Knox Brotherhood

by Knox, Elizabeth

  I had never seen him pull something like that out before, and it must've been pretty tightly concealed. We heard footsteps walk to the front door, pausing and coming back. The shadow reappeared in front of the closet. I heard two people speaking, it wasn’t English either. Maybe Spanish if I had to guess? The men laughed at one another, turning the lights off to my apartment, and slammed the door behind him. I put my hand on the doorknob. Logan grabbed my hand, putting his finger in the air, telling me to wait. I waited, we both waited a few minutes. They were gone, so why were we waiting?

  After a few minutes, Logan opened the door, putting the gun in the air like I’d seen in action movies. He had a firm grip, pointing it in the direction he was looking.

  He glanced around, then turned back to me. “Stay here, and don’t make a sound.”

  “Logan, don’t be ridiculous,” I replied back. The men were gone. We were safe. At least, that’s what I kept telling myself. Why were there men in my apartment? How did they even get past the concierge?

  “Dammit Brook, fucking listen to me.” He snapped at me, shutting the door as he left the closet, as I sat frozen in fear waiting for him to tell me to come out. I could barely hear anything as he walked through my apartment. He came back a few minutes later, opening the door, motioning for me to sit at the bar. I did.

  Logan bent down under every surface, carefully scanning everything. He even started pulling out the filler in my couch cushions. After that, he went to my bedroom, then to Seb’s door, which was locked.

  He came up to me, sliding his arm around me, guiding me to the front door.

  “Where are we going?” I asked. Logan slid his gun back behind his suit jacket.

  “My place, we aren’t staying here.”

  “Okay.” Even though I wanted to object, I knew it was smart to stay with Logan.

  “Let me grab some of my things,” I turned, walking back to my bedroom.

  Logan grabbed my hand “No. We’re leaving now.”

  “I don’t have anything to wear.”

  “You won’t need anything.” I wouldn’t need anything? Was he kidding? I had business meetings tomorrow, I had to have clothes to go to those meetings. I had to have a workout outfit for my daily run.

  “I bought you some clothes, they’re in my closet,” he stated, pulling my hand through the door, shutting it behind us. He led me down to the elevator.

  He did what?

  “Why did you…I mean, why would you keep them at your place?” I understood the idea of wanting to buy me things, but to keep them at his apartment…that was different.

  “So that when you stay over you have some clothes, now come on.” Logan tapped on his phone as the elevator went down to the bottom floor. Marco was manning the concierge booth. Logan strode up to him. “I need security footage of Brooklyn’s apartment for the last week.” Logan handed him a card with a few hundred dollar bills. “Email it to me.” Marco nodded, sliding Logan’s card in his pocket.

  Logan pulled my clutch, opening it, and grabbed my car keys. He pressed the unlock button, and we walked up to it. He made sure I was in first, scanning the area, then slid in and started the car up, driving south.

  “Why do you have a gun?” I was more concerned about Logan’s gun then those men being in my apartment. I wanted answers, I needed them.

  “It’s for protection.” Logan stated matter-of-factly, focusing on the road ahead of him. He was driving towards his apartment, he passed his apartment a few times, taking the back entrance inside. The car ride was filled with silence as he pulled into his parking spot.

  “Give me your phone.” I unlocked my phone, handing it to him.

  He tapped away, pressing the phone against his ear. “Sebastian? Yeah, it’s Logan. She’s fine. Listen, we came back to Brook’s apartment, and someone broke in. They were still there when we got back. Yeah, she’s fine. I’m taking her to my place for the next few days, and I wouldn’t recommend staying there. It didn’t look like they found what they were looking for. I’m having my guys go over tonight and see if they can find anything. They’ll dust for prints, check for bugs. I’ll call you tomorrow. If you need to reach Brook then call my cell. I’m disabling her phone until further notice.” Logan hung up the phone, turning it off, he handed it back to me.

  He looked around the parking garage, getting out of his side, his hand returned to his gun. He helped me out, keeping me close to him, continuing to look through the parking garage until we went up the elevator. He inserted the key to his penthouse in the elevator. It opened and he locked the doors behind us.

