AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Forty-Seven
Sage
I’m on the verge of tears as I drive. Am I overreacting?
No.
I’m going with my gut and my gut is telling me that something is up with Adam. He’s not answering his phone and he left me with the signed transfer of ownership paperwork along with a fifty-thousand-dollar check from his account and the note reading,Your first investor.
My heart is telling me he would never make a deal with his father for that club.
My gut is telling me to worry.
There are only a handful of places I could imagine him to be. I called his mother right away and she said she hadn’t seen him. And a swing by the old church proved wrong again. Why he would go there, I don’t know. But I had to at least check.
I drive around town for a few minutes, mostly worrying that he went back to his dad’s hotel or he’s on a one-way plane ride out of town. Of course, I’m just being dramatic now. When I look down at my phone, I realize it’s Saturday, at eight in the morning.
And realization dawns.
Of course.
Pulling into a spot along the street, I snatch the folder off the passenger seat and fly out of the truck. As I hurry along the quiet sidewalk, I worry my lip, running my tongue over the ring as I do when I’m mostly nervous.
The bell above Sal’s chimes as I enter. The crowd has already gathered in the lobby, but I push past all of them, ignoring the hostess at her stand as I take stock of the patrons at the bar. The last seat on the corner, where he usually sits, is filled—by someone else.
“Can I help you?” the hostess asks as I let out a despondent sigh.
My eyes scan the rest of the diner, landing on a dark-haired man with his head down like he’s writing something.
“Ma’am?” the hostess calls again, but I ignore her, rushing toward the booth in the back where Adam is sitting alone. People are staring at me, and I get the feeling I’m causing a scene, but at the moment, I don’t care.
“What are you doing?” I ask loudly as I approach his table, slamming the papers down next to his cup of coffee. The panic is coming out as anger, but I need him to assure me he didn’t do what I think he did.
As his head snaps up to find me standing there, there’s softness mixed with surprise in his eyes.
He reaches for my hand.
“Hey, Peaches. What’s wrong?”
At the sight of him, tall and handsome and as perfect as the day I met him, I feel a swell of emotion bubble to the top. My voice cracks with my next words.
“Tell me, Adam. Did you make a deal with the devil for this?”
His shoulders fall away from his ears.
“Wha—” he starts before gesturing for me to sit down. I feel the eyes of the other diners on us as I stand there in a panic, but at the moment, I really don’t care. “Sit down, Sage. Let’s talk.”
My eyes are stinging with tears as I stare at him. I didn’t realize fully until this moment how much of a permanent fixture Adam has become in my life. Just the thought of my apartment without him leaves me feeling shattered and hopeless. It started out as a scheme, but it was never truly fake to me. From the very beginning, I felt the comfort of his voice and the safety of his touch. Even when our dating was supposedly fake, I felt the pride of having him at my side, calling himmine. It was reckless of me to spend even one second around Adam Goode because my heart was at risk from the moment he gave me his seat four months ago.
“Just answer the question,” I reply shakily. “What did you give him to get this?”
He looks at the envelope. Then he shakes his head. “Nothing.”
“What?” I drop into the seat across from him. My heart is hammering in my chest, and I’m lost in a fury of emotion. Should I be angry or confused, or relieved? Because right now, I’m all of them.
“I mean, he tried…” he says, reaching across the table to touch my hand. “He tried to blackmail me into leaving you and taking the job at his church. And in return, he would give you that.”
“So how…”
