Chapter 5 Can't avoid her

When I left the club that night, I thought a good night's sleep was just what the doctor ordered. That a little bit of rest would clear my mind, keep me focused, and ground me so I could get to the bottom of this shit with Sadie. Instead, it had done the exact opposite.

I had every intention of fucking Cass until my mind was numb, and then sending her packing so I could sleep it off. Instead, I sent Cass on her way in a fit almost the second we walked into my pent house. I wasn't even remotely attracted to her after seeing Sadie again. The girl was like a fucking time machine, and suddenly, the thought of having another woman repulsed me. It wasn't fair. I had accepted her leaving years ago, no matter how hurt I was, and she had been back for a few hours and now my entire world, especially my sex life, was turned upside down.

It was pure torture being in the same bar with her all night, yet being so far away. I watched as she ate up the attention of every guy in there, fielding more in tips in two hours on a Wednesday than most of Alex's bartenders took home on an entire weekend night. I watched as she stole glances at me across the room, quickly darting her eyes when I caught her looking. I watched as those damn shorts would ride up so dangerously high that one wrong move and her entire ass would be on display. It was physically painful to keep myself from tossing my jacket at her, forcing her to cover up. She didn't belong in a place like this, especially dressed as she was. Not a girl like her. Not my Sadie.

It was even worse after I left the club. At least there, there was some distraction. All I could think about was her, how in love we used to be, and how fucking gorgeous she still was. She was a damn good liar, but I had always been able to see past her antics. She was hiding something. Something big. She said that she and Adam were in trouble, and that was about the only thing I believed. I just wasn't sure what kind of trouble she meant. It could be money problems, but I doubted it. I knew things were tight for them, but if she really needed the money as badly as she claimed, she could sell the house, or make Adam get a job. It was something else, and despite her stubborn-as-hell demeanor, I knew it was only a matter of time before I found out.

When I got to Brodo for my meeting the next morning, I was a wreck. I had slept about forty-five minutes last night and my father had called an emergency meeting. Apparently, he wasn't thrilled that our warehouse had been taken out of commission under my watch and now I was going to have to answer to him. He had wanted me to take things slow with this, but I had a feeling he would be singing a different tune this morning. Maybe the threat of our profits being down longer than we thought would light the fire he needed to unleash me and my guys. Herrera was slowly graduating from a nuisance to an actual problem that needed to be dealt with.

At least it was early enough in the day that I wouldn't have to deal with seeing Sadie again. I had seen enough of her in my dreams last night.

Alex got to the bar about the same time I did. We didn't conduct any of our business out of it, but it was a frequent meeting place for us.

"There he is." Alex started chuckling as he walked towards me. "I didn't get a chance to talk to you last night, how'd you like my surprise?"

"You're an asshole." I growled, narrowing my eyes at him. "A warning would have been nice."

"I would have thought you would be happy. Seeing her again after all this time. Her working in my bar." Alex grinned ear to ear. He knew exactly what he was doing.

"She's not going to be working here long, Alex. She's too good for this place, and you've got her parading her around like one of your usual loose cocktail waitresses." I rolled my eyes opening the door up for him.

"Don't you think I know that?" He arched an eyebrow at me. "I could tell something was up with her the second she walked in here claiming to be in need of a job. I just thought you'd want to see her around long enough to figure it out."

"Hmm." I grumbled. Maybe he was smarter than I was giving him credit for. He could see right through Sadie's story as well.

"Not to mention it got the reaction from you I was looking for." He chuckled, shutting the door behind us and pulling a few of the blinds closed as a precaution.

"Excuse me?"

"You can't hide your jealousy, bro. You still want her, and it's fucking killing you trying to deny it."

"Alex, I don't have the patience..."

"The only time in our lives I've ever seen you really happy was with her. She's the only person you've ever given a damn about, you and I both know that." He interrupted. "When she walked in here, I knew you'd have some dumb excuse for keeping yourself from her."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"The last eight years I've watched shape your entire life around this family, and this business, because you felt like you had to. Consider my hiring her as your permission to finally go after what you really want."

I rolled my eyes dramatically as we headed to the back room. "Let's get one thing straight. If I wanted to go after her, I wouldn't need your permission. And Sadie..."

"Sadie!" Alex's eyes widened as the door to the kitchen opened. In a flurry of dark brown hair and empty wine crates, Sadie came bursting into the room. Damn it. So much for avoiding her.