Page 1 of Last Chance Seduction (Montgomery Ink Legacy #9)

Lexington

“I can’t believe I’m getting married tomorrow.”

I leaned back in my seat, one leg propped on the chair beside me, my arm draped over the back of it, and raised my brow at Justin.

The man had said that a few times over the past couple of hours and while it should bother me, it didn’t.

I had been through enough family weddings to know that nerves were always an issue. Even if they pretended they weren’t.

Of course, this wasn’t a Montgomery wedding.

Meaning there was a distinct lack of cheese and dairy jokes at this rehearsal dinner.

However, I wasn’t about to complain to Nina, the wedding planner who had been running from one side of the room to the other all night.

I didn’t know how the woman did that in stilettos that seemed to be so tiny they could break at any moment. That’s why I stood clear of heels.

There had been that one time at the family barbecue when we had needed some way to pass the time during a random obstacle course. My mom had laughed at all of us, though we had broken two of her shoes. Dad ended up getting her the fancy red soled ones as an apology, considering it was his idea.

“Why are you smiling like that?” Justin asked, pulling me out of my thoughts.

I sipped my whiskey and shrugged. “I was just thinking about a family story. Nothing important.”

“I don’t know how you can even think with so many family members around you all the time. I’m an only kid, and sometimes even my parents are too much.”

My lips quirked. Not everybody understood our family.

My father had five brothers, and my mother had six.

My mother also had four male cousins on one side, and a few others on the other side, while my dad had sixteen cousins, plus the countless people who had married in or just became family versus friends.

That meant my family was slightly boisterous. In fact, compared to the rest of my cousins, my brother and I had the most members. It was a little ridiculous.

“You do realize I only have one sibling, right? Silas and I were rather quiet.”

Justin snorted before downing the rest of his scotch. He tapped the bar with two fingers, and the bartender poured another shot.

I was a little worried how much he was drinking the night before his wedding, but I knew Justin could hold his liquor. Plus he was staying at my house, so I would make sure he had enough water and caffeine to get through the evening.

Justin scoffed. “You say that, but you hang out with your cousins more than any other person I know. It’s nice, but it’s a lot.”

“True. It can be a lot. But you’re not marrying me. So you don’t need to know everybody’s name.”

Justin narrowed his gaze at me. “Does Gia hate your family?”

I winced. “No. But she’s an only child like you and didn’t really understand family dinners.”

In fact, Gia nearly ran in the other direction when the loud and boisterous Montgomerys and Wilders had shown up. It wasn’t as if my family circled her and tried to induct her into a cult. They just wanted to get to know her.

I drained the rest of my glass, not really in the mood to talk about that memory.

“She’ll get used to my family.” I hoped.

“But this is your wedding. Let’s not talk about my girlfriend.

” Who wasn’t even coming to the wedding since she had another event.

I’d have thought she’d want to come to this one because there wouldn’t be any of my family here, but I’d been wrong.

And that was probably not a healthy way to think considering I loved my family and liked spending time with them.

“Yes. Because I’m getting married tomorrow. To Mercy.” He gave me that faraway look, and I just smiled at the man.

“You are. And we just finished your lovely rehearsal dinner. Let’s get back to my place so that we can sleep this off, and make sure you have your vows written.”

Justin’s eyes widened. “Shit. Was I supposed to write those?”

I froze, blinking at my friend. “What?”

“Kidding. You know Mercy, like she’d ever let me not have my vows perfectly done.”

I studied his face, wondering where that tone came from, but smiled as Mercy, the bride herself, walked forward.

Her long dark blonde hair was piled up in a weird bun thing, and she’d painted her lips bright red. She had on a dark gray dress that matched the bridesmaids in some form of theme, and I lifted my water glass in a toast.

“Hello there, Bride.”

She rolled her eyes at me. “Oh, Lexington. Are you getting my betrothed in trouble?” She wrapped her arm around Justin’s shoulder, and he leaned against her.

The two looked so comfortable with each other, completely in love.

And I was only a little jealous. Not of either one of them, but the fact that they’d found someone.

Much like many of my cousins had. Maybe Gia would be the one. It could happen.

Maybe.

“I thought you were heading out?” Justin asked as he set down his empty glass.

“I am. I just wanted to say goodbye.” She looked over at me and winked. “Cover your eyes, Lexington. There’s about to be PDA.”

I laughed, and then jokingly covered my eyes.

There was a wet sound, and a little bit of moaning, and I groaned. “Are you two serious right now?”

Mercy threw her head back and laughed. “Okay, take this man home. Get him sobered up. We have a wedding to attend.”

“You got it. Where’s your ride?” I asked, looking around the emptying rehearsal hall.

Another woman with dark brown hair and pink colored lips came walking forward and stood at my side.

Emily grinned before wiping her forehead with her arm.

She’d been tired all day but I knew she worked long hours.

“Don’t worry. I got her. I mean, my twin sister is getting married tomorrow. We have to do our ritual.”

“Do I want to know what this ritual is?” Justin asked with a snort.

