Chasing Sin

41

Bella is silent for a short moment before gathering herself and saying, "You're on your way right now? And you.. want to visit?" Sin doesn't say anything, but Bella seems to still be processing. Finally, she says, "Absolutely, Sin. I'd love if you came to visit. Do you still have the address?"

"No, could you send it to me?" he asks, relief in his voice.

"Yes, of course. How long do you think it will be before you get here?" she asks.

Sin guesses, "Maybe twenty or thirty minutes?"

Bella seems surprised that we're so close, but sounds pleased regardless. Sin hangs up, and I wait until he puts his phone in the console between us and lets out a sigh before reaching over and grabbing his hand.

"Nervous?" I ask him.

"Only a lot."

I laugh a little, and squeeze his hand. "I'm proud of you for doing this. This is huge, Sin."

Sin smiles at me, seeming a little more at ease as he takes the San Francisco exit. "Thanks for doing it with me. I probably wouldn't have gone through with this if you weren't here."

"You do not need to thank me, Sin," I tell him. "I just know how important my family is to me, and I would hate to see you miss out on having that. At the very least, you deserve to know about yours."

When we reach Bella's house, Sin parks his car in the long driveway and I turn to him before he turns off the car.

"Do you want me to come in with you?" I ask. "Because I totally, completely understand if you want to do this on your own."

Sin looks at me as if that's a ridiculous idea. "What? No, you've got to come in with me. There's no way I'm going in there without you, Haven."

I smile and nod, following him out of the car and up to the front door. There are a couple of other cars in the driveway, but I don't think too much of it until the door opens, and several voices carry through.

A very pretty, but tough-looking Latina woman stands in front of us, the top half of her black hair clipped away from her tired yet kind face. She's wearing a pretty white top and jeans, and a red apron hangs over the outfit.

"Sinclair!" she says excitedly, holding out her arms to embrace him. "I am so, so happy you're here! It's been too long."

"Hey, Bella," he greets her, letting her hug him. "It's good to see you."

When they step back from each other, Bella turns toward me. She seems a bit surprised at my presence, but not upset.

"Bella, this is my girlfriend Haven Walker. Haven, this is Bella Vasquez."

I try not to hyperventilate when the word "girlfriend" comes out of Sin's mouth. It feels a bit weird, given my history, but at the same time, exciting and lovely to hear coming from my favorite person.

"It's lovely to meet you, Haven," she says, and I smile back at her.

"Thanks, It's nice to meet you too, Ms. Vasquez."

"Call me Bella, hun. I'm only twenty-seven," she informs me as we follow her inside.

The loud voices get even louder when we step inside the quaint house, and she leads us to a sitting room with a small group of people there.

I first see a woman with icy blonde hair and ragged clothes sitting on the floor with a young girl, about Destiny's age. The girl has dark brown, nearly black, hair and green eyes.

Along with the blonde woman and the little girl, a bored-looking man and what seems to be his identical twin are standing behind them against the wall of the sitting room. They're both wearing gray suits and have matching gray mustaches.