Leather and Chrome (Royal Bastards MC: Detroit, MI Book 2) Read online

  Just as he had done the first, Chrome repeated it on the other eyelid, blood dripping down his cheeks.

  “Now you’re going to watch as I dismember you, bit by bit.”

  “Fuck you,” Danny screamed, giving Chrome ample opportunity to grab Danny’s cheeks and force his mouth open. None too gently, he reached in and grabbed Danny’s tongue, and like a knife through hot butter, severed the muscle from his mouth. Blood spurted out, but neither Chrome nor Silver were phased. The little ball of joy grew.

  The next part of Chrome’s plan almost made me queasy, but I never took my eyes off of them. Taking the knife in his right hand, Chrome cut Danny’s cheek from earlobe to right next to the corner of his mouth, and then repeated it on the other side. Chrome stuck the blade in his mouth, before raising his hand up to Danny’s face.

  Chrome smiled around the blade and then at the same time, stuck his index fingers into each slice, and pulled, ripping the muscle in his cheeks out, throwing him to the ground. Danny screamed, his eyes rolling back in his head.

  “Oh no you don’t,” Silver spat out. You’re gonna stay awake for every second of this. Silver used his other hand to punch Danny in the stomach, making him come to.

  “This is my favorite part, you know?” Silver laughed at Chrome.

  “Mine too.”

  Without another word, Chrome took the knife and placed it through the outside hole of Danny’s cheek, through his mouth and out the other side.

  “Ready?”

  Danny’s eyes bugged out of his head and Chrome pulled, slicing Danny’s face through leaving one giant hole from earlobe to earlobe. Silver let go of the man and he slumped to the ground unmoving.

  In one fluid movement, Chrome jumped straight up into the air, his boot coming down onto Danny’s head, smashing it like a watermelon at the fair. Chrome and Silver both let out a feral yell, their nostrils flaring, the smell of blood overpowering. I wanted to rejoice with them but a wave of dizziness and nausea overtook me.

  “Chrome,” I whispered, before everything went dark and I collapsed back onto the floor.

  “Angel,” I whispered, rushing over to her just in the nic of time. The last thing I needed was her head bouncing off the cement floor. “Silver,” I shouted. “Grab me that blanket.”

  Silver ran over and collected it, handing it to me. I wrapped Cameron up from the waist down, her jeans being completely destroyed and gently picked her up. She whimpered in my arms.

  “She needs a hospital,” I shouted to Silver, but he just shook his head at me.

  “You know we can’t take her there. There will be too many questions. We’ll take her back to the clubhouse and have the girls look her over. If they think she needs medical attention, I’ll make a few phone calls and have one brought to us.”

  Silver was right of course. If two large biker dudes covered in blood showed up at the emergency room with a beat to fuck young woman missing her pants, there was bound to be some questions.

  “Where is Marcus?” I asked, walking swiftly out the door, Silver fast on my heels.

  “Dumpster has him and is taking him back to headquarters. We’ll deal with him later.”

  “And the other girls?” I asked.

  “Pappy, Barnie, and Flapjack are seeing to them. Don’t worry about that though. Get Cameron to the club.”

  I nodded my thanks to Silver and he nodded back. We had much to discuss after all was said and done. There were hurt feelings on both sides and a loss of trust. It would take both of us some time to move past it, but I had no doubts we would once I told him everything.

  I opened the back door of the sedan we brought with us and gently laid Cameron inside. Her eyelids fluttered and she smiled and then winced. My heart ached as I climbed into the drivers side and took off down the road. We were only a few minutes away but the drive felt like hours.

  I screeched to a halt outside of the dungeon entrance and carefully pulled Cameron out of the backseat. As fast as my legs could carry me, I took her downstairs and called out for help. One of the Dommes quickly grabbed a massage table and I laid Cameron down gently on it.

  “What happened,” Candy asked, looking quite a bit better than she had just a few days ago.

  “Danny and Marcus,” I replied. “She’s been kicked multiple times and she probably has a few broken ribs.

  One of the subs cut off Cameron’s top while another went to grab bandages and hot water.

