Knox Brotherhood

by Knox, Elizabeth

  “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.
<
br />   “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.

  “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.”