Chapter 1
CHAPTER
ONE
TWENTY YEARS LATER
ADAM
Day one.
Lifting my chin, I look down my nose at the stage in front of me. Bugsy is out of the fucking picture. He broke his goddamn hip fucking some girl a quarter of his goddamn age. Then he had a fucking heart attack while recovering from surgery. He’s a whole mess.
The Corpus Christi Dark Horse needs someone to run the strip club for a while until he’s able to come back. Rev, their VP, has been having his own health problems, so Pineville, being the original charter, sent me.
I’m nothing fucking special. Maybe why they picked me… well, except for one thing. My dad is the president of the Pineville Dark Horse MC club. But I’m not even an office-holding member. I’m barely even a member.
At thirty years old, I’m one of the youngest voting members in the club. Now, I’m in charge of a strip club until Bugsy and Rev come back. That is the problem with the retirees running a fucking business. It’s all fun and games until someone breaks a goddamn hip.
Although, I can’t deny that it would be a hell of a way to retire.
Staring at young naked bitches every fucking day.
What a way to grow old. But I might not take the same route and pop little blue pills to fuck them.
I don’t want to be laid up with a goddamn broken hip and a heart attack like Bugsy and Rev.
Pulling my bike into Bugsy’s spot, I kill the engine and stare at the front of the strip club. The neon light above the building flashes. Girls Girls Girls. Jesus fucking Christ. This is tacky as fuck, and amazing all at the same time.
Throwing my leg over my bike, I reach into my pocket and tug out my phone. I find my dad’s number and touch the send icon. It rings twice before he picks up. I can hear my brother and sister chatting in the background. They’re probably all having dinner together.
Family dinners are something that I try to go to, but it’s hit and miss.
Now, since I’m here, I actually miss it and wish that I was there.
Ain’t that some fucking shit? If I were in Pineville, I’d probably be balls deep inside some bitch right now, but being here, I want nothing more than to be home.
“I made it,” I state.
“You there at the club?” he asks.
“Standing outside looking up at a neon pink flashing sign and everything,” I mutter.
My dad chuckles. “Yeah, that sounds like the right place. You good with this?” he asks.
I’ve been thinking about that same question. Am I good with this? I am. Because I haven’t done anything for this club on my own before now. I’ve only done the bare minimum. It’s time for me to show out. It’s time for me to grow up and take on some responsibility.
“I’m good with this,” I state.
“You got this, Adam, and if you don’t, call me.”
Thanking him, I shove my phone back in my breast pocket and make my way toward the backdoor of the club. With the key in my hand, I shove it into the lock and twist. Tugging the door open, I step inside the back hallway.
There is already music playing. It’s low. The place isn’t open yet, so I don’t expect it to be bustling, but I’m surprised that there is any music playing at all.
Moving through the hall, I head toward the main room where the bar and stage area are located. The music grows louder, and then, when I make my way to the end of the hall, I hear voices.
Stopping at the mouth of the doorway, I turn my head to the left and take in the stage. She’s not working. Not being completely covered the way that she is. It’s clear that she’s just practicing. She’s wearing a tank top and leggings with sky-high heels, but the sight of her makes me pause.
Fuck.
Me.
AUSTIN
Closing my eyes, I spin around the pole.
The music pulses through me. It owns me like nothing else ever has.
I love dancing. Unfortunately, I have to strip to make ends meet.
If it were up to me, I’d be in the ballet studio instead of on this stage.
But dancing on toe shoes doesn’t pay for much of anything, and this does.
And I need money.
The music’s sexy beat courses throughout my entire body. Lifting my hands, I straighten my arms and wrap them around the pole, then arch my back as I bend my knees and slowly sink down, spreading my knees as I do.
When the song ends, I hear clapping. Opening my eyes, my gaze sharpens as I focus on the audience. The club is closed, and the only people who should be here are the ones setting up for the doors to open.
They wouldn’t clap, mainly because they’re not in this part of the club and they’re busy doing their own thing. Plus, they see girls dance for hours every night. It’s old hat at this point.
The clapping continues as a man steps out from the shadows. He’s not like the normal men who come in here wearing that vest that he’s got on. He’s about thirty or more years younger and a million times hotter. I can see that even at a distance.
I consider asking him who the hell he is but decide against it, mainly because I don’t care. I came in here to practice and nothing else. Why he’s here or not here is not my concern at all whatsoever.
Arching a brow, I watch him in silence and wonder if he’s going to speak. He appears as though he has something to say. He tilts his head to the side, his eyes searching mine. Just when I think that he’s going to turn and walk out of the room, he speaks.
“What’s your name, babe?”
It’s my turn to arch a brow. Leaning forward, I give him a smile. “Well, I can tell you for certain that it is never and will never be… babe.”
His lips curve up into a smile that takes over his entire gorgeous face. “We’ll see about that,” he murmurs.
His voice is so deep, rough, and sexy that I stare at him slack-jawed. He gives me a wink, then turns and walks out of the room before he heads toward the hallway that leads to the staircase, one that I know ascends to the second floor.
Jesus.