Tough as Steele

by Elizabeth Knox

  “He…he told me he’d tell everyone my secret, the one he covered up for me. That was the only thing he’s ever done for me, you know? His one duty as a daddy, I guess. He threatened me with that, told me he would tell everyone if I don’t leave you…I think…I’m getting confused now...”

  The elevator doors opened, and I walked into my penthouse. “He said he’d tell everyone…it would ruin my repu…what’s the word?”

  “Reputation?”

  “Mhm, that’s it. All the charity work…I…I’d be looked at differently.” I sat her on the barstool, waited to make sure she was steady, and filled a glass of water up for her, then one for Christian. He took his and went into one of the spare bedrooms. “Here, drink, babe.”

  Brooklyn took a sip of water “I never thought he would treat me like that…I’m his kid, he’s supposed to care, but I don’t think he does…he’d tell everyone everything, my line would be done before it even started but I bet you he wouldn’t tell the public about Bryce, he’d just tell them about me and that…..that makes me sad because he should have loyalty to his blood, to his daughter but he won’t.”

  She was only telling me anything because she was drunk. It was selfish of me to want to know what she’s talking about, but it was upsetting her. I knew if she was sober she wouldn’t tell me anything. Chance is, I already know what she’s about to confess to me. I had Reggie dig deep down into her life, and he dug.

  “Tell the public about what?” She took another sip of the water, glancing around the room

  “Shit, it’s getting sooooo dizzy.”

  “Baby, what did he threaten you with? What is he holding over your head?” I’d hoped it wasn’t what I thought it was. I prayed for his sake that he wouldn’t do this to her, god help him if she utters what I think she will.

  Brooklyn looked at me, squinting her baby blue eyes. She sighed, brushing her hand through her light blonde hair. “He’s gonna tell everyone, everyone….and you…you won’t wanna be with me anymore.” She flipped a switch emotionally, tears began streaming down her cheeks. I walked over to her, my arms surrounding her small body, pressing her against my chest. I knew how much it comforted her when I did that.

  “Baby, that could never happen. I love you, I’m never going to not want you.”

  “Y-You promise?” She sobbed into my chest. Yes. Nothing would ever make me not want her, even Alfred with his threats against our business relationship. I would sacrifice so much for her, and she didn’t even know.

  “I promise, precious.” I pressed a kiss to her forehead, brushing my hand along her back.

  “He…he covered up me going to rehab. I – well, Bryce started doing coke when we were together, at first I told him I didn’t want to do it but he got mean, so mean and he made me do it, he kept making me until I wanted to, I overdosed and Alfred sent me to rehab, he- he made sure the media didn’t catch any wind of it.” I would kill him. Kill him for threatening her like this, something she would have never admitted to me if she was sober. Bryce, oh. I had something special planned for him. Brooklyn’s sobbing increased. There was the movement in the corner of my eyes, my brothers were standing by their doors, observing.

  I saw the anger in their eyes, too. The Steeles would go after Alfred and Bryce. It wasn’t a threat, it was a fucking promise. I nodded my chins to them, they both responded with the same. Alfred was right when he told Brooklyn I was deadly, but it wasn’t not just me he had to worry about. All of the Steeles were deadly; all of us.

  “Baby, you’re a survivor. Don’t worry about your father, I’ll handle him. Okay?” I was going to handle him, tomorrow, in fact.

  “O-Okay.” I slid my arms under her, taking her to our bedroom. She tried to wiggle out of her dress, she lost her balance. Luckily, I caught her just in time.

  “Let me.” I unzipped the back of her dress, sliding it off her body. She had nothing on underneath, fuck. If she wasn’t drunk off her ass, I would have done so many things to her right now. Instead I grabbed her hand, helping her into bed. I changed into a pair of silk pajama pants, sliding in right next to her, wrapping my arms around her.

  “Logan,” she whispered.

  “Yeah, precious?” I pulled her closer, my stomach pressing against her back, nuzzling my head in her hair. “I love you too, I’m just scared...”

  “Scared of what?”

