for…something?”
    The reminder brought back Camden’s fury, and he clenched his fists. Part of him wanted desperately to tell her what kind of so-called friends she had, but something told him it wouldn’t help anyone, and it would make her night infinitely worse. “I’d rather not repeat it either.”
    “Did you really hit him because he called me a slut?”
    So she knew. He nodded.
    The corner of her mouth tugged up, cracking the stern expression. “Thank you.”
    He shrugged. “You don’t deserve that.”
    She shook her head. “I need to get back. Good night.” She spun away and disappeared back into the hearing room, before he could figure out what else to say.

Chapter Ten
    Ana held up her ruined silk top. The drycleaner had taken one look at the dark stain, and laughed in her face. Pain echoed in her chest. Not because she’d lost the shirt, but at the memory of how much fun she’d had destroying it in the first place.
    She gazed at the fabric, no longer seeing it. Instead,