"Uncle T!"

I smiled and bent down to scoop her up in my arms when she ran to me. Lucy wrapped chocolate-covered hands around my neck. Reaching up, I wiped some chocolate from her cheek.

"You need to stop eating so many chocolate, princess. It's going to make you fat."

"Sin gave me." I raised an eyebrow. "Daddy got her but she give to me."

"So why doesn't she eat it herself?"

"Sin sick."

Unease filled me. "Sin's sick?"

Lucy shook her head. She frowned down at me and pointed towards the kitchen. I followed her silent instruction. I was expecting to find Sin there, but the kitchen was empty.

I frowned.

"Where's Sin?"

"Probably at the stables," Beth muttered as she entered the kitchen.

I lowered Lucy back to the ground and watched as she ran to the table. She instantly started colouring again. My eyes moved to Beth as she disappeared into the laundry room. I hesitated for a second and then followed her.

"Lucy said she's sick," I said from the doorway.

Beth paused and then shook her head. "She's fine now. I made chocolate pudding last night. That girl can't stomach anything sweet."

"She's not used to eating sweets."

Beth straightened and turned towards me with her hands on her hips. She stared at me which made me shift from foot to foot. Her gaze was calculating.

"You care about that girl?"

I hesitated but then nodded.

"She needs someone to love her. That wretched woman doesn't deserve a sweet girl like Sydney."

I stepped further into the room. "What do you mean?"

"Lauren slapped her the other night. It wasn't the first time. I got a feeling she's used to abuse." Beth shook her head as she pulled washing from the machine. "There's more to this than she wants us to believe."

"We all have our theories, Beth."

When she said nothing else, I turned, ready to walk away.

"Can I speak freely, Mr. Sanders?"

I turned back to her and gave her a wry smile. "Honesty would be appreciated."

"Lauren doesn't want her here whether Sin's her daughter or not. I'm worried about that girl Mr. Sanders. Something isn't right. I'm afraid Lauren would try anything to get her out of this house."

Knowing her, it wouldn't really be a shock. I'd never really liked Lauren and seeing those bruises on Sin's skin only made that dislike intensify. Michel was looking into her background. He had found nothing about Sin's birth so far which was another red flag.

"I'll look out for her," I muttered.

Beth nodded and then continued with her work. I pressed a kiss to Lucy's forehead as I passed her on the way out. The moment I stepped outside, I glanced up at the sky. Thunderclouds were already starting to roll in. By the looks of it, it was going to be one hell of thunderstorm.

As I made my way to the stables, I went over my conversation with Beth. I actually felt scared to leave Sin at the house with Lauren. Oh, I knew my brother was there to keep an eye on things but sometimes Lauren managed to manipulate him. He would do anything for his sweet little wife.

Halfway to the stables I saw Lauren stumbling down the path. When her eyes fell on me, her face visibly paled.

"T-Tyrone," she stuttered. "W-what are you doing here?"

My eyes dropped when she crossed her arms over her middle. I saw the drops of crimson on her blouse before she could cover it. My eyes narrowed on her.

"I'm just going to check on one of the mares," I lied.

She swallowed. Her eyes darted behind me and then down to her shoes. Her behaviour was usual.

My gut told me that something just wasn't right.

"All of the horses are fine." She forced a smile on her lips. "I w-was about to call. One of the taps upstairs are leaking. You know Draven isn't really good with that stuff."

"I'll have a look when I'm done."

I tried to step around her, but she caught hold of my arm.

"I have to leave so I'll show you which bathroom."

"Just tell Beth and I'm sure she'll point me in the right direction." I smiled and then forced her hand off my arm.

Without a backward glance, I continued towards the tables. My stomach was in knots. I needed to find Sin, I just didn't know exactly why. Something wasn't right, I could feel it. Sin wasn't where she usually sat. I asked around but nobody had seen her.

There was no sign of Sin inside the stables either. Most of the horses were out in the pastures so the stalls were empty. I sighed, and turned around, ready to make my way back out.

A sound reached my ears. I paused and tilted my head to the side slightly. I didn't hear anything right away.

A whimper.

It came from the empty stall to my right. I hurried towards it and peaked inside. At first glance I saw nothing, but then there was movement.

"Sin!" I hurried forward and dropped to my knees next to her. "Jesus."

Her clothes and the hay around her were soaked in blood. My eyes trailed over her and instantly found the source.

"What did you do baby?" I whispered.

I tore my shirt over my head and ripped a piece off. Grabbing her arm, I quickly tied the material around her wrist to stop the bleeding. I repeated the action with her other wrist and then slapped her cheek. Her eyes slowly fluttered open.

"Stay with me," I told her. "I need you to stay awake for me Sydney."