  “I’m scared you're gonna break my heart, I’ve never…felt this helpless...”

  “Baby, I’m not gonna let you go. I can’t break your heart if I never let you go.”

  “Okay, I love you Logan.”

  “I love you, Brooklyn Harper.”

  Chapter 15

  Brooklyn

  I was going to die.

  This must be what it felt like to have a hangover, fuck. I was lucky to never experience the

  pounding that was going on in my head right now, and the nausea, oh dear lord, just take me now. I hadn’t thrown up yet, but I wanted to. I wanted to throw up so fucking bad. I went to bed naked, not remembering how I got back, or even in bed. I was assuming Logan must’ve helped, at least I hoped it was Logan and not Christian…

  I slid out of bed early, per usual. I grabbed a pair of silk matching pajamas, not bothering with

  underwear and a bra. I filled a glass of water, slowly sipping. Eventually it just made me feel

  worse. I sat at the island, pressing my body against the coolness of the marble; the one thing

  that made me feel a little bit better.

  “You look like shit.” Christian came into my view; he wasn’t doing much better than I was.

  “Touché, asshat.”

  “Asshat, I guess I’m not just an asshole anymore,” he muttered under his breath, opening the

  fridge. He grabbed OJ, pouring two glasses. “Here.” he handed me one, I sipped on it, and slowly, it helped to settle my stomach.

  “I think I’m dying,” I groaned, pressing my face back against the stone-cold marble.

  “I hate to disappoint you, but you’ll survive. It fucking sucks, but you’ll be fine, babe.” Christian

  handed me two Advil, and I took them with the OJ.

  “What happened last night? How…how did I get home? Er. I mean, how did I get back here?”

  “Logan came to the bar and brought you back up.” Okay, so that relieved some of my worries.

  “Did I do or say anything…embarrassing, I guess?”

  Christian wouldn’t maintain his eye contact with me. “You and I were dancing on top of the bar, but otherwise, not really...”

  “That isn’t all, just tell me, what happened?” He was keeping something from me. I learned to read people from a young age, and people who would keep something from you, or lie always had a tell. Christian’s tell was not maintaining eye contact.

  “Nothing happened, I swear.”

  “You’re a really shitty liar.” Now that I knew something happened, that made my nerves shoot through me. At least it distracted me from how shitty I was feeling right now.

  Logan came out of the bedroom, in a pair of dark blue silk pajama pants, he rubbed his hand

  through his dark hair, his muscles flexing with the movement. Ugh, why was he always so damned perfect?

  “You look a lot better than I thought you would,” he chuckled, walking over to me.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “It means you drank three bottles of Smirnoff, and you should be dead. Mason, shit Brook, you

  should’ve seen his face.”

  “He was cheering her on,” Christian added, finishing his OJ.

  “How do you feel?” he asked, his arms going around my body. They stayed at my hips for a

  moment, sliding up my ribcage.

  “Could be better, could be worse.”

  Logan pressed his lips onto mine. It wasn’t like our normal kisses, it was more, it felt like more. This kiss gave me the chills, his hand skimmed against my jaw, eventually cupping it, making sure I couldn�
�t move. He was taking me, taking everything I had, but he was showing me how much he loved me, how much he cared, protecting me and encasing me in the touch of his lips.

  “You taste like OJ,” he mumbled against my lips.

  “Mmmm,” I moaned, forgetting we had an audience for a moment. I yanked away from him, my lips puffy from the intensity of that kiss.

  “Something wrong?” Logan chuckled, sitting down next to me, his hand slid up my thigh. I glanced over to Christian, then back to Logan.

  “That must be my cue,” Christian commented, walking back to his bedroom.

  “Now, where were we?” Logan pulled me towards him, wrapping his hands around me so I couldn’t move. His tongue brushed over my bottom lip. He sucked it in his mouth, gently tugging.

  “Logan – ” He growled against me, a feral, primal growl. Possessive.

