Michel

Fucking. Stupid.

I punched the bag as the words repeated in my mind. Sweat poured down my body and my muscles were screaming at me, but I didn't stop. The consequences my actions could have flashed through my mind. Followed by that was the memories of Sin. Memories that made my cock twitch in my pants. I should've had better control, but when it came to her, I had none.

Sin was different. Different than all the others we had allowed into our little group. She was different than Bella.

If only Bella wasn't so fucking stubborn. I hit the punching bag one last time before stepping back. My eyes were glued to the swinging bag as if it could give me all the answers I needed. A sigh fell from my lips and my shoulders sagged. I turned and made my way towards the showers. I haven't been home at all. Not since Sin left and not since returned home.

I snuck out earlier and came straight to the here. I wasn't ready to face Bella and Tyrone yet.

After a quick shower to wash all the sweat away, I headed upstairs to my office. It was nearing six so the place was almost empty. I nodded at a few men as I passed them but made no move to start up a conversation with any of them. Once I entered my office, I slammed the door closed and walked over to the window. Winter was approaching which meant that it got dark earlier than usual.

My mind was a jumbled mess, making it hard to focus just on one thing.

What the hell happened to Sin's face? Why did she seem so different? Why had she ended things with Tyrone? How was he handling things?

We were all in this together. I thought that we had finally found someone who would complete our little family, but she walked away. Bella made her walk away. But why wasn't Tyrone fighting for her either? Why wasn't he at the house trying to win her back?

Rolling my shoulders, I turned towards the desk. I had two missed calls from Bella and three from Tyrone. I hesitated with the phone in my hand. Sooner or later I had to return home. We had to talk this thing through. We were all so happy until Draven showed up. I shook away the angry thoughts and grabbed my car keys.

The sooner I got home the sooner we could talk this through and get Sin home.

***

"You're home!"

A grunt fell from my lips when he body slammed into mine. I wrapped my arms around her waist and lowered my face to her neck. Bella smelt like sweat and sex. My eyes snapped open and darted over to Tyrone who stood by the stove. Our eyes locked briefly before he turned away from me.

So he wasn't bothered about it? What the hell was his problem?

"I missed you," Bella whispered against my ear.

A scoff fell from my lips before I could stop it. "Sure smells like it."

She instantly pulled away to frown up at me. Stepping around her, I made my way over to the fridge and grabbed a beer. My eyes darted between them as I leaned back against the counter. I picked up on the fact that they both were tensed and clearly avoiding looking at me. This was nothing new. I usually left for long trips which meant that Tyrone would stay with Bella or the other way around.

I felt good knowing that she would be taken care of when I'm not home. What I couldn't understand was their behaviour.

"Are we just going to stand here and pretend that nothing's wrong?"

"Michel—"

"Where's Sin?" That made her fall silent.

Bella's eyes darted over to Tyrone before dropping to the floor.

"Draven took her home."

"I know that, but since she's twenty-one I thought she would've been back here by now. That was the deal wasn't it?" I straightened. "We said that we'd go get her after her birthday."

"It's not so simple," Tyrone finally spoke up.

"Really?" I slammed the beer down on the counter. "It seems really fucking simple to me."

"Why the hell do you care about her so much?" Bella yelled. "It's always Sin this and Sin that! Why—"

"Bella," Tyrone growled loudly, sending her a glare before turning back to me. "Let's sit and eat and then we can talk about this."

"I'm not hungry."

I walked out of the kitchen and headed toward the stairs. Climbing them two at a time, I headed towards my room but my steps flattered when I walked past Sin's room. I swallowed loudly as I opened the door and stepped inside. I was expecting the room to be empty but nothing had changed. Even the clothes she left behind still hung in the closet.

My frown deepened. It just didn't make any sense. Making my way over to the bed, I sank down on the edge and dropped my head into my hands. A groan fell from my lips when her image flashed through my mind. Why couldn't I forget?

I tensed when the door creaked. A few seconds later the bed dipped next to me. Tyrone didn't speak right away. He sighed loudly and rubbed a hand down his thigh.

"She can't come back here."

Pain seared through my chest. It fucking hurt to think of her never returning. She was part of our family. She belonged with us.

