Sadie

When I left Brandon's house to meet Herrera, I was nervous, but determined. Adrenaline and an odd sense of excitement were pumping through my veins at the thought that Herrera would finally get what was coming to him and that Brandon trusted me enough to be a part of it. Well, trusted me enough to tap my phone and have a guy tailing me the entire time, but I would take what I could get right now. It was at least a step in the right direction.

I hadn't seen Herrera face to face in several days, and in that amount of time, I had been attacked, and I found out that he had killed my parents. It was going to take a lot of personal restraint to face him and act like none of that had happened, but I knew in the long run it would be worth it. Brandon would take care of this just like he promised, and I should have believed that from the beginning. I was jaded, but I never should have doubted him. The only thing I could do now though was move forward and focus on the future.

When Brandon's tech guy was done with my phone, I had no idea what the thing was capable of. He had scoured it for any sign that Herrera had tapped it himself, and put a block on any tracking system he had put into place. This way, Herrera would just get an error signal if he tried to get into my system. There were parts that were programmed to be accessible to him so that he wouldn't get suspicious, but it was secure enough that all of my communication with Brandon and anyone in the family would be protected. Most of this was way over my head, but I was glad someone had thought of it. I was quickly realizing that how much preparation and work went into something like this, that it was a true skill and even art form, not just a bunch of grown men acting like idiots and trying to get themselves killed like I thought when I was younger.

Herrera asked me to meet him in Manhatten, so after I got myself ready, I headed that way. On a good day, it was about a forty-five-minute drive, but the weather was beautiful and the water was crystal clear as I made my way over the bridge. The coffee shop he picked was in Times Square and so I hopped out of the taxi a block or two up, hoping the fresh air would calm my nerves. I rubbed my thumb against the indentation on my finger where my rings had been just a little while ago. Brandon didn't want to give him any indication that we were married yet, but I had been conflicted.

Wearing those rings, Brandon's rings, was almost like a badge of honor. I felt important and claimed and protected, almost untouchable. I was part of something, and even though the circumstances were skewed, Brandon had chosen me. Herrera had set out to drive a wedge between us, but instead he had bonded us forever. A big part of me wanted to rub that in his face right now, but I had promised to handle this Brandon's way, and that meant taking the high road—at least for now. My mother always used to tell me that there is no need to be petty when you are powerful. It had taken me years to understand that I was powerful on my own accord, but with Brandon, I was even stronger. Together, we were powerful, and together was the only way we could pull this off.

A few people looked up at me as the chimes rang when I opened the door. I glanced around, setting my eyes on Herrera, seated at a booth in the back corner, hovering over a steaming cup of coffee. Just the sight of him made my skin crawl, and I fought the urge to run right back out the door. Instead, I took a deep breath to compose myself, and plastered a fake smile on my face when he looked my way. I made my way over there and slipped into the booth across from him.

"You're late." He grumbled, barely looking up.

"Sorry." I quipped. "It takes me a little longer to get into the city now since I have to come from the other side of Rockaway. You know, since my apartment is unsafe and everything."

"You know as well as I do that you had that coming. This isn't a game Sadie and now you'll remember who's in charge around here." He mocked.

"What exactly do you mean? I gave you what you wanted, how was I supposed to know they would move the merchandise?"

"You're supposed to know because that's what your job is." He hissed, leaning in close. "Fuck Brandon, fuck the brother. I don't care who you have to have sex with, just don't let it happen again or what happened a few days ago will look cordial compared to what's coming."

"Cordial?" I let a sharp laugh. "That's what you call beating me within an inch of my life and then leaving me to die on my living room floor?"

Herrera chuckled. "If I wanted you dead, you'd be dead. Right now, you're worth more to me alive. Especially since Brandon has taken such an interest in you. Just remember, Sadie, I can do things to you that not even the Avenattis could dream up. If this goes south, neither you or your brother will see the light of day again. And what happens inside those prison walls, that's all up to me. So I'd tread lightly here."

"You're disgusting." I gritted my teeth, feeling all of that strength and determination I had earlier slowly simmer away. I knew Herrera couldn't put me in jail for the drug charges, but that didn't keep his threats from terrifying me any less. I knew what he was capable of, I just had to hope Brandon was right about all of this.

