Storm: (Blood Legion MC) (Bad Boys of X-Ops Book 3) by Rie Warren Page A

never had an STD?”
    “All right. Heard tell you brought a new woman with you, Storm.” Angel sat next to me on the two-seater couch while the breeze through the open doors delivered the scent of autumn jasmine.
    “Yup.”
    “Blaize?” he asked.
    “Hold up, Ange . He’s a might touchy where this one’s concerned. Almost tried to shoot me last night when I asked about what color her rug was on account of the red hair.” Venom set the colored beads of his abacus moving with a click-click-click.
    “ Huh. ” The blond man scratched the side of his nose. “Never was too possessive before.”
    “Was never into sharing either.” A muscle ticked in my jaw, the rhythm keeping time with the abacus.
    “What I think is”—finishing his drink, Venom folded his hands down on the desk—“Storm here done fell in love.”
    “She’s a squeeze for now. And she’s mine. All there is to it.” I snorted.
    I wanted them to buy our cover, but I didn’t necessarily want them to think I was overly attached to Blaize in case the operation went south. If they figured out my true feelings for her—and my reason for getting back in with the Legion—she’d become nothing more than bloody leverage used against me.
    Venom threw back his head with a loud laugh. “Amen to that shit. Gotta keep the bitches beggin’ for more. Why I never made it official in the church with Shar.”
    That was the prez. He just oozed charm from every single pore on his body.
    “Got a job for you tonight, Storm.” He angled the chair away from his desk.
    “Hit me.”
    “Want you to take Angel here along.”
    “ Aw , fuck. You know I don’t want him put into dangerous situations.”
    “Well, here’s the thing. You do the job right and there shouldn’t be any danger, right?” Venom locked his cunning sights on me.
    “Fuck you both. I’m sittin’ right here,” Angel grumbled. “I don’t need you lookin’ out for me, Storm. Did just fine after you disappeared. Growed up and everything.”
    “What he said.” Pointing at the kid, who didn’t know what kind of shit he was stepping into, Venom added, “And take Slade too.”
    Slade.
    I knew no Legion member by that name.
    “How ’bout not?” I said.
    “Dissension already?” He snuffled a line of coke up his nose.
    I glanced at Angel, checking to see if he showed any of the same druggie compulsions. He sat, clear-eyed and cool.
    If I had one magic fucking wish, it’d be to get him out of this gig once and for all. Him and Solomon.
    “I’m just sayin’ I wouldn’t be able to pick this Slade out of a line-up so I don’t exactly feel comfortable having a new dude tag along.”
    “You ain’t met him yet?”
    “Can’t say I have.” I finished my drink, standing up. “’Sides, Slade sounds like the name of a ska band. Or heavy hair metal from the eighties.”
    Angel rolled to his feet beside me. “That was Slayer, old man.”
    “Slade goes. Have fun. Deliver the guns. Bring me the drugs.” Venom dismissed us.

Chapter Twelve
    Killing Fields
     
     
     
    MIDNIGHT AT THE DOCKS. Solomon and I had been right. A fart probably could float in the water down here where millions of tons of cargo was crated in on a yearly basis.
    Bellying up on night-cooled concrete, Slade, Ange, and I took stock of the situation at the Port of New Orleans.
    Like snakes lying in wait to strike.
    That dude Slade though.
    Fuck.
    He turned out to be the shady, scruffy-faced guy from last night. The one who’d tugged on all my alarm bells just because.
    Instincts, wit, and a heavy self-reliance on self-preservation had kept me alive in this game so far, and I wasn’t about to trust a cunt I’d never worked with before.
    Before we’d left Thunder Road, I’d gone up to the bedroom. I’d knocked on the door before cracking it open with my boot, my Sig raised just in case Blaize tried to tackle me. Or decided to shoot again.
    She was nowhere to be seen.
    I’d called her fake cell phone.
    She hadn’t