“Welcome,” Mack announced with grandeur gesture of raising his hands out stretched and upward.

I fixed a smile to my face as Sin interlinked our hands. No matter what we faced, we had each other. It was a reminder I used to keep myself calm.

Sin followed Mack into a large dining room. Sienna stood waiting as we entered.

The table was set.

I declined Mack’s offer of a drink and asked for water instead. Mack’s eyes studied me intently as Sin took a glass of whiskey from Sienna.

I sipped the water slowly trying to settle the apprehensiveness that had settled in my stomach making me feel a little queasy.

Food was the last thing I wanted but I couldn’t decline so I took my place beside Sin as Mack settled across from me with Sienna across from Sin.

“Thank you for joining us tonight,” Mack said as he set his drink down.

He hadn’t really given us a choice but I smiled as I continued to listen.

Sin’s arm settled at the back of my chair, his fingers brushed against my back.

I took a moment to study Sienna but she gave little away. There was no indication from Mack that he had discovered our little de tour to the police station.

I took a breath to steady my nerves. Sin’s hand settled on my back, almost reassuring me in a way.

“We are going to have some lovely dinner Sienna has overseen with our chef and then.” His eyes fixed on Sin’s. “We are going to talk.”

My heart felt like it leapt from my chest, it was beating so quickly.

Did he know? What if he did? Would it make us look guilty in some way?

My hand shook slightly when I reached for my glass of water, hoping it would help settle my nerves and my queasy stomach. I didn’t know how I would get through a whole dinner feeling the way I did but there was no other option. I hated Mack a little more in that moment and rued the day his path had crossed Sin’s.

There was no outward sign that Sienna was anything but comfortable in her brother’s presence. If I hadn’t been told different I wouldn’t have believed she wanted out.

No amount of small talk eased the tension in me and I tried to eat enough to be polite but I was not hungry at all. Eating every mouthful was a deliberate effort not to be rude.

Feeling unsettled, my stomach felt like it was swaying from side to side.

“I need the ladies,” I announced.

Mack nodded and give me directions.

Once out of the dining room I stood to take a breath and calm myself before I began to wonder down the passage way looking for the bathroom. It wasn’t too complicated to find and I went in and locked the door. Needing a few minutes to right myself.

I gripped the sides of the basin as I leaned over it taking deep breath.

I didn’t know if it was the pregnancy, the stress that was playing havoc with my insides. Trying not to throw up was becoming impossible with each agonizing second.

Hurriedly I sank to my knees at the toilet and the lost the contents of my stomach. I wipe my mouth with the back of my hand, trying to concentrate of my breathing. Deep breath in, deep exhale.

It took a few minutes before I had enough strength to stand. I rinsed my mouth out and washed my hands. My reflection was pale, I trembled. Could I go back out there and pretend everything was fine when all I wanted to do was climb onto the closest bed and shut the world out?

Even though the last thing I wanted to do was face Mack again, I could not stay here. After everything I had faced in my short life and everything I had overcome I wouldn’t allow someone like Mack to walk all over me, no matter how dangerous he was.

I had faced far worse and survived. I would survive this. Feeling a little stronger, I let out a deep emotional breath, trying to rid myself of all my nerves.

The was a knock at the door, taking me by surprise.

“Are you okay in there?” a male voice asked. A familiar voice but I couldn’t place it. I frowned.

It was Sin or Mack.

“I’m fine,” I replied, drying my hands and surveying my reflection one more time.

I opened the door. It couldn’t be. It was not possible but no matter how many times I blinked the face before me did not change. Waiting in the hallway was the guy from the club. Kai.

“Um…Kai?” I asked, surprised.

My mind was already trying to figure out why some guy at a club was in Mack’s place checking up on me.

“Mack was concerned.”

I wanted to ask him how he knew Mack but he was pretty much a stranger. And his presence in the house of someone I feared made me stopped me from trying to figure out where he fit in.

“I’m fine.”

“You’re pale again.” He didn’t miss much.

Pale again. Like I had been I had been in the club.

“I’ve been battling a stomach bug,” I brushed off, find the lie easy to deliver even when I didn’t feel confident he would buy it.

He studied me for a few moments. “Let me escort you back.”

I followed behind him trying to think back to our meeting but I couldn’t remember him ever mentioning any link to Mack. Sin hadn’t recognized him.

Who the hell was he? Did he work for Mack? I had so many questions but no answers.

Sin’s eyes met mine when I re-entered the room behind Kia. I wished I could convey all my thoughts across to him without talking but it wasn’t possible. His eyes were guarded.

I couldn’t tell what Sin was thinking. He features devoid of any emotion. Had he not recognized Kai? I doubted that but I couldn’t be sure.

My legs trembled when I sat down. I felt like I was on a rollercoaster and in danger of throwing up again. Under the table I put my hand to my stomach. It was to comfort myself and the life inside me.

“I sent Kai to check on you.”

“I’m sorry. I’m still battling that stomach bug.” Would anyone believe me? I wasn’t even sure I would believe me.

Who had a stomach bug for that long? Did they suspect it could be something else? Like a pregnancy?

I wasn’t ready to share my condition or share it with people who could potentially use it against me in some way.

“Sin this is Kai. My head of security.”

Head of security, echoed in my mind. Not only did Kai work for him, Mack had to trust him to put him in charge of his security. I swallowed, nervously.

Kai gave a nod in Sin’s direction.

“He is a new addition. One of the best,” Mack boasted.

Mack clearly thought a lot of Kai.

I hadn’t known Kai long but in our brief encounter he had come across as a nice guy. Clearly I had been wrong if he was working for someone like Mack. My intuition was way off on this one.

It made me wonder about my encounter with Kai. Had he deliberately sought me out? Did that mean he knew who I was before Sin had showed up?

It made me uncomfortable to think his motivation had been anything other than innocent.

And how come Sin hadn’t known who he was at the club? That was the most pressing question, making me more nervous with each passing moment.

“He has just started the job. I had to get replace the previous guy,” Mack explained, sounding overly disappointed. A bit dramatic.

Replace. I did not want to consider what exactly he meant by that.

“Trust is the most important thing in this business. Isn’t it Kai?”

He was looking straight at Sin. I had the urge to reach out beside me on the surface of the table and take his hand in mine to protect him in some way from Mack but I had the sense if I did that it would only confirm that Sin might not be as trustworthy as Mack expected.

Poker face, I reminded myself. The best possible way to handle any of this was to not give any indication that anything he was saying was affecting me.

Kai nodded. “Yes.”

His eyes were on me.