Page 64 of Rebel

REBEL

“Where the fuck is this guy? Didn’t we agree on three o’clock?” With a surge of frustration, I kicked the nearest pew. The ageing wood splintered with a loud crack.

Auryn checked his phone for any message that would indicate our guy was running late. “Chill the fuck out. He’ll be here. Pretty sure he wants this kidney.”

I glanced at the small cooler containing the organ. Kidneys were a hot commodity. Definitely in high demand. They weren’t the only organs in demand, of course, but they were the easiest to come by.

Too bad this was the only day we’d been able to schedule this meet up. Organs didn’t have a long shelf life once they were removed from the body. It wasn’t really something we could put off. Stray, Dom, and Casper had delivered the organ promptly after handling the removal.

I kept checking the time on my phone. I’d promised Storm that I would pick her up by four. We had big plans this weekend, starting tonight.

Summer was well underway. We’d spent the first few weeks after school let out moving into our new apartment near campus. Tonight was special though.

I hadn’t told anybody what I had planned. Auryn didn’t understand the reason for my impatience. As the minutes ticked past, I grew increasingly annoyed. We had a rule that nobody did a deal or went on a job alone. We always went together. I wouldn’t leave Auryn to handle this on his own. If something went wrong, it would be on me. I had to stick it out and wait until our guy showed up.

“Was that a car?” I asked, poking my head out of the church to check for a new arrival.

A black sedan pulled up near the building. Finally. My hand strayed to the gun tucked into the back of my pants. Usually these exchanges went smoothly, but we had to be prepared for anything. If this guy tried to fuck me over and ruined my evening, I would put a bullet in his head.

To my surprise, the man had come alone. After dropping a bag of cash on the ground, he held both hands out at his sides where we could see them. Auryn clutched the cooler containing the kidney, holding it hostage while I counted the money. When I nodded that everything was all good, he handed over the cooler.

“Thank you.” The man nodded, his expression neutral and unreadable. “Nice doing business with you.” Just like that, he turned around and got back into his car, driving away.

“I love when things go smoothly. You take the cash. I can’t bring that much with me where I’m going. I’ll check in with you later.” I waited until Auryn had safely driven away with the money before I got into my car and left the church behind.

As I drew closer to the apartment I now shared with Storm, a nervous twitch began in my stomach. What the fuck was that? I didn’t do nervous. In fact, I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d felt nervous. This falling in love shit was no joke.

Storm waited outside in front of the building when I pulled up. She tossed her bag into the back before sliding into the passenger seat.

“Everything all good?” she asked. “Did you sell a bunch of drugs or maybe an exotic animal?”

She flashed me a teasing grin. That sparkle in her eyes went straight to my guts before diving down to my cock. This woman fucked with my head in the worst and best way.

“A kidney actually. Everything went well. No problems.” I pulled the car back into traffic, heading for the fancy restaurant on the south side of town.

I’d been there dozens of times with my family over the years. Reservations needed to be booked weeks in advance, and every plate cost at least three figures. Storm had never been there. She’d confessed to me one evening that it had been a personal goal of hers to be able to enjoy a meal there. I’d booked the place a while ago as well as a room in the five-star hotel upstairs. We would spend the night and then tomorrow we were flying out to the coast. To my family’s cabin.

Storm scrunched her nose up in distaste. “Ew, never tell me. I don’t really want to know the dirty details.”

I chuckled, reaching over to lightly chuck her under the chin. “That’s what pays the rent, baby. If it makes you feel any better, we make an effort to grab organs from shitty people whenever possible. As long as they meet the health requirements. CEOs that harm children with the toxins their companies produce. Politicians that break every promise. People that throw trash at the homeless and tell them to get a fucking job.”

Storm eyed me skeptically. “Are you just saying that to make me feel better?”

I shrugged, turning back to the road. “Maybe. I’m not going to pretend we’ve never done what we had to do to make a deal happen. We do our best to source our product from the degenerates of society. They’re less likely to go to the authorities.”

“So it’s really about keeping your own asses out of trouble.” Storm nodded. “I guess that makes sense. Still, I don’t want to hear about you carving organs out of people. This is supposed to be our special night.”

“Oh, it’s going to be more than special.” At least, I sure fucking hoped so.

Maybe it was too soon. Maybe we weren’t in the right place for that yet. Try as I might to talk myself out of this, it wasn’t happening. This woman was my everything, and I needed to make sure it stayed that way.

We went to the hotel first to check in and change for dinner. This place was dressy. Seeing Storm decked out in a long black dress that fell to her feet almost made me fall at her feet as well. There was nowhere else I’d rather be.

“You’re so damn beautiful. Never leave me.” I kissed her gently, careful not to ruin her lipstick.

“Where would I go?” she teased. “You look pretty damn good yourself, sir. You clean up well. You should do it more often.”

I glanced down at the suit pants and dress shirt I wore. Definitely not my usual style. “If it means seeing you wear dresses like that, I’ll do anything you want.”

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