Sleeping With the Enemy

Chapter Four- Brandon

I had pictured this moment in my head every day for the last eight years. Wondering and imagining what it would be like to see her again. Sometimes it was electric. We were hungry and desperate for each other. Fireworks and sparks and cheers from the crowd as we rode off into the sunset, everything right in the world once again. But sometimes I was angry, still bitter from the way she had left. Wanting to make her hurt the way I had, make her explain why she had so selfishly left like our family meant nothing to her, like I meant nothing to her. Most times, I was the same heartbroken and confused teenager I had been on the day she left--the wound still fresh and her return only rubbing salt in it. Yeah, I had had plenty of time to visualize how this moment would go.

Never in my wildest dreams, though, did it involve Sadie showing up out of the blue in a sinfully skimpy Brodo uniform, claiming she was here to be Alex's new bartender. I knew her better than that. There was about as much truth to that as there was to us being involved in her parents' attack, but none of that mattered to her. She didn't wait long enough to let anyone explain, and that was what hurt the worst.

"I'll handle it from here, Dante." I growled, never taking my eyes off of Sadie. She pursed her lips, curious as to what exactly I meant by that. Maybe it was the way my personality had hardened since she last knew me, but I enjoyed watching her squirm. Most people wouldn't catch on to it through her tough exterior, but I made my living reading people, and I was even better at it with Sadie than most. It had been that way since were toddlers, and apparently time hadn't changed that.

"Yes, boss." Dante diverted his eyes as he headed for the door, both embarrassed and irritated at my rebuke.

"Oh, and Dante," I whirled around so he had to look me in the eye. "If I ever catch you treating Sadie, or any woman, like that ever again, I'll slit your mouth from ear to ear. And you can tell all the men that same thing. Are we clear?"

Dante's eyes widened, not expecting my hostility, and nodded sheepishly. He was one of my best men but I wouldn't tolerate that kind of behavior from anyone. He should have known that by now.

Dante shut the door quietly behind him, and I turned back to Sadie slowly.

"You didn't need to do that, Brandon." She glared, as if I had been the one in the wrong. I held back my laughter. She had been here all of sixty seconds and was already bossing me around.

"I didn't do it for you. Dante knows that that kind of shit won't fly around here." I clenched my jaw, trying to keep my emotions in check.

"Oh."

"Jesus, Sadie." I shoved my fingers through my hair in pure frustration. "What the fuck are you even doing here?"

Sadie sighed, looking down at her feet.

"Answer me." I said harshly.

"I'm here because I needed a job." She said softly, still refusing to meet my eyes.

"Bullshit." I spat. "You expect me to believe you left a steady nursing job in Colorado to come out here for some part-time bartending gig?"

Her face twisted. "How did you know I'm working in Colorado?"

This time, I couldn't help but laugh. "Is that a serious question?"

"If you knew where I was all this time, how come you never came after me?" She frowned, hurt by my admission.

"Because I'm not going to chase after somebody who has made it clear she wants nothing to do with me." I narrowed my eyes at her.

"Brandon." She shook her head in exasperation. "It was never about me not..." she pressed her lips together, leaving me waiting on the edge of my seat for the end of that sentence. "It doesn't matter now. I don't like this anymore than you do. The point is, I need the money. I had some time off and figured I could come back here and take a side job while I was getting paid for vacation at the hospital."