Tainted Forever (Tainted Knights 5)

Rubbing my hands together, I tried to push down my nervousness. “It will be fine.”

“Fucking better be,” he muttered.

Ignoring him, I pulled out Kin’s chair for her. She kissed my cheek as she took her seat, accepting one of the menus the hostess offered. As soon as we were all seated, a waiter appeared, taking our drink orders. Gray and I both asked for beer, while the girls stuck to water.

Minutes ticked by, and I noticed the waiter keep looking over to see if the rest of the seats were filled, but Eden hadn’t shown up yet. I glanced at my phone. It was quarter after seven now, and Eden hadn’t even texted to let me know she was going to be late.

“She’s got a baby,” Kassa excused for her. “Of course she’s going to be running late.”

By seven thirty, we decided to just order, but as the waiter started over to us, I spotted Eden walking toward us alone. As she reached the table, I stood. She gave me a quick hug, then stepped back, looking frazzled.

“Where’s Dean?” I asked, glancing behind her for any sign of her husband.

Her face, so similar to our mother’s, was lined from the years of drug use and hard living she’d experienced before we’d met again. “Jason was running a little bit of a temperature from all the teething he has going on, so Dean stayed back at the hotel with him. Sorry I’m so late.” Her eyes went over my shoulder, and I felt her tense when her gaze locked on Kassa. “Oh… I thought it was just the three of us…”

Kassa got to her feet, looking just as nervous as Eden now was. My two sisters stood there, anxiously watching each other, and my own nerves began to skyrocket. My hands started to sweat, and I seriously needed a shot of something strong so I could get control of myself and the situation.

A soft hand grasped my own, squeezing it reassuringly. I closed my eyes, thanking God that Kin was there, that I had her to ease my frayed nerves and help me through this.

When I opened my eyes again, it was to find Kassa wrapping her arms around Eden’s waist. “It’s so good to see you,” my baby sister told Eden. “I’ve wanted to meet you so badly, but every time I got up the nerve to ask Jace about it, I always chickened out.”

Eden hugged her back, squeezing her tightly. “I was too scared to even ask Jace if I could meet you. It was a miracle he let me into his life. I was terrified if I asked, he would drop me on my ass.”

Kassa stepped back, waving her hand at Gray. “This is my husband, Grayson Knight.”

Eden gave a small smile and a wave. “Hi. I guess that makes me your new sister-in-law.”

Gray held out his hand, giving her a tight smile as she shook it. “I guess it does. Good to meet you.”

Eden and Kassa both looked down at Kin. My redhead stood, offering her hand. “Hi,” she greeted, her voice soft and calm, which helped soothe my nerves even more. “I’m Kin. Jace has told me so much about you.”

A flush filled Eden’s face. “Oh God, I hope not.”

Kin waved her comment away. “It’s okay. We’re all family here. There’s nothing to be embarrassed about. We all have a past.”

“I doubt any of yours is half as colorful as mine,” Eden tried to laugh.

I pulled out one of the spare chairs between Gray and me for her. “Let’s order dinner, and we can all catch up,” I told her with a smile.

The atmosphere at our table started off tense at first, but Kassa and Kin pulled Eden into talking about her son, and she quickly began to relax. As we ate our meal and the evening passed, I watched her open up a little more. By the time dessert was served, I had relaxed almost completely and was finally able to enjoy the fact that my older sister was going to be a part of our lives from now on.

Chapter 29

Kin

I had less than a week before the tour was supposed to start, and I was scrambling to get everything finished in time. I was glad Kassa was back from her honeymoon because she helped me with a lot of it since she basically had to do the exact same things I did so she could go with Gray.

She looked like she was glowing after her weeks away in both Hawaii and Paris. I was jealous of the tan she was sporting, and the way she kept touching her stomach like she was caressing her baby every minute of the day was super adorable.

The last thing on my list was a trip to the gynecologist. That was also something Kassa did with me, because she needed to go for her first OB exam. Gray was with her, and I was kind of jealous they were going to hear the baby’s heartbeat while I had to go into another room for my exam and to have my implant replaced. They got to do the fun stuff and I had to go through torture, but they looked so happy when Kassa’s name was called that I couldn’t stop smiling even as I was told to strip and put on a paper gown for my own exam.

I was just getting comfortable when my doctor came in, my chart in her hands and a nurse behind her. I was freezing, the sheet over my lap doing nothing to keep me from shivering as Dr. Baric sat on her little rolling chair in front of me.

“How have you been, Kin?” she asked with a smile that was probably supposed to put me at ease. Nothing she said or did right then was going to accomplish that. She was about to look at all my lady parts, and all I wanted to do was pretend I wasn’t about to flash my vag at her.

“I’m still getting over some stomach bug,” I admitted.

“Those are a pain in the rear,” she said sympathetically. “How long have you been sick with it?”