All Chapters of Chrome and lies: A Bikers Betrayal: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

Blade's povThe hum of the engine was the only thing keeping me grounded. Sophia's hands wrapped around my waist.I kept the revs low, creeping the bike into the shadows of a gravel turnout about two blocks from the Sundown motel. I killed the lights and the ignition in one fluid motion, letting the bike get tucked behind a rusted metal gate at a corner.Sophia immediately climbed down, and my body felt the absence of her hands around me. In this silence, the sound of the engine would be like the sound of a gunshot. In that silence,I got my camera ready. I was still contemplating how close I could get without being seen by them and being able to get the quality evidence I needed.We walked in silence along the gravel, my hand finding hers as I scanned the area. A few feet ahead, I saw a few of Venom's men patrolling the area. This wasn't safe for her. If it was true and Morrison was also involved and a bit of sour luck, they spotted her, her cover would be blown, I'd be putting her in

Blade's povI shouldn't have let her go alone. What was I f**king thinking? I always knew Morrison was a dirty rat, but seeing Sophia's message on my phone further confirmed everything. F**king hell, I shouldn't have let her meet him at all.I considered calling her, but it might put her in danger. She said to trust her and I so wanted to do that, but for all I know, Morrison might harm her.I should have told her about Morrison sooner.My phone lit up with another notification from Sophia.NOT IN DANGER, SAFE-SOPHIA.I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. A knock sounded on my door as a voice called out"Hey Blade, dinner is ready. No one wants to wait for eternity for you. Hurry ur ass up.""Fine, I will be there," I answered back.I made my way into the hall where dinner was served. There were shouts of "finally" and I smiled as I walked towards the head table. Tank nodded as I took my place and we all started eating.The dinner plates had been cleared, but the heavy scent

Blade's povThe laptop sat on my desk with the file open, a yellow digital folder that held four years of someone’s life in sterile, black-inked rows. I didn't open it immediately. I let the silence of the darkened room fill me first, the city outside the room blurred into white noise.Success isn't about being the smartest person in the room, it’s about having the stomach to see the patterns others are too emotional to notice.I tapped the file open.My eyes skipped the headers and went straight to the columns. Data has a rhythm, and I could hear this one instantly. January 1st. February 1st. March 1st. I traced a finger down the dates. Most people look for the outliers, the big spends, the sudden spikes. I look for discipline. For forty-eight consecutive months, the deposit had hit the account with the mechanical precision of a heartbeat. Same routing number. Same The pattern was older than the initial four years I had expected. That was the detail that changed everything.​I spread

Blade's pov The phone on my desk vibrated, a low, buzzing scrape against the mahogany that sounded exactly like a countdown. I didn't answer it on the first ring. Or the second. I let it sweat. My hand hovered over the receiver, fingers twitching near the hidden holster beneath my jacket. I knew who this was. It had to be Venom. Only Venom had the audacity to breach my private line. I had spent the last forty-eight hours bracing for his voice, that raspy, nicotine-stained growl promising a slow death. I settled my breathing, put on my coldest, most unshakable mask, and picked up. There was a brief, crackling pause on the line. "Hello" The voice that answered wasn't what I expected. My pulse skipped a beat. The voice didn't belong to Venom. It didn't belong to any of his thugs, either. It was a man's voice, but it wasn't frantic, angry, or laced with the adrenaline of a confrontation. It was utterly, terrifyingly calm. It had a smooth, modulated cadence of calculated power, some

BLADE's POV.It's been three days since Sophia moved into the compound and all I can say is that having her here is a problem on so many levels. None of the reasons has to do with security, it has to do with how close she is to me.I am very aware of what she is doing at what time, how she drinks her coffee and other little details I have no business knowing, but I find myself curious to know.She has somehow encroached on the sense of peace I thought I had. She's suddenly everywhere I turn, everywhere I look. She had practically joined the big family with the way everyone seemed to fall under her charms.I can see when she's trying so hard not to make eye contact with me whenever we pass. All these thoughts were going through my head when I heard light footfalls in the hallway. I listened carefully to the footfalls; they were so light they could only be Sophia's footsteps.I turned to the bedside clock and noted the time. It's 2am in the middle of the night.I had a deep sigh as I mu