  “Don’t wrap her ribs,” Candy piped up. “Take it from someone who has had many broken. If you wrap them you increase the risk of developing pneumonia.”

  I nodded my thanks and watched the girls work, my hand holding Cameron’s and not letting go. For over an hour, the club subs and Domme’s cleaned Cam up from head to toe. A couple of times they tried to shoo me away, but eventually gave up. They knew I wasn’t going to be moved. When all of her wounds had been treated, bandaged, and stitched, the girls slinked away leaving me to my Angel.

  “Don’t you dare leave me,” I bent down and put my head on hers whispering into her ear, tears threatening to fall. “Don’t you fucking dare.”

  A wheezy voice had my head snapping up. “I told you I wasn’t going anywhere.”

  “Angel,” I blurted out, squeezing her hand, my lips gently finding her swollen ones. “You’re awake.”

  “Ow,” she whispered, the excitement in my voice a little too loud for her sensitive head.

  “I love you,” I whispered, unable to keep the words in.

  A chorus of ‘awws’ sounded around me, and both Cameron and I laughed, hers ending in a wince.

  “Don’t move,” I told her, wiping her hair away from her face. “You’re pretty badly injured.”

  “You should see the other guy,” she wheezed again.

  A big hearty laugh sounded from the doorway and I looked up to see Dumpster walking towards us with a medicine cup in one hand and a small cup of water in the other.

  “Oh I did see him. It seems your boyfriend might have outdone himself this time. Can you sit up at all, Cameron?” Dumpster asked.

  Putting my hands behind her back, I propped the massage table up just a little and laid her back down on it. Dumpster handed her the pills and the water which she graciously accepted.

  “The antibiotics will hopefully keep away any infection, and the norcos are probably going to knock you out for a while,” he said, “But that’s probably a good thing. You need your rest.”

  Cameron lightly smiled at Dumpster who smiled back and then faced me. “When she falls asleep, Silver wants to see you in his office.”

  I nodded at the big man and turned my attention back to Cameron.

  “Angel. I don’t think we’re going to be able to get you up to my room, or even your apartment. But, we have an empty room down here that Lacey just recently vacated and it has its own bathroom.”

  “Are--are you going to stay down here with me?” Cameron asked, her voice just barely above a whisper.

  “After I’m done talking to Silver, wild horses couldn’t keep me away.”

  Cameron closed her eyes, a smile on her beautiful face. She was out. Carefully, I lifted my Angel off the table and headed towards Lacey’s old room. Trisha and Candy turned down the sheets and the bedspread while I gently placed her down and covered her up.

  “Sleep well, my Angel. I will see you as soon as I can.”

  With a gentle peck on her forehead, I ushered the ladies out of the room and turned off the light. The hardest part of the evening was just about to begin.

  ***

  The walk to Silvers office was a long one filled with an abundance of shame, guilt, and sadness. In my twenty eight years on this Earth, I had known some of the greatest heartache known to man. I had been torn away from my family and my twin. The man who had raised me had died, leaving me with nothing but the clothes on my back. I had been shunned by someone who I thought was my father and then lied to. I had been homeless on more than one occasion, and lived a nomads life, and th
at was all before I had turned eighteen.

  Silver, Stallion, and the Royal Bastards had taken me in when I had no one. They had treated me like their own and raised me to be the best person I could be. They had clothed me, sheltered me, loved me, and all I had done in return was lie to them, and deceive them. Sure, it may have been for a good cause, protecting my family, but I should have known they would never have let anything happen to Azrael. I should have trusted them.

  I was now on the cusp of something beautiful. I had found a woman who saw past all of my rage and shame, and who loved me despite my flaws. She was kind, intelligent, beautiful, and most of all, she was fierce. She took no shit from anyone, and she was my perfect match.

  If Silver kicked me out of The Royal Bastards, who exactly would I be? This club defined me in more ways than I thought were possible. I wasn’t just a member of the RBMC, the RBMC was me. Would Cameron even love me if I wasn’t a member anymore? Could she love me? Deep down inside of me, I tried convincing myself that it wasn’t my colors that mattered to her, it was me as a whole. She saw both Chrome and Noah. She loved us both, but another voice whispered that it was all a fairy tale.

