“Why are you looking at me like that?” she asks, crinkling her nose in the process.
I’m interrupted by the elevator coming down to our level, it opens and I follow her as she steps inside. I stand against the back of the elevator and watch as she endlessly presses on buttons and not one of them lights up. “What in the world,” she grumbles under her breath. I take a step forward and pull a keycard out of my wallet. “What the hell? Is this another one of your extra security measures?”
“It sure is, buttercup. Everyone who enters the building has a keycard they have to enter for the elevator to even work,” I state, inserting my keycard into the slot on the panel. I press the floor level we’re going to meet her brothers on and take my card out, sliding it back into my pocket.
“Don’t ever call me that again.”
“Why? What are you going to do about it?” I inquire, trying not to laugh at her threat.
“I’ll get you fired,” she states it matter-of-factly, doing it so well I try not to laugh at her, but I can’t. I bust out into laughter, unable to hold any of it back.
“You’re adorable if you think that you have any leeway when it comes to getting me fired. Anything you’d ever say would be shot down. I’m a man of stature, more importantly, I’m respected by every single person in your family. Shit, I’m practically a Steele.”
She turns toward me, crossing her arms in front of her chest like an angry know-it-all. “I highly doubt that’s the case.”
“Why would you say that?”
“’ Cause, it looks like the family doesn’t like outsiders.”
“You’re not wrong. Just remember that I’m not an outsider when it comes to them. I’ve been around for years, and I’ll be around for many more.”
“You don’t know that. Reggie, let’s be honest. All you are is a hired hand who is replaceable just like anyone else is.”
“Geeze, Madigan. I was starting to like you, but now you’re just irritating the fuck out of me. The flirting and all is cute, but you should know when to stop. I’ll spell it out for you. I’ve taken a bullet for your family. I’m not going anywhere.”
Her eyes go wide at my admission, not realizing just how important I am. “I had no idea.”
“Why would you? You’ve only been around for a day,” I shoot out at her, a little more callous than I intended. What the hell. It’ll get her to understand that even men like me have our limits. All she has to do is respect them.
The elevator ride goes quicker than I expect and the doors open, showcasing the Steeles headquarters. The two of us step out of it and walk toward the main assistant’s desk. “Reginald! How are you? I feel like it’s been eons since we’ve last seen the other,” Esme, Logan’s assistant, says to me. She’s as sweet as pie and as old as a Tyrannosaurus rex.
“I’m doing great, sweetheart. Thanks for asking.” I stop immediately, seeing how Esme has taken a sudden interest in Madigan. Her eyes rake over the younger woman, squinting them as she takes her in. Knowing her, she’s probably thinking that she’s beautiful, which means she’s nothing but trouble. At this stage in time, I’d have to agree with her.
“This must be his hush-hush love child?” You’d think that Esme would keep her voice down, but she doesn’t. The woman practically yells it through the waiting area, causing every person within a twenty-foot radius to look at Madigan.
“She has a name. It’s Madigan, you know, in case you were wondering.”
Esme is a unique creature. She’s the sweetest person you’d ever meet. At the same time, she can be your worst nightmare or use drama to make her life a little more interesting. She only spoke so loudly to get some attention on Madigan and make her uncomfortable. Fuck, I remember when Logan was married to his first wife. Esme loathed her and made sure she could make his crazy ex as uncomfortable as possible.
“Hi. I’m Madigan,” She extends her hand to Esme, who doesn’t return the favor.
“Mad-again? What kind of name is that?” She scrunches her name up in disgust, rolling her eyes.
“A unique one,” I sternly retort. I don’t know why I continue, but I want to put a sock in my mouth mid-way through my sentence. “I happen to like it.”
“Oh? You like it? I see.”
I place my hand on the small of Madigan’s back and swiftly lead her away from the desk, toward the conference room where I’m sure the group of them will be meeting.
“What a bitch.”
“She’s not normally like that. You have to remember, you’re new, and for those of us who have been around for a long time . . . we’re cautious of anyone who wants to get close to any of the Steeles. It’s almost never good.”
“You all seem to really care about them.”
“We do. Without the Steeles, most of us would be in a lot of bad situations. For the most part, we’re all grateful for the opportunities we were given.”
“Hmm,”
“Hmm, what?” I inquire.
“I’m just wondering about how you and Logan met.”
I laugh, “Well, that’s a story in itself. One day I might even tell you about it.” We’re right next to the conference room so I lead her to it, open the door and see a room full of people. They brought two of their family lawyers to meet her.
Madigan goes in and turns around immediately when she realizes I’m not following her. “You’re not coming in?”
I shake my head, “No. You’ll be fine here. I’m going to go down the hall and pay a visit to someone.”
She looks worried, maybe even intimidated. I don’t know why I want to boost her confidence, but I sure as hell try. “They’ll love you. Relax and be yourself.”
At that, I shut the door and head down the hall to where Logan’s office is. If history repeats itself, Brooklyn is hanging around with Emmett and isn’t downstairs on the floor her makeup company is.
