Tough as Steele

by Elizabeth Knox

  Sitting in my office, Esme appeared at the door. “Alfred is here to see you. Shall I see him in?” I nodded, already feeling tense as I tapped my fingers along the edge of my desk. It was either that, or keep my hand over my thigh where I knew my gun would be, but Alfred knew too much. I didn’t want him to get suspicious.

  Esme returned with Alfred by her side, letting him into the office, and he sat across from me. You could cut the tension with a knife, and it made me uncomfortable. “Alfred,” I said, my voice gruff and low. I was holding my ground.

  “Logan,” he replied, equally as agitated as I was.

  “Alfred, I know you and I don’t get along, but we have to get some things straight. What matters here, is your daughter. I don’t do anything without her in mind. I love her, Alfred, and regardless of what comes from this meeting I’m not letting her go. Never. I promised her that.” I rushed to get it all out before I knew he would interrupt me.

  “Logan, listen. I don’t trust you with my daughter. Frankly, I’d finish this whole thing myself right now if it wasn’t for her.”

  I was annoyed; I should have known he wouldn’t take anything that I said into account. “I know what you did with Brooklyn. I know that you threatened to tell the media about her cocaine addiction that you yourself helped her to cover up.” He seemed taken aback by the fact that I knew so much information, but he let me speak. “And I know it was you that caused it, too. What kind of sick fuck does that to their own child? Provides them with some of the most potent drug they can find in order to fuck up their life? She almost died, Alfred!” Alfred almost seemed ashamed for a second, but it wasn’t good enough.

  “She’s my daughter, Logan. You don’t get to act like you know anything about our relationship,” Alfred scolded. It was the most fatherly I’d ever heard him.

  I rolled my eyes, I knew more than enough about their relationship – which he was lucky to even still have in the slightest bit. “She’s mine now, Alfred. I won’t let you get away with any of this, the blackmail, the threatening...How are you not ashamed to call yourself a father?” I shook my head at him in disgust. My father may have not been a good man, but he never would’ve done something this fucked up.

  But with this aura that I put around myself, came the question of how long it would take before Brooklyn realized something was up. If worst came to worst, Alfred would tell Brooklyn all about the business history before I had the chance to speak up, which worried me. I had planned on doing it eventually, telling her what she needed to know about me now that we were getting serious. But I had to do it gently, in just the right way. I could only hope Alfred cooled don and thought about his level of guilt in all this and didn't say anything to her before I was ready. She needed to worry about building her brand right now, anyway.

  I sat in my office for a little while longer, and Esme brought me an ice-cold cup of water, which felt heavenly sliding down my throat. I hadn’t realized how red my face had gotten, and how high my body temperature had risen. There was something about that awful man that just...took over me. I couldn't stand it, or him. Our business dealings had been bad enough all this time, but now for him to fuck with me and my relationship with Brook, that was too much.

  I checked my watch; it was just before 1:30pm. I knew Brooklyn would be finished with her meetings any moment now. Before I knew it, there was a knock on my door, and the beautiful, familiar face appeared.

  “How did the meetings go?” I asked her as she swung her legs into my lap. I wrapped my arms around her, pressing a soft kiss to her lips.

  “Much better than I could have hoped. Everything is sorted and ready to go into manufacturing. They loved everything I had to offer,” she gushed, and I squeezed her tighter. Sure, I had wanted to meet with her in the first place because I wanted to have her; in my bed, in my arms, in every way. But she was getting a lot of this on her own merit. Her beauty line was great; worth every bit of the investment.

  I pressed another kiss to her lips. She sighed and relaxed against me, but I felt an uneasiness in my stomach. My intuition was correct when a knock came at my office door, and both a stressed looking Esme and a red-faced Alfred burst in.

  Brook jumped out of my lap, startled at his sudden entrance. Then, she looked to me. “What is going on?” she asked, startled at the way we were looking at each other.

  “I had a meeting with your father earlier, and it looks like he’s been waiting around for you to come see me, hoping he might get to talk to you,” I answered, not taking my glare off of Alfred.

