--This is a FREE book with an exclusive sequel at the end--
Sadie Sorento and Brandon Avenetti were destined to be together. Their families were already planning the wedding of the Italian mafia prince and princess long before the pair had even star...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Once I get home from my meeting with Herrera, I'm both mentally and physically exhausted, and I fall asleep. When I wake up, I realize it's only four thirty and Brandon won't be home for a couple of hours. I hop in the shower quickly and get myself ready.
Brandon said he was going to bring dinner home, but I feel kind of worthless sitting around here all day without doing anything, so I send him a quick text not to worry about bringing dinner and that I'd make something. At least that will give me something to do. When his phone pings from the table, it startles me. He's home?
I make my way over, and see that his wallet and keys are here, too. He isn't upstairs, so I headed down the hall off the kitchen assuming he's in the gym. When I get closer and hear music blaring, I know I'm right
I push the door open and set my eyes on him. Brandon is toward the back of the room, sweaty and shirtless, hitting the punching bag over and over again with such force it takes my breath away. He's laser-focused and so lost in his own world that he didn't notice me come in, so I lean on the door frame for a few minutes just watching him in his element. It's amazing and terrifying all at the same time. He's relentless, continuously raining down punches and kicks and nearly shredding the thing to pieces. I rarely get to see the violent and aggressive side of him, and it releases a burning sensation in my chest, a mix of both desire and apprehension. He is so powerful and forceful that it's easy to see how he got the reputation he has.
He glances my way, stopping suddenly when he sees me. The punching bag sways into his chest and he catches it in both arms. "Hey. Sorry, I didn't hear you come in."
"I didn't mean to bother you." I say quickly. "I didn't think you were going to be home already."
Brandon grabs his water bottle and tosses his gloves to the side onto a pile of dirty clothes. I notice a few bloodstains on the shirt, and it makes my heart skip. "I had a tough day and decided to come home and get a little aggression out in the gym." His breathing is labored, but he isn't nearly as out of breath as I would expect for the display I'd just seen. He sits down on the mat in front of me, stretching his legs out.
"Why'd you have a tough day?" I sit down next to him.
Brandon shrugs, not meeting my eyes. "Nothing major. Just lost an account. I didn't bring home dinner. We can order something if that sounds good."
Something is off, but I know better than to push him.
"Actually, I've got an idea." I have 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'd come up with. Once he took me to visit puppies at our local animal shelter. Another time it was a day trip to 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 into a vacant parking lot. That one almost got us arrested.
