“God, I thought you might not be a dick anymore but in what reality would that actually happen.”
“You haven’t spoken to me in ages and out of the blue, you call me, on the day Logan’s getting married, and tell me you need me to save your ass. I deserve answers.”
“I know. Okay? I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to get sassy with you. I’m just anxious as hell and not just because of the reasoning behind me needing your help. It was never exactly in the plan for me to meet Logan or Jordan.”
“It wasn’t in the plan for us to meet either, and we turned out pretty okay.” Christian points out, making me laugh.
He pulls me into a half hug, “Listen, you know that you don’t have to hide anything from me. I’m your brother and I’ll always be here for you. No matter what.”
The door opens to the front of the house and I see two men enter in fully clad suits just like Reggie and Christian have on. They look almost exactly the same, with one seeming a bit more aged with facial hair. I don’t miss the look of shock as their eyes land on me. I’d kill to be a mind reader, to know the exact thoughts running through their mind.
“Uh, Madigan this is Jordan,” Christian points to the man on the right, the one who looks a bit aged and has scraggly facial hair. He points to the one standing behind him, who must be Logan. I knew they were identical twins from the pictures I’ve seen, although I didn’t believe I’d be able to tell them apart. Jordan has that wild caveman look about him, where Logan is much more maintained. “Obviously, through the process of elimination, this is Logan.”
I don’t know how I’m supposed to act. If I should smile or remain stoic. There’s not exactly a ‘how-to’ guide when it comes to this sort of thing.
All I can say is the one thing that I genuinely mean, “It’s so nice to finally meet both of you.”
Chapter Eight
“You are holding it in your hands — your power. Use it.”
~ Seeker
Madigan
At my words, the entire room grows quiet, except for Christian. “Can you go grab us some food, Carlos? We need to have a family chat and this will probably take a bit. You can take Reggie with you if you’d like.”
“I’m staying right here,” Reggie firmly speaks up, glaring at Christian.
My brother lifts his brows, obviously irritated. “You don’t have to. You’ve done what you were supposed to in bringing her here without a scratch on her. Now, you can go get some food with Carlos and come back. When you do, I’ll show you all where your rooms are.”
I don’t understand why it’s so important for Reggie to be here. I’m not alone, and even though I understand he takes his job seriously, I feel like he’s taking it a bit too far. “No, I’m going to stay here and make sure no one fucks with any of you. She had friends at the airport, who came after us, or did you forget that?” At Reggie’s words, Jordan and Logan immediately look alarmed and I can sense they want to know everything there is to know about me and the trouble I’ve brought their way.
Carlos takes the opportunity to get the hell out of here and exits through the garage door. I’m guessing he could tell things might get a little bit heated.
“Let’s go into the living room,” Christian suggests and we all follow him. I, unlike everyone else, stick pretty close to his side since he’s the only one who really knows anything about me.
Reggie disappears from view and I assume he’s gone into the dining area while we all have our chat.
“So, where do we start?” I say to the group of them, keeping my eyes on Christian because he’s the only one who doesn’t make me feel uncomfortable right now. He starts to speak, but I find myself glancing at the living room. I look down at the hardwood floors and scan up the walls, looking at the abstract paintings and décor that cover the space. I have to hand it to him, Christian did a great job making this look homey before I got here. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting anything close to this.
“Madigan?” Christian says my name lowly, drawing me back out of my head. I’m not normally the type of woman who gets lost in thought, but with everything going on, I think it’s a safety net for me. If I don’t have to pay attention to what’s going on around me, I can enjoy the scenery and beauty of wherever I am. It’s probably stupid, but it’s my thought process.
“Sorry. I was just admiring the art. It’s really beautiful,”
“Yes, they’re pieces from a local gallery,” Jordan states, “I actually bought them a couple of weeks ago and realized they didn’t work with my penthouse. So, I gave them to Christian, and he must’ve brought them here.”
“Who is the artist?” I ask, approaching the wall to get a closer look.
“Her name is Marina Esposito. She’s new but local to the city. I think she’s going to go far in the art scene we have here.”
“I love that you both are bonding over some small chit-chat. However, we really need to dive deep into everything. There’s a lot to go over in a short amount of time,” Logan speaks up, looking nothing but troubled. It’s almost as if my existence weighs heavily on his mind. He’s standing behind the couch but walks around the cream-colored eyesore and takes a seat. While Christian did a great job on the décor, his furniture choice couldn’t have been worse. He probably did it just to fuck with me, considering I’m an interior designer.
I sit down on the armchair next to the couch and watch as Christian comes over and takes a seat on the arm. A weight is lifted from me knowing he’s close. Part of me is terrified that Logan and Jordan will automatically hate my presence here, that they’ll want me to leave.
“So, you’re our sister?” Jordan mutters, crossing his arms from where he stands, scanning over me.
Glancing up to Christian, I have a sense they don’t know too much. “What did you tell them?”
“As we were driving past the gate, I told them we had a little sister. That’s about it.”
“Is that a joke?!” I seethe, trying to keep my voice down so they can’t tell I’m furious. This situation is difficult in every single aspect. Christian could have told them everything they needed to know about me, but didn’t. Instead, he left the hard part for me to deal with, which is pretty fucking typical with his cocky behavior.