  Brooklyn turned to Alfred. “Brooklyn, I don’t know what kind of spell he has you under, but there are things you need to know about this man you call your boyfriend,” Alfred spat out. I could tell, though, by her stance, that she was angry with his behavior.

  “First of all, Alfred, we have already discussed this. It is not up to you who I date, and you have shown me that I cannot trust you. I cannot turn to you. I cannot call you father. I do not owe you anything anymore, and I refuse to speak with you alone.”

  I couldn’t help but feel smug at the way she reacted to the man. Part of Brook’s appeal was that she was a string woman, saying her mind, and fighting for everything despite what she had been through. No thanks to Alfred.

  “I think I will find my way home. Meet me there when you’re done with him?” Brooklyn asked, emphasizing the word ‘home’. It took everything in me not to chuckle.

  “Sure, I’ll be there shortly. I’ll also have you take Reggie with you.” Brook nodded as I sent a text on my phone, letting Reggie know he was needed. He had been good to me, watching over Brook since the break in. I felt much better, knowing she was safe with him rather than traveling alone. I had way too many enemies lately. Brooklyn walked out, and I was sure Esme would escort her out of the building for me. Everyone looked out for her the same way they did my brothers and I now. She was family.

  “Take a seat, Alfred, since you clearly weren’t finished before,” I offered the man. I tried to keep my composure, but he looked more than just angry. He was looking deadly after seeing us together.

  "Do I need to continue my list of the things I know about you that you don't want Brook to know?" I asked him pointedly. Though, I gave him no chance to answer. "Not only do I know that you gave Bryce, her boyfriend at the time, the cocaine that got her in so much trouble, but I also know that the minute Steele Enterprises went legit with things, you picked right up on the drug trade." Alfred's eyes went wide. "I know everything that goes on in Atlanta.

  "You have nothing to talk about; nothing to hold over me!" he shouted, raising his voice too loud for my liking. I figured it was just the last chance of a desperate man, trying to show that he owned someone that he didn’t deserve in his life. So, I just let it go for the moment. "I know you deal in the sex, drug, and gun trade. Your hands are much more bloodied than mine."

  The door opened to my office, surprising me, not for the first time that day, and I saw that Brook had returned. My mouth gaped open in shock, knowing she must have heard what Alfred had said, even though more than half was not true at all. All she did was point to the corner of my desk, where I just noticed she had left her purse.

  I handed it to her slowly, and she was avoiding eye contact with me. I was so nervous that this was the end of us, and all because of the man right across from me.

  "It is true?" she asked me, and I hated that I couldn’t just tell her no and mean it.

  "We need to talk." She would have no way of knowing that I was not involved in two of those things. They had stopped the minute I got everything from my father. All she knew, though, was what her father had just blasted out, and I wasn't able to directly refute it.

  Brook shook her head and ran out of the office, heals and all. I turned to Alfred, not hiding my loathing and rage any longer. "I assume you can find your way out, and to be clear, if you just fucked up my relationship with Brooklyn, I'll kill you."

  Chapter 17

  Brooklyn

>   I was frozen in the spot, I couldn’t even think to move from where I was sitting in the car as we pulled up to his place, which I no longer expected to share with Logan.

  I’d had such a good morning, filled with meetings with various different suppliers who were interested in working with me on my makeup line. Logan had pulled out all the stops to make sure these people knew what they were doing and would be able to do exactly what I wanted them to do for me. I'd spoken with many different companies and people and had finally settled on the best two who could provide me with the best experience for my brand. I'd expected a celebratory afternoon, hopefully going back to the apartment and being able to ravish Logan, because we had missed out on some much needed early morning sex when we had woken up, but instead… I was met with a whole lot of truth I hadn't been expecting at all as well as a run in with Alfred. I couldn’t trust either man right now. It was Reggie who broke me out of my thoughts, walking me into the apartment and then proceeding to find a way to mind his own business.