"Ty—"

"Bella needs time to—"

"Everything isn't always about Bella!" I exploded, jumping up from the bed. "If I knew this was how things would've turned out I never would've encouraged Sin to take the next step."

Tyrone said nothing. He didn't even glance my way. My fists clenched at my sides. He didn't fucking care that his actions were slowly destroying Sin. I took a step toward him as my anger intensified. I wanted to beat some fucking sense into him. I wanted to make him see what he was doing—not only to her but to all of us.

"It's better this way," Tyrone muttered softly, briefly glancing at me.

"The hell it is!"

He stood. For a few seconds our eyes locked and I was able to see exactly how he felt before he was able to shield his emotion from me. It was tearing him apart. It was killing him to be away from her. A smirk slid onto my face. I moved closer until our chest brushed.

"At least now I know why you always took her bareback. It feel so much better to be buried deep in her tight pussy without any rubber between us."

"You bastard!"

I knew he was pissed but I never expected him to lash out. A fist to the cheek made me stumble backwards. Before I could regain my balance, Tyrone tackled me to the ground. The air was knocked from my lungs. Pain shot through me when his fist connected with my ribs. I wasn't fast enough to block another hit.

"She's mine!" he yelled. "You had no right. She mine!"

"She's ours!"

Both of us froze. I turned my head toward the scream that broke the fight apart. Bella stood in the doorway, shaking and panting for air with her fist clenched at her side. Tears slowly dripped down her pale cheeks. Her eyes locked with mine for a few seconds before darting away. Before I could utter a word, Bella spun around and ran out of the room.

"Stay away from Sin, Michel. Next time Bella won't be here to stop me from beating the shit out of you."

***

Bella was curled up on the bed with a pillow clutched tightly to her chest. I hesitated in the doorway before I made my way over to her. Sitting on the edge of the bed with my back to her, I waited for her to acknowledge me, but she didn't. After a few more minutes I laid down and curled myself around her back. Her tense body slowly relaxed.

Bella sniffed and reached up to wipe her nose before she linked her fingers through mine.

"How is she?"

I swallowed. She didn't ask me when I went to see her or for how long I was with her. She didn't ask me if we had sex or not. Bella wanted to know how Sin was doing and that confused me even more.

"I honestly don't know," I muttered. "She seemed fine but I could tell that she really wasn't. Something happened but she wouldn't tell me."

Bella stayed silent after that. I closed my eyes and buried my nose in her hair. Bella smelled nothing like Sin. When used to stay here they Sin would sometimes use Bella's body wash. She liked the smell of it but she wouldn't allow me to buy her a bottle of her own. Woman were so confusing at times.

"I'm sorry," I said to break the slightly uncomfortable silence. "What I said. . .I didn't really mean it."

"You do and you're right. Everything isn't always about me. Before Sin it was just me. I liked that you were only worried about me. I understand that things have to change because we've added someone else to our relationship."

"Bella—"

"I miss Sin," she whispered. "It feels strange not being around her."

She turned onto her back and tilted her head up to look at me. Her bottom lip wobbled and her eyes were filled with tears. Bella gave me a small smile. I pushed myself up onto my elbows and leaned over her. My eyes darted over her face but all I saw was her sadness. I frowned at her.

"Tell me what's going on, Bella," I pleaded.

She swallowed, licked her lips and then reached up to cup my cheek. "Sin isn't ready for a relationship like ours."

My frown deepened. I really tried to understand her but I couldn't make sense of her words. Sin was twenty-one—old enough to make her own decisions. Bella's hand slid up to the back of my neck. She tugged on the strands of hair at my nape before sliding her hand down to rest against my chest.

"Sin has been locked up in a house with her father for who knows how long. We don't know what kind of things he did to her before he had her locked up. We don't know what kind of abuse she suffered. All we know is what's been told to us. Draven thinks she's crazy. He thinks that she tried to kill herself."

"We know that she didn't do that."

"We know that because we know Sin. We believe her but he doesn't. Something's not right here, Michel."

"I don't—"

"Draven is looking for excuses to keep her away from us. I admit what he said that day got to me but it also made me realize a few things. I pushed her a way because I believe that Sin need to experience things people her age do. She needs to make friends, go to parties and have fun. She needs to stay away from us until we can figure out why Draven is so adamant about keeping her away from Tyrone."