Tough as Steele

by Elizabeth Knox

  But Alfred, I was dreading going to meet him. We hadn’t seen each other since our disagreement at the event a couple weeks ago, and I really wasn't looking forward to it. He’d called and texted me numerous times for the past week, but I wasn’t ready to talk to him. Alfred…I didn’t even know how to say how he hurt me. He was using Logan’s business relationship to persuade him to end things with me, because apparently, the feelings we held for one another didn't matter to Alfred. My happiness didn't matter to him.

  That hurt, it hurt me so deeply. I know Alfred thought he was doing the right thing for me. He thought that Logan would end up hurting me, but he wouldn’t. Logan has done nothing but protect me since the first night I met him. I didn’t know how Alfred was going to react to me, to what I had to say to him. That was part of the reason I chose for us to meet at Mason’s; it was neutral ground, and I could run if I had to.

  Reggie parked the car, helping me out, and walked me into Mason’s. He stayed a few feet behind me as I approached the bar. I ordered a peach street. I was going to need my courage for this conversation; it wasn’t going to be a good one, at least not if Alfred was stuck in his opinions.

  I sipped on my whiskey, letting the soft burning sensation slide down my throat. I was not a whiskey girl, unless I absolutely had to be.

  “Crumpet, let’s grab a table.” Alfred came up behind me, slipping my arm through his. I took ahold of my whiskey, following him to the secluded booth towards the back of the bar. I said nothing.

  We sat in the booth for a few minutes. He didn’t say much of anything to me, not even the apology that he knew I deserved. Alfred looked…smug; he wasn’t sorry. He didn’t care. He finally brought up work, “How’s your line coming along?”

  “Great, the launch is next Friday.” I knew my tone was cold, but didn’t I have that right? He was using this as a buffer so that I wouldn’t bring up the elephant in the room. I was going to, and he wouldn’t like what I had to say.

  “I was expecting an apology from you, if I’m being honest.” I took a sip of my whiskey, waiting for him to speak.

  He took a sip of his scotch. “I will not apologize for looking out for you. You don’t know Logan Steele, you don’t know a damn thing about him.” His tone was rough, sterile, and I thought my tone was cold.

  “I don’t know a damn thing about him? You’ve got to be joking, and you’re ‘looking out’ for me. Jesus Christ, Alfred. You – You’ve done one thing for me, something I will be grateful forever for, but that doesn’t give you the right to treat me this way. I’m an adult. I can make my own decisions.”

  “You don’t understand the type of man he is, he is deadly, Brooklyn.” Logan, deadly? Yeah fucking right. He was being so ridiculous. I would laugh if I could.

  “Oh my God.” The rage went through me, making me see red. I didn’t know every part about Logan, but I did know him. I knew the type of man he was; he was not deadly.

  “I cannot believe you. You are doing everything that you can to get me to push you away. Dammit. I thought, hell – I thought that maybe we would be able to have a normal relationship, maybe, just maybe, this could work. Now, now I know this will never work. You won’t be happy until I give into what you want me to do, and read my fucking lips Alfred. I’m not leaving Logan. You can dislike him, hell, most fathers don’t like the men that their daughters date. I almost expect that of you, but what I don’t expect is for you to use your business relationship to try to hurt me, to try to take something good from my life.”

  “He isn’t good for you. You need to listen to me Brook, he-”

  “No! I do not need to fucking listen to you, you don’t get to say what’s right for me and what isn’t. You don’t have that right. I can’t believe you. I thought that you’d say some fucked up things to me, hell, I thought you would feel bad about the way you spoke to Logan and I a couple weeks ago, and instead, you’re here telling me that you don’t.”

  I downed the rest of my whiskey, sliding it back down on the table. “Let me make this clear for you. Logan is going to be in my life, and whether you accept that or not, is up to you. I’m not going to sit here and listen to your bullshit, I’m just done. I’m so fucking done. You know – I agreed to see you a few times a month because what you did for me. I thought that I owed you that much, but I don’t owe you a damn thing. You’re my father, you were supposed to be there for me…you were supposed to be there, and you weren’t…. You only came into my life when it was convenient for you. I’m done. Goodbye, Alfred.” I rose from the booth, walking towards the dining area.

