Brandon

"I'm fine, Sadie. Really." I insisted, plopping myself down in my office chair. "In fact, you fussing over everything is the only thing stressing me out right now."

She wasn't going to stop, but it was worth a shot.

"The doctor said you needed to take it easy." She narrowed her eyes at me, arms crossed over her chest. "This is not resting. Can't you just take it easy for one single day?"

"Babe, as soon as I have things sorted out, I will. I promise." I reached for her hand as she sat on the edge of my desk, facing me. There was a distant and defeated look in her eyes.

This weekend was hard and brought back a wave of painful memories for both of us. Sadie didn't outright say it, but she didn't need to. I could see it in her eyes, in her mannerisms, in the way she was constantly hovering over me and making sure I was okay. She was grasping for any sort of control she could, and while it hindered the job I had to do, I understood where she was coming from.

Sadie lost her parents to the Mafia, she came close to losing her brother, and I almost lost her and Gemma. It could be a cruel world, and things like this happened without prejudice. But when you took precautions, it was very rare. What was that saying about lightning striking the same spot twice? I wasn't all that concerned about a second attempt, but that didn't mean I was going to take the threat lightly, either.

"I feel great." I assured her. "The doctor said I am as healthy as a racehorse. I know that what happened was scary, but we're all okay. We survived and everything is going to be fine."

Sadie tired out the window, not responding to me. She was almost in a trance.

"Babe..." I squeezed her hand, swirling my fingertips on the back of it and drawing her back to me.

"What time is he coming?" She cut me off, wiping an errant tear off of her cheek.

"Anthony will be here in about fifteen minutes." I said. "Would you feel better if you met him?"

She nodded. "Are you introducing him to Gemma today, too?"

"Yes." I said. "He'll be with her 24/7 from now on."

"And we can trust him?"

"Absolutely. You know I wouldn't put just anyone on protecting our children."

Anthony was solid. At twenty-five, he was still a little young and inexperienced, but he grew up in the Mafia. His father, Angelo, was a good friend of mine, and Underboss to one of the most powerful Dons in the entire Mafia, Luca Catalano. Anthony worked under them for a few years as a teenager, but he got into some trouble at home, and Angelo thought it would be good for him to spend some time working in another organization. I gladly took him up on it, and in the year and half that Anthony was with us, I didn't once regret it.

The kid was tough as nails. There wasn't a thing I couldn't ask of him, and he never walked away from a job unfinished. His drive was impressive, and his work ethic even more so. In fact, he was so thorough that I expected he and Gemma would clash. She already resisted my security a bit, and someone as intense as Anthony certainly would force the issue even more. But it wasn't about keeping her comfortable or the two of them getting along; it was about keeping her safe, and that would be the only thing on Anthony's mind no matter what that entailed. That was the kind of person I wanted protecting my daughter.

Sadie stood up and kissed my cheek. "How about some ice for your shoulder?"

"You know, if you're going to insist on playing nurse, I may have to order you one of those naughty nurse outfits. You know, with the cute little hat and fish nets?" I smiled, hoping to lighten her mood a little.

She rolled her eyes at me. That was definitely going to take some work.

"I love you!" I called after her as she headed out of my office.

"Don't bring out the bourbon. You're not supposed to drink while you're on painkillers." She glanced over her shoulder, flashing me a taunting smile as she shut the door.

Once she was out, I took the sling off of my shoulder and tossed it underneath the desk. There was no way I was going to be walking around with that thing on constantly, especially when even the doctor agreed that I was healing much better than expected. There was a lot of blood, and I knew that was what spooked Sadie, but the injury itself wasn't all that bad.

After a few minutes, Alex pulled up to the front of the house and I watched from my window as he and Anthony got out of the car.

"Hi guys." I greeted, as they came into the office.

"Hey!" Anthony lit up, shaking my hand. "It's good to see you up and moving around."

"Right," I chuckled, "Like a little flesh wound could hold me down."

Alex rolled his eyes. He and Sadie were clearly on the same side here, as they were with most things. "A flesh wound? The bullet hit a major artery and if we waited even a few minutes longer to get you to the hospital, you could have bled to death. You're lucky it wasn't a through and through."

"Do you have somewhere else you need to be?" I chuckled, leading him and Anthony to the leather armchairs in front of my desk. Ignoring Sadie's suggestion, I grabbed a bottle of my best bourbon and poured three hefty glasses.

"No place I'd rather be than here harassing you." Alex smirked. "So I gave Anthony a little rundown. You want to get into specifics of why we asked him here?"

I nodded. "I have a job for you."

"Whatever you need."

"My daughter is home from California. We think the hit was supposed to be on her."

"You do?" His face twisted. "Why?"

"Because she's set to be the first woman ever to run our organization, and there are many people who don't agree with that. Diego and his guys have been the most vocal about it, and since we know it was his men, I'm guessing that's what it was about." I said.

"Why would they get a say in it?" Anthony asked.

"They don't." Alex interjected. "But they're trying to capitalize on a weak point. Or what they think is a weak point. If they knew Gemma, they'd know she's even scarier than her father, but that's beside the point."

I rubbed my chin, chuckling. That was partially true. Gem was a firecracker and always had been. Feisty and passionate and always up for an adventure—just like her mother. She reminded me so much of what Sadie was like as a teenager, but truthfully, she was a deadly combination of the both of us. My tenacity and determination mixed with her mother's wild streak, charm, and striking looks? God help anyone who crossed her. She was like a wolf in sheep's clothing, and she was going to make an incredible leader someday.

