Taylor

At seven o'clock sharp there was a knock on the door. I was a bundle of nerves as I opened it.

"Hey," Sin greeted with a tentative smile when I stepped back and allowed him into the flat.

"Hi," I greeted, feeling the flutter inside my stomach at the sight of him. Those damn butterflies.

He followed me into the apartment and turned to see his reaction when he saw Matthew sitting on the sofa watching TV.

"He's living with you?" he asked in disbelief as he turned to me. He looked angry and shocked.

"Yes," I answered calmly, although I felt nervous on the inside. I could have offered him more information than that. I could have told him that he was my bodyguard and that was the reason he was living with me, but I didn't. Some part of me wanted to hurt Sin like he'd hurt me.

"Who is he?" he asked fiercely. I took a deep breath as Matthew turned around to look at us.

"No need to talk like I'm not here," he said sarcastically. He held Sin's glare.

"You came here to talk...so talk," I instructed firmly as I crossed my arms over my chest.

I felt so much for this tattooed guy in front of me, but I wouldn't allow anyone to treat me like a doormat. He'd hurt me and he needed to work hard to soothe over those hurt feelings. It hadn't been totally his fault. I'd refused to open up when he had bared his soul, but there had been no need to shut me out like he had. He pressed his lips together for a moment and threw a deadly side-glance at Matthew who was still watching us intently.

"I want to talk to you alone," he insisted as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans, ignoring the heat of Matt's gaze on him. It was a fair request.

"Fine," I said in a clipped tone and walked into my bedroom. Sin followed quietly behind me and once inside my room he turned to close the door. For a few moments his eyes held mine as I stood with my arms crossed, waiting for him to say what he needed to.

"Your brother came to see me," he revealed to me.

I hadn't expected that. My brother meddled in my life all the time, but he'd never gone that far. Anger flared up inside of me at the thought that my brother had gone behind my back despite the fact that I'd told him I was old enough to make my own decisions.

"What did he say?" I asked, still reeling from his revelation. This wasn't going to be good, I could just tell.

"He told me to stay away from you," he stated as he took a step closer, but I took a step back, keeping my distance from him. To keep a clear mind, I couldn't be too close to him.

"He told me you'd been through enough," he explained as his eyes held mine. It was like he was trying to see deep into my soul. "He said that I'd just end up hurting you and you wouldn't be able to deal with that."

I wanted to hide I felt so mortified that my brother had gone to talk to Sin behind my back and had told him that. He'd no right to do that. I was going to kill him.

"He wouldn't tell me anything about your past," he added like it was some sort of consolation, but it wasn't.

I closed my eyes and pressed my hand to my forehead as I tried to comprehend the lengths that my brother had gone to. I was so angry that he'd done this to me. Betrayal mixed in with my anger. When I opened my eyes, Sin was standing just a foot away from me. I lifted my eyes to his. I recognized that look.

Oh. My. God.

The air locked in my lungs. His eyes looked at me with the sympathy that had followed me for most of my life from the time my parents had died. It was that same look I'd been running from and I'd fought so hard to get away from.

It wasn't possible.

"I'm sorry," he whispered softly as he tried to reach for me. I wrenched away from him as the first sob tore from my chest.

"Don't touch me," I spat at him as I put out a hand to keep him from me.

He knew. Somehow he knew.

"How much do you know?" I whispered as I felt the emotion welling up inside of me.

"Everything."

I swore I felt my heart crack. I could feel myself being crushed by the pressure of the realization that he knew everything that I'd been trying so hard to hide. I pressed my hands to my mouth to suppress my horror. He ran a hand through his hair. How had he found out? He'd said Connor hadn't told him.

"I'm sorry," he repeated as he tried to take a step closer, but I maneuvered out of his reach.

"Stay away from me," I instructed as I tried to hold myself together. The new life I'd been trying to build was slipping from my grasp. Sorry wasn't good enough. It didn't erase the information from his mind and take us back to the place where he didn't know about the horrors of my past. There was no going back.

"Get out," I said firmly, my voice thick with the emotion of my hurt that he'd gone behind my back to find out about my past even though I'd made it clear it I didn't want him to know about it.

"Don't do this, Tay," he said, reaching for me.

"I didn't want you to know," I said, my voice beginning to rise in anger that he'd ruined everything. "But that didn't stop you."

I closed my eyes for a moment to ride the wave of betrayal that hit me.

"I'm sorry," he repeated. It was a word that meant nothing to me.

"Get out!" I shouted at him. My eyes holding his started to blur as the tears began to stream down my cheeks. A gut-wrenching heartache ripped through me at the realization that whatever we had, even if it had meant more to me than him, was damaged. Possibly beyond repair.

The door to my bedroom crashed open as Matthew filled the doorway. It took him only seconds to take in the emotion on my face and the tears.

"What happened?" Matthew asked me as he stepped into the room and between us, like he was protecting me.

"This has nothing to do with you," Sin said in a determined voice as he took a menacing step toward Matthew, but Matthew didn't look intimidated and held his ground.

"If it has anything to do with Taylor, then it has something to do with me," he stated firmly as he crossed his arms.

"Just go," I said to Sin with my gaze fixed on the floor. I couldn't look at him in case seeing him made me waver. He'd done something I wasn't sure I would ever be able to forgive him for.

"Tay, just let me explain," he pleaded as he tried to step forward and Matthew blocked his advance.

"There is nothing you can say," I said, shaking my head. Matthew turned to face Sin with a hand to his chest.

"You need to leave," he instructed fiercely.

Sin glared at him for a moment before his eyes moved to mine. His eyes softened for a moment.

"I don't want to upset you more, so I'll leave," he told me.

I clasped my trembling hands together as I felt a pain in my chest where I was pretty sure my heart was breaking.

"But this isn't over," he promised me softly.

With one last glare at Matthew, he left the room. A few moments later I heard the front door slam closed.

"What happened?" Matthew asked as he stood in front of me, scanning my features. I brushed the tears from my face as I tried to pull myself together.

"I don't want to talk about it," I said as I tried to push down the emotions overwhelming me from the inside. He studied me for a moment with concern and then he released my arms.

"He will be back," he told me in a serious tone.