The Sinful Side

The Sinful Side A Dark Romance The Dark Side Duet Book 1 Ash Coley Copyright ©May 2023 by Tiffany Thomas All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. Cover Design: Tiff Writes Romance Formatting: Tiff Writes Romance Editing: Tiff Writes Romance Proofreading: Kimberly Peterson Created with Vellum For Riley, my reason for everything that I do. For every reader who loves a dark romance with a morally gray man, this book is for you. Contents Playlist Note from the Author: Prologue Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Epilogue Also by Ash Coley About the Author Playlist “No Longer Broken” - ALPHAMEGA “Love Is A Weapon” - Letdown. “Through Hell” - Citizen Soldier, Royal Bliss “Insidious” - Any Given Sin “What Are the Odds” - Silent Theory “Take What You Want” - State of Mine “The Past Is Dead” - Beartooth “Die Trying” - New Medicine “Uncomfortably Numb” - Arrows in Action “Every Time You Leave” - I Prevail Note from the Author: This book contains content not all readers may find enjoyable. This book gives a negative connotation to Christianity, preachers, and church. This book also has elements of a cult-like community. Inside these pages, you will also find scenes of child abuse, sexual assault, starvation, and bullying. The MMC in this book also plays on the fears of the FMC. You’ll also stumble across a sex scene occurring inside a church. If you have any questions about anything in this book before reading, please do not hesitate to reach out to me at [email protected] Prologue Amadeus When I was a little boy, I looked up to my father—thought he was the greatest man in the whole damn world. I had so many good memories with him as a kid—fishing, hunting, him teaching me how to use a gun safely for the first time. Every evening after dinner, he’d read me a chapter out of the Bible. It was my storytime before bath and bed. I looked forward to hearing one of those stories. I thought the man could do no wrong, especially since he was a good ol’ Christian, you know? The whole town looked up to him. My mother doted on his every need. He was everyone’s idol, so why wouldn’t he be mine? And then, he became a preacher, and well… everything went to shit after that. On the outside, to everyone else, he was still the best man that God could put on this earth. To his family? He was a sick, twisted individual. He shoved so much of that Bible down our throats, with its rules and laws and beliefs, that I had goddamn nightmares about that shit. I grew a hatred for anything inside that book, and I grew a hatred for him, for the church, and every person who thought he shit fucking rainbows. But I sucked it up. What fucking choice did I have? I had a little brother to protect and teach—behind Dad’s back, of course—that the Bible wasn’t the rule of the fucking land. So, I couldn’t leave, couldn’t run away. And like hell would I have ever reported him. The whole goddamn town thought he pissed sparkles, so I knew no one would believe me about the shit he did at home. Every farmer thought he brought the rain, every cop thought he stopped all the crime, and every family thought he was bringing hope into their lives. It was a load of absolute bullshit. I was eleven the first time he raped my mother all because she had a headache and didn’t feel like having sex. His excuse was that it was her wifely duty to give him what he wanted. I wanted to kill him, but when my mother shook her head at me and continued making his breakfast, I realized it wasn’t worth it. Solomon, my little brother, was my only priority. I was my mother’s child, and it was not my job to take care of her and protect her. And it shouldn’t have been my job to protect my little brother, but it was. I made it my job. And if anyone wanted to touch him, they had me to get through first. I was thirteen the first time my father tried touching me inappropriately. After I kicked him in the face and bloodied his nose, I moved my shit into my little brother’s room and put a lock on the door. And every time that asshole would take it off, I put a new one up. I learned quickly how to play his game—learned it so well, I knew how to play it better. I was the master now. He was nothing more than a fucking pawn. And like fuck was he fucking up Solomon like that. Solomon might have been his son, but I was his protector. My little brother was un-fucking-touchable. I’d kill for him without even a split second of hesitation. When I was fifteen, my best friend, Ezra, and I decided we’d had enough of this bullshit ass place with its bullshit Biblical rules, and we started rebelling. Parties, drugs, alcohol, sex—you name it, we fucking made sure it happened. We indulged. I liked the fucked-up sinner I was. I taught my brother how to indulge in it all, too. I wouldn’t let him be constricted to the tiny little box our father tried to put us in. Our parents had no idea we were behind the parties, the drugs, the alcohol, and all the fucking sex while we were in high school. In fact,