  I didn’t know what to think. I knew that Logan was a man who was very feared in business, but I hadn't realized that it could be taken this far. What next? Would I find out that Logan was involved with the Italian mafia, as well? I had no idea what to expect. After the emotional rollercoaster I’d been experiencing for the past few days, I had hoped that the storm had passed, but it turned out we were just right in the middle of the eye.

  Sex trafficking? Drugs? Illegal?

  I went straight into the bedroom, where anything I could call mine at all would be. I grabbed a bag I could use as a carry-on, my thoughts just racing with everything I had just seen and found out. It made a little sense now why Logan’s job and associates would put me in danger. He was involved in illegal and dangerous stuff. I hated to say it, but Alfred had been right.

  That didn’t mean anything would be repaired between me and Alfred wither, though. His temper and his lack of care for me were enough to send me running the other direction. I could just figure out everything by myself, without his help. I didn’t have to use his name to prove that I was talented.

  I couldn't believe I had gotten myself so wrapped up in two men; one who only wanted me to say he had an heir to his empire and the other who was involved with criminal activity. I was a model and a business woman. My boyfriend, who was funding my business, was using illegal money to do that, it seemed. If it ever came out, it would ruin my reputation even more than Alfred letting the press know that I used to have a cocaine addiction. At least that I could show I had come out of through rehab and breaking free form the man who got me into it in the first place.

  I should have been completely freaking out, but I think I was in shock. I had been through too many crazy things lately.

  I shifted to the closet, pulling out just a few of the outfits Logan had bought me. That was probably with illegal money too, but I had left so much behind. My conscience would have to deal with it.

  After putting those in the bag, I threw it over my shoulder and headed straight for the door. I had no reason to stick around any longer, and I wanted to avoid Reggie following me. Logan would be out of my life now, as well as my unofficial body guard. Without his association, no one would feel the need to come after me.

  When I opened the door, though., I found double trouble standing on the other side; Logan and Jordan. I should have known he would have gotten rid of Alfred and been right behind me, trying to convince me he wasn’t some monster. I really wasn't in the mood for excuses.

  "You need to move," I told him sternly, trying to get around the two of them. But they blocked me.

  "I told you that we needed to talk, Brook. Just give me a few moments to explain," Logan pleaded. I rolled my eyes.

  "There is nothing to talk about if what my father said about you was true."

  "It isn't that simple," Logan continued, stepping into the apartment so that I was forced to back up. Jordan came along with him like some kind of backup in all of this. I had no choice but to listen, and I didn’t like it. I didn’t know what he could say to change my mind about this if it wasn’t a flat denial. "I am absolutely not involved in the sex or drug trade, Brook. My father was, when he ran the company, but when I took over, I abolished all of that."

  I didn’t miss a beat, though. There was one thing he had not denied. "What about the guns, Logan?" I challenged.

  "Yeah, I sell guns. I can't lie to you about that, or hide it anymore. But I don't just sell to criminals; I also sell them to aid workers and other people who need them. I know that some of what I do is illegal, but to completely get out of all this illegal business would kill me and my brothers. I do what I have to in order to keep people happy and keep the business making profit."

  I didn’t know what to think about it, but my bag did sag, and I went to sit down. It was a sit-down kind of conversation.

  Logan followed me, sitting down but not too close. He was being respectful, and I felt slightly guilty for just taking Alfred's word for it. Though, Logan was involved in something dangerous. I couldn’t ignore that. There was still some thought that had to go into it all. "I have been trying to legitimize Steele Enterprises so that I don't have to use any of the gunrunner money. It is why I have been investing in lucrative businesses like yours and Greer's fashion line."

  I smiled at that. He hadn’t told me yet for sure if he was going to take her on. Greer would be thrilled, and I was happy for her. As long as she stayed out of all this shady stuff Logan was into.

  Logan looked at me, and I met his eyes this time. "I know this might change things between us, but it is important to know that it is not something I want to be doing, and I am doing as little of it as I have to. It's something I have to do to stay alive. Maybe, one day in the future, things will be different, but right now, I have to do what I have to do."

