35. Linc

35

LINC

I look up at Penelope and brush the hair away from her face, holding my hand there, looking into her eyes.

“You’re so fucking beautiful.”

“That’s awfully nice of you to say, Linc.” She sits up, pulling me with her as she straddles my lap. Her hand moves to my cock, stiff and ready for her, placing it between her legs as she pushes forward, allowing only the tip inside. Her lips drag over my cheek and toward my mouth. “It could have something to do with me being totally naked and on top of you.”

I smile, my hands gripping her firm ass and moving her hips forward to accept all of me. Her hand moves to the back of my neck as her hips roll, eliciting a moan from between her full lips that I then kiss the hell out of.

Not wanting to let go of this moment.

The last couple of weeks have been fucking weird, but in a good way.

I’ve learned to hurt her less with words and more in the bedroom and have made sure that always ends up feeling damn good.

“You’re still fucking beautiful even when you’re not riding my cock.” My teeth nip at her neck and move to her nipples, tugging and sucking with just enough pressure that her head falls back and her hips move faster, edging toward her orgasm. “Although this does happen to be my favorite.”

“Linc,” I lift my head from her tits to look at her face as she pants, “just shut the hell up and fuck me. I’m going to be late.”

I grin, grasping her long brown hair, twisting it around my fist tightly and pulling her mouth to mine as we kiss and fuck toward yet another release.

P has been going to therapy twice a week since we got back from the lake house, and it’s been really good for her. The woman doesn’t fill her full of pills without trying to force her to face things, and Penelope actually seems to look forward to going.

I manage to get her to her appointment on time, but instead of staying there and waiting around for an hour, I drive back to the house. As I drive around the winding road that leads there, I have an actual, honest to God, smile on my normally broody face.

I’m just going with it, although I’m almost certain this seemingly lighter mood will no doubt be crushed by an anvil falling on my head, or hell maybe a plane will fall out of the sky and crush me.

Something.

When I approach my house, I see a black Lexus in my drive.

Well fuck. This can’t be good.

I park the car and walk up to my front porch, moving up the stairs, stopping at the top, staring at a pretty brunette I vaguely recognize but can’t place. The girl is dressed well in a designer dress and heels, her makeup flawless, and the necklace and watch she’s sporting costs more than most people’s car.

What the fuck? My eyes lower when I hear a cry next to her, coming from a carrier sitting at the girl’s feet. She lifts the blanket covering it and pulls out a baby boy, slipping a pacifier into his mouth as he coos happily in her arms.

She then turns back to me, her face showing her internal battle. “Lincoln?”

I nod slowly, unable to move. “Yes.” What is her fucking name? I know her name. V. It starts with a V.

She lets the baby rest against her chest as her eyes water, and I watch her swallow and then take a shaky breath. “I’m Vivienne Crenshaw.”

Crenshaw. Fuck. Yeah, I know that name. Her dad fucking owns a shitload of properties, and my dad handles their money.

“Right. What are you doing here?”

She takes another deep breath. “I wanted you to meet my son.”

My eyebrows pull together, not trusting her, but something tells me I don’t want the answer to my next question. “Why would you want that?”

“Because you’re his uncle.”

My hands feel clammy, and I’m afraid my knees are going to give out. “No fucking way.” Unless Asher knocked her up. Please let that be true.

She was in between them in school, a year older than Ash, a year younger than Colt. But something tells me it wasn’t Ash.

“I know you don’t want to hear this. But Colt is his father.”

My hands clench at my sides as I walk to the railing and look out over the water. There’s no way.

I turn back to her. “Hear what? That you’re fucking delusional? You think Colt was the father of your baby?”

She holds her head high, cradling the child to her chest. Her face, although made up to look old, reveals she is way too young to be a mother. “I know he was.”

“Bullshit.” I take one step toward her but make myself stop before I get too close.

“Look, I know this isn’t what you want to hear, and I get that. It’s terrible, but it’s true. Colt is Sebastian’s father.” She looks down at the dark-haired, baby boy. “ Was.”

I fight the bile rising in my throat and the urge to scream up at the sky. This can’t be fucking happening.

“He would never do that. He had a girlfriend most of his fucking life.”

She nods, a couple of tears sliding down her cheeks. “I know.”

“You know?”