“He left you to do most of the explaining,” Logan snickers under his breath, telling me that Christian doesn’t just do this shit to me. “As I said before, there’s a lot to go over. I’d appreciate it if you could start from the beginning. The full picture is better than just part of it.”
I don’t know why, but I have the sinking suspicion that Logan is the one who calls the shots in this family. “Sure. My name is Madigan Archer, er, Steele. Madigan Archer-Steele. While my mother understood the type of father, or lack thereof, that I’d have most of my life, she demanded I have the name. My mother is —,”
“Autumn Archer,” Logan interrupts me, “Forgive me for the interruption, but you’re the spitting image of her.”
“Thank you, I think,” I chuckle nervously, continuing. “They met when my mom was on the set of Dance with the Devil. The producer was Clarence Billings, who we all know was a dear friend to our father. Dad was on set for a couple of days while he was in Los Angeles and that’s when they hit it off. Truthfully, I’m not really sure if she knew he was married. And if she did, I don’t know if she cared.”
“It wasn’t much of a marriage,” Jordan pipes up, staring me dead in the eye. Something about what he says tells me there’s more to the story when it comes to the picture-perfect family I thought Dad had with them. My mother was the other woman, but . . . I wonder what his home life was like.
“I’m sorry, what?” I ask.
Logan waves his hand, “We can discuss that another time. Right now, we need to learn about you relatively quickly.”
“Sure, sorry. Uh, so, long story short is I came along, a very unplanned pregnancy.”
“Something he wouldn’t have traded for the world. For the record, I consider you a blessing,” Chris
tian states clearly, putting his hand on the back of my shoulder, he rubs in a soothing motion.
“Thanks, Chris.” My eyes divert to Jordan, who’s physically turning red in the face. I want to ask if he’s okay, but don’t get the chance.
“You two seem awfully fucking close. How long have you known about her, Christian?” His gaze goes to Christian, who’s smirking. I want to smack him because Jordan looks as rageful as a bull right now and Christian’s reaction is just . . . wrong.
I decide to interject, hoping to diffuse the situation. “Christian and I met on accident when we were teenagers, at the lake house. I begged him not to say anything because I was terrified I’d lose Dad. I was told strictly from a young age that I could never have you in my life or he would walk out. My path was never to cross with yours, or I’d lose everything.”
“Jesus, that’s screwed up,” Logan growls, shaking his head.
Jordan clenches his fists, looking as if he’s going to burst into flames. “You two have known about one another for over ten years? Is that a fucking joke! Is our family a game to you? Why wouldn’t either of you decide to tell us about this after the old man died? Hmm?”
Jordan’s words are like a shot through my heart. It’s not like Christian and I didn’t think about it. The first and last time we discussed it was at our Dad’s funeral. Christian wanted them to learn about me, but I disagreed, said it was the worst thing we could possibly do. I thought they’d hate me. I feared it. Every insecurity I had about being a Steele came to the surface. Not only that, but why would they want a sister when she was the product of a mistress? I felt disgusted with how I was created. To this day, it still fucks with my mind. Especially on this day.
At this point, I feel like I’m being torn in two different directions. Jordan is mentally tearing one half of me away from this family, while Christian is pulling the other half of me closer. Meanwhile, Logan watches and assesses the entire situation. I fight the urge to hold my tears back but fail miserably. “I thought that neither of you would want me to be part of this family. Can you blame me? I wasn’t planned, nor wanted. Dad tried to say I was, but I’m not stupid. I was nothing but a burden on him the entire time he was alive. I was his dirty little secret, hidden away in New York.”
“Mads,” Christian tries to wrap his hand around me, but I tear myself away and stand up, walking over to the fireplace. I stare at it, trying to figure out why someone in the south would even need a fireplace. I doubt it ever gets colder than fifty degrees down here.
“Maybe all of this was a mistake. M-maybe I shouldn’t have even c-called you,” I choke out through the tears, keeping my eyes trained on the aged Barnwood mantle of the fireplace.
“Don’t say that. You needed us and we’re here for you,” he argues as I hear his footsteps coming toward me. “You wouldn’t have called if you weren’t desperate. We can work out all this family bullshit one way or another, but we need to know what’s going on. If anything, tell me, Mads. Let me help you.” Christian turns my body to face him and I see him through my tears.
I have to be the luckiest unlucky person on the planet to be in the situation I’m in. I have a family known for their illegal ways after me, while my brothers are fully capable of ensuring my safety. I knew there would come a time where I’d have to tell my story, but I didn’t expect it would be this difficult. But then again, nothing is ever easy in life.
Chapter Nine
“Doubt does not deserve you.”
~ Seeker
Madigan
“Take as much time as you need. We’ll stay here all night if we have to,” Logan murmurs lowly in a soothing tone. While I appreciate that he wants me to take my time with this, it might be best if I rip the band-aid off. It’ll hurt for a split second and then I might even start to feel so relieved afterward.
“No, it’s alright. It’s best that I just word vomit it all out,” I tell him, grateful for him trying to ease me into it.