"S-she—" Her voice trailed off.

I picked her up and stumbled to my feet. My knees felt like jelly and my heart was beating erratically in my chest. The fear of loosing her made me react fast. I ran from the stables while calling out. Two of the ranch hands ran towards me.

"Get the truck ready!" I yelled.

I paused long enough to give the other man orders before hurrying to the truck. It was already running. As soon as I got in, he sped down the drive.

My eyes fell to Sin. Her eyes were closed again. I cupped her cheek and guided her face to my shoulder.

"You'll be okay," I whispered. "Nothing is going to happen to you baby."

As if she heard me, her eyes fluttered open. She blinked up at me a few times and then gave me a small smile.

"I'm not ready to leave you yet."

***

The image of her bloodied and laying on the ground keep filtering through my mind. Doubts were starting to set in the longer I had to wait. I needed them to save my girl, but I knew there was a possibility that I was too late.

"Tyrone!"

My head snapped up. Bella ran towards me. I stood and opened my arms. In a second she was a sobbing mess against my chest. With a shaky hand, I rubbed her back. Her body shook and when she raised her head to look up at me, I saw the fear in her eyes.

"She'll be okay," I whispered.

Bella nodded. I took a seat again and pulled her onto my lap. I clung to her as she clung to me. Our girl was in that operating room only a few feet away. She had to make it.

Five minutes later Draven arrived. He narrowed his eyes at Bella and me but didn't comment.

It wasn't public knowledge that Michel and I shared Bella, but he knew. He knew about everything. Draven never approved of our lifestyle and once upon a time it bothered me a lot, but I've learned to live with it.

"What exactly happened?" he asked. "I got a call from Beth. She said Sin was taken to the hospital."

"I found her in one of the stalls. Her wrists were cut."

He pursed his lips and muttered something under his breath. Shaking his head, Draven started pacing. My eyes dropped to his dark blue uniform.

Does he know how badly Sin freaks when she sees a cop? Does he know that she had trouble reading sometimes? Does he know how talented she is? Does he know anything about my little girl except for what Lauren told him?

I turned away from him and pressed my lips against Bella's hair. I shouldn't give a fuck about what Draven knew about her, but I did.

"Where's Lauren?"

"In a meeting."

"The meeting is more important than her own daughter?"

Draven turned to glare at me. "Stay out of our family matters Tyrone."

"Family." Bella scoffed. "She's not part of your family." Bella sat up and turned slightly to look up at him. "If she was part of the family, you'd know that Lauren and Ellie go out of their way to make her feel unwelcome. You'd know that Lauren never skipped the opportunity to put her down. You'd know that your son is a pervert. Do you know Sin hates the way he looks at her and sometimes tries to touch her?"

I tensed.

"You would know that Damian looked at her in a way that a brother shouldn't look at his sister. Lucy and Beth are by far the only ones who go out of their way to make her feel welcome."

Draven's eyes darted between us. For a few seconds he only stared at us. His lips parted but he said nothing. Shaking his head, he sent Bella a glare and then walked away.

"She told you about Damian?" I asked as soon as he was out of hearing distance.

Bella shook her head and snuggled against my chest again. "I caught him peeking through the keyhole of her bedroom door."

I frowned. "What was Sin doing?"

"Changing."

Anger filled me. That little bastard. I gripped my thigh to keep myself from lashing out. I wanted nothing more than to drive home and beat the shit out of him. Does he have no fucking respect for women?

"He didn't see anything," Bella said softly.

I glanced down at her to find her smiling up at me.

"Sin pushed some gum in the keyhole. That's how I know about the touches and stuff. She told me."

"You never told us."

"She asked me not to."

It felt like another hour before the doors opened and the doctor walked out. I pushed Bella from my lap and stood. The doctor gave me a nod in greeting and then a small smile.

"She's fine. We were thankfully able to stop the bleeding, but she lost a lot of blood. Sin managed to cut one of her arteries."

"So, it was a suicide attempt?" Draven asked, suddenly appearing.

The doctor nodded and turned back to face me. "It looks like suicide and in normal circumstances I would alert the right people where they would evaluate her. Sometimes some therapy might help, but to be honest. I don't think she tried to commit suicide."

"What do you mean?" Bella asked him.

"At first it would appear like she did it herself, but on further inspection it's easy to tell that she didn't. The angles of the cuts are wrong, and the lines are ragged." He used his own wrist to demonstrate what he meant.

The more he explained, the more suspicious I got. What was Lauren doing at the stables? As far as I knew she never ever went there. Was this Lauren's way of getting rid of Sin? Since her attempt failed, I was sure she'd try again. Lauren had only one goal in mind, and that was getting Sin out of the way. She wanted her out of the family, and I was going to find out why.