“My father taught me that life isn’t fair.” She places her hand on my chest, pushing me back, and I allow it. “I’m marrying Chance and I’m going to be a devoted Lady, Sin. Because I’m tired of being your whore. It isn’t worth it.” With that, she walks around me and out of her bedroom.
With shaky hands, I pull my cell out. Something happened. That’s not the same Elli I left unconscious in our bed just a week ago after I spent all weekend with her. No. She was right where I needed her to be. On the edge. She’s jumped off headfirst and I won’t be able to get her back.
I pull up the cameras I have set up in her room. I see her getting ready, standing in front of the mirror. Her door opens and my blood runs cold as Linc enters. I turn up the volume. I watch, my eyes glued to the screen and my hands tightening on my phone to the point I might break it while he threatens her…
With me.
She opens her mouth for him because of me.
He fucking uses her because of me.
I’m shaking when he leaves her and she runs to the bathroom getting sick. I see my sister enter and I don’t even bother watching. She lied like I knew she had. I watched him hit her twice. One when she refused to give him what he wanted and the second time when she was on her knees sucking his cock. My sister might have done it as well, but she never mentioned Lincoln in her room, and I know why.
Pocketing my cell, I run down the stairs. “Elli?” I shout her name. The ballroom is now full of guests mingling around. She didn’t even take the time to redo her makeup. She just washed it off completely and left her hair down. “Elli, I need to talk to you.” I step forward.
“That’s not happening.” Linc steps into me.
I fist my hands; I want to rip his fucking head off, but I can’t. Too many eyes on us, watching. This was a test. I know that now and I can’t fail. I’ll lose her for good. Forever. My entire body is fucking vibrating I’m so furious. Hot fire touching my skin, and I’m practically panting.
“I’ll handle this.” Chance places his hands on Lincoln’s chest and he steps back.
“Take it outside,” Linc orders Chance. I get one last look of Elli standing in a sea full of people and I realize just how unsafe she is. No one here will protect her. Not like I will.
“Come on,” Chance growls and I let him drag me out of the room, through the house, and out the double doors onto the front porch before I get myself killed. If that happens, there’s no telling what they will do to her. “What the fuck, man?” he demands softly, his eyes scanning the property. “You trying to fuck shit up?”
I pull out my cell and go to the footage, turning up the volume and hold it out to him. My heart is hammering in my chest. I start to pace, my hands gripping my hair. I should have known the moment I realized she had taken drugs. It’s her escape. Her way of coping with performing actions that she knows are wrong.
“Fuck.” He runs a hand through his hair, watching wide-eyed. His jaw sharpening when he hears what Linc tells her. After he’s done and it gets to the end, he hands it back to me. I pocket the phone with shaking hands. Chance’s arms fall to his sides. “I’m sorry, man—”
I punch him in the face, knocking him back.
“Jesus, Sin—”
I grab his tuxedo and yank him to me, his chest bumping into mine. “Anyone, and I mean any-fucking-one touches her again and I don’t give a fuck where we are or who’s watching, they’re dead.”
“I didn’t know he was going to do that,” he snaps in my face, a steady flow of blood running from his busted nose.
“And after I kill him, you’ll be next,” I promise, shoving Chance away from me. “Now get your ass back in there, and don’t leave her fucking side.” I point at the house.
“Calm down, man.” He raises his hands, quickly looking around, but everyone is inside. The party has already started. “I’m as pissed off as you are, but we can’t do anything yet.”
I know that but it doesn’t mean I like it. “Keep your eyes onmywife. If anything happens to her, I’ll dig them out of your fucking head with a butter knife,” I threaten.
I walk across the circle drive, over to where they have valet set up, and he pulls my keys to go get my car. I yank them from his hand and stomp my way to where it’s parked. Dropping into my car, my phone rings.
“Easton.” My father’s voice fills my car before I hear a door open and close as he hides away from the crowd inside of the house. “What the fuck just happened? Chance just returned with a bloody nose.”
“It’s nothing,” I say through gritted teeth.
“That was not nothing. Where the fuck are you? Amelia and her parents are looking for you.”
“I had to leave.”
He sighs. “Son—”
I hang up and drop my phone in my lap. My blood is boiling, I can’t stop shaking. He threatened my status with the Lords, and she did whatever he wanted. I hate that. She shouldn’t be protecting me. It should be the other way around. But the Lords have my arms tied. She’d hate herself more than she already does if she knew the very people she saved me from, are the same ones keeping me from her.
I knew Lincoln would try something, but I figured he’d at least wait until after their wedding. To use me against her makes my chest tighten. No wonder she hates me. She let him have something that wasn’t his. She protected me like I have her all these years. But what did it cost her? Her sanity. She’s no longer the same. James toyed with her. Made her beg to be fucked. Linc will make her beg him to stop, which he won’t do. He lied to her, my father and hers never had an agreement for us to marry. It’s just another way to hurt her. Make her feel like she was close to getting what she wanted, but he had the power to take it away.