Ch22 Plan
“I don’t know,” Slater sighed, finally turning to face me.
My heart fell. We had nothing. No way of getting Sin out of the situation he was in with Mack. I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself. Stress wasn’t good for the baby.
“We need to find a way,” I whispered, feeling like my world was being taken a part brick by brick and all I could do was watch.
“We will,” Slater assured me. I heard his words but his tone held no confidence.
What if there wasn’t a way to stop Mack. It was a daunting and terrible thought.
Feeling agitated I stood, needing to move. Not able to sit and pretend everything was okay when it wasn’t.
“Taylor,” Slater said but I refused to look at him.
I couldn’t do nothing. My shoulders trembled.
Slater’s hand on my shoulder turned me to face him.
“I will figure out something Taylor.” His eyes earnest. “If I was in his place, Sin would move mountains.”
I nodded. He was right.
He was Sin’s best friend. Out of anyone in this world he loved Sin like family. He would do anything or him. I had to remember that. I wasn’t alone.
I nodded, feeling emotional.
“Have you been in touch with Connor?”
My brother. I wasn’t sure I had the energy to deal with him, even when I knew I had to call him. He had been worried about the whole situation.
“I need to call him,” I murmured.
Slater nodded.
Slater and Jordan left me alone so I could my brother. I took a deep breath, trying to build myself up before I dialed his number.
I didn’t know how I was going to explain the crazy turn of events. If I hadn’t just experienced it, I wouldn’t have believed it.
“Taylor,” Connor exclaimed when he answered on the second ring.
“Connor.” I had to swallow the emotion brought to the surface from hearing his voice.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
I wasn’t okay. Not one bit.
“Yeah,” I managed to whisper.
“Where are you?”
“I’m with Slater.”
“Is Sin with you?” The question hung between us.
“No.”
“What happened Taylor?”
I sighed. “I’m safe. Sin is still with Mack.”
I was still trying to figure out how I explained Mack’s crazy deal with Sin.
“What happened?” My brother repeated the question and I knew there was no way to avoid it.
“Mack made a deal with Sin.”
There was silence.
“What kind of a deal?” Connor asked.
“Mack promised to leave me alone if Sin marries his sister Sienna.”
“That’s crazy.”
I nodded. “He is crazy Connor. He is not thinking like a normal person would.”
That’s what made him dangerously unpredictable. In some respects it reminded me of the man who had kidnapped me.
But as long as Sin was useful to Mack, he was safe.
I didn’t want him to marry anyone else but me. Even knowing he was only going along with it to appease Mack and keep me safe did nothing to stop the pain of imagining him saying vows of forever to some one else.
“I’m on my way.”
“Okay.” I didn’t have it in me to fight him. I was tired and emotional.
There was a knock at the door. Slater went to answer it and he opened the door to reveal Jeff.
The man who had this way of making me feel safe in any situation. It went back to the time he had saved me.
He walked over and enveloped me in a big hug. “You’re safe.”
I nodded, unable to talk. While I was safe, Sin wasn’t.
“Sin called me.”
I pushed out of his embrace. “He called you?”
He nodded. “It was very brief. He wants me to stay with you. I’m not to let you out of my sight.”
Sin was making sure I was protected. It made me more emotional and I felt the sting of tears.
“Slater called to let me know you were here,” Jeff murmured, watching me closely.
It was difficult to think clearly when I had so emotions. I feel like I had been on a rollercoaster the whole time I had been with Sin and now that I was off it, I was still trying to find my feet.
“We’ve been trying to figure out a way to get you guys out of the situation with Mack,” Slater said, making me turn to face him.
“Do you honestly think there is a way?” I was doubtful, but I needed some hope that there was a way.
“There has to be,” Jeff answered.
“I’m following up a could have leads but I don’t want to say anything until I have something more concrete,” Slater explain.
I nodded.
I was tired so I sank down on the closest chair.
“You okay?” Slater was bent on the knee in front of me.
“I feel wiped.” I don’t think I could take much more. Sin and I had been under an incredible amount of stress and it was worse now that I wasn’t with him, wondering what was going to happen.
“You are very pale,” Jordan mentioned.
I could have brushed it off as stress but I couldn’t keep my secret any longer. I let out an emotional breath as my friends hovered around me.
“I’m pregnant.”
“Pregnant?” Jordan echoed.
I nodded, watching their expression. Jordan beamed. “Oh my God. You’re going to be a mom.”
Her reaction made me smile. It was pure joy.
A mom. It was still a foreign idea, I couldn’t see myself as one yet. It was still too new.
I stood to hug her. Slater was right behind her. “Congratulations,” he murmured as he hugged me close.
Jeff hugged as well. “I can’t quite believe Sin is going to be a father.”
Our baby would have so many people who would love them. It made my heart warm.
“How far along are you?” Jordan asked.
“Only a few weeks.”
“Does your brother know?”
I nodded. “He figured it out before I had a chance to tell Sin.”
Jordan laughed. “That’s Connor for you.”
She made me smile.
“He is on his way.”
“He has been worried. We all have.”
I let out a breath. “It hasn’t been easy. Mack had the house bugged and we were picked up by the cops.”
“The cops?” Jordan exclaimed.
“Yeah, Connor was not happy when he had to fetch me from the police station.”
“What did they want?” Jordan frowned.
“The cops have been trying to nail Mack for years,” Jeff interjected. “But they have never had enough on him to make an arrest.”
“They must be onto something if they picked you guys up.” Slater rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
“You think someone is talking?” Jeff asked Slater.
“Maybe.” They shared a look.
“Who?” I asked softly.
The last thing I wanted was Sin in Mack’s criminal activities.
“There aren’t many people who would snitch on him,” Jeff said.
Then I had a thought. “If Sienna wants out so bad, would it be something she might do?”
Jeff frowned and shook his head. “They are family. Family doesn’t snitch on each other no matter how bad things are. Those two are tight.”
“Maybe that was true before. He is trying to marry her off to Sin so he can protect her. What sane person would do that?”
Neither Jeff or Slater looked convinced by my argument. “She is the one who reached out to Sin to help her get away from him. Who knows what lengths he has driven her to?”
“Maybe,” Slater shrugged.
Between Mack’s craziness and the police, it felt like the situation was becoming more unstable. Time was running out. Mack would implement his plan as soon as possible and that meant if we were going to find a way to stop him, we wouldn’t have a lot of time to come up with something.
Jordan’s expression turned more sombre. “We will figure out a way to get Sin out of this situation with Mack.”
I wanted to believe them so bad, but I didn’t know if there was a way. How did you deal with a man who wasn’t thinking straight? And if someone was talking to the cops, how long before they swooped in to arrest Mack?
If the situation was reversed Sin would do whatever he could and I was going to do the same. I would not stop until I had figured a way to get him away from Mack.
There had to be a way. There was no other option.