Once I got home from my meeting with Herrera, I was both mentally and physically exhausted, and had fallen asleep. I glanced at the clock when I woke up, realizing it was only four thirty and he wouldn't be home for a couple of hours. I hopped in the shower quickly and got myself ready.

Brandon said he was going to bring dinner home, but I felt kind of worthless sitting around here all day without doing anything. I sent him a quick text not to worry about bringing dinner and that I would make something. At least that would give me something to do. When his phone pinged from the table, it startled me. Was he home?

I made my way over there, and realized that his wallet and keys were here also. I knew he wasn't in any of the rooms upstairs, so I headed down the hall off the kitchen thinking he was probably in the gym. When I got closer and heard music blaring, my suspicions were proven correct.

I pushed the door open and set my eyes on him. Brandon was towards the back of the room, sweaty and shirtless, hitting the punching bag over and over again with such force it took my breath away. He was laser-focused and so lost in his own world that he hadn't noticed me come in, so I leaned on the door frame for a few minutes just watching him in his element. It was incredible and terrifying all at the same time. He was relentless, continuously raining down punches and kicks and nearly shredding the thing to pieces. I rarely got to see the violent and aggressive side of him, and it released a burning sensation in my chest. I wasn't sure if it was out of fear or desire or what exactly. He was so powerful and forceful that I could see how he had the reputation of being so ruthless.

He glanced my way, stopping suddenly when he saw me. The punching bag swayed into his chest and he caught it in both arms. "Hey. Sorry, I didn't hear you come in."

"I didn't mean to bother you." I said quickly. "I didn't think you were going to be home already."

Brandon grabbed his water bottle and tossed his gloves to the side onto a pile of dirty clothes. Was that blood? "I had a tough day and decided to come home and get a little aggression out in the gym." His breathing was labored, but he wasn't nearly as out of breath as I would've expected for the display I had just seen. He sat down on the mat in front of me.

"Why'd you have a tough day?" I asked, sitting down next to him.

Brandon shrugged, not meeting my eyes. "Nothing major. Just lost an account. I didn't bring home dinner; we can order something if that sounds good."

I knew something was off, but I also knew better than to push him.

"Actually, I've got an idea." I had a plan to distract him from whatever happened at work. He was notorious for coming up with crazy ideas to get my mind off of things when we were younger. I fought with my parents a lot, and Brandon was always my saving grace, whisking me off for whatever wild scheme he had come up with. Once he had taken me to visit puppies at our local animal shelter, another time it had been a day trip to the New Jersey to people watch on the boardwalk. And then there was the time he took me to the top of one of the tallest buildings in downtown and we dropped water balloons off of the top into a vacant parking lot. That one had almost gotten us arrested.

"What's that?" He shot me a sideways smirk.

"Just trust me. Go change your clothes and meet me in the living room." I stood up quickly, offering him my hand to help him up.

Brandon rolled his eyes, not the least bit interested in whatever I had planned if it meant he had to leave the house. "Sadie, I really don't feel like going anywhere tonight. Can't we just get Chinese or something?"

"No." I shook my head adamantly. "We're going to get your mind off of this and have a little fun. Now go."

He looked back at me, considering whether or not to fight me on this. Finally, he stood up. "Okay, fine. But don't let the power go to your head. I'm still in charge around here."

I let out a sharp laugh. "Like I could ever forget that."

Brandon went and got dressed and after a few minutes, we were on our way. Of course, he hadn't let me drive, but at least he was taking direction well. I could tell by the frown on his face that he was completely clueless about where we were going, and it was driving him crazy. That was exactly the way I wanted it, though. I knew he'd try to stop me once he figured out what I was up to.

One of my most favorite memories of Brandon trying to cheer me up was the day he took me to Coney Island. I don't even remember what I was fighting with my dad about, but we went to the amusement park and rode every single ride until we were nearly sick. When we had finally had enough, we laughed about our adventure over coney dogs and a watermelon snow cone. It was then that he became convinced that we needed to go bungee jumping. The park had one of those giant arches that you climbed to the top of and then they dropped you from about twenty stories up. It was like a giant swing, and as far as I was concerned, it looked like death. Brandon was having none of that though, and nearly forced me to the top. They strapped us in next each other and when they let us go, I screamed the entire way down. By the time it stopped though, my screams had turned into laughter and I realized that I actually enjoyed myself. Brandon turned to me and said, "Do you even remember what you were upset about?" With a big goofy grin on his face. I didn't want to admit he was right, but the truth was, I didn't. And even to this day, I couldn't put my finger on it. It was just more example of how much Brandon knew me than I knew myself.

I directed him to turn into the parking lot of Coney Island and the second we did, he grimaced. "Sadie, what the hell are we doing at an amusement park?"

"I don't know what you're upset about, but I know you need some serious cheering up. Do you remember the time I was fighting with my dad and you brought me here? You said it's tough to be upset when you're on a roller coaster."

He burst out laughing. "That should be put on a fortune cookie somewhere."

"I think it's really smart, because you're right. How can anyone stay upset when roller coasters are involved?"

"That was like ten years ago. I can't believe you even remember that." He rubbed his forehead grinning, but then his face turned serious. "Sadie, I know what you're trying to do but you don't have to. I'm used to this kind of thing; I'll get over it."

I unbuckled my seat belt and reached for his hand. "You might be used to it, but that doesn't mean you have to suffer through it. Now come on."

Brandon rolled his eyes dramatically, still acting like he wanted nothing to do with this excursion. His smile told me differently though. "The things I do you, Sadie Sorento."

"It's Avenetti now." I reminded him.

"Yikes, my mistake." Brandon chuckled again, draping his arm over my shoullder. "That's going to take some getting used to."

