Sleep eluded me that night so the next day I was tired and grumpy. Connor was driving me nuts so I decided to go for a walk to a nearby park. As I sat on the swings and watched some kids play on the jungle gym, my heart expanded in my chest. All I could think about was the baby I was carrying.

Watching the children run and play I began to imagine what my child would look like. Would they have Sin’s features or mine? Or a perfect combination of both. As soon as my thoughts turned to Sin, the ache in my chest worsened.

Would it always be this way? I had to hope that I would be able to move on at some point and even hope to fall in love with someone else. But at the moment, the only man I wanted, was one I couldn’t have.

It sucked.

I stayed there for an hour. Losing track of time.

I was not looking forward to heading back to the hotel. Connor was being his usual annoying protective older brother and I couldn’t deal with it right now.

He was intent on ensuring I did the right thing when it came to telling Sin but I wasn’t ready to do anything. I was still trying to figure out how to pick up the pieces of my life and start over. I couldn’t even think about how a baby would affect my life.

It was starting to get cool so I decided to slowly make my way back to the hotel to face Connor again. I was walking, deep in thought, when a black car I didn’t recognize braked sharply beside me.

There was no time to react when a big man who looked like a bodyguard got out the back and grabbed my arm.

I was about to scream when he clamped his hand over my mouth and lifted me off my feet to shove me into the car. I wasn’t strong enough to fight back. He slammed the door behind me but it was locked when I tried to open it to get away. I was stuck.

My heart hammered.

There was only moments to take in the fact that someone else was seated in the back when the passenger side door closed and then the car sped away.

“It’s nice to meet you,” the well dressed man beside me said, like I hadn’t just been kidnapped and thrown into an unknown car.

I pressed my lips together trying to figure out if there was another way out. But the car was driving too fast. Even if I managed to open the door, there was no way I could safely exited a moving car. And I had to be careful of the baby. I would not endanger the life of my child.

“I apologize that we are meeting under these circumstances but you have peaked my curiosity.”

He had long dark wavy hair that end just above his shoulders. His eyes dark. The same color of his hair. But I wracked my memory. I had never met this man.

“I…I don’t …know you.”

He nodded. “But we have an aquintance in common.”

I had no idea who he was talking about.

This man wore an expensive suit and the sight of the muscled guys in the front, I bet he was very dangerous. I doubted I knew anyone he would associate with.

“I think…you have the wrong person.” I tried to argue, swallowing the fear to try and think so I could get myself out of this situation.

Memories of waking up in the basement after Eric kidnapped brought everything back. The fear of survival. I took a deep breath, trying to stave off the panic. The last thing that would help me would be a full blown panic attack.

The stranger frowned as he studied me. “I will not harm you.”

I didn’t know him and there was no way I could trust that he wouldn’t. It was then I regretted not giving into my brother’s overprotectiveness. If I had a bodyguard then this would not have happened.

“Please let me go.” My throat burned. I didn’t want to cry but I wasn’t sure I could stop myself.

“In good time. First I want to get to know you.”

I frowned. This guy was beyond weird but there was deadliness in him that I knew would not bode well for me if I didn’t cooperate.

I was convinced he had the wrong person and when he figured that out I hoped he would let me go. Then I would hire my own bodyguard to ensure this never happened again.

After all I had been through I knew I would not survive another incident like Eric or the murder of my parents. There was only so much one person could take and I was well beyond my limit already.

“Where are you taking me?” I asked, taking a look at the scenery that passed by, not recognizing where we were.

The panic in me rose when I realized how screwed I was. Even if by some miracle I could escape the car, if I didn’t know where I was how on earth could I get back to my brother.

Connor. I had left my phone at the hotel to ensure I had peace and quiet at the park. How long before he would start to worry? The last thing I wanted to put my brother through another ordeal.

“Relax Taylor. I believe this will be an interesting encounter for the both of us.”

He had used my name. I was the person he wanted, he hadn’t made a mistake. Dread and fear crept up in me and it was becoming harder by the moment to remain calm.

At the worst time ever my stomach rolled.

“Stop the car,” I said, urgently.

The man across from me frowned. “There is no need to fear me.”

“I’m…” I gulped. “I’m going to…be sick.”

“Stop the car,” the man instructed the driver and the car came to a stop.

As soon as it wasn’t moving the door unlocked and I opened it to hurried to the side of the street to kneel down and throw up beside a bush.

It was a reminder that I was not the only one at risk. My baby was too.

One of the bulky bodyguards remained standing beside me until I finished.

I felt weak and emotional wrecked when I stood. The bodyguard helped me back into the car.

“Are you okay?” The dark haired stranger asked and I nodded.

Closing my eyes, I leaned my head back to rest of the head rest.

“We are close to our destination,” the man told me.

Thankfully, my stomach settled and I didn’t have to fear throwing up on his nice fancy shoes. It wouldn’t be a good to start to whatever this was.

I felt his eyes stay on me but I couldn’t open my eyes. I just wanted to keep at bay any panic that would set me off again. Stress wasn’t good for me in my condition and keeping myself calm was more important than anything else.

If I was calm I could figure out what this man wanted from me and figure a way out of this situation.

I couldn’t think of what Connor would be going through. He would know I was missing by now.

I wished I had taken my phone so at least he would be able to track where I was but there was no point in hoping for something that I couldn’t change now.

Deep breaths, managed to keep my stomach settled and I stopped myself from throwing up again.

“We will be there soon,” the stranger said.

“Good,” I said.

I hoped that once I was out of the car, I would feel better physically so I could keep myself from overreacting emotionally.

For my own survival and that of my unborn child I had to keep a cool head. Being scared and panicked wouldn’t help, in fact it would worsen the situation.

None of this made any sense. I wracked my mind trying to figure out the person we had in common but couldn’t pin point anyone who would associate with the type of guy.

I was in no way prepared for what was going to unfold when the car stopped.

“We have arrived.”

I didn’t want to get out of the car but I pushed through the fear to slid from the back seat to stand in front of a massive mansion where the dark haired stranger stood with a cold smile.