Chapter 114: ONE HUNDRED AND FOURTEEN

Adrian’s POV

We took a table toward the back, away from the entrance, and dropped into our seats while Roman immediately reached for the menu, talking about what he was going to order.

I leaned back in my chair and listened to them talk while checking my phone.

None of what we’d checked explained how he’d gone from struggling to keep a job to creating a civil rights organization that apparently challenged an entire system.

The waiter eventually came over, and we placed our orders.

I was about to put my phone away when the restaurant door opened and I looked up without thinking.

Oh shit. I froze.

The woman who walked inside was someone I’d seen dozens of times at my father’s company.

My father’s assistant.

I immediately lowered my gaze. For a second, my mind went straight to the obvious conclusion. Had my father found us? Had she somehow discovered where we were? We’d been careful.

As far as we knew, nobody outside our circle knew about my penthouse, and we’d spent the entire morning moving around instead of staying in one place.

But if she recognized me, that could become a problem.

I kept my head down and watched her through the corner of my eye. She wasn’t looking around the restaurant as if she were searching for us. Instead, she walked straight toward one of the attendants.

"You’re late today," the attendant said with a grin.

The woman laughed. "I know. I got held up."

"Again?"

"Don’t start." She laughed.

They spoke like people who had known each other for years.

That caught my attention.

The assistant leaned closer to the attendant and said something I couldn’t hear. The attendant nodded, then immediately left the counter and disappeared through a door behind the restaurant and I frowned.

Where was that?

Nicholas was saying something to Roman, but I barely heard him. My attention stayed on the woman.

She wasn’t here for food.

The attendant returned and handed her something small. She checked it, nodded, and headed toward the back of the restaurant.

I looked at my brother’s. "I’ll be back."

Nicholas stopped talking. "Where are you going?"

"I need to check something. Stay here."

Roman frowned. "Adrian—"

"Stay here," I repeated, keeping my voice low. "Don’t follow me."

I pushed my chair back and stood before any of them could argue. I waited a few seconds, then followed the woman from a distance.

She disappeared through the same back door and I waited until the restaurant staff were distracted before slipping through after her.

The corridor behind the restaurant was nothing like the dining area. It was narrow, poorly lit and mostly empty, with several doors along the walls. I kept moving, following the sound of footsteps ahead.

The woman reached the end of the corridor and stopped.

Immediately, I pressed myself against the wall.

She looked around before reaching toward what appeared to be a keypad beside an ordinary-looking door and I watched carefully as she entered a code.

The lock clicked then she opened the door and walked through.

I waited until it closed before I stepped forward.

I stared at the keypad for a moment before entering the same code I’d watched her use and the lock clicked again.

I pushed the door open and music hit me immediately.

I stood there, completely stunned.

The restaurant hadn’t been the back of a restaurant at all.

It was an entrance.

Beyond the door was a massive underground club packed with people.

Music shook the walls, colored lights moved across the room, and people crowded around tables while others stood near the bar.

What the hell?

I stepped inside slowly, trying to keep myself from looking too suspicious.

The woman was already moving through the crowd and I followed.

I kept enough distance between us that she wouldn’t notice me, but I didn’t let her disappear from sight. As I moved farther into the club, I realized there was another entrance at the opposite end.

People were coming and going through it, but unlike the main entrance, everyone entering through that door was being stopped by security.

One of the guards stepped in front of a man. "Code?"

The man looked around before answering. "Red."

The guard nodded and stepped aside. "Room seven."

The man walked past him and I slowed.

A code?

I watched another person approach and the guard ask the same question. "Code?"

"Blue."

"Room three."

They were being directed into different rooms based on codes.

I followed the man who had given the red code, keeping my distance as he disappeared down a hallway. I had no idea what I was looking for yet, but everything about the place was wrong.

The man reached a door, knocked and someone opened it.

I moved closer, stopping near the corner where I could see inside without being noticed.

Boxes were stacked against one wall. Several packages were being sorted across a table and I frowned immediately. Whatever was happening here wasn’t legal.

My jaw tightened.

So this was why the place was hidden.

People weren’t coming here simply to drink and dance. The club was being used to distribute drugs to selected customers, with the private rooms apparently being where transactions were handled.

I stepped backward before anyone inside could notice me.

I needed to leave.

But then I heard a familiar voice. "Why are those boxes still sitting there?"

I stopped as the assistant walked into the hallway from another room.

A man beside her immediately straightened. "We’re dealing with it."

She frowned. "You’re supposed to have dealt with it already. I don’t want anything out of place tonight."

The man nodded. "Understood."

She looked toward the club. "Blackthorne is coming tonight. You know what that means. I don’t want any mistakes while he’s here."

My entire body went still.

Blackthorne.

My father.

I looked at her again, suddenly seeing everything differently.

She hadn’t come here because she was meeting someone. She worked here. And my father knew about this place. Maybe he even...owned it.

The assistant continued speaking to the man, completely unaware that I was standing only a short distance away. "Make sure the VIP rooms are ready, and tell security to check everyone properly. He doesn’t want unnecessary attention."

"Understood."

She turned and walked away while I stayed where I was, my mind racing.

My father owned this place. Or at the very least, he was involved deeply enough that everyone here was preparing for his arrival.

I needed to know which.

I took another careful step backward. Then a voice came from behind me. "You."

I turned to see a security guard standing several feet away, staring directly at me and his expression hardened. "What are you doing back here?"

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out immediately and he stepped closer. "I’ve never seen you before."

"I’m looking for someone." I immediately said.

"Who?"

I glanced toward the hallway.

The guard followed my gaze, then looked back at me. "Code?"

I hesitated and his hand moved toward the radio clipped to his shoulder. "I asked you for your code."

My mind went blank. I had watched people give their codes at the entrance, but I hadn’t expected anyone to ask me one.

The guard took another step toward me. "Red? Blue? Green? Which one are you?"

I stared at him, realizing I had walked straight into a place where everyone apparently belonged to a category I didn’t understand.

And now I had no idea what to tell him.