  I was shocked at that; the mention of staying alive. He was really serious. He was dealing with some bad people, it seemed like. It made me feel a little uneasy, knowing the true danger he could be in, as well as me. Maybe skipping out on the body guard was a bad idea.

  Jordan stepped up to speak. I had almost forgotten he was there. He seemed to be good at blending into the background. Or maybe I was good at zoning him out now because he looked so much like Logan it freaked me out. "Our father did not split everything three ways when he died, like he should have. He gave everything to Logan out of spite because he knew that Logan absolutely hated it all. Everything Logan has done since our father’s death has been legitimizing it as much as possible."

  I was furious - furious that even after my apartment was broken into that I hadn't been told all of this. I was furious that Alfred had at least been somewhat right about Logan being dangerous. Logan himself was not, but his business dealings were. I didn't believe Logan was horrible. It sounded like he had a horrible father. I couldn’t blame him for that. How hypocritical would that be? And it didn’t matter anyway. As much as I hated all of it, I loved him. There was nothing I could do about that.

  I leaned into Logan, giving him a soft peck on the lips.

  "I can’t say that I like it, and you should have told me sooner. I don’t like secrets, Logan, but I love you."

  As Logan pulled away, his look was still serious. "There's one more thing I have to tell you, then, in the spirit of not keeping secrets. Your father is the one who supplied Bryce with the cocaine that got you addicted. I am sorry."

  My mouth was hanging wide open, and I knew it. I suspected my father of many things, but not that. It was solidified. I was done with Alfred. I didn’t even know how I could be related to such a man.

  Chapter 18

  Brooklyn

  I didn't know if it was strange or funny that I found myself waiting to be called back into the gynecologist's office as Reggie sat a few seats away from me in the lobby. As far as he knew, I was having my annual exam, but that wasn’t the reason I was there at all. I had been having a few weird symptoms; nausea, bloating, spotting, and fogginess. I kne
w what those could mean and made an appointment to confirm immediately.

  "Brooklyn Harper," a nurse called, and I stood up, trying not to show any nerves to Reggie. I didn’t want to give anything away too soon. I was immediately ushered into a small bathroom where I was told to pee in a cup; typical procedure at these things. Only, this time, I was suspecting a result out of it rather than just a normal visit. That pee was going to tell me if I was pregnant or not.

  The thought of myself as a mother was a bit scary, and that was what I was thinking about after the nurse took down all my symptoms and family history, which was short besides the mention of my mother's breast cancer.

  Now, she was an amazing mother, especially on her own like she was. she had no help to raise me, though, she may have had some financial assistance from dear old daddy.

  It wasn’t so much that I never wanted children; I just had not thought about it too much yet. It had been an idea in the distance, after my makeup line was successful and I felt like I could settle down. No man had really made me feel that way yet. Bryce came close, until he ruined everything.

  But here I was, only two months into a relationship that I had already worried in the beginning was moving too fast, and I could be pregnant with the child of Logan Steele.

  What would we do if I was pregnant? Logan was older, and I knew he loved me, I didn’t think that he would be too upset, but we also had all the stress of his job to worry about, all the illegal activities. Hopefully, by the time the child grew up, if I really was pregnant, he would have found a way to be done with all of that.

  I took deep breaths in and out, trying not to work myself up too much. It was natural. It happened to people every day, right? There were even teenagers walking around carrying children, so I had to be able to handle this. And I would not become like my father in the process, ever. I knew Logan wouldn’t either.

  There was a knock at the door, and I found myself shooting up to sit up straight as the doctor walked in; an older woman with a sweet smile. "Hello, Brooklyn, I am Doctor Morris. I see you have been having some symptoms that make you believe you might be pregnant?" I nodded with my own smile, trying to keep calm. The suspense was killing me. Doctors had a bad habit of that. My mother had always said it had been like that with her diagnosis too, skirting around the subject. "Well, it looks like you were right. Can you pinpoint anything to a certain date to tell us how far along you might be?"