How could I be so stupid or act so irrationally? I wanted to blame the pregnancy hormones but I knew it went deeper than that.

He placed his finger against his mouth and looked up the ceiling, like someone could hear us.

Then the penny dropped. The house was bugged. Someone was listening in on us and that was why we were standing in the shower. My clothes stuck to my body as the water sprayed over us. It felt like this situation was spiraling. Who bugged someone’s house? It brought home the seriousness of the what was happening

Sin pulled me closer and I could feel his breath against my ear. I closed my eyes at the feel of him so near to me.

“It’s too dangerous to talk here,” he whispered against my ear.

“I need answers,” I hissed at him, trying to keep my voice down. I felt like I was in an alternate universe with no idea what was going on. To be able to navigate this dangerous situation I had to know everything.

He pressed his mouth in a tight line. “We have to be careful.”

I didn’t want to wait. I wanted to know everything right now.

He bent his mouth to whisper against my ear. “I tried to keep you out of this.”

His words sent my imagination into over drive. The reasonable explanation that I had searched for so desperately before was now revealed and I was floored. I lifted my eyes to meet his. I saw the truth in his eyes and the way he was looking at me. That’s when I realized the lengths he had gone to try and keep me safe. It was mind blowing. I felt like the world had been shaken beneath my feet, leaving me on shaky ground.

“You didn’t cheat,” I whispered.

He shook his head, slowly. It hit me right in the chest, leaving me breathless.

The memory of him with Sienna came back and replayed in my mind. I had seen him come out of the motel room and they had embraced. There had been no passionate goodbyes, no desperate kisses. I felt suspended in that moment trying to read the situation with this new information.

Shocked was an understatement. I had always believed that deep down he wouldn’t have done something like that but I thought that’s what people thought when they discovered their partner’s betrayal. No one started a relationship with the expectation that their other half would cheat.

I had always believed there had to be a simple explanation but when I had confronted him and he hadn’t denied it, I had been forced to take it as the truth. He had deliberately put me through hell. It hurt.

Even if I knew he was trying to protect me. He had hurt me deeply.

“I needed you as far away from this as possible.” He sighed softly.

He looked to the ceiling, a reminder that we were still being bugged even if they would struggle to hear us over the sound of the water.

“I…I…” I was still speechless.

My heart still felt the scars of his betrayal. They would not disappear in an instant. I needed time to put together what had really happened and to do that I needed the truth. All of it.

He put his finger to my lips as I stared at him. This time instead of seeing the man I loved who had broken my heart, I saw the man who had gone to drastic lengths to keep me safe. My heart warmed.

“We have to be careful Tay.” He paused. “Our lives depend on it.”

It was are reminder of the danger we were in and how one slip could cost us dearly.

I nodded. I understood, even if I didn’t know exactly how this had happened or why. Did it matter? It didn’t change what was happening and it wouldn’t get us out of it.

Under the streaming water Sin hugged me close.

I had feared a lot of things in my life, but the fear of losing Sin was too traumatic to even consider. He couldn’t die. I wouldn’t let that happen, it was an outcome I could not live with.

I had towel dried my hair with a towel wrapped around my body, trying to make sense of the dangerous situation I was in and how it had happened.

Even with some answers I had more questions than before.

Sin returned with some clothes I had left behind and placed them beside me on the bed.

“Thank you,” I murmured, still very aware that someone was listening in on us.

Was it Mack? It sent a shiver down my spine. Sin stood a few feet away with his arms crossed. His hair still wet as he studied me. He was dressed in sweats, his chest bare. The sight of him still pulled me back to before we had split, when we had been the happiest together. I missed that so much right then. Maybe I was being sentimental, I couldn’t explain it.

I swallowed. I felt all over the place, unable to process what was happening. My hands shook.

Sin closed the distance between us and bent down. He took my hands in his and squeezed them.

My throat burned. I was emotional and about to cry.

Sin stood and pulled me to my feet.

He lifted a hand to my cheek and closed my eyes when I felt his knuckles brush against my skin. This was the only thing made sense in the chaos. How I felt about him? What he did to me when he touched me.

When I opened my eyes he was closer. His lips hovered above mine.

“Mack said you weren’t well,” he said.

I frowned. There was no way I could tell him about the baby in this situation. There was enough to deal with without adding a baby into the equation. Besides I still didn’t know what was going on and until I did, the baby was my secret to keep.

“I’m fine,” I replied, softly.

So close to him our eyes locked and everything I felt for him intensified. I was still hurt at what he had put me through.

I wanted him so much, even when he had ripped my heart from my chest and put shoved it back in place.

I put my hand against his chest. “Sin.”

He moved his mouth against my ear. “He has to believe we are together.” His tone resigned in the barest whisper.

I had no doubt the ‘he’ Sin was referring to was Mack. If I was stronger I would have asked why but I was too afraid.

I swallowed, not saying a word. Too afraid someone would hear me and I would blow this whole thing up. I didn’t know what was at stake, but in the short time I had been in Mack’s presence I had felt the danger. I didn’t know where he fit into this or exactly what was happening.

I didn’t understand any of this. None of it made sense.

“Trust me,” he whispered softly.

Fear shivered up my spine. How could I trust him? He had lied to me, and forced me to leave. He had hurt me so badly and it was still difficult to process even if he had done it to protect me.

And now I was right back where it had all started, with some answers but not enough to be able to understand the situation fully. I bet he was keeping things from me, so as not to scare me. I had a feeling this situation was far more dire than he was letting on.

He moved to stare down at me and I wet my lips, trying to keep my fear at bay but my heart sped up. My hand dug my nails into skin softly, feeling I was spiraling out of control. His hand covered mine.

Slowly, he lowered his mouth to mine and brushed his lips against mine.

It pulled me right back to where I had been fighting to get away from. My love for him.

One kiss and I was right back where I had started. This was madness. He made me crazy.

This time his mouth was more insistent on mine. I wrapped my hands around his neck allowing him closer.