“Reg!” Brooklyn smiles from ear to ear, walking eagerly up to me. She has Emmett in her right arm, his arms tangled in his mother’s long, blonde hair.
“Hey,” I greet, wrapping an arm around her in a short-lived hug.
“How are you doing? Lo’ told me about Madigan. Oh my goodness. It’s absolute insanity, but I’m not that shocked. Logan never told me too much about his father, but I always got the feeling that the man hid a lot of his life from them. This is just something else he hid, but in a way, probably the best surprise they could’ve ever asked for, right? Oh . . . wait . . . does she want something, like money?”
“No, I don’t think so. From what I can tell, she’s pretty well-off herself. I hate to cut this short, but I actually came here to see if my mail came in?”
Brooklyn’s smile fades quickly. “Typical. You never stop working! Yeah, let me grab it.” Brooklyn walks over to some sort of bouncy, vibrating baby thing and puts Emmett in it. She buckles him in and pushes a button. I half expect him to break out crying but he doesn’t. Instead, he giggles, playing with the jungle-themed toys hanging on some sort of fancy string. Fuck, I don’t even know what to call it. I’ve never really been around kids like this.
“Here you go.” Brooklyn hands me the massive manila envelope and I tear the top of it open. As soon as I found out about Madigan, I called in a favor with a friend and had them access anything and everything they could. Both illegally and through the legal system.
“Thank you. I’ll be coming downstairs in about an hour with Madigan if that’s alright. She needs some makeup. You should be thanking me because she wanted me to take her to the mall.”
“Oh no, that stuff is junk, and so bad for you!”
“I know, this smart blonde chick taught me all about parabens.”
Brooklyn laughs, “Okay, get on your way. I’ll go get some things ready. What complexion does she have?”
“Very pale, kinda alabaster-like if I had to guess?”
“Okay, awesome. I’ll go down when some childcare gets here to watch Emmett.”
I exit Logan’s office and walk into the of
fice that’s right next to his, shut the door, and open the contents of the envelope. I see a series of photographs and a complete file on Madigan and the Falcones. Thank fuck I called him last night and gave him the information about the family she was associated with.
I scroll through a series of photographs of the individuals in this family and see their names on the back of the photos with ages. It looks like there are three brothers, a father, and a mother. All of the children range from their mid-twenties to early thirties. What catches my eye though is that my friend, Timothy, included medical records. In these records is what I believe to be a sonogram photograph. I see Madigan’s name and a date. This was four days ago.
Fuck me sideways.
Madigan is pregnant.
Chapter Thirteen
The way we describe our lives is sort of the way our lives become.
~ Seeker
Madigan
“Hey. How’d you sleep last night?” Christian shoots up from his chair, asking me immediately.
I nod, “Good. Thanks for setting everything up. I really appreciate it and you made it very comfortable. I really wasn’t expecting that, but I love that you took the time to make it a home for me.”
Christian walks toward me, wraps his arms around my body, and holds me in his embrace for a few moments. I have a lot of fear plaguing my mind, but right now, it’s the last thing on it. I truly believe that Christian won’t let a thing happen to me, that not only with his help but the rest of my brothers, I will finally be free.
Coming here, shoot, even calling Christian took a world of courage to do. I’d been contemplating it the last couple weeks, even before I knew I was pregnant. I just figured it was my own fault I was even in this situation and that if I really wanted out of it, I could figure it out myself. What I was really doing was enabling Vinny. I continued to allow him to have a hold on me for longer than he should’ve. Only in finding out I’m pregnant did I gain the courage to reach out to Christian. I only hope I didn’t fuck up and somehow lead the Falcones straight to my brothers.
I keep trying hard to not let negative thoughts taint my spirit but it’s so fucking hard. As I was trying to fall asleep last night, I kept thinking about every step I took to get here. Psychoanalyzing everything I did, from the roads I took driving to purchasing the pay-as-you-go phone. Every moment I’m alone, all I do is doubt myself. Only when I’m with other people am I keeping myself busy. They’re a distraction, and a much-needed one at that, if you ask me.
“It’s not a problem. I’m just glad you’re here.” Every word that Christian says does worlds to make me more comfortable about being here. It’s no surprise that I’m out of my element. Everything Reggie has said to me about being a stranger is nothing but accurate. It’ll take a while for both Jordan and Logan to earn my trust. I’m just hoping it happens sooner rather than later. Deep down, I’d really love to get to know them. Right now, I’m thinking that’s more likely to happen with Logan versus Jordan.
“I hate to interject like this, but Simmons and Corbin have to get going soon. They came in on such short notice as a favor to me,” Logan states, gesturing to the two men sitting behind him.
“Ah, okay. My apologies,” I say to the room, walking down the length of the conference table and taking a seat next to Logan. Christian takes a seat on my other side and Jordan is sitting across from Christian, eyeing me yet again like I’m some sort of Satan reincarnate.
“It’s perfectly fine. Both Corbin and I should be able to get through the majority of this relatively quickly,” Simmons states casually, but I’m betting it’s so easy for him because he does this for a living, probably multiple times in one day. “Logan brought the two of us up to speed on your recent . . . situation. We’ve taken the liberty to prepare some legal documentation that you have to sign before he can discuss any of his business practices with you. It’s important to understand that by signing the agreements I have in my hand, it means that you can only comment on your brothers’ business as being a successful, multi-level investment company, giving start-up companies the capital and support that they need. Do you understand?”
