The Anti-Hero (The Goode Brothers, #1)(79)

stragglers lingering on the street outside the club and security is slacking.

Even then, I’m not confident enough to just try and walk right in. Instead, I make a few calls. And by calls, I mean I send a text to Lacey, one of the girls who bartends in the VIP

section.

This is why I’m shocked when, moments after my text, it’s Sadie who opens the door in the back to let us in. She’s standing in the doorway with a smile on her face and her arms crossed.

I’m frozen midstep, staring at her in shock and wondering if she’s about to tell me to fuck off or hug me.

“Hi…” I say with unease. Adam is standing behind me, a firm hand on my arm, ready to drag me back to the car and tell me what a bad idea this was.

“I’ll admit,” Sadie says, “I knew your plan all along. Piss off your ex by fucking the preacher’s son and posting it online.

I did not foresee beating the shit out of him, though.”

I roll my eyes and turn back toward Adam. “It wasn’t exactly part of the plan,” I say.

She laughs and looks at Adam with a shake of her head.

“Well, it seems to have worked.”

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“Brett left town. He keeps saying he’s coming back, but I doubt it. And our VIP membership is down by fifty percent.

Every prominent member who felt safe keeping their dirty secrets here has left, which, if you ask me, is good.”

“Even my father?” Adam adds in.

“Oh yeah,” she replies, “I haven’t seen him around in months. The last thing he needs is to get caught here after what you’ve pulled.”

“So…” I say. “Are you going to let us in?”

“Sneaking around now? Last time you were trying to get attention. What changed?”

Adam and I glance at each other, but neither of us answers that question. She doesn’t need to know that we are what changed. Instead of pressing us for an answer, she smiles and opens the door wider to let us walk in.

“The Blue Room is open,” she says as we slowly pass her by. “Unless…the Black Room is what you’re looking for.

That’s open too.”

“Thank you,” I mutter as I take Adam’s hand in mine, leading him straight to the back stairwell and directly down the hall where the Black Room looms at the end.





Thirty-Five

Adam

E verything that exists behind the door labeled “Black Room” reeks of both salvation and ruin. The moment Sage opens the door, I feel everything inside me suddenly at war.

The things I want battling the things I know I shouldn’t have.

The man who wanted to be a hero against the man who knows heroes don’t truly exist—not like that. Not the way my father trained me.

The excitement of uncovering this new side of myself at war with the fear that I won’t ever become the good man I sought to be.

The terror of losing myself in unlearning the indoctrination I’ve been brainwashed to believe.

And the strongest battle of them all—this unyielding and intoxicating lust-fueled desire to dominate her against the shame of being a monster if I do.

I’m pretty sure I know which side is going to win.

Sage squeezes my hand as we walk inside. I try to focus on her because looking around the room is getting to my head at the moment. As she locks the dead bolt on the door, she keeps her eyes on me, and I force myself to breathe.

My cock is already throbbing in my pants, and I’m dying to touch her and relieve this ache inside me. Before she can say a word, I pull her into my arms, lifting her from the floor until she wraps her legs around me.

“I want you to take the lead,” she whispers against my lips.

Her eyes are still focused on mine as if we’re shutting out everything else. Until we’re ready to acknowledge them.

I drop her onto the elevated bed, leaning over to kiss her.

When we pull away from the heated exchange, she looks at me again. “I’m yours, Adam. You can do whatever you want to me, and if I need you to stop, I’ll say red, okay?”

“Red. Got it.”

Then she strokes my face as she gazes into my eyes, and it’s like she can see everything happening inside my mind.

Like she’s staring right into the battle that’s taking place there.

As she touches my cheek, she whispers, “It’s safe here.”

I let my eyes close, kissing her again. All I feel at this moment is relief and immense appreciation. How this woman seems to always know how to comfort me and bring me peace is either a sign that she’s simply perfect or simply perfect for me.

Do I bring her the same feeling? The last time I cared so much for another person’s well-being, I fucked it up. I don’t intend to do that again.

Sage needs me to protect her, keep her, own her. So that’s what I’ll do.

“Lie down,” I say in a low, assertive command.

Letting out a sigh, she releases her hold of my neck and lets her legs fall from around my hips. Then, she does as I say and reclines on the bed, staring up at me for her next instruction.

As I stand up and stare at her laid out before me, I let all the noise in my head silence. I’m not thinking about shame or fear. I’m focused only on her and how exquisite she looks.