"Not for me." I said. "I've been practicing my name with yours since I was five years old. I think I learned how to spell Avenetti long before I knew how to spell Sorento."

Brandon grinned at me with a funny look in his eyes.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

He paused and then kissed my forehead. "I don't know. You seem relaxed. I guess this is just the first time we've felt normal since you've been back. I think I missed this kind of thing most."

"I think I did too." My cheeks hurt from how big I was smiling as we walked. He was right. This felt good, it felt like the old us, and even though there was a million things we should be getting ready for, we were going to enjoy it.

We were both starving so we went right for the Coney dogs and snow cones. As we sat and ate at one of the tables, I looked up and noticed that swing was still there.

"You know what else you made me do when you brought me here?" I pointed toward it.

Brandon's eyes widened and chuckled. "You're out of your God damn mind if you think I'm getting on that thing."

"I don't recall having much choice in the matter when the situation was reversed. You practically carried me up there." I teased. I had no intentions of going on that thing but it was still fun make him squirm.

"Yeah, I was seventeen and fucking stupid. Do you have any idea how unsafe those are?" Brandon shook his head. "No, not a chance in the world."

"You big baby." I pestered, flicking my tongue against the top of my snow cone.

"I'll tell you what." A smirk blanketed his face as he watched my mouth move. His mind was obviously in the gutter and I wasn't sure I even wanted to know what he was thinking. "We can compromise and go on the Ferris Wheel."

"Wow." My eyes widened. "Dictator Brandon willing to compromise?"

"Watch it, princess." He smirked smugly. "If you keep up the sass, I'll have to make a scene, and we're in public."

"A scene, huh? Enticing." I teased, pursing my lips. "I guess the Ferris Wheel will do."

A few minutes later Brandon and I were loaded onto a cart and well on our way to the top of the Ferris Wheel. It wasn't all that high but you could see the rest of the park and part of the city on one side, and on the other, the ocean extended out for miles.

Brandon sat next to me, with hand resting on my thigh. The sexual tension between us was about ready to explode, and we hadn't done anything since the night he took me to dinner. That was before any of this happened. Before my attack, before he found out the truth, before we got married. I wasn't going to push anything, but if that's how things ended up tonight, I certainly wouldn't be complaining.

We were silent, but it was a comfortable silence as we both took in the sights on either side of us.

"Sadie, I lied to you earlier." Brandon said, biting his lip. "When I said we lost an account today, that wasn't true."

"Okay..." I already knew that. He wasn't as good of a liar as he thought, especially to me.

"We found the guy who attacked you, and after listening to Herrera speak to you the way he did this morning, all I could see was red. I wasn't planning on doing anything with him until after we busted Herrera, but I had Alex and Ro pick him up."

"Oh." I sucked in a sharp breath. This hadn't been what I was expecting him to say. "Is he..."

"He's dead." Brandon said flatly. "You don't need to know the specifics but I also don't want to lie to you. I would do anything to protect you, but you need to know that sometimes that means crossing some boundaries and doing things that I am not necessarily proud of."

Brandon was completely torn up about it, and seeing him like this was new for me. I put my hand to his back, rubbing up and down gently.

"I'm not ashamed of what I am, or the things I've done. But I don't want you to be either, and I think that's what worries me most about all of this." His voice broke with emotion. "Yours is the only opinion that matters to me, and if you decide this is too much for you and you leave, like you did eight years ago, it would kill me."

I frowned, reaching for his hand. I hated he was feeling this way. "Brandon, I know who you are. I know the things you've done and the things you might have to do. I know what keeps you up at night, and the parts of this job that you struggle with. But I also know your heart. You're the same kid who couldn't step on an ant when we were younger, or who gave every fish you caught a proper burial because you felt bad for killing it."

Brandon closed his eyes, chuckling to himself.

"Please don't ever think I'm ashamed of you. I may not agree with everything you do, but I know you do it with the best of intentions. I love the way you fiercely protect the people you care about, and I know what that comes with. I'm not always going to like what you have to do, but I'm not going anywhere. I tried that once before and it was a mistake."

Relief washed over Brandon's face.

"I love you. I love every part of you. The good and the bad and the overly arrogant..." I teased.

"Let's not get carried away there." He warned playfully.

I smiled. "All I'm saying is that this isn't new to me. I've known who you were my entire life, but it never stopped me from loving you. Even when I was away. And I'm certainly not going to let it stand in the way of our second chance."

"Thank you for saying that." He smiled. "I don't want anything to stand in the way of our second chance either. I'm hoping Herrera backs off after our meeting on Friday."

My face fell a little bit thinking about what Herrera had said earlier. I was worried for myself, but I was worried for them even more. "Do you think that's a good idea?"

"After hearing the way he spoke to you today--yes. I don't want you anywhere near that bastard, especially alone. You did everything we needed you to, and now, I can get you out of harm's way." Brandon said definitively. His tone held no room for arguing.

"He scares me, Brandon. What if something happens?" Tears welled up in my eyes just thinking about. Hadn't he just said he wasn't going to let anything stand in our way of a second chance? Why was he putting himself in danger like this then?

"Nothing is going to happen. I swear to you. That night is going to be nothing more than a conversation. We did everything like this so it could be on our terms, remember? So I could control the situation."

"Right but you can't..."

"I'm not messing around with Herrera any more Sadie. We can't move on with our lives until he's taken care of. You're just going to have to trust me."

There was so much more on my mind, but he was done talking about it. He told me more than I ever thought he would, but it had only made me more worried. If Brandon was so sure about this, why did he need his entire army?

Even though I would be glad to be done double crossing Herrera, I already knew I would be a wreck until that night was over.