She nods and takes a seat on one of the outdoor chairs, rocking the baby gently in her arms. “It was no secret he was dating some foster girl. The whole school talked about it.”

Some foster girl.

Jesus Christ.

“Penelope. Her fucking name is Penelope, and there is no way he would ever cheat.”

“He was so good, like, all the time. Colt Sterling was the epitome of a good guy. The perfect guy.”

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I heard that his entire life. I look away again, unable to look at her cradling the baby in her arms.

“I think it all finally got to him.”

My head snaps back in her direction, the last month of his life playing through my head. “What?”

“About a month before prom, he was at a party I was at with a couple of friends. I’d never seen him at a party before.” He never went to them . He spent all his time with P. “He was drinking, and so was I, and we ended up in a room, talking.”

I nod to the baby. “That’s not how he got here.”

She shakes her head, not one bit of humor on her pretty face. “No. He was so . . .”she searches for the right word, smoothing a hand over her perfectly braided hair lying over her right shoulder, “tortured. He didn’t want to talk much. I think he wanted to forget.”

“Forget what?” I’m seeing red and feel like I’m going to vomit as I brace myself on the side of the house.

“He had some fight with your father. That’s all he said.”

My father.

Of course, that motherfucker had something to do with everything.

“He didn’t tell you what it was about when he fucked you bare?”

“That’s really nice.” She glares at me as her hand covers the back of her baby’s head.

“I’m not nice.”

“So I’ve heard.” She stands up, holding the baby in her arms on his back so I can see his sleeping face. “He’s Colt’s.”

“Didn’t you date that Williams fucker for a while, Casey Williams?”

She nods. “I did, but we broke up three months before that party. Colt is the only person I had sex with. This baby is a Sterling.”

I look at the baby, and although he can’t be more than a few months old, I swear he has Colt’s nose.

“Fuck!”

She holds the baby closer as he stirs slightly, but then nuzzles back into her. “I know.”

“So why tell me? Colt is dead. You don’t need the fucking money. What?”

“I want Sebastian to know his family. Colt is gone, but you, Asher, and Lola are still here.”

I laugh coldly at that. “Just fucking barely.”

Another tear rolls down her cheek. “You’re right, I don’t really need anything. My parents hired a tutor for me, and I finished school remotely. They’re going to take care of Sebastian when I start taking college courses. I have a night nurse. I don’t need anything. I thought I could just keep the secret, but I look at his face and see Colt.” She looks down at the baby and then back at me. “My son deserves to know where he came from.”

“A broken condom and drunken night from the sounds of it.”

She looks slightly ashamed. “We didn’t have a condom.”

Fuck me, I was joking about the whole fucking her bare thing . Jesus Christ, Colt . I roll my eyes and fold my arms over my chest. “That really doesn’t sound like my brother. He was always prepared.”

“I don’t think he came to the party expecting to get laid.”

“So, he just fucked you and left? That was it? Or was this an ongoing thing?”

Because he was acting fucking weird before he died.

“ To me, nothing is unforgivable.”

I thought his words were telling me he knew about me and P. Was he talking about what he did with this chick?

“It was just once. I didn’t even get the chance to tell him I was pregnant. And then when he died, I figured you all had suffered enough. But I just can’t keep the secret anymore, knowing Sebastian’s family is out there. I think Colt would want you all to know.”

“He didn’t know?”

She shakes her head. “He avoided me.”

My fingers rake through my hair as I try not to puke. “This is unbelievable. He wouldn’t do that to Penelope.”

“He did. We did.” She wipes a tear with her arm and holds her baby close. “And I can’t regret it because Sebastian is the best thing that ever happened to me.”

“And how the fuck do I know you aren’t just a crazy bitch? Maybe bored with your perfect life and wanting to stir up trouble? Colt going to a party and fucking some chick he barely knows is so unlike him, it boggles my fucking mind.”

“I’ll gladly do a DNA test.”

She hands me a piece of paper. “That’s my address and my phone number. Come to Kansas City, and I’ll do a test when you want.”

I swallow, holding the paper tightly and crumpling it in my hand as I lay my head back against the front door. She places the baby in his carrier, careful not to wake him.

“I’ll be in touch.”

She nods, picking up the carrier and swinging a bag over her shoulder.

“For what it’s worth, I could see the guilt in his eyes the moment we finished. He must have loved her.”

Yeah, he really fucking showed it.