“Please, go on,” Jordan grumbles out, adding an eye roll on at the end.
I’m really beginning to believe that he doesn’t want me here in the least bit, but I try my best to ignore his annoyance. It’s obvious that he’s angry this was kept from him for so long, and I can’t blame him for having these ill feelings toward me. Christian and I could’ve chosen to tell them before, but we kept my identity a secret.
“I was finishing up school when I met Vinny. It was completely normal. I went to a party with a friend. She ditched me for some hot guy and I was alone, drinking a glass of Pinot Noir when he approached me. Long story short, he charmed me that night and that’s when the fall started. After that party, we’d see each other a couple of times a week for small dinner dates, then it turned into almost every night and attending every sort of gala or party his family needed him to go to.
“It seemed normal for the first few months, but I could feel something wasn’t right. He’d kept secrets from me about his family for a long time. Honestly, he kept me from them. Looking back now, I’m not quite sure what to make of that. I don’t know if he was keeping me away from them for my own sake or for another reason. What I do know is that the moment I was introduced to the Falcones — he changed. He was no longer the man I met at that party.
“Vinny slowly transformed into something else, a figment of a man, a monster. He’d fuck with my head any chance that he got. These things were small like I’d shut the water off after I washed my hands and a few minutes later, he’d come in and tell me the sink was on. He was the one turning the water on. I think he did it to have control over me, to make me feel less than him. Uh, should I continue, or?” I stop, realizing that I’ve been blabbing straight on for the past couple of minutes.
“You can keep going,” Christian pipes up, and so I do.
“It started with small things like that and turned to what it is today.” I pause, lifting my shirt and show them my bruise which is now a combination of yellow, green and purple.
“Jesus!” Christian roars into the room.
“You came to us because you have an abusive boyfriend?” Logan questions, clearly not understanding the severity of the situation.
“In a sense, yes, but my ex-boyfriend isn’t just a random Joe on the street. He’s Vinny Falcone, of the Italian street crime family.”
Jordan’s eyes shoot right to Logan, looking concerned. His nostrils flare rapidly as he breathes, while his expression tells me another story.
“I take it you know who that is,” I speak directly to Jordan.
He nods, “Unfortunately, yes.”
“I came here because I’ve known for a long time about the type of situation I was in. Vinny is an abuser. He fucks with your head before he fucks with your body, and in the process, his family uses you as a public pawn. I didn’t fully start seeing what was happening for quite a while, but I needed to get out, and the only way I could do that was by coming here.”
“We completely understand. There’s no way we’d want you to be involved in something like that,” Logan states, and I believe every genuine word that’s coming out of his mouth.
“Why now?” Jordan interjects, causing us all to stare at him. The way he asked makes me feel like he’s questioning the fact I’m here. As if he doesn’t think I want out of it.
“Because things have changed.” I won’t give him any more than this. He doesn’t need to know that I’m pregnant. I’ll tell the three of them whenever I’m ready, and hopefully when our family situation isn’t as stressed.
Jordan cocks his head, “Changed how, exactly? How do we know that you’re not here as some sort of ploy to catch us in that tangled web?”
“Whoa! Chill, dude. Did you just forget the fact she’s multiple colors?” Christian comes to my defense, but it’s unnecessary. I figured they might have a reaction after I told them my story.
I put my hand up, dismissing Christian. “No, it’s okay. Jordan has every right to be cautious around me and question my intentions. I had assumed this m
ight happen, even prepared for it. There’s nothing I can offer you as far as proof goes, but trust me when I say I want nothing to do with the Falcones. I will never be a pawn in anyone’s game, nor will I continue to be a punching bag. It took me years to completely see what was happening to me. Now that I have, I don’t plan on ever being in a compromising position like this again.”
“I want to believe the best in people, but being in the business that we’re in, we don’t often see the best. In fact, I think it’s a figment of people’s imaginations. I don’t know how to trust easily, Madigan. Shit, I don’t know if I’ll ever trust you.”
His words hit me like a slap to the face. I expected this might not go well, but what I never expected was for him to completely push me out, or to be so open about doing it. I had hopes for this meeting and while they weren’t high, I assumed they were realistic. Jordan essentially just confessed that he might not give me the time of day, or the opportunity to forge a relationship with him.
“Fuck, she isn’t a business associate, Jordan. Mads is our little sister. She is family,” Christian grumbles, annoyed by Jordan’s honestly. What Christian may not realize is that I’d rather have Jordan’s honesty versus him blatantly lying to my face. At least I know what I’m working with now.
“She’s a stranger. That’s all she is.”
I suck in a deep breath at Jordan’s choice words but have to remember that he has every right to feel this way. He isn’t wrong, so I tell him. “You’re right. I am a stranger, but I hope that someday, I won’t be. I’m hopeful that we can all get to know each other.”
Jordan scoffs which gives me the idea he doesn’t think it’ll ever happen, while Logan offers a short-lived smile. At least one of them is open to it. Instead of a response, Jordan shocks me with his actions as he walks down the hallway and I hear a door slam.
Stolen Hearts: A Dark Billionaire Collection Page 30