  I knocked on Silver’s door, my palms sweaty, and my heart racing. This was it. Now or never. Do or die.

  “Come in.”

  The room hadn’t changed since the last time I was here, less than forty eight hours before, but in my eyes, everything looked a little different. I was starting to see things for what they could be, not what they could do to hurt me. I glanced around and noticed my cut on the coat rack and my heart clenched.

  “Take a seat,” Silver offered the chair.

  I sat, and waited for him to speak.

  “How is she?” Silver asked.

  “She seems to be alright,” I said, “The girls took care of her and she is resting now.”

  “I’m glad to hear it,” Silver smiled.

  “Thank you,” I choked out.

  Silver nodded, “We would never leave a brother behind. Not to mention, TBone would probably burn the club to the ground if we hadn’t stepped in.”

  We both looked at each other and then laughed, the tension easing slightly. Silver was completely right though. TBone was a good kid, but he had a bit of a temper when it came to his sister.

  “Silver--”

  “Chrome--” We both started speaking at the same time.

  “Go ahead,” I said.

  “Cameron came to see me this morning, right before she was taken. She said that you told her everything.”

  I nodded, “I did.”

  “She also said, you had kept it a secret for a good reason.”

  “Also true.”

  Silver leaned forward in his office chair, his brow scrunched together like he just couldn’t figure me out, and I couldn’t say that I blamed him. If you didn’t know my story, I was kind of an enigma.

  “I was angry yesterday,” he started after a few moments of silence. “I had gone down to New Orleans to exact justice, and in the meantime, I looked around to see my best friends face in the crowd. Except it wasn’t my best friend. How should I have felt, Chrome?”

  “Did you talk to him?” I asked out of curiosity.

  He shook his head. “No. Had it been anyone else, I would have confronted Azrael, but as my best friend and my VP, I wanted to talk to you first, but when I got back, and I saw you-- I just, I lost it. I should have heard you ou--”

  I raised my hands in the air, cutting him off. Leaning back in my chair, I pinched the bridge of my nose and took a deep breath. It was now or never.

  “I was born Noah Braxton, identical twin of Ian “Azrael” Braxton, Son of Boone and Barb. Only, I never met any of them.”

  For the next two hours, I recounted my story for the second time in a twenty four hour span. With every word I uttered to Silver, I felt a little lighter, a little more hopeful. Just as Cameron had done, Silver stopped me a few times with questions and a few times to wrap his head around what I was saying. It wasn’t an easy story, but it was mine. After I finished, I let out a breath and waited for Silver to speak.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” Silver whispered.

  “I didn’t think I could tell anyone, Prez. I was scared, and I was ashamed.”

  “That’s bullshit, Chrome, and you know it. You’re not scared of anything.”

  I vehemently shook my head. “That’s not true. I was scared of rejection back then, and I’m scared of it right now,” I admitted openly.”

  “Right now?”

  I couldn’t speak, my words getting lost behind the lump in my throat. Instead, I nodded my head towards my cut. Silver looked over and then back at me.

  “You think I’m going to kick you out?” He asked, completely taken aback.

  “I wouldn’t blame you if you did.”

  “Listen to me, Noah. You are my brother, both in blood, and in life. You should have told me everything, but I get why you didn’t. Now, I’m not saying that there isn’t still a lingering feeling of hurt on my side and it will take some time before that goes away, but that doesn’t change the fact that you’re my best friend and a member of this pack. Ride or die, you will always be a Royal Bastard.”

  Twice now, I had found myself on the brink of tears. I wasn’t the crying type, but here I was, about ready to lose it.

  Silver stood and walked over to the coat rack. He grabbed my cut and walked around the desk. I stood up, and turned around. Silver slipped my colors around my arms, and a feeling of completeness surrounded me. All I needed was Cameron in my arms.

  Silver slapped me on the back and then chuckled loudly.

  “What?” I asked.