"I'm going to let that one slide because I'm feeling generous today." An evil grin spread on his lips. "You know, you really should be thanking me. If I hadn't had you beaten, Brandon wouldn't have had you move in with him. Who knew he would jump into superman mode so quickly and come to your rescue? It's a win-win for everybody and you just had to endure a little bit of pain for it. A little appreciation for what I've done for you would be nice."

Herrera was delusional. In all likelihood, Brandon was in a van somewhere listening to every word he was saying to me. That was the only thing that kept me from giving Herrera a piece of my mind. I so badly wanted him to know that I knew what he had done to my dad, what he had done to Steven, everything he'd put the Avenettis through. I wanted him to know I knew it all, but instead, I bit my tongue. The day would come.

"I have an address for you." My voice broke with the flood of emotions I was keeping inside.

"This better not be another damn dead end

"It's not, I swear. They're getting a shipment delivered there in a few days." I gave him the story Brandon and I had come up with.

"If this pans out, and we're able to arrest him, I'll have the charges dropped. But only if it ends in his arrest."

"And we'll be done?"

"We'll be done." He chuckled.

"Great. Talk to you soon." I stood up to leave quickly but Herrera caught my wrist.

"And Sadie," He grinned up at me. "If anything goes wrong this time, I'll kill them all. Brandon, Adam, Steven, Alex. Every last one of them I will slaughter and I'll keep you alive just long enough to watch it happen."

I jerked myself from his grasp, rushing out of the coffee shop before I burst into tears.

God, I hoped Brandon was right.

Brandon

"I want to tear that mother fucker's spleen out with my bare hands and strangle him with it." I snarled, yanking off my head set and slamming it into the desk. Alex, Ro and I had been listening to Sadie's conversation with Herrera back at the warehouse and it was taking every last ounce of self-control I had not to bust over there and end this once and for all. "Where the fuck does he get off talking to her like that?"

Alex let out a heavy sigh. "Look, it pisses me off just as much as it does you, but if we act on this right now, it'll all be for nothing. We knew this was the kind of bastard Herrera was, we just need to focus on controlling the situation right now."

"Alex is right." Ro said. "And Sadie did awesome. She didn't even let it phase her."

I scoffed. That was easy for him to say, he didn't know her like I did. I heard every waver and break in her voice, I knew how excruciating that had been for her. Herrera was despicable, and I was already second guessing my decision to leave Sadie in the crossfire. She had already been through a lot, and even though his threats were empty, they're not easy to hear. I was damn proud of her though, I wouldn't have been able to keep my cool nearly as well as she had if I was sitting across from him. Ro was right, she had done what I needed, but at what expense?

One of the things I loved about Sadie was that she hadn't accepted this world the same way the rest of us had at such an early age. She was born questioning it, antagonizing both of our fathers, and pushing her moral compass on anyone who would listen. I didn't want her to ever lose that, so I needed to closely monitor how I was handling this. I guess she was right, I did need constant control.

"I don't want her to have to be around him anymore." I leaned back in the chair, resting my hands at the base of my neck. "Let's set up the sting and get it over with." The sting was just the beginning. Once Herrera knew Sadie had come clean, it would be an all-out war. We were prepared to fight it though, and in the end, we'd come out on top.

Alex nodded. "Friday? That gives of 4 days to prepare and make sure all of ducks are in a row. We'll meet him at the dock, make him think we have a shipment coming in."

"I think that will work." I said. "I just don't want to take any chances here. Herrera worries me. He doesn't follow any kind of rule book and he's liable to frame Sadie for something else just to get back at us. You heard the shit he said to her. He's not going to go away quietly."

"I'm on it. I've already got an alert set up for any paperwork her names come up on with the police department." Ro said

"I just don't get it." Alex's face twisted in confusion. "Why is he so intent on taking us down?"

"I'm not sure exactly. He's been really low profile the last several years. I don't think his career took off the way he expected." Ro sighed. "It's like he's obsessed with taking you and your father down. It wasn't enough for him that your dad went to jail all those years ago, he wants more. And he doesn't seem to care if Brandon's in a prison cell or a coffin at the end of it."

"Then let's not wait around. Get me Gomez and meet me in the cage in an hour." I stood up abruptly. If I couldn't go after Herrera directly right now, I could make the son of a bitch pay for what he had done to Sadie. At least for now, that would do.