  “Don’t you walk away from me.” He growled it out, yanking my arm back, but I pulled my arm out of his grip. “I will make all of it come back, everyone will know about your addiction. How do you think that would affect your makeup line?” He spat it out at me. Alfred was showing his true colors to me tonight.

  I wish I could’ve said that I didn’t expect it from him. I glanced around, noticing a couple of customers were paying attention to our conversation.

  “I don’t have anything to hide. If you think you’re going to shame me into keeping a relationship with you, then you’re mistaken. I’m not ashamed of what I’ve had to go through.”

  I wasn’t. I’d come so far since my addiction. My past was a part of me, and I couldn’t change that. I could only embrace what happened, even though it had been hard, even though there were times where I felt like my world was crashing down. That time, all of that time, made me into the person I was today. It made me stronger.

  “Lad, you’d better let go of the little lady.” Mason came from behind me, holding a baseball bat in one hand.

  “It’s fine, Mason. Alfred was just leaving.” Reggie was seated at the table to my left, assessing the situation, his hand on his hip, naturally ahold of his gun. You could cut the tension with a knife, his ice blue eyes staring right through me.

  “Logan Steele is not the man you think he is. I’m trying to save you some hurt, but learn your own way, then you’ll come running back to daddy.”

  “I’ve never had a daddy to come running to, you would know that, wouldn’t you?” I snapped it out. Alfred was infuriating me. He’d been in my life for only a couple short years, the most trying and difficult years of my entire life. There was a reason I’d never called him Dad, because he didn’t act like one. I knew he just had me in his life because I was his successor. I was his only child. Alfred Hamilton didn’t give a shit about me. It couldn’t be clearer.

  “You should leave.” It wasn’t Mason who spoke, instead, it was Christian. “You’re obviously upsetting her.” No shit, Sherlock.

  I dug through my purse, pulling out my car keys and the keycard to my apartment. “Here, take these. I don’t want anything from you, do you hear me? Anything.”

  Both of these were gifted to me from Alfred, things he said he wouldn’t take back from me. Now, I wasn’t giving him the choice.

  His eyes locked with mine, “I’m sorry Brook, I let my anger get the best of me.” Looking into his eyes I could tell his apology was sincere, but I couldn’t accept it, not yet. Not now. I didn't care to, after the way he had spoken to me.

  “No.” My voice cracked as I spoke. “Don’t. Just go. I – I can’t do this.” I felt the tears peaking at the corners of my eyes “Alfred, go. Please just… go.” He let go of my arm, scanning over me. He sighed and walked away.

  He walked away, and I slumped where I had stood, exhausted.

  It’s what I wanted, wasn’t it? Then, why did it hurt so much? Why did it…burn?

  Seeing my father walk away… he was one of two people that shared my blood. I was hurt, I was so hurt by what he said to me. He was trying to warn me off Logan, about what? What could Logan possibly be involved in that would classify as being deadly? I didn’t think Alfred was making it up, but I was happy. For the first time in years, I felt weightless. I felt…at peace.

  “You okay, lass?” Mason stared up at me, his concerned eyes looking into mine.


  “I’ll be fine. Have any Smirnoff back there?” He laughed at my question, tugging me over to the bar.

  “Oh, lassie, you are funny just like your mum.” He poured me a shot as Christian slid onto the barstool next to me.

  “Want a drinking buddy?” His blue eyes were almost as captivating as his brother’s.

  I shrugged. “Sure.” Mason pulled out another shot glass, pouring Christian one. He pulled the bottle away.

  “Mase, you might as well leave it.” He slid it back in front of me, his concerning gaze coming back.

  “I’m fine, Mase…I’ll be fine. Eventually.”

  ***

  "You know, I don't know what the hell you're going through right now, but we've all been there. A few drinks, a good fuck, and some you time, and you'll be over it eventually. This too shall pass and all that shit." I looked to Christian and couldn’t help but laugh.