  Was I terrified that someone was in my apartment? Yes. Although, I was more concerned with why they were there in the first place. Nothing seemed to be stolen, it was all shredded to pieces, but nothing was missing. At least, nothing seemed to be missing, yet.

  “Logan.” He looked down to me as I said his name, removing his attention from his phone to me.

  “Hold on a minute precious, go change. I’ll talk to you when I’m done.” He pressed a kiss to my lips, pulling away gently, he put his phone to his ear. I walked into Logan’s room, walking into his closet to find half of it filled with women’s attire. Even the drawers below had the correct size of bras and panties. I wiggled out of my dress, pulling my shoes off, placing them with the rest of the heels in his closet. Everything was my size…why did he do this?

  I thought when he said I had clothes, he’d just bought a few things for me, not an entire wardrobe. I pulled out a black cami and a pair of red flannel booty shorts. He knew my style, and the clothes were comfortable, which I deserved to feel after the ordeal we’d just been through. I went into his bathroom, starting the water on the sink so it would be boiling hot. I put a washcloth inside, letting it soak it completely. I pressed it to my face, wiping away all the makeup from the night, and then placing it in the hamper.

  Logan was at the stove, cooking some eggs and bacon. “Smells good,” I commented, sliding on the barstool at the island. He placed a plate filled with eggs and a couple slices of bacon in front of me. I took a bite of the deliciousness. It was divine, maybe I thought that because I hadn’t eaten since that morning, but it was good. Logan was actually a really good cook. He hadn't cooked for me before. He finished cooking his food, eating it next to me. Neither of us had said a word.

  “You didn’t tell me you bought me an entire wardrobe.” I looked to him, he just grinned. “Why did you do that?”

  “I like it when you stay here. I wanted you to be comfortable.”

  “Why do you have a gun?” I asked the question again, seeing if he would give me another answer. I wasn't completely comfortable with his answer from inside the car.

  “For protection.”

  “Why does a businessman need a gun? I know you have many competitors, but that’s taking it a little far.” I rolled my eyes at him. Logan invested in many different types of business, constantly telling me how competitive it was being a man in his position. He had no need for a gun; it wasn’t like people were chasing after him.

  “Brooklyn. I’ve made many enemies doing business. It’s not as cut and dry as it seems.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” I picked up my plate, placing it in the dishwasher. “Are you going to answer me?”

  He glanced at me for a moment. “So, let me get this straight. You are more worried about me having a gun than you are about men being in your apartment, tearing it to shreds?” He cocked his eyebrows, waiting for my reaction.

  “No. I didn’t say that!” I growled. I was deflecting; that’s what I was doing. I pulled out a bottle of water from his refrigerator. I took a sip, gathering my thoughts.

  “You just never told me you had a gun, it threw me out of the loop. Of course, I’m concerned about my apartment being broken into, but I can’t do anything about that.” I shrugged it off, taking another sip of water.

  If I thought too much about my apartment, I would get terrified. Growing up, our home had been broken into q
uite a few times, each time was always worse than the first, and our things were stolen. It was how my routine started. I always checked all of the doors and windows before I went to sleep. I had to know everything was locked.

  I felt violated. Even more than that.

  “Brook. Eyes to me.” I looked to him, glancing away. “Eyes. To. Me.” Logan growled, I met my eyes with his, continuing to focus on him, almost out of fear of turning away. “You need to understand that sometimes my business dealings have fall outs, some of the big players are more relentless and make threats against me. That’s why I carry a gun, Brook. I believe they broke into your apartment because of me.”

  “What do you mean?” I crossed my arms against my chest. Of course, I was the target, I was the one whose apartment was broken into for goodness sake. If they'd been going for Logan, wouldn't they have just gone for his apartment?

  “It could’ve been me. I’m not saying it was, it’s just a possibility.”

  “That’s ridiculous.” I walked past Logan, heading towards the couch when his hand reached out and grabbed me, pulling me close to him, wedging me between his legs.

