The sound of Chris snoring invaded my dreams and caused me to wake up. I'm surprised I was able to get a few hours of quality sleep with Will being in our house. It made me feel uneasy. 

Rolling out of bed, I grabbed my phone off the nightstand to see a missed call from Paula. It was a little after 10 am. I'm sure she wanted to make sure I was ok after last night. Keeping this baby safe and healthy was the most important thing to me.

As I made my way to the kitchen, the sound of running water startled me. 

"Good morning beautiful..."

His voice made my skin crawl. Wearing a white tank top and black gym shorts, Will stood in my kitchen washing a frying pan. On the counter there was a carton of eggs, uncooked bacon, and a bowl of pancake mix. 

He turned the water off and glanced over at me, "cooking breakfast for you all is the least I can do."

It was as if someone unplugged my brain. I couldn't form any words. The sound of my stomach growling shook me out of my trance.

"You don't have to...."

"I insist. Sit down, I'm sure you and baby girl are hungry. Besides, we never get time to speak to each other," he smiled.

I sat down and really took him in. His jet black hair was neatly trimmed in a  brush cut , I could see an "X" stamped on the side of his neck. 

"What does the X stand for?" The words flew out out of mouth before I could take them back.

As he laid the bacon down gently in the pan,  he paused for a minute, "it represents a brotherhood."

Brotherhood? Sounds like a gang to me. Who did Chris have in our house?! 

"It's more than a gang," he said as he stared into my eyes.

Was he reading my thoughts now?

"How do you and Chris really know each other?"

He placed the spatula on the stove and turned to face me, "in the past I would have told you to ask Chris, but I feel like there needs to be some transparency between us."

I sat back in the chair, bracing myself for what he was about to say.

"We actually met through my sister."

"And who's your sister?"

"Good morning!" Chris walked into the kitchen, his eyes locked on me.

I stood up, "Will was just telling me how you two really met, who's his sister?"

His eyes shot to Will, who was making his way back to the stove. 

"Vanessa, that doesn't matter. Will and I are business partners and fri..."

"I'm not going to ask you again!" I could feel my body temperature rising.

Will was  flipping pancakes as if he didn't have a care in the world. I could kill them both right now.

"If we're all going to be a big happy family, she needs to know," Will said.

It was if all the blood left Chris' face. That's when it hit me.

"Kim is his sister?!" I didn't wait for him to answer. I brushed passed him and made my way to the bedroom. Pulling out a suitcase from the closet, I started throwing whatever clothing my hand touched inside. If I stayed in this house a second longer, I was afraid of what I'd do. 

I brushed my teeth and threw on a sleeveless dress and flip-flops. The closer I got to the door, I could hear them arguing in the kitchen. I stepped outside, immediately feeling the sun's warmth.

Making my way to the car, I put the suitcase in the back seat. As I started backing out, the front door flew open with Chris running frantically towards me. Fear in his eyes and hatred in mine. 

"Vanessa!"

I turned the radio up and as soon as the tires hit the road I sped off. Looking in my review mirror I could see him standing in the middle of the street. I wasn't sure where I was going, I just knew that my house was no longer home.