The only problem was getting her to that point. Gemma was independent and had her own ideas, and she didn't take well to direction. I'd like to blame that one on Sadie, but I think she inherited that from us both.

"The problem is, we don't know if they're going to come back to finish the job." I said. "I doubt it, but I'm not taking chances where my family is concerned."

"Absolutely. So you want me to protect her?" Anthony asked, a little intrigued. Personal security of my daughter was a step up from the usual foot soldier work I had him doing. It was a job that couldn't be trusted to just anyone, so men on my personal security team were elite. Our most trusted and valued group.

"Yes." I said. "Except I don't really want her to know anything is off."

"She'll think we're just upping security across the board because of the shooting, but she can't know that she's the specific target."

"Got it." Anthony nodded. "And you think she'll be cool with that?"

I let out a sharp laugh. "No, I don't. She's going to put up a fight because she thinks she doesn't need protection, but she'll come sound. You do whatever you have to in order to keep her safe; she doesn't have to like you."

Anthony chuckled. "Don't worry, I'll run a tight ship."

"I know you will." I said. "That's why I wanted you for the job. I know she won't be able to sweet talk you like she usually does with her security. If I had a dollar from every time she gave my men the slip..." I shook my head.

"You don't need to worry, Mr. Avenetti. She's safe with me."

Gemma
"Do you want to go into the city this afternoon?" I asked my mom, glancing down at my nails while started marinating some steaks for dinner. I desperately needed a manicure. A few weeks passed since I had one, and the pale pink color on my nails was faded and chipped. Now that I was home, I could go see the girl I usually went to.

"I think I better hang out here today since dad just got home." My mom said, frowning. "I bet Josie will go with you, though."

"Josie has dance practice." I sighed, feigning irritation. How dare everyone go on with their lives now that I was back?

I wasn't actually that self-centered and unaware, but seriously, the girl lived in the dance studio. One afternoon off was going to kill her?

I guess in Jo's eyes, it would. Unlike me, she wanted exactly zero to do with dad's business or the Mafia in general, and she saw dance as her ticket out of here. And she was damn good at it. Her goal was to spend a few years with the New York ballet before moving to the UK and joining the Royal Academy of dance.

"Sorry, Gem. I just don't know if I should leave dad yet. Maybe tomorrow?" My mom offered, washing her hands off.

"I thought he was okay?" I pressed, folding my arms over my chest.

"He is." She quickly insisted. "But just to be safe."

I didn't press her on it, but I knew there was more to the story than they wanted to share. An assassination on an Italian Mafia Don was no small thing, and my parents wanted to play it off like nothing was wrong. They kept a lot of details locked up tight like a vault, and it irritated me even more so now than it did as a child. Not only was I an adult myself, but I was weeks away from starting my training to take over for dad. I knew their only goal was to protect us, but that seemed kind of useless at this point.

But I knew better than to challenge my mom on it. They were always a united front, and I would get nothing out of mom or dad without the other one knowing. I learned that lesson the hard way as a kid when dad would say no about something and then I would try to go ask mom. Usually, I just ended up in more trouble.

"You could go with your new security detail." Mom suggested, as if that was a viable option.

I twisted my face in irritation. "Is all of that really necessary? Rick has been my security detail for years. I like him."

"You like him because he's getting old and senile and you can get all sorts of things past him.." My mom gave me a teasing smirk. "Which is exactly why your dad is replacing him."

Great. Another person to order me around.

Mom wasn't entirely wrong. I loved Rick like a grandfather, but it really was too easy to sneak around him. He had a bad hip, and a torn ligament in his elbow, and I had a much better chance of protecting myself than letting him handle it. Still, the idea of a new security guy was not exactly thrilling. Especially because I knew my dad was going to pick out someone insufferable and impossibly strict. That was seriously going to interfere with my summer plans.

After graduating early, I was ready to let loose a bit and my time was limited since I would start training in the fall. How was I supposed to enjoy my summer with a tagalong babysitter? I was twenty-one now. I hardly needed that kind of supervision.

I wasn't going to press my mom, but she walked right in to the opportunity. "If this shooting was just a one off, then why is dad so insistent on upping security? Either it is a big deal, or it isn't."

"You're going to have to talk to dad about that one." She shrugged.

"So, it was a big deal?" I arched my eyebrow at her.

"Gemma..." She let out an exasperated sigh. "Just don't make this hard on him, okay? It's not the end of the world to have a security detail and..."

I heard nothing else she said because I saw my Uncle Alex and another guy walk into the house. Uncle Alex turned toward dad's office, but the man he was with glanced up for a second, locking eyes with me. He held my gaze just briefly, before a small smile tugged at his lips and he disappeared into the office. Was that my new bodyguard?

If he was one of my father's soldiers, I'd never seen him before. From his dark, brooding eyes to his broad and chiseled shoulders, every bit of him was intimidating. Even next to my uncle, he was imposingly tall, and the way his bulging biceps spilled out of his black t-shirt made my stomach flutter. And those hands—strong and scarred and so big they could fit around my entire ribcage. A mess of stubble highlighted his sharp jawline and a deafening stare that could crack the toughest or criminals. The curl of his lips was a taunt, and I wasn't sure whether to be turned on or terrified.

Now that looked like a man who could protect me. And maybe I wouldn't hate this as much as I thought.