Chapter Twenty Eight- Brandon

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"Where are you going?" Sadie frowned, as I tried to peel myself out from under her naked body.

Damn it. I had been trying to leave without waking her up, but she had intertwined her body so closely with mine that the second I moved, she could tell. I had come home earlier tonight so that we could spend some time together before I had to leave again to prepare for the sting. Knowing I got to come to her at night made my days fly by, and it hadn't taken us long to get to know each other again on every possible level--mind, body, and soul. I was still being cautious, but it was pointless to try to fight it. I was thoroughly enjoying my wife.

Sadie had cooked dinner for us like she did most nights, and then we had found our way to the bedroom. About an hour ago, I had finally worn her out and she fell asleep in my arms. It pained me to have to leave tonight, but it was time to put an end to things with Herrera.

"If I don't leave now, I'm going to be late." I pressed my lips gently to her forehead. "I'll be home in a few hours, princess."

Sadie was so exhausted she could hardly open her eyes. "Be safe, okay? And call me as soon as it's done."

"Babe, I'm not going to call you. It'll be three in the morning by that point." I slipped a t-shirt on over my head. "Get some rest, and I swear, I'll come back right after it's done."

"You know I'm not going to sleep knowing what you guys are doing." She propped herself up a little bit.

"Nothing is going to happen. We're just having a conversation. You have nothing to be anxious about, okay?" I kissed her again, trying to soothe her worries. I knew it wouldn't squash them completely, but I didn't want her up pacing the entire time I was gone.

"Are you sure you won't call me?" She tried one more time.

"I'll tell you what," I picked her phone up off the nightstand and turned it on silent. "As soon as it's done and I'm on my way, I'll send you a text. But only if you keep this thing on silent and try to get some sleep."

"You're so strict." Her sleepy smile was so damn adorable.

"They don't call me the boss for nothing." I chuckled, stealing one last kiss. "I love you, Sadie."

"I love you too." She snuggled further underneath the covers, and I tiptoed out of the room. Leaving her was absolutely torturous.

Everything was in place for tonight. Now we just had to execute it. Sadie had given Herrera all the details, and Alex and Ro had arranged for a large group of our guys to meet at the pier a little while before we told Herrera, just so we could all be in place.

The idea was, once he got there with his team, I would come out of hiding and let him know that his secret had been spilled. I'd embarrass him in front of the force, make him look like an absolute fool, and then I'd set the stage to bury him. Just like I told Sadie, all tonight was, was a conversation. That didn't mean we wouldn't be prepared though. For all the men I would have on the ground with me, we had another hundred close by, ready and willing to take action. I didn't want it to come to that, but you didn't take chances in this industry.

I locked everything up tight at the penthouse and left Daniel standing guard at the door. Sadie would be safe there and that was one less thing I had to worry about. By the time I got to the warehouse, Ro, Alex, Jav, and a few of the other guys were waiting on me.

"Ready to do this, boys?" Alex's grin was a mile wide when I walked in the room. He had several guns laid out on the desk in front of him, and grabbed one, thrusting it towards me.

I chuckled, tossing my things to the side. "This is supposed to be low profile, remember? We can't have our illegal shit there." I glanced at the bump stock in my hands. I had dreams of putting one of these bullets through Herrera's skull.

"I know, I know." Alex rolled his eyes, taking it back from me. "They'll be nearby, just in case, though."

I nodded. "Everything set?"

"Everybody knows where they're stationed." Ro nodded, handing me an ear piece. "We'll be in constant communication with the outside team and if you feel like things are going south, all you have to do is say the word."

"Great." I glanced around the room. "Where's Dante?"

"Dante is going to watch the bar while we're gone." Alex stiffened. "Adam is coming in his place."

I hadn't noticed Adam was here until he said that. I was still on the edge about Adam, knowing how Sadie would hate it if he got involved, but she told me about their conversation today and I felt like I owed it to him to let him spread his wings a little bit. He had done everything we asked with a smile on his face, and the way he handled the shit with Gomez the other day much better than I thought he would.

"Everybody clear on the plan?"

All the men nodded.

"Then I guess it's show time."

Everybody cheered and started grabbing their things and heading for the cars.

Everything around the marina was calm when we got there, and it was one of the darkest nights we had had in a long time. Usually, the moon lit up the sky, reflecting off of the water like a spotlight, but tonight it was hiding somewhere.

We had a few minutes to settle into things before Herrera got there, and once Alex and I heard the crunching of gravel from the road, we assumed our hiding spots as well. The police cars crept forward, with all the lights off and the engines barely on, trying to be discreet. An inexperienced team might have been fooled, but I could see them immediately.

They waited awhile, and once it was thirty minutes past the time that we said, Herrera and a few other men started walking down the hill.

"Damn it." Herrera hissed. "Where are they?"

"Maybe the shipment got delayed?" One of the other men suggested.

"No. Something is off." Herrera looked around suspiciously. "I swear, if that bitch sent us on a wild goose chase again..."