  "Wow, that was deep," I told him sarcastically. Though really, that was one of the most helpful things I had heard all day. I liked that he at least wasn’t judging me.

  "I can be that way sometimes, but really, it'll be okay. You're alive, you have a rich, kinda good looking boyfriend. Maybe not as good looking as me, but that’s okay."

  I scoffed. "You know, for someone who comes off as such an asshole, you’re awfully nice," I teased him, taking another swig straight from the damn bottle. What was the point of even pouring it anywhere but down my throat?

  "So, how are you after the accident?" I asked, assuming he had his own stuff he was dealing with. The Steele men seemed as tough as their name, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t affected at all. He just wasn’t showing it, other than his drinking habit which followed right along with my own.

  "Shit, I'm fine, but Ramirez and those fuckers are gonna pay for it." I looked at him, taking another big gulp of the vodka. What the hell did he mean by that? I thought it was just an accident, but that didn’t sound that way. In fact, it brought up more suspicious about Logan’s cleanliness in his business dealings. Were his hands a little dirtier than I thought?

  I was going to ask, but then I just let it go. I didn’t need any more of that right now. I just wanted to get good and drunk.

  Chapter 14

  Logan

  “They staged the robbery, I can tell you that much. Look at this tape.” Lucian opened his laptop, running the video. It was dated for last Monday, just after Brooklyn had left to go to a meeting. There were two men who opened her apartment door, which was difficult, since her father had installed some of the most advanced security systems in the world. There weren’t camera’s in the apartment, if there had been, we could’ve at least seen what they were doing, but having them in the apartment would’ve broken privacy guidelines, I knew Alfred loved his daughter, even if it was in his fucked-up way but dammit. I wish he installed those right about now. “Why do I have a feeling there’s more?”

  On cue, Lucien pulled up more tapes, showing these men going in the apartment four other times in the week. It didn’t make sense, why would they continue to keep going in her apartment over the course of a week? I deal with men like this every day, they weren’t looking for something like I initially thought, like something valuable. “Did you find any devices?”

  “One microphone.”

  “One they left behind.” It made sense now. They wanted us to focus our attention on the so called “robbery” so we wouldn’t look anywhere else.

  My thoughts were running wild, so much so that I missed my cell phone ringing. Both Jordan and Christian had called me three or four times by now. They were downstairs at Mason’s, drinking. I pulled up my phone, dialing the familiar number, and calling Christian.

  “Yo, your bitch is down here. She’s sloshed.”

  “What did I tell you about calling her my bitch?” I snapped. Brooklyn’s never been sloshed before. “What do you mean she’s sloshed?”

  “I mean, she’s sloshed bro, drunk off her ass.” Yeah right, Brooklyn could top me most nights. Hell, who was I kidding? She could out-drink me and all my brothers.

  “You gonna come down and get her? Jordan left cuz’ she thought he was you, and she kept trying to kiss him.” Fuck.

  “I’ll be down in five.”

  Lucien slid his laptop in his briefcase. He could fool anyone in the getup he wore. Fitted suits and shoes, which were designer, he even wore those fake ass glasses that made him look smarter than he actually was. No one would have a clue he was actually a badass hacker who owned one of the largest security firms in the world. “I’ll come to the office tomorrow, see what I can find out from the mic they left behind. You know I'll figure something out.”

  “Sounds good.” I opened the door to the penthouse, shutting it behind both of us.

  “Going somewhere?” Lucien cocked an eyebrow, revealing his getting-into-trouble smile.

  “Mason’s, my girl’s a little…drunk.”

  “Hmm. She taking the ‘robbery’ hard?” The elevator door opened, we both walked in.

  “I didn’t think so, but I’ll find out in a few minutes.” Lucien chuckled, running his hand back through his hair.

  “What’s your dumbass chuckling at?”

  “You’ve never called anyone your girl, not even Tara.” I would say he was wrong, but he wasn’t, though. Lucien was my childhood friend, He’d known every girlfriend I’d ever had, and the fucker paid really good attention to details. He would know. It was why he was so good at his job.

  “She must be serious.”

