Tough as Steele

by Elizabeth Knox

  I walked up with my jovial smile as some of the other members went to deal with the shipment. "Seamus, long time no see. Looks like I missed something?" I made sure it was a question as not to offend anyone just in case I was wrong. I was always the gentleman, as long as it had to do with business I liked.

  "Yeah you did. Dais is pregnant. We just found out it was a boy on Friday."

  "Wait, what? I just saw you a couple weeks ago and…Wow, that is amazing. Congrats to you both. He’s coming into a good family here." Daisy was just glowing, and I remembered how I used to hit on her, much to the dismay of anyone she was with, Seamus especially.

  “Yeah, it was a surprise to us both” Daisy added, smiling adoringly up at her man.

  "You better not be fliting with her now or joking about taking her home. She’s more than spoken for, Steele." Seamus warned, jokingly.

  "I’m looking to take anyone home," I admitted, almost proud to. "Like I told you last time, I have a girl now” Just the thought of Brook made me both smile and gave me a hard on at the same damn time. She was a whirlwind to be with, and I loved every crazy fucking second of it.

  Seamus bellowed out a laugh. "Are you paying a girl?"

  "No." I shook my head and shoved him a bit. The guy loved to joke. "I have a girl, and she’s not the one-night-stand kind. She’s second wife material."

  That made Seamus chuckle. "I never thought I would see the damn day, especially what Tara did to you. Fun how things change, ay?" I completely agreed.

  While I was talking with Seamus, I saw Reed, the Prez, come up out of the corner of my eye. He looked all business, and I had a bad feeling in my gut about that he had to say to me. I knew they had been linked with Rafael as well, so who knew what trouble we had all gotten into?

  "I am sorry, Sea, but I need to speak with Logan directly, in my office," Reed said, pulling me away from my friends. I followed Reed to his office, sitting down, feeling like I might sweat with the way Reed was looking at me. I was a tough guy, but so was he. He was the Prez of an MC. If he thought I had done something to sabotage them he could fuck shit up for me and my brothers.

  "How is your brother?" Reed asked immediately upon us sitting down. What did he mean? As far as I knew, both my brothers were fine. I had spoken to them just that morning. "What do you mean? I talked to both my brothers this morning. What’s going on?" I thought back to the barrage of phone calls I had been getting from Jordan and began to really worry.

  Reed was staring so intently at me, and then he told me the news I did not want to hear. "Christian was in a pretty serious accident. I don't have all the details yet, but it looks like someone put a hit out on your baby brother." What the fuck? Why would someone put a hit out on Christian? My heart began to race, wondering if my brother would be okay and also wanting to know who had caused this because I was going to get the fucker.

  "Christian was going pretty fast, and it looks like someone cut the brake lines. He’s pretty mangled, from what I hear."

  "It is nice to see you again, but I think I better go deal with your family situation," I said in a daze.

  "I agree, but know that this isn’t over yet. Whoever did this wants to start a fuckin' war, and I have a feelin' that the cartel has somethin' to do with this." I nodded, knowing he was unfortunately right. Rafael was up to no damn good, and he would have to pay. But first, I needed to know how my brother was.

  Chapter 11

  Brooklyn

  I hadn't seen much of Logan in the past three weeks. I knew that his youngest brother, Christian, had been in a serious car accident, causing Logan to keep more to himself. Once in a while, there would be a phone call with him before bed, but he always told me he had business meetings half the night with associates overseas. I didn’t necessarily think he was lying, but I was sure he was either changing his schedule around to be with Christian, or he was keeping himself busy to not stress over what was going on. I missed him dearly, but I understood. He could have lost his brother, and I didn’t exactly know his injuries and what kind of recovery was happening.

  So, I had taken the time to go into work mode myself. Logan had been handling a lot of the advertising, but I needed to be sure everything was absolutely perfect, since my name was tied to it. I wanted my beauty line to be a success, not a failure.

  I was sitting in front of my laptop with a knot you might call a bun placed on top of my head. I had on my reading glasses, a comfy tee and a pair of old shorts. I was not dressed for company, and yet, the doorbell just happened to ring right then.

  I got up, unsure of who it could be, and went to the door. The person I didn’t expect to see was Logan, but he was standing right there in my doorway, seeing me at my sloppiest. I was instantly embarrassed. I never planned on Logan seeing me like that, in complete work mode.

  "We're going out, go get ready," Logan told me with a soft smile on his face. "I have been so distracted lately with everything going on, and I want to make it up to you." I looked down at myself and nodded.

  "Are you sure you don’t want me to go out like this, though?" I joked, trying to make myself feel better about him catching me in that state. He chuckled, and I let him in the door while I went into my bedroom, pulling something I thought would look great from my closet.

  I came back out in a black and white number that went just to my knees, my hair now in a braid instead of that awful bun. I saw the way Logan looked at me and knew I had made a good choice, though, I wasn’t expecting too much, other than maybe some news of his brother. I hoped he was alright.

  He took me in his car to a beautiful place; the kind that had dim lighting with beautiful chandeliers overhead. The menu had everything I could think of to choose from, and it was delicious. "So, how is everything going with your brother?" I asked Logan, sipping at my wine.

  Logan looked a little uncomfortable at the mention, but he cleared his throat and answered anyway. "He is recovering alright, at home, but it was a pretty big scare. He is in good spirits, making jokes and being an ass like usual. It’s good to see him acting like himself, but he still has to take it easy and be on some meds for pain." I nodded, glad that they had dodged a bullet there. I was sure it could have been much worse. Car accidents were frightening.

  "I am glad he is okay." I wasn’t sure what else to say. Even though I had been through a tragedy with a family member, I still was no expert at the right thing to do or say to those affected. I felt a little silly even trying.

  "I am too. I was worried." There seemed to be more to his tone, like there were things he was leaving unsaid. I didn’t want to push, though, and I decided just to enjoy the evening with him.

  When we were done with dessert, he led me out to the car, and we went back to my place. "Coming in?" I asked him with a smile on my face as he leaned in for a kiss.

  "I wouldn’t dream of being anywhere else." I thought we were in for a nightcap and maybe even breakfast in the morning, but when we walked into my apartment, I knew none of it was happening.

  My apartment was not the way I left it. Vases were broken, drawers were left open with papers covering my floor, the couch even had cuts in it. The stuffing was pulled out and lying all over the place.

  “What the…” Logan’s hand went over my mouth, shoving us into the linen closet closest to the door, shutting the door behind us. He pressed a finger to his lip, motioning me to be quiet.

  I nodded, my hands shaking even more than they had been before. I looked at the bottom of the door, the light shining in, it suddenly became black, making me realize that Logan and I weren’t in my apartment alone.

  Logan messed with the back of his pants, pulling out a decent sized gun. My eyes went wide at the sight of it. I would’ve screamed if I didn’t know there was someone on the other side of that door. Why did he have a gun?!

  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 reappea
red 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 quite 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 everyt
hing 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.”