“Who are you?” I ask, unable to stop myself. Why is he here? With Lincoln, of all people?
He looks at me, his green eyes drop to my chest for a quick glance before meeting mine. “I’m Chance Beckham. But everyone calls me Becks.” His shoulders are back, chest bowed like he’s proud of that name. Like I should know who the fuck he is.
I don’t.
“Elli,” my mother calls my name and I look over at her. She’s smiling, her teeth on full display. She looks so happy it makes my stomach knot. “Chance here is Lincoln’s nephew.”
My breath hitches.
“And he’s going to be your husband.”
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
SIN
I WAS AT Blackout a quarter to nine this morning. Tyson was already ready like I knew he would be. I sit in the passenger seat while he takes the sharp curves of the Pennsylvania roads. We’re climbing, making our way up into the mountains on a cloudy, cold day.
I’ve got my cell in my lap, an earbud in my ear watching Elli on the screen. She’s sleeping. She’s been doing it a lot this week. She came home from lunch with her mother yesterday, and they got into another huge fight. Her mother stormed into the house yelling; Elli told her to go to hell. It got dirty like the reception argument.
Chance Beckham is who they are forcing her to marry. I’m not surprised. I figured that’s who Lincoln would pick. It’s a way to throw it in my face that he won. He’s thinks he’ll get unlimited access to her if his nephew is her husband.
He’s not as smart as he thinks he is.
I look over at her nightstand. She’s got a pregnancy test and an empty bottle of wine next to it. I watched her take it last night and she actually looked disappointed that it was negative. However, she then celebrated with a bottle while watching a horror film before she passed out.
“Why are you torturing yourself?” Tyson finally speaks to me since I arrived at Blackout almost an hour ago.
I close the phone and remove the earbud, not really sure what to say so I keep my mouth shut, watching the woods pass by.
My cell rings through the silence and it’s Amelia. I hit ignore and run a hand down my face.
Sitting up straighter, I see a sign coming up that saysCarnage: 10 miles.
“Be direct,” Tyson speaks, obviously noticing the sign as well. “To the point. Don’t fuck around. The Spade brothers don’t like having their time wasted.”
“Got it.” I nod. “How long have you known them?”
“Long enough,” he answers cryptically.
Not even sure why I asked. My phone rings again and this time I answer. If I don’t, she’ll just keep calling. “Hello?”
“Don’t forget we’ve got dinner with my parents tonight,” she says in greeting.
I groan. Seriously? This could have been a text. “I won’t.”
“My mother and I have an appointment with the florist. So I’ll just ride with her and meet you at dinner.” She pauses. “Unless you want to go to the florist too? Then we can ride together…”
“I’ll meet you at dinner.” She knows I want no part of planning the wedding. I couldn’t care less about it.
“Okay, love you…”
I hang up and immediately pull up the cameras inside Elli’s house again. She’s still in bed sleeping. Locking my phone, I close my eyes, sighing. Tyson was right, I’ve got to stop torturing myself.
_______________
TYSON PULLS UPto old wrought-iron gates. Rolling down his window, he presses in a code and both open, allowing us access. I look over the tall trees that line both sides of the two-lane road.
It’s curvy along with a few hills. Once the trees clear, a medieval-looking building comes into view. “I didn’t even know this place existed.”