Sleeping With the Enemy

Sequel: Chapter One

Sadie

I loved the city this time of night. 

Brandon and the kids and I were settled down in Hewlett Harbor, and it wasn't often we made the trip into the city anymore. Every time we did, though, I was mesmerized by its magic. The soundtrack of honking horns and street musicians and small talk between friends. The dark night sky speckled with bright lights and the stars. It was beautiful, and as I stood out on the patio watching boats pass through the harbor, I couldn't help but smile. 

Tonight was special. It was Gemma's twenty-first birthday party. Her birthday was actually two weeks ago, but she was in the middle of finals at school so we didn't get to celebrate. Brandon and I planned tonight as both a birthday celebration and a "Welcome Home" party for her. After three years of school at Stanford, she was graduating early and moving back to this side of the country. With Josie electing to stay in New York for college and James still in high school, our family would be reunited again and I was out of my mind with excitement.  

The restaurant we rented out for the occasion was right on the water with a big, open great room and an extravagant deck, and it was packed with a hundred of her closest friends. Even out here, I could feel the thunderous bass from the DJ in my chest. They were having the time of their lives in there and Gemma was right at the center of it. She looked so grown up tonight, and that sparkling smile of hers would be burned into my mind forever. It was the same smile her father had. 

It was hard to believe that twenty one years had passed. To me, she was still that sweet little baby who traveled the world with Brandon and I as we grew up ourselves. She wasn't, though. Gemma was an adult, with her own dreams and her own ideas, and a life of her own. She was a beautiful, just as sweet as she was sassy, and the girl could run as fast as lightening. She was brilliant and confident and could hold her own in any situation. I was so proud of the person she was becoming, but this birthday was bitter sweet. 

Twenty-one. 

When Brandon and I first started talking about the possibility of our children joining in his work, we compromised on a few conditions. They had to be twenty-one, they had to get a college degree, and it had to be their choice. I wanted them to at least have some taste of the world outside of the Mafia bubble they lived in, and Brandon indulged that. 

Gemma stratified all of my conditions and boy, was she ready to jump in. She didn't just want to work with her dad, though, she had every intention of taking over. It caught me off guard at first, because I just assumed that would fall to James as our only son. It was very rare that a woman was at the helm of a Mafia organization, and in fact, it didn't happen in the entire history of the Avenetti family. Never even close. 

But Gemma had her eye on it from an early age. 

Brandon was an incredible dad to all three of our children, but his bond with Gemma was a little different. The two of them were thick as thieves, and she idolized him in a way that made my heart ache both out of happiness and fear. I loved that she loved him so much, but it terrified me because I knew it meant that one day she would want to be exactly like him. 

In so many ways, that was wonderful. Brandon was passionate and loving and fiercely protective of those he loved, and Gemma inherited all of those qualities. The one quality of Brandon's that worried me the most, though, was his need for adrenaline and danger that was only satisfied by the Mafia. 

I knew this day would come for a long time, and I made my peace with it, but the thought of my baby girl being directly in harm's way was tough to stomach. 

Behind me, the pulsing of the music got louder as the door opened. Without even turning around I knew it was Brandon. 

"Okay, I can't watch that anymore." He chuckled, joining me at the edge of the patio. He put hand on either side of mine, pinning me against the railing. I felt the brush of his jagged stable against me neck, and then a soft sweep of his lips.