  “Logan…” Before this could continue, I needed to know what happened last night. I never let myself get that…drunk. I had an incredible tolerance to alcohol, and last night, I passed my limit. Christian’s actions showed me that I must’ve said something, and I need to know exactly what my drunk brain decided to say.

  “Logan!” I snapped, putting my hand in front of his mouth, so he couldn’t bring his lips back to mine.

  “What?” he growled, staring at my hand.

  “We need to talk about last night.” His dark hazel eyes locked with mine, he sighed.

  “We can do that later.” He tried to come back to my face, but I turned, his mouth met my neck.

  “No, we need to do it now. Okay?”

  “You’re making this more fun for me.” He bit down on my flesh. I screamed from excitement, I did not expect that.

  “Logan, I’m serious.”

  “I am too.”

  His eyes were flushed with primal desire, a feral need. “Do you think it was easy for me to be

  sleeping next to your naked body last night without taking a taste for myself?” He whispered it

  against my ear, tugging on my earlobe.

  “Logan…” His hand shot down to my pajama shorts, he rubbed his fingers against my folds.

  “You’re already wet for me?” His eyebrows shot up.

  “I always am, you know that.” His thumb played with my clit through the silky material, pressing on the nub. “Logan, I – we need to –fuck...”

  “I know we need to fuck.” His lips traced my neck, the scruff scraping my soft skin.

  “No – I – That’s not – Oh God – Logan, talk – we need to – oh!” My body was shaking underneath him. I felt my orgasm on the edge, it was coming, and he stopped.

  “You wanted to talk?” He grinned at me. He was riling me up.

  “You’re such a…ugh!” I pushed against his chest, slipping out of his grip and walked to our bedroom. I stripped out of my clothes in record time. Like clockwork he was right behind me, smirking in the doorway.

  “You gonna stand there, or finish what you started?” He slammed the door behind him, sliding out of his pajama pants. He flew at me like a lion, hunting for his lioness. He coated his cock with my essence, plunging in one thrust, my body shivered against him.

  “You like the games,” he growled it against my ear. I loved the games, the games made it fun. He slid his cock all the way out, the tip still inside me.

  “Logan, I don’t like this game,” I snapped. He slammed into me, grinding himself against me. His hand shot down to my clit, rubbing it gently, barely there, but enough to know he was there. I was quivering under him, it was irritating but amazing.

  “Logan –O.” His mouth went over my breasts, sucking, biting down hard on my nipple, so much that it was painful. After the pain, came pleasure. He slid in and out of me, sliding his length against my G-spot.

  “You’re tight little cunt loves me, you love it when I fuck you, don’t you?”

  “Yes, yes, oh God yes!” He bit down on my other nipple as I said it, the heat rising within my body.

  “Do you want to come? I want you to beg for it.” His hand stopped rubbing my clit.

  “Yes, please, please! Let me come!” His lips crushed onto mine. I opened for him instantly, clawing my hands at his back. His finger returned to my clit, rubbing up and down very quickly in synchronization with his thrusts. He was the best sex I ever had, finding every spot that made me scream and shudder.

  “Come for me baby!” His mouth bit my neck, biting harder through my orgasm. It shuddered through me, I – I had no words. His body hovered over mine, pressing gentle kisses against my skin.

  “I’m never letting you go.” The way he said it, was more of a promise than a statement, and it

  felt oddly familiar. I hope he was promising me, because I could never let him go. He slid out of me after waiting a couple minutes, pulling me under his duvet, holding me close.

  “You wanted to talk?”

  “Yeah, kinda ruins the after-sex glow though…”

  “You always glow baby.”

  “Now you’re just being corny.”

  “Does anything about me say corny?” He laughed, pulling me closer, if possible. I lay on my back, Logan on his side, his finger playing with my nipples.

  “No, it does not.” He was definitely not corny.

  “What did you want to ask me?” His tone was more serious. I pulled the sheet over my breasts so he’d stop, so he’d focus on what I needed to ask him.

  “Your brother’s a shitty liar, and I know I must’ve said something last night, so just tell me. I need to know.”