I nodded towards Alex and he and I walked around the corner revealing ourselves. I clapped my hands together slowly in applause, drawing the attention of several of the agents.

"Avenetti." Herrera hissed.

"I have to respect the effort here, Herrera, I really do." I stood just a few feet in front of him.

"What the hell are you talking about?" He gritted his teeth.

"I mean all of this." I swept my arm in the air, gesturing to the whole scene. "You must really be after me to go to these lengths. And using Sadie, that was brilliant. You come up with that all on your own?"

Herrera's face turned white.

"That's right, Herrera. I know what you did. I know how you coerced my ex-girlfriend into turning into a rat so you could try to find something on us that would pad your stats and save your fledging career." I smirked, watching as realization blanketed his face.

"Sadie wasn't coerced into anything. The girl jumped at the chance to take you guys down, even before I had the evidence that I needed against her. She hates you that much, Avenetti. You must have really fucked her over back in the day." He chuckled.

I clenched my jaw, trying to contain my rage. I hated this guy with every fiber of my being and I wanted nothing more than to smash his face into the ground.

"You think you're really something, don't you? You think you can use my own family to come after me?" I said. "Blood is thicker than water, Herrera, and when all of this shit is over, I'll come out on top. I can promise you that."

Herrera rolled his eyes. "Keep telling yourself that, Brandon. I don't need your whore girlfriend to take you down, I have more than enough as it is. And your time is coming. I can't wait to see the look on your face when I throw you in a jail cell."

Alex could tell I was on the brink of explosion and put his hand on my shoulder. This bastard was getting on my last nerve and if I ever heard him speak about Sadie that way again, I'd tear his throat out.

"By the way, I don't what you did to get Sadie to confess, but whatever it was, you signed her prison sentence by doing it. She'll go away for years for her crimes, and you think she'll last a single day there? Why don't you ask your dad? He knows all about what life is like on the inside."

Without warning I lunged for him, barely being held back by Ro and Alex. "He's not worth it, Brandon."

I shrugged them off, thinking better of my decision. An explosive reaction from me was exactly what he was fishing for. "I swear to God, Herrera, this is your last warning. Stay out of my way. If you come after my family again, it will be the last thing you ever do."

"Sounds an awful lot like a threat to me. What do you think boys?" He turned to the other agents with him. It made me sick the way he was trying to act tough in front of them when the truth was, the bastard didn't have a leadership bone in his body. "We'll be in touch soon, Brandon."

He turned and waved for his officers to follow.

I stood cemented to the ground until they got in their cars and drove away. A part of me wanted to grab one of the assault rifles from our surveillance trucks and hunt him down, filling his chest with enough lead that he'd sink right down to the bottom of the ocean.

He could think he had me right where he wanted me for now, I was fine with that. In fact, I much preferred it. That meant he would let his guard down, and that's when he would screw up.

"You're just going to let him walk away like that?" Adam frowned, coming out from the shadows. "After what he did to Sadie?"

I fought the urge to roll my eyes. The kid had had a hard time with what I had done to Gomez and now he wanted to come out guns blazing? This was the problem with rookies. Once they had a taste, they thought they were on top of the world and couldn't be touched.

"Adam, this is a process. If I did anything to him tonight, he would have thrown me in jail and everything would have been for nothing." I didn't need to explain myself but I cut him a little slack.

"So we just let him get away with it?" His face twisted in frustration.

"Believe me, we're not letting him get away with anything. We're just not going to play into his games." Alex back me up. "He wants a reaction, and the second he gets that, he wins. Timing is everything here."

"Fuck that." Adam growled. "If you're not going to protect my sister, then I will."

He charged back up the hill with a gun on his back. Ro went after him and took him down with a single, sharp punch. He pulled him back towards us buy he shirt, bloody and embarrassed.

"Adam, everything single thing I am doing is to protect your sister, and I'm sorry if I can't see that, but I don't have to answer to you." I grabbed his face, forcing him to look at me. "You're the reason she's in danger to begin with. Now, if you can't play by the rules here, then get the fuck out. I am the one in charge and no one is going rogue. You don't so much as breath without my permission when you're in this group. Am I clear?"

Adam grunted. "I'm sorry. I'm just pissed off."

"We all are." I clenched my jaw. "But that doesn't mean you get to run off and derail everything we have been working towards. You'll stick to the plan just like everyone else, and if you don't, you're gone."

"Understood." He agreed reluctantly.

I had a soft spot for the kid because I still saw him as Sadie's baby brother, but that couldn't change the way I handled him here.

"You're back on clean up until further notice." I ordered, turning my attention away from him.

"Get everybody out of here." I told Ro. "I'm going home."

The night had been one big irritation to me, but at least now Herrera knew. Sadie wouldn't be expected to play both sides of the field and I could keep her away from him. It was a step in the right direction and now I just had to wait for him to marinate on this. His next move would be defining, and I fucking hoped he went big.

When he did, I'd be ready for him. 




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