You’d think I’d have come up with a solid excuse by now. I’ve been hiding in Chance’s car for a while, and I still haven’t found a way to justify my disappearing act. As soon as I recognized Lexie’s killer, I bolted. I couldn’t bear to look at him a second longer, no matter how much I wanted to be there for Chance.
It just doesn’t seem real. Out of all the guys at Duke University, I just had to get involved with the one whose brother assaulted me and killed Lexie. Did Chance plan this? Did he know who I was when we met? Is fate really this cruel?
“Dia?” Chance places a hand on my shoulder. “You okay?”
Here goes nothing.
“I know him,” I blurt out, keeping my gaze drilled into the dashboard. I wait for Chance to ask me to elaborate, but he doesn’t make a sound.
“Did you hear me? I know your brother,” I urge.
No reaction whatsoever.
My head snaps up, and I scan Chance’s face for a clue as to what’s going on behind those blue eyes. He doesn’t look surprised. Or confused, for that matter.
“Finn is part of the reason why your brother went to jail.” I lay it all out.
That seems to do the trick because Chance exhales a breath, removes his hand from my shoulder, and says, “I know.”
What the hell?
“You do?”
“I had my doubts, but I wasn’t sure. That’s why I wanted you to come today.”
Holy shit.
I couldn’t understand why he’d want me to accompany him after Theo’s train wreck of a party. Any guy in their right mind would’ve called it quits right then and there, but not him. Here I thought he just needed someone to be there for him today. Turns out he had a plan all along.
“So, what? You brought me here to test me?”
He was probably hoping my reaction to seeing his brother would clear things up for him. That would explain why he was so bent on having me watch from another room.
He debates on his answer for a moment. “I brought you here because I need answers.”
There it is. I’m only here because he wants information. And if it weren’t for the fact that I have some questions of my own, I’d tell him to get fucked.
I want to know how his brother could turn into such a terrible person. How two siblings raised by the same parents could be so different. I haven’t met Chance’s mom, but from what he’s told me, she’s the best mom you could ask for.
I inhale a sharp breath. “How did you find out?”
“It clicked when I met your ex. Well, technically, when I heard his last name. I figured if he was involved, you probably were, too.”
“Wait, so you didn’t know Finn was involved before you heard his name?”
He scoffs. “I didn’t even know why my brother was in jail until recently—let alone the name of the people that pressed charges against him. I started looking into it a few months ago when he called, asking me to come see him before he got transferred out of state.”
I knew Chance and his brother weren’t close, but I didn’t think they were strangers.
“I read the name Richards in the police report. Did some research and found out some multimillionaire named Hank Richards went after Joel for attempting to drive over his youngest son, Finn, and killing the family dog instead.”
Joel.
That’s his brother’s name.
I don’t know why I expected a murderer’s name to be scarier.
“The few articles I found online said this Richards guy didn’t rest until Joel was locked up. Put his best lawyers on the case. My brother didn’t stand a chance.”