Page 71 of Venomous as a Snake

“Probably?” he parrots.

“Settle down.” I hold my hands up. “I know what I’m doing.”

“Do you?” he responds, his voice a little too high-pitched.

“If I told you all the shit I’ve done, you wouldn’t believe me, Collin. You’ll just have to trust me when I say I’m more equipped to handle heavy firearms than any of you guys. Bring-your-kid-to-work day was the highlight of my childhood, and it shaped me into the venomous woman I am today. Don’t let this docile demeanor fool you.”

He snorts. “Docile. I can count three murders since I’ve met you.”

I turn to walk backward as I grin at him.

And he promptly grabs my shoulders, spinning me around to face the right direction.

“It’s been a slow few weeks with moving and all that,” I tell him conversationally.

Collin glances around us, lowering his voice. “You kill more than three people a month?”

“On average?”

Forrest chuckles as he opens the door on his Suburban, holding my purse while I slide into the back seat. He passes it to me with a wink, like he already knows my answer.

“More like three a week,” I tell them as Collin climbs into the passenger side.

I say nothing else about my work for the rest of the drive. But it’s comical to watch the gears spin in their minds as they paint a new image of me.

* * *

As soon as we turn into our neighborhood, my phone pings with a new notification. With a sigh, I gently dig it from my purse, expecting it to be an update from one of my guys, but it’s not. I open the security app to find two birds waddling around my backyard.

“Lovely,” I complain as I spot the bag hanging from the eagle’s mouth.

“What is it?” Collin inquires, turning in the front seat to look at me.

“An eagle and a swan just touched down at my house.”

“Do you want to go somewhere else?” Forrest asks me.

The kangaroo nods. “We can head back into town or snoop on them from our side of the fence?”

“No,” I say, waving the offers away. “Just drop me off—”

“Like fuck are we leaving you there by yourself,” Forrest cuts me off. “If you’re going in, then we’ll be right behind you.”

He eyes me through the rearview mirror, waiting for my answer. I dip my head to him as I check the clip of my gun. Then I frown down at my purse.

“I can’t take these in yet.”

“There’s a gym bag behind you,” Forrest informs me. “Just reach over the seat.”

I take the grenades out and deposit them into his gym bag before putting it back where I got it. The sides of my oversized purse immediately deflate. I know Clay will focus on it, thinking it looks out of place. So, I take off my thin jacket and use it as a filler.

Now, it’s empty-ish.

There’s still a gun inside…

Which is the only reason why I’m taking it inside with me.

We turn into my driveway, and everything appears too ordinary. But as soon as I open the Suburban’s backseat door, I hear Hooker barking in the garage and scratching at the interior door.