“Is it a sexy ritual?” I teased, wiggling my brows.

Emily gagged, while Mercy just beamed. “You know it. I might be getting married tomorrow, but we do have to throw some herbs into a cauldron and dance around naked.”

“Well, why can’t we come to that?” I asked as I stood up to hug both of them goodbye. “I got this one, you guys take care of yourselves. We have to be here at eleven tomorrow, right?”

The twins laughed, but Nina came running up, panic etched on her features. “That’s when the wedding begins. I thought we went over the schedule today.”

I held up both hands, feeling bad that the frazzled wedding planner had overheard me joking. “I’m just teasing them. We had everything written down. You’re doing great, Nina.”

“Thank you, now everybody go get some sleep. We do not want dark circles tomorrow.” She squeezed everybody’s hands tightly, before running back to do something else.

“She scares me,” I whispered.

“One of our friends used her before. I kind of wish we would have used Claire, your friend, since Nina stresses lots, but my mother loved her. So this is where we are.”

“I will mention that to Claire,” I teased.

“Good, because one day I will get married, and I will need someone who doesn’t stress me out,” Emily whispered.

We laughed, parted ways, and I dragged the groom back to my place. The night went off without a hitch, with Justin passed out in my guestroom, and me alone in bed while I went through what seemed like a thousand emails on my phone for the business, and the constant group chats for the family.

I muted them often because there were so many.

With dozens of cousins, let alone friends and other family, subgroup chats and big group chats were always there.

And yet, nobody cared if we went on mute.

Yes, we were always in each other’s business, but it was because we loved each other.

We were needy , as my other girlfriend Carly had once said.

I shook my head, pushing her out of my mind before I plugged in my phone and went to sleep.

The alarm came far too early the next morning, but I rolled out of bed with a pep in my step. Justin and I had coffee, ate breakfast, and then headed out to meet the groomsmen. Today was going to be a big day, and Justin looked nervous as hell.

“Are you doing okay?” I asked as we got ready in the groom’s suite.

Justin’s hands shook as he tried to tie his tie but he nodded. “Is it wrong that I just want to get this over with?”

“No, because that means you get to the wedding night,” one of other groomsmen said with a sneer, and I glared at the other man.

Before I could say anything though, Nina was there to tie Justin’s tie for him, and then she patted his chest. “You’ve got this.”

“I do. Thanks, Nina.” Justin smiled at her, before the wedding planner turned to all of us and held up both hands.

“You look amazing, let’s get this done.” Then she clapped her hands twice and led us out.

The place was all done up in golds and grays, which I wouldn’t have thought would look nice together, but somehow it was classy and soft at the same time.

I stood up next to Justin, rings in my pocket, and went through exactly what I was supposed to do thanks to the rehearsals.

My job was easy. I got to see one of my good friends get married to one of my childhood friends. I couldn’t ask for better.

Bridesmaids made their way down the aisle, with Emily last as the maid of honor. She winked at me, and I did the same to her, trying not to smirk.

And then Mercy was there, no veil because she would never hide her face, and she grinned over at Justin. She walked herself down the aisle, because of course she did, and I knew she was holding herself back from running.

Justin’s hands were shaking as he reached out for Mercy.

“Are you ready?” she asked, all smiles.

Justin nodded in answer, and then the two of them were standing at the altar.

“Friends and family, we are here to celebrate the love and promise of two wonderful individuals,” the man began.

“Wait,” Justin called out.

I froze as Mercy blinked up at the man she loved, and Emily went pale, the color draining from her face.

“Is something wrong?” Mercy asked, her voice soft, tentative.

“I can’t do this.”

There were gasps and murmurs in the pews, and I tugged at Justin’s shoulder. “Is this really the time?” I bit out.

“Now or never.” Justin shook his head, pushed off my grip, and looked at Mercy. “I’m sorry. I’ll explain later.” And then he looked toward the back of the long room and tugged at his tie.

“Nina. I can’t do this anymore.”

And then the wedding planner burst into tears as the groom ran from his bride down the aisle. As the two left, the silence was so thick you could cut it with a knife. And I felt as though I was having an out of body experience.

“Mercy,” I whispered as I looked over at her.

But she just shook her head at me. “Did you know?”

“No!” I practically shouted. “Shit. Let’s get you out of here.”

“Mercy?” a soft voice said from behind her, and we both looked to see Emily staggering toward us. Alarmed, I nearly cursed again at the gray pallor of her skin.

I was moving toward her without even thinking, arms outstretched. Because there was blood seeping from her nose, and when she coughed, blood sprayed over the white of Mercy’s dress.

“Emily!” Mercy cried out.

And as I caught Emily in my arms, taking her to the ground, the bride knelt beside me. We shouted for an ambulance, and people started screaming, pulling out their phones to call for someone or to record because that’s what people did.

But it was all I could do to hold the mirrored copy of the bride in my arms as tears slid down Mercy’s cheeks.

All thoughts of a runaway groom and broken promises gone.

And I knew the nightmare was only just beginning.