Page 56 of Loving Bad

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

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.