  “No, it’s not. It’s no secret that I’m in a relationship with you.” Relationship.

  Did I hear that right? Finally, we had a definition of what we were. I won’t lie, it was nice to hear him say this after the last few weeks we’ve been together.

  “And?” He shifted on his chair, rising up, placing his arms on my shoulders.

  “I told you, I receive threats. You wouldn’t be able to imagine the type of people I deal with every day. Some are fine, normal business people, but others are…calculating manipulators who don’t care who they hurt as long as they get what they want.” Logan was ruthless in the business world. He had many offices in numerous countries and capitals. I didn’t have any idea on the type of business people he dealt with on a daily basis, but they couldn’t be that bad. I didn’t understand.

  “So…you believe someone was trying to hurt me to get to you?” He didn’t say it in words, but I could tell that’s where he was getting at.

  “I know they were.”

  “What?” He took my hand in his, leading us over to his sectional, we both sat down next to each other, I tucked my legs under me.

  “Those men in your apartment were speaking Portuguese. I speak a few different languages; Portuguese is one of them.” If we hadn’t been having a serious discussion, I would have directed him to take me to bed and speak in his many tongues. I was finding new things about him every day.

  “So, you understood them…what did they say?” I looked over to him. He stiffened at my question. I could tell there was something wrong.

  “It’s better you don’t know.”

  “Logan. Tell me.”

  “They didn’t say anything that would indicate why they were in your apartment.”

  “Logan, just fucking tell me. You’re making me more nervous as you’re avoiding answering me.”

  “They were joking about how if you had been home how they would’ve taken turns raping you until they took you back to their boss, then about how many ways they could kill you.” Oh. I couldn’t speak, I didn’t know what I could say, what I should say in response to such a thing.

  “If you’re leaving the penthouse without me, you will have a security guard with you at all times, Brook. It’s not up for negotiation.”

  “I don’t need a watch dog, I’m fine.”

  “You say that a lot.” Logan huffed, he was becoming irritated and yet so was I.

  “What?”

  “That you’re fine when you’re not. Don’t hide your feelings from me, you know you need someone watching out for you. I won’t be able to be with you all the time, Brook. I have meetings that I have to attend, business that I need to take care of, and you have the same. Your makeup line is launching next Friday, and I cannot go around Atlanta with you for the next week. I have a security team that will be with you.”

  “Logan.” I was trying to object with him until he interrupted me.

  “Brooklyn. Do you care about me?”

  “Of course, I do.” I wanted to smack him for even asking me that question. What a prick. I more than cared about Logan Steele; I was falling in love with him.

  “Then take my needs into consideration. I need you to be safe, part of that is by being protected. I can’t focus on work if you’re trying to slip your detail, or if you’re objecting this. I need you to accept this for me.”

  “Fine. I’ll budge, but Logan, I need you to do something for me.” I rose from the couch. “Don’t ever ask me if I care about you, you already know the answer to that,” I growled at him. Boy, he pissed me off when he asked me that. We already had others doubting our…relationship, and what I didn’t need was to be questioned about it by him. My father did that enough already. I walked into his bedroom, sliding on my side of the bed.

  My side.

  Nope, it’s way too soon to say it’s my side of the bed.

  I melted into the fluffy comforter, pulling it up over my shoulders. Logan slid on his side of the bed, his arms stretched out, pulling me towards him.

  “I’m kind of annoyed with you right now.” I tried to turn around so I wouldn’t face him. He wouldn’t let me, his hand came up to my neck, tilting my jaw up so I had to stare at him. I had to stare at all of his glorious masculinity. His chiseled body, his dark brown locks, had grown out in the past couple weeks, making him look a little lumberjack-y. His facial hair had grown out, and I liked it more, it was almost a full beard and damn, he looked scrumptious in a three-piece suit.

  “Get angry, baby, the sex will be that much better,” he teased, staring me down with those big hazel eyes.