  “She is. I’m not going to let her go.” The elevator pinged, the doors opening to the lobby. We both walked out of it.

  “Normally I would introduce you, but she’d ream my ass if I did it while she’s like this.” Lucien nodded, walking out of the lobby doors and towards his car.

  I turned the corner, seeing the bar empty except for Christian and Brook. She was on top of the bar, dancing to Aerosmith’s ‘Jaded’, empty vodka bottle in hand as she sang along. Mason manned the bar, laughing his old Irish ass off. Christian was on top of the bar with her, dancing and singing along. Reggie was at one of the tables, nursing a whiskey.

  “How long has she been like this?” I asked Mason, and he slung a shot of vodka back.

  “Eh, ‘bout an hour or so.”

  “And you didn’t call me an hour ago?”

  “Nah, she needed this.”

  “She isn’t going to need the long night of vomiting and the headache tomorrow,” I growled, walking up to the bar.

  “LOGAN!” she shrieked, breaking my ear drums in the process. God, was she always this loud?

  “Hey baby, wanna come down?”

  “How did your hair grow back so quick? You ran away earlier, I hate you!” she yelled, trying to drink more from the empty bottle.

  “That was Jordan, babe. My evil twin.” I was trying to reason with her; I’d never seen her anything passed tipsy. This was a show. Christian laughed at her and scooted off the bar.

  “OH…OH, the man I almost kissed this morning, I almost gave you a blowjob too, or your brother. That would’ve been funny.” She giggled and I almost started to growl. No, no it would not have been.

  “I think you’re the only one who thinks that would be funny, precious.”

  “I think it would be pretty fucking funny,” Christian laughed, and I shot him an angry glare. I walked over to the edge of the bar, holding my hand up to her. “Baby, c’mon. Let’s go upstairs.”

  “I’m having fun!” I needed to get her out of here. She would be so humiliated tomorrow when she started remembering what happened.

  “I know, we can continue the party upstairs if you want.” That sparkle glistened in her eyes, confirming that what I just said was enough to get her to come home. She put her hand in mine, fumbling a little bit. I pulled her close, sliding my hands around her waist until I lifted her off the bar and on the ground.

  “Wooooaahhh, it’s dizzy down here.” I’m sure it was.

  “Mason,
how much did she drink?” Mason held up four bottles of Smirnoff vodka. She shouldn’t have been standing right now, she should have been dead.

  “You’re shitting me right now.”

  Mason laughed at me, “Oh no, she finished three, your brother finished one.”

  “Baby, let’s go upstairs.” I held onto her body, trying to glue her to mine. She fumbled with every step she took. I slid my hands around her waist. “Wrap your legs around me, okay?”

  “Mhmm,” she groaned out. I pulled her up, my hands on her ass, her legs wrapped around me.

  “You know, Chrissie is the fun one, you’re boring compared to your little brother,” she giggled, waving at Mason as he locked the bar up behind us.

  “Tonight was a load of fun, Brook,” Christian laughed, pressing the button for the elevator.

  “You know, I thought you were an ass. You are an ass! But a funny ass, so it is okay, funny fun ass!”

  “Okay, okay. I get it, I’m an ass.” Christian led us onto the elevator, leaning against the back of it, rubbing his temple.

  “YEAH!”

  “Why’d you drink so much? You never drink that much.” She pressed her head to my chest, her arms tightened around my neck.

  “Alfred, he’s mean.” I knew she had an interesting relationship with her father...if that was the right word for it.

  “Care to elaborate on that?”

  “I guess I will, the alcohol makes me chatty. I thought he was going to say he was sorry for treating us both like children the other week, but he didn’t. I’m his only kid you know, like the only one, so I thought he would say he was sorry…he just told me that you’re bad for me and you’re deadly and other bologna. He made me mad and then sad…he’s my dad…I never had a dad…I had my mom and Seb. I’m mad at him, he was never there for me when I was little, when little girl needs their daddies. He shows up at Mom’s funeral and then says ‘Brooklyn, I’m your father’ like some Darth Vader kind of shit.” Christian and I both laughed at her reference.