Sin: A Dark Reverse Harem & Age Gap Novelette (Sweet as Sin Book 1)
Sin: Chapter 13

“How are you feeling?” Tabor asked Sin as we walked into the living room.

She was firmly holding on to my hand with both of hers. She wasn’t hiding, but she was standing so close to me that only her head peeked around me.

“I’m okay,” she told him, her eyes big as she took in the scene. It was almost four in the morning, and the guys had come to my place after making sure Renner was far enough away.

“Come sit with us,” Link then said, patting the spot on the couch next to him. “There are some things Archer has to talk to you about.”

Sinclair looked up at me with question in her eyes. I let go of her hand and rubbed her back before nodding toward the couch. “You should be getting some rest, but I don’t think I can get any myself if I’m not opening up to you about some things.”

She looked confused. Granted, I would be too if someone would act so damn mysterious.

Sinclair hesitated, and though she trusted me, there was fear in her eyes. “Am I safe? I mean…am I safe here?”

“Yes.” I hated that she felt so unsure that she asked a question like that. “You’re safe here. I have some things I haven’t told you, and I want you to know everything about me—about us.” I had to regain her trust. Fully.

She shifted her gaze to the guys, and after taking a moment to reflect on the situation, she finally walked over to sit next to Link.

He respectfully moved further away to give her more space, and I took a seat on her other side, resting my hand on her thigh.

“I’ll get her some water,” Ford said, and Sinclair watched him get up and head over to the open kitchen.

Then her eyes met mine, and I gave her a gentle smile, hoping I wasn’t making her nervous or scared.

I waited for Ford to be back, handing Sin the water. She thanked him quietly and took a sip, and I watched her, wondering how a woman like her must be feeling in a room full of men.

Men who hours before were inside of her, pleasuring themselves and her.

“I’m ready,” she told me. She kept the glass in her hands, and I figured she needed to hold on to something other than the man who would shortly reveal a couple of things about himself.

I cleared my throat and moved my gaze to each of my friends, then my eyes were on her again. “The guys and I have known each other since college. We’ve spent all our lives together, been through a lot of shit, conquered the worst situations with each other. But most of all, we’ve always supported one another. We built our businesses around each other’s. Made sure that everything we do goes smoothly. We grew together, made incredible deals with other businesses. But we also made enemies.” I looked at the guys again, rubbing my hands together as I thought of the right words to use for this next part. “You may remember us talking about a guy named Manny.”

Sinclair’s brows furrowed, then she nodded. “I remember.”

“Manny has messed with us once before but we gave him a second chance because Renner assured us that it won’t happen again. He owns a company that develops software to protect businesses from hackers. Turns out he used his powers to get into our secret systems and bank accounts. Long story short…he was about to fuck us over once again. Last night, Ford and Link tracked Renner down and they found him in his office downtown, making a damn phone call to Manny. They were planning something, but we stopped them.”

Sinclair was watching me intensely, listening carefully to every word I said. When her frown deepened, I knew she’d have more questions about this. “I thought Renner is your friend.”

“He was,” Ford stated, and Tabor murmured a curse before adding more.

“He betrayed us. And he hurt you. We’ll make sure that motherfucker won’t show his face around us ever again.”

Sinclair let our words sink in, then she took another sip. She set the glass down on the coffee table this time, then she looked at me with gentle eyes. “What kind of business do you have?”

She wasn’t interested in hearing more of Renner, and we all took the hint.

“I own two real estate companies. I manage, sell, buy, and invest in properties and land. Mostly to people who have lots of money. Link and Ford own the best law firm in the country, and Tabor is in the alcohol industry,” I said with an amused grin on my face.

“You won’t ever call it by its name, will you?” Tabor shook his head and chuckled, then he looked at Sinclair. “I own a liquor company and multiple bars and clubs in the state.”

All that information was a lot to take in for Sinclair, but she took her time to let it all sink in. Her eyes moved to Tabor, then Link, Ford, and then they finally met mine again. “So…you’re basically all millionaire best friends.”

It was a statement that never fazed me, even after years of earning good money.

We chuckled, and I reached for her hand. “We’re best friends. Our money doesn’t have to do with anything. We worked hard and got our reward.”

“Apparently, some don’t deserve to be rewarded, no matter how fucking hard they work,” Tabor spat.

“We won’t discuss him any longer,” I told him, giving him a warning glance.

“What else is there? Any more I should know about you?” Sinclair asked, grasping my attention again.

I looked at her and thought of one thing that might be important for her to know. “There are some dangerous situations at times. None we’re personally involved in, but we’ve had groups of criminals attack our businesses before. We got that all under control though. Nothing you have to worry about, alright? We got the law on our side.”

She studied me for a while, then moved her eyes back to the others, watching them just as intensely while she decided on how to feel about all of this.

Her fingers tightened around mine, then she finally spoke. “Okay. I trust you guys.”

In that moment, I promised myself to keep her safe no matter what.

Little did I know that the ones who betrayed me would do it all over again.