  “Oh my God Logan!” I shoved at him, and he chuckled in response. There was no way I was having sex with him right now. No way.

  “It’s not going to happen.” He pushed me onto my back, hovering over my body.

  “Wanna bet?” He grinned, staring at my body, his hand glided up my leg and stopped where my shorts were. Dammit. It was going to happen. It so was. Logan Steele was my kryptonite. What am I getting myself into?

  CHAPTER 12

  Brooklyn

  He fucked me good last night. I wasn’t walking right, and I had a full night of sleep. I haven’t slept that well in…years? I had to think well on that, but it was probably years. After a while, your body becomes accustom to restless sleep and more often than not being kept up with insomnia, but it had been totally different this time. I glanced over to his clock on the nightstand; it was a little past six in the morning. I got up, sliding on one of his dress shirts and walked into the kitchen. I buttoned it up, opening the fridge and pulling out some ham, spinach, onion and eggs. Logan never kept his fridge fully stocked, something I planned on changing if I was going to have to stay here for a bit. He could cook, but hated cooking. On the other hand, I loved to cook and found so much joy in preparing different and new meals.

  I found some bowls and a pan, cracked the eggs into the bowl, finely slicing some onions, the ham steak and spinach, I added them into the bowl, waiting until the pan was preheated to pour them inside. Logan’s kitchenware was very advanced. If I had to guess, I’d say that some commercial chefs would be jealous of his appliances.

  It heated up in no time, and I slid the first bit of the raw eggs in the pan, letting it cook.

  “Smells good,” Logan came from the living area; he looked different.

  “Mhmm, I made omelets. You shaved? Ugh, I’m gonna miss that,” I pouted at him.

  He chuckled at me, going to the fridge and pulling out some orange juice. “Want some?” I nodded and he poured m a glass, handing it to me.

  I flipped the omelet over, cooking the other side, then grabbed a couple plates from the cabinets. “I’m surprised you’re up so early…normally I beat you.” I went to the other side of the kitchen, grabbing some coffee beans, starting a pot.

  “The smell woke me up, can’t say no to
some good grub,” I laughed, going back to the stove to check on the omelet. It was done, I put it on a plate, grabbing a fork, handing it to Logan.

  “Have I ever told you how well you cook?” He looked up to me, flashing that smile that I love so much, and I melted on the spot.

  “What’s with you? You’re never this…happy in the morning.” Logan is a night owl, he is not an early bird. I learned that very quickly, verryyy quickly. He is snappy and so grouchy in the morning, like The Grinch grouchy. Probably even more grouchy than the Grinch.

  “What’s not to love? I’ve got a beautiful half naked woman cooking for me.” I poured more of the egg batter into the pan. The coffee maker beeped, and I poured Logan a cup and then one for myself.

  “Thanks.” He winked at me.

  “What time are you going into the office?” I flipped the omelet over, waiting for his response.

  “I don’t know yet, maybe ten.” Ten was his usual arrival time, like I said, Logan was not a morning person. He’d rather stay until six or seven versus coming in early. I slid the omelet onto my plate, standing next to the island as I began eating it. After I was finished, I put the plate in the dishwasher, went over to the coffee pot, and refilled his cup.

  “What do you want to do for dinner tonight?” he asked, smiling mischievously.

  “Do you want Mexican or Italian?” I was tired of normal roasts, chicken, and fish. Let’s spice it up.

  “Either. What about dessert?” I grabbed his plate from him, putting it in the dishwasher. “If you’re lucky, me.”

  “The hell he is,” I turned around, seeing double. Double.

  Double Trouble.

  This is real life parent trap right here.

  Two of Logan. My jaw fell to the floor; bearded Logan walking from the doorframe of his bedroom over to the island, shaved Logan at the island.

  “Wha- I’m – What the actual fuck?!” I looked between the two, glancing at them both. They looked the same; one just has no facial hair.

  It hit me all at once. “You didn’t tell me one of your brothers was… an identical twin?!” I grabbed some vodka out of his liquor cabinet, taking a swig of it.