Sleeping With the Enemy

Chapter Twenty Two

By the time I come out of the kitchen, the dining room is all but empty. Adam and Eli still sit at the table, obliviously goofing around, but there is no sign of Alex or Sadie. My father left my mom to elaborate on just how disappointed she is in my choices, and he went to find Sadie. I suspect somewhere in the house right now, he's delivering news to her that will rock her entire being. The sting from her betrayal is still fresh, but my heart breaks for her. She's already so ashamed and remorseful about what happened, and I can only imagine where her mind will go once she finds out that her resentment has been misplaced all this time.

Sadie never knew the truth about her parents, or what actually happened that night. Never knew that her father was approached by Herrera who touted a deal eerily similar to the one he offered her a few weeks ago. Never knew the lengths my father went to in order to protect her, or the sacrifices he made to make sure she and Adam could live in ignorant bliss all this time.  It's almost unnerving to think that she'll finally know the truth, and I'm anxious to talk to her.

Despite my best efforts, I'm beginning to let my guard down with her. Sadie is tough and perceptive, but Herrera has years of experience on her, not to mention a vendetta that not even I can understand. He used his leverage to railroad her, and even though I'm still upset that she didn't come to me in the beginning, a part of me can understand that. It is the same thing that he did to my father, after all. 

My mother ever so sweetly reminded me that it is my feelings for Sadie that make her deceit so difficult to stomach, which I already knew. I'm upset with her for reacting out of fear, when I should really be upset with Herrera for putting her in that position. He'd come after another person I love, and it's high time I put a stop to it.

As I pass through the room to find Sadie, I vaguely hear Adam regaling Eli with stories about what Alex had him doing the last few days.

"So, Brandon," Adam calls, a cocky grin on his face as he glances over his shoulder. "Now that we're technically brothers, you should tell Alex to lay off all the grunt work he's making me do. Maybe send me on a drop or something?"

I take a deep breath in, fighting the urge to knock the kid's lights out. Is he serious? He thinks now is the time to bring this up?

I chuckle, taking a few strides towards him and knocking his chair out from under him. He lands on the floor with a sharp thud, his face twisting in confusion. "Since we're technically brothers, what I should do, is beat you to a bloody pulp for the way you've been treating my wife. She sacrificed her entire life to give you every chance at normalcy that she can, and you think this is some kind of game? Bringing all this bullshit into her life? It's disgusting."

"Hey man, I didn't mean..." Adam says scurrying up from the floor. Eli stares at us wide-eyed.

"I don't care what you meant." I glare. "It's time you take some responsibility for your actions, Adam. You think this is the life you want? Fine, be my guest. But you're not going to get the filtered, easy version. You're going to see first-hand just how hard it is. Just how unglamorous it is. All you see is the fancy cars and the money and the chicks, but what this group is, is harsh and raw, and quite honestly, it fucking sucks most of the time. So don't sit there and act like I'm going to hand out some kind of free pass to you just because of who you are, especially not after the shit you've pulled. You earn your way in, just like everyone else. Am I clear?"