chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE:

SOPHIA

I stared at my reflection in the dirty gas station bathroom mirror.

The girl looking back wasn't me…not really. Agent Sophia Martinez didn't wear tight tank tops or too much red lipstick. But Sophie Morales did. Sophie Morales, the new identity I was impersonating…

the new fake person I had to become.

"Are you sure about this?" Maya's voice whispered in my hidden earpiece.

My hand touched the small cross necklace under my shirt. Miguel's my little brother's cross. The only piece of my baby brother I had left.

"Five years too late to ask," I whispered back, my resolve hardening.

Five years since they killed him. Five years of training and becoming an FBI agent just for this moment.

Tonight is the night, I will walk into the lion's den… the Desert Rose Bar, where the Iron Wolves motorcycle gang, a notorious and well known biker, drank their beer and planned their crimes. The same gang that murdered my brother in cold blood.

I could do this. I had to do this, if not for anything… I had to expose their crimes to the world.

Desert rose bar

The bar looked scarier even from outside. Neon signs flickered like dying stars. Rows and rows of shiny motorcycles lined up their parking lots, their chrome reflecting the streetlights.

My stomach twisted. I hated motorcycles with passion.

Hated everything they represented, and what they stand for…

Miguel's body on the cold pavement. Blood pooling under his head. The sound of motorcycle engines roaring away into the night…

I pushed the memory down deep and pushed through the heavy doors of the local bar.

The choking smell of cigars and weed hit me first. even though smoking in bars was illegal in los Angeles. Nobody told bikers what to do, apparently.

The place smelled like danger.

"You the new girl?" A woman with tired eyes and a manager's name tag approached me.

Amy.

"Sophie Morales," I said, forcing my brightest and fakest smile. Thankfully my hands didn't shake from how nervous I was on my first mission.

What if I blow up everything? What if she doesn't like me?

"Thanks for the job." I managed to say.

"Don't thank me yet. Friday nights are crazy here." Amy looked me up and down. "Are you sure you can handle it?"

I opened my mouth to answer but then, the door slammed open so hard it hit the wall.

Six massive men walked in wearing leather vests covered in patches. A howling wolf logo decorated their backs.

Iron Wolves!!

My brother's killers.

Blood rushed to my head. My heart pounded against my rib cage. I could swear Amy could hear how hard my heart was beating.

my heart tried to break through my ribs, but I kept my face calm.

"The usual, Amy!" the biggest one shouted. He was bald with a gray beard, built like a mountain. His vest said "President."

I didn't need a personal introduction to know who he was, I had memorized all their names and histories a long time ago.

This was Tank. the leader.

And apparently the man who gave the order to kill Miguel.

"Coming right up," Amy flashed them a smile, before turning to me, lowering her voice. "Lesson one…Iron Wolves drink free always. Lesson two… you don't ask questions, no matter what happens. Lesson three…you definitely don't stare at them."

She said the last one while giving me a disapproving look.

I was already staring, I couldn't help it. Not at Tank or his friends sitting down at their usual table. My eyes locked on a man sitting alone in the shadowy corner of the bar.

He was huge. Way bigger than the others. He sat perfectly still, like a statue, drinking water while everyone else drank beer. His short dark hair made his face look like it was carved from stone. And his eyes… a piercing haunting colour of blue,…seemed to see everything.

"Who's that?" I breathed

"Ohh, noticed the charmer already.” Amy gave me a knowing look, that made me want to roll my eyes.

Don't be shy, he is a blade, every girl's dream man in the neighborhood." Amy said, but seeing I was not impressed, her voice dropped low, "He is their enforcer. The one who... handles problems. Stay away from him, Sophie. He sees through everyone. Some people say he can smell cops from a mile away."

My blood turned to ice.

Right then, like he heard us, Blade looked up. Those blue eyes locked onto mine across the smoky room. I suddenly felt naked, like he was peeling away Sophie Morales to see Sophia Martinez hiding underneath. Every secret I had felt exposed under his cold scrutinizing gaze.

Yeah, definitely dangerous!!

I forced myself to look away, grabbing a serving tray with shaking hands.

"I'll take their drinks over," I announced.

Amy grabbed my arm. "Did you not hear me? Stay away from…"

"From him yes, but not them. Besides, I have to start from somewhere, right?"

I balanced six bottles of beer onto the tray like I had done this a thousand times, and walked toward their table, all the time. I could feel Blade's eyes following my every step like a shadow.

Tank looked up as I approached. His scarred face twisted into something like a smile.

"Fresh meat," he said, causing the others to laugh. "What is your name, girl?"

"Sophie." I set down the beers without stumbling.

Miguel would be proud.

"Just started tonight.”

"Where are you from, Sophie?" A Latino man with a "Vice President" patch asked. My files said his name was Razor.

"Texas, in a small town nobody has heard of." The lie rolled off my tongue smooth as butter.

"What brings a Texas girl to LA?" Razor's dark eyes studied me too closely. I could see the gears spinning in his head, trying to mark me a friend or a foe.

"I had a Rocky bad relationship, high school sweetheart and shit. I needed somewhere to disappear to.” I told them a half true story, I had probably practiced this particular story for a hundred times.

Tank nodded slowly. "We all understand needing to disappear. You treat us right, we treat you right. Simple."

"Thank you." I turned to leave but then crashed face-first into a brick wall.

Except it wasn't a wall I had ran into,

It was a hard sturdy chest.

Blade!!

I almost said out his name in shock.

He had moved from his corner without making a single sound. Now he stood directly behind me, so close I had to tilt my head back to see his face. Up close, he was even bigger. The wolf tattoo on his chest looked even more menacing through his open shirt that looked ready to leap off his skin and bite me.

"Careful," he said. His voice sounded like gravel and thunder. "This place is full of things that bite."

My mouth moved before my brain could stop it. "Good thing I'm not scared of dogs."

Someone whistled among their group. Razor laughed loudly. "Girl's got teeth, Blade, back off from this one"

But Blade didn't smile. Didn't even blink. He stared at my face like he was memorizing every single detail. Like he was reading me like a book.

"Teeth don't mean much…" he said, trailing off, leaning a little bit closer so I could smell the heavy scent of his cologne, "if you don't know when to use them."

He stepped aside, allowing me to pass him.

My legs felt like jelly on my way back, coupled with his hard stare that felt like he was burning holes at the bar of my head

"Sophie, what was that about, that's glad for crying out loud?” Maya's voice cracked through the earpiece, I already knew what she wanted.

But I couldn't answer, not when blade’s attention was still focused on me.

Instead, I busied myself washing glasses, trying to calm down my racing nerves, while praying that I survive the night without having my stupid cover blown on my first undercover mission.