  “You told me what Alfred threatened to do to you, you also gave me the backstory on that.” I knew what he was saying, but he needed to verbalize that for me. I needed it.

  “I…I need you to tell me what I told you.” I didn’t want to mistake what I said to him. I could’ve left something out, or maybe I told him more than I thought I did.

  His hazel eyes stared at mine, his hand brushing against my cheek. “Nothing that you told me last night makes me feel any different about you. I love you, Brooklyn, and I mean that. I fucking love you, and I’m never letting you go.” I nodded, pressing a soft kiss to his lips. Logan Steele

  amazed me, he…surprised me. Every single moment we spent together.

  “You told me Alfred threatened to expose your past with drugs, then you told me how Bryce pressured you into doing cocaine until you eventually developed a problem and overdosed. At which point, Alfred put you in rehab and covered it up with the press.”

  “Well…I didn’t leave anything out.” I sighed, a huge weight was lifted from my shoulders. I knew I would’ve told him at some point, at least I did it while I was drunk and couldn’t remember. It saved me some of the humiliation.

  “You also told me something else...”

  “I did…?”

  “Yes, you told me you loved me, but you’re scared to admit it because you know I have the

  capability to break your heart.”

  “I told you all of that?”

  “In less words, but yes.” He pulled me closer to him, my breasts pressing against his chest.

  “Precious, eyes to me.” I locked my gaze with his “I will never hurt you. I’m never letting you go. It’s okay to be scared, but you have to trust me. I mean it, I’m not letting you go.” His lips brushed over mine, in a soft, intimate kiss, so slow, but…amazing. I finally realized why the words before had been so familiar.

  “Are we crazy?” I finally asked him, my hands pressed against his chest. “I feel like we’re nuts,” I added, giggling.

  “I’m not following”

  “We’ve known each other for…well, not that long, and you’re promising to never let me go, we’re both in love with each other, it just seems fast.”

  “Sometimes it is fast.”

  “Oh, I forgot to tell you something.” I brushed my hair back, moving it away from my face. His look was calculating, seeing what I missed. “I kind of gave Alfred back my car and apartment keys, so I’m homeless.”
>
  “Your home is right here, with me.” His lips returned to mine, pulling away softly “and I have a

  few extra cars, you can pick the one you want.”

  “Logan, I can’t use one of your cars...”

  “You will, and you are. I think I’ll just pull out the Tesla for you.” Uh…the what? A Tesla?!

  “Um…no. I think, uh…” Logan’s finger went over my lips.

  “Sssshh, you’re driving the Tesla. I’ll tell Reggie to get it for you.” He tapped away on his phone. I heard the brief sound of a text being sent, then returned.

  “And Brooklyn, I’ll handle your father. He’s coming to the office today. You’ll be there in another meeting, but if you want to speak with him, you can, with me there.” I didn’t like it, but I nodded, accepting that. I knew I wouldn’t face him alone, not again.

  Chapter 16

  Logan

  Waking Brooklyn up this morning had been extremely hard. She was both mentally and emotionally exhausted from the days before, and it had taken all the strength in me to drag her out of bed. I watched her with eager eyes as she pulled on another one of her skin-tight bandage dresses, one that hugged the curves of her body but didn’t show too much cleavage-- perfect for the business meetings I had planned for her. I took her into my arms, cradling her. I felt her sag against me.

  “Brook, you look stunning, as always.” I felt her smile against the skin of my chest.

  After Brooklyn finished applying some of her make-up, we headed out to the Tesla, which Brooklyn still couldn’t believe was actually hers, and took off towards Steele Enterprises. I had some meetings set up for her to do for her make-up line, with some manufacturers to work on packaging and formulas. I knew this would be enough to distract her for a while so that I could do what I had planned for the day, to talk to Alfred and get to the bottom of this whole thing.

  Brook and I parted in the lobby, and I pressed a soft yet possessive kiss to her lips before smacking her on the ass for good luck, a sly smile coming on my face as she walked away. I cracked my knuckles, letting out a sigh. I knew it was the calm before the storm.