“Did you get sick again?” my sister asks her.
“I’m fine, Kira.” Elli ignores her question.
“Are you pregnant?” Kira asks, and Elli comes to a stop.
She slowly turns around to face my sister. “No.” Shaking her head, she runs a hand through her tangled hair.
“Are you sure? Maybe you should take a test,” my sister offers, her voice so low that she sounds afraid to even put the thought into Elli’s head but also concerned for her friend’s health.
“I’m not pregnant, Kira. I’m on birth control,” Elli argues, getting irritated. Turning, she goes to walk off again when my sister speaks.
“But what if you are?”
Elli’s shoulders fall and she sighs heavily, but she doesn’t respond. Instead, she goes into the master suite and crawls back into bed, pulling the covers up and over her head to block out the world and her best friend.
ELLINGTON
I SIT AT the restaurant, staring at my water. Kira’s words keep echoing in my head that I might be pregnant.
It’s not possible. But that would be my luck, right? Having Sin’s baby. The universe fucking me one last time. I highly doubt my future husband wants to raise another man’s child. Hell, I’ve already got his name tattooed on me. At least that can be covered up with another one. And my mom said it yesterday that I was lucky a Lord even wants me. Add a child and fuck that shit.
A part of me hopes I am. It’ll give me an out. I’ll tell the Lord that I’m supposed to marry I’m pregnant and maybe he’ll throw me to the side, and I’ll get to go on with my life. Alone. Far away from here where nobody knows me. Sin will be busy with his wife and starting a family with her, he’ll never even think about me, let alone look for me. The thought makes my breath catch and chest tighten.
“Ellington?”
I look up to my mother who sits across from me. “Yeah?”
She sighs, her eyes falling to her phone Checking the time, I’m sure. Counting down the minutes until she gets to leave. I don’t even know why she wanted to go to lunch with me anyway. And I don’t know why I crawled out of bed in the first place today. I didn’t even brush my hair or take a shower. Just threw on a pair of shorts and T-shirt along with some tennis shoes and walked out the door.
Standing, she gets my attention once again and I see her smile. “Darling.”
Lincoln comes up to the table and I roll my eyes. Of course, he’s here. I’m not surprised that she didn’t tell me we were having a guest. Why would she want to eat with me alone?
He kisses her cheek and then looks at me. “Elli, it’s good to see you out of the house.”
I say nothing.
“I hope you ladies don’t mind but I brought company.” He gestures to my right, and I look over, my heart pounding in my chest.
“Of course not,” my mother says excitedly.
The kid leans over and shakes my mother’s hand, and she blushes. His green eyes meet mine and I feel like I’m going to puke again. It’s him. The kid from James’s office, then their reception.
“Ellington.” He nods to me and takes the seat to my right.
I stare at him wide-eyed, unable to speak, trying to hold down the piece of toast I managed to eat for dinner last night.
“Elli, don’t be rude, honey,” my mother scolds me. “I’m sorry, she’s not feeling well.”
She’s right. I was, but not now.
“That’s quite all right.” He gives her a dazzling smile. “We can do this another time.” Pushing up from the chair, he goes to leave but my mother stops him.
“No, please. Sit down. She’ll be okay. She just needs some food in her system.”
“I’ll get the server,” Lincoln says, standing and leaving us alone with the surprise guest he brought.
“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 says Carnage: 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.