  “Who would have thought? Big, Bad, Chrome found himself an ol’ lady.”

  I turned around and lightly shoved him. “You’ve got one too ya know.”

  Silver sighed and smiled. “You’re right, I do. We are two lucky sons-a-bitches.”

  Silver was right. Things were finally starting to fall into place in my life. There was still one more thing I needed to do though. When I had heard Cameron laughing, locked inside the room with Danny, a heart-pounding, vomit-inducing, crippling fear had almost paralyzed me. The only thing that pulled me out was Silver by my side. What I needed to do next, I couldn’t have my brother with me. I had to do it on my own.

  As if reading my thoughts, Silver nodded at me. “The phone’s right there. I’m gonna go check on Cameron and then find my girl.”

  “Silver,” I said as he walked towards his door.

  “Mmmm?”

  “Thank you.”

  “Always, Brother. Always.”

  It took me ten minutes to find the number and punch in the numbers without misdialing. A combination of my fat fingers and my nerves were going to be the death of me, but on the eight try, I finally got it right.

  “Hello?” A baritone voice just like my own answered.

  “Ian Braxton?” I asked, my hands shaking, my voice quivering.

  “Who is this?”

  “My name is Noah, and I’m your brother.”

  “What do I even say?” I grumbled out, staring at myself in the hotel mirror.

  “How about you start with hi?” Cameron laughed, coming up behind me and wrapping her arms around my middle.

  I turned around and pulled her close to me. It had been several weeks since Danny and Marcus had taken her, but like the true warrior she was, Cam had pulled through. She had woken up a few times with nightmares, but my Angel was strong. Stronger than I was, and we both knew it. It was the only reason I was standing in this hotel in the first place.

  After Silver had left the room, our bond on its way to healing, I had picked up the phone and called Azrael. It hadn’t been easy, and the first few minutes I spent convincing him this wasn’t a joke. He had even made me take a selfie with my cell phone and send it to his.

  “Holy fuck,” Rael whispered. “You’re not fucking kidding.”

  “No. I’m not.” I gave him a minute to
really process what I had just told him.

  “Where have you been?” He asked.

  “That’s---a really long story.” I knew I was going to have to repeat it again, but my brain wasn’t firing on all cylinders at the moment.

  “Okay. Let’s start with something easier,” he said, intriguing lacing his every word. “Where are you now?”

  This was about to get slippery. “I’m in Michigan. I’m the VP of the Royal Bastards, Detroit Chapter.”

  “Shut the fuck up,” Rael said. “How?”

  “Do you have facetime,” I asked, rolling my eyes.

  Rael and I hung up the phone and facetimed each other. The first ten minutes were spent looking at our twins. It was uncanny how identical we really were. After that, I retold my life story for the third time. For a secret I had kept bottled up for so long, it was getting easier and easier to tell.

  After we hung up, some four hours later, I went downstairs to check on Cameron. It was three in the morning, but my Angel was wide awake.

  “You need to get more rest, my love,” I told her, lightly kissing her forehead.

  “I know,” she sighed, “But I missed you.”

  “I missed you too,” I cooed, taking off my boots and climbing in under the covers next to her.

  “Where have you been?” Cameron asked, laying her head on my shoulder.

  “I was talking to Ian.” My words had come off nonchalantly, but they were kind of a big deal and Cameron knew it.

  “You did?” She exclaimed. “What happened?”

  “I told him everything, and then we just sort of talked.”

  “Talked? About what?” Cameron was close to jumping out of the bed with excitement.

  “Him. Me. You. Just everything.”

  “Me?” Cam asked. “Why me?”

  “Because I told Ian that you were the first person to ever hear my story, and he knew you must have been special.”

  Cameron blew raspberries and rolled her eyes. “I’m not special.”

  I took Cam’s hands in mine and looked her in the eyes. “Angel. You are more special to me than anything else in the entire world. There is nothing I won’t do for you. I will kill for you, hurt for you, and die for you, if it comes to that. You have brought me out of my rage fueled shadows and into your bright and heavenly light. I love you. More than I have ever loved another soul.”