“How?” I uttered. Shocked.

“Sin called me to tell me what happened. He said you guys had an argument and when he got back to the house you had moved out. He also mentioned that you hadn’t been well. Throwing up and dizziness.”

“That still doesn’t explain how you knew,” I argued.

“I know the common symptoms of a pregnancy. Clearly Sin doesn’t or he would have already figured it out,” Connor replied dryly.

I didn’t know what to say. This wasn’t going how I had expected. My brother had caught me off guard and the fact that he had deduced something I wasn’t ready to tell anyone left me on the back foot.

“What concerns me more is the fact that all this went down and I had to find out from Sin.” His bold glare was a good indication he was less than pleased with me.

“Don’t be dramatic. I was going to call you. I just needed to figure things out first.”

“Is this how you figure things out?” He looked around my small apartment with distaste.

“Don’t be a snob Connor. It might be small but it’s clean and it’s close to work.”

My brother shook his head. “You should have called me the moment it happened. I’m your brother. I would have got you a decent apartment and any money you needed to get on your feet.”

I sighed and ran a hand through my messy hair. “I love you dearly Connor. But it’s not your job to fix my life. That’s my responsibility.”

He crossed his arms but his look turned contemplative. “What happened? What I need to us understand is why your life needs fixing? The last time I spoke to you, you guys were loved up and living happily ever after.”

I had been so deluded. Who knows how long Sin had been cheating on me.

“Sin didn’t tell you anything.”

My brother shook his head slowly.

“And why haven’t you told Sin he is going to be a father?”

“It’s a long story,” I sighed.

“And I’m here to listen. I’m not here to take over and run your life Taylor. You’re my sister and I love you.”

The last of his words tugged at my already sensitive emotions and I began to tear up.

He closed the distance between us and hugged me.

“It’s fine Tay. Everything will be fine,” he assured me.

I hugged him back wanting to believe my big brother could fix my messed up life but I knew he couldn’t. He couldn’t repair what had broken between Sin and I.

I cried a little, allowing myself to feel sorry for myself.

“I know you want to be independent but let me help you.” He pulled away and leveled his gaze to mine as I sniffed. “You’re pregnant and I want you to take it easy. Stress is not good for the baby. Let me help you.”

I was torn between wanting to it all on my own and feeling like I was failing.

“The current situation is stressful enough without trying to figure out all of this.” He swept his hand around the room.

I felt so tired. My back ached a bit. The blow up mattress was not comfortable at all. I yawned, feeling more overwhelmed and tired.

“You’ll feel better after a good sleep.” He put an arm around me and I nodded.

My brother led me downstairs while his driver ran up to my apartment to get my bags.

He booked us into a five star hotel close by and I let him take control. I argued that once I had a good sleep I would feel better. Right at that moment I was tired, grumpy, heartbroken and raw.

After I had a shower Connor tucked me into bed like he used to when I was younger.

“Get some sleep and we’ll talk later.” He touched my cheek gently.

I nodded.

As he got up to leave I grabbed his arm. “Please promise me you won’t tell anyone about my pregnancy.”

“I promise Taylor. I would never do that,” he vowed.

Feeling reassured I released him and he left quietly.

I don’t know if it was the warmth of the bed or the comfy pillows but soon I was fast asleep.

When I resurfaced it was dark. It was early evening and my stomach grumbled.

My brother was on the phone talking softly when I entered the living room. When he saw me he ended the call.

“How are you feeling?”

“More human,”

He smiled as I sat down on the sofa, across from him.

“You ready to tell me what happened.”

I didn’t know if I was ready to reveal how messed up things were and how I had got here.

I shrugged.

“How far along are you?”

I shrugged again and he frowned.

“I don’t know.”

“We need to schedule a visit with the doctor to confirm the pregnancy and check how far along you are.”

I exhaled slowly.

“We don’t have to rush things,” he assured me.

“I was going to make a plan to see the doctor…” That had been before the whole following Sin to the motel and the aftermath.

“You ready to tell me what happened?”

I didn’t want to have to tell anyone how I had uncovered Sin was cheating on me.

I bit my lip, feeling myself tremble. So far I had managed to hold myself together but I didn’t think I was strong enough to reveal what happened.

Connor crossed over to sit beside me and take my hand in his. “You can tell me anything you know.”

His eyes held mine gently and I nodded while swallowing hard.

“He cheated.”

Connor eyes widened. Two words explained everything.

“Sin cheated?” My brother asked, reeling.

I nodded, knowing I would be able to keep the tears at bay if I tried to talk.

“I’ll kill him.” His surprise turned to he anger in an instance and he rose.

I grabbed his arm as I stood. “Don’t.”

“But…how could he?”

It was the same thing I had asked myself.

I shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“It’s not something I would have expected from him.” He murmured, more to himself.

“I’m not sure cheaters come with a neon sign on the forehead,” I muttered sarcastically.

“How did you find out?” Connor’s frown deepened.

“I caught him lying about attending a meeting with Slater when Jordan had revealed Slater had been home with her. So I decided to follow him.” I exhaled slowly.

Talking about it made things worse but my brother needed to know what happened and what type of guy Sin was.

My brother took my hand in his and gave it a gentle squeeze.

“I followed him to a motel. When he came out there was a woman.”

My brother rubbed his forehead.

I remembered when I had first started dating Sin and Connor had put a file together on him to warn me off him.

“Are you going to tell me ‘I told you so’?”

He shook his head. “He might not have had a spotless past but I never imagined him to be spineless enough to cheat on you. He convinced me he was in love with you.”

None of us had seen this coming.

“I know you’re mad at him but he deserves to know about the baby. Even if he is a lying cheat.”

I shook my head. “I’m not ready.” Feeling more panicky I pulled my hand from his and walked over to the window to look out.

“There’s no rush,” he assured me.

He moved to put his hands on my shoulders. He turned me to face him

“No matter what happens I’m here for you.”

I sniffled, feeling the tears come. “I can’t expect you to drop your life to rush across the country to try and put mine back together.”

“Of course you can. Cause that’s what I intend to do. I will not leave until I’m sure you’re back on your feet.”

“But what about Shannon and Chase?” I wiped a tears from my face.

“They can manage for a little while without me. Right now you need me more.” He opened his arms and I stepped into a big tight embrace.

“We’ll figure things out and you’ll look back on this one day with the strength it took to get you through it. And I’ll be right there with you.”

I had always hated his interference but this time I was grateful I didn’t have to do this alone.