I furrow my brows, not quite catching on to why it’s so important I say something that’s the truth. Unless . . . it’s not. “Why is it so serious when I’d be telling nothing but the truth?” I ask plainly, understanding that there’s some sort of gray area I don’t know about.
“We’re glad you’ve said that,” Simmons smirks, sliding the packet of paperwork toward me with a pen sitting on top. “Now, you should also understand that anything your brothers tell you about their business practices is strictly confidential. You cannot comment about their business practices or the types of business they are involved in publicly unless you’ve received written authorization from one of them, in which case, Corbin and I would need to be copied on the email.”
“Which will never happen,” Jordan pipes up, glaring at me. Yep, I must be Satan to him.
“I understand,” I state loudly, with a confident tone so that everyone in this room can stop doubting me and thinking I’m something that I’m not. I take the pen off the stack of papers and start signing anywhere I see a tab.
“Oh, I haven’t gone over that section with you yet,” Simmons tells me, sounding a bit alarmed.
“It’s okay. I get the gist. You want to make sure I don’t betray my family in any way, shape, or form by commenting in a negative way about business practices or stating facts that the public doesn’t need to know. I understand the importance of privacy when it comes to being in a position such as we are, with money and power comes a lot of prying eyes. None of us need it, and you don’t need to keep explaining to me about what I’m signing. I clearly get the point.” I’m not trying to sound like a total bitch, but dammit if it doesn’t come out that way. I mean, I’m a bit justified in being frustrated with the repetition, but hey, at least Jordan might be able to accept that I’m serious.
Corbin cracks a smile and looks over to his partner. “I’d say she comprehends what she’s signing.”
“I’d have to agree with you,” Logan agrees with his council. “I think the two of you can get going then, as long as you have everything you need?” Logan looks to the two of them, and Simmons starts to speak.
“Yes, I’ll just need the packet of signed papers and we’ll be on our way, Logan.”
“Fantastic.” Logan grabs the stack that I’ve just finished signing and hands it over to him.
“It was a pleasure doing business with you, yet again. We’ll be in touch about our meeting later this week. And, Christian, tell your girlfriend to calm down. We’ll get this situation under control but in the meantime, you have to propose to her. It will help calm things down from a publicity aspect. If the two of you are more active on social media about your love for one another and show a few social outings with the kids in candid shots, that may help get some heat off your back too. The city of Atlanta loves you, and they’ll stick behind their favorite bachelor, even though you’re off the market.”
A somber look crosses over Christian’s face, “Thanks. I appreciate that. I’ll handle whatever I can.”
With that, Corbin and Simmons leave the conference room. “What’s going on?” I ask him, putting a hand on his forearm.
“It’s nothing much. A journalist got something wrong and went public about it. Now, she’s trying to turn the public’s eye when it comes to my relationship with Selena. She called Child Protective Services and it’s nothing but a huge mess.”
I know that Christian was seeing a woman, but I never dove too much into it. After all, it’s his personal life, not mine. I’m not the type of woman who pries, which makes me one in a million. “If you want to elaborate you can, but I won’t press you for answers.”
“It’s just a giant fucking mess that the lawyers will help us clear up. It’s nothing, really. It’s getting handled and you don’t have to worry about any of that. We should really be worrying about you.”
&
nbsp; “Whoa. What? Why? Did something happen?” Immediately the fear of God strikes through me. I’m terrified, wondering why he’d use words like that.
“Nothing happened. I’m just saying that your situation takes precedence over my bullshit with the media. Although, I guess we should prepare you for this shit. The media are sharks when it comes to our family, and whenever they figure out that you’re our sister . . . well, fuck. Have we even prepared for that?” Christian looks over to Logan.
“I’ve done a little bit of work when it comes to that. Madigan, if you’re okay with it, I’d love for you to come to Brooklyn’s launch of her skincare line later this week. It’ll be a great way for us to control the environment when it comes to introducing you to the media. I’ll be able to control the situation completely, and we’ll stick to the story that you were purposefully raised out of the limelight due to your mother being so present in the public eye. It’s something your mother and our father never wanted for you. While this situation might not be the easiest, we do get to control the prerogative.”
“That is such a crock of shit. Do you really think they’ll believe it?” Jordan barks out, fighting against me yet again. I will understand his feelings until they dissipate, but I can’t help but wonder if that’ll ever happen.
“No one was fucking asking you, Jordan, so why don’t you shut the fuck up?” Christian snaps, putting a hand on my shoulder. He tries to silently assure me that everything is going to be okay. I don’t know why, but I just have the dandiest feeling that it won’t be.
Chapter Fourteen
“You learn exactly what you want to be taught.”
~ Seeker
Madigan
“They’ll eat up every word of it because it’s what I’ve said,” Logan growls out.
Stolen Hearts: A Dark Billionaire Collection Page 32
