Adam listened to Mr. Mokuami drone on and on about the points on the blueprints he would like have reworked for the new hotel design in Tokyo. One of which included a massive karaoke bar which would boast floor to ceiling, high-tech touch screens, hologram projections, and state-of-the-art surround sound systems catering to a select and exclusive clientele. He rubbed the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes as the beginnings of a headache formed. The desire to badly sing corny songs to instrumental music pumped at octaves loud enough to make your ears bleed was completely lost on him, but if this was what it took to build his crowning jewel in Tokyo...then he would concede to Mr. Mokuami's demands. But, he was absolutely putting his foot down on the whole private Geisha room idea. The last thing he needed was the political firestorm something like that could cause for Steele Industries.

The commotion over by the elevator pulled his attention away from the phone and he watched as Abigail gave the closing doors a confused frown. Glancing down at the keypad sitting next to him still displaying the feed from the elevator cameras, he observed the deliveryman pacing nervously as it descended to the lobby. With a quick swipe of his fingers, he zoomed in on the man's face and took a couple of still shots before zooming back out and clicking a few more. If the man had gotten past the security check points he had installed a week ago, there was a good possibility he was being overly paranoid. To gain clearance to the penthouse, everyone underwent a thorough search by his men before being allowed access to the elevator. But, due to things being what they were, he would rather err on the side of caution than to take any chances with Abigail's safety. Anything other than constant vigilance could be disastrous.

"For now you have my word, Mr. Mokuami," Adam said in fluent Japanese, effectively cutting the man off. "I will have new designs drawn up to your specifications and we will discuss this again at a later date." Without giving him a chance to respond, he cancelled the call. Scrolling through his contacts in search of the architect's number, his eyes followed Abigail as she carried a large, thin, white box to the bar and set it on top of the bar counter. A frown crept across his forehead when he realized it appeared to be a floral box. He had sent enough roses in his lifetime to recognize it. Unbridled jealousy coursed through his system and his jaw tightened. Who the hell would be sending her flowers, he wondered as she plucked the card off from the top of the box.

The distressed sound of her sharp intake of breath had him dropping his phone, leaping off the couch and moving swiftly to her side. The card she held fluttered in her trembling hands.

"Abigail? What is it?" The paleness of her face gave him cause for alarm. She was whiter than the envelope she held and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders in fear she would faint. When she continued to only stare at the paper in her hand, he looked down and cursed. Elizabeth Swanson was written in a bold script across the front. "Fuck," he growled, plowing his free hand through his hair as his headache became reality.

Guiding her to a stool, he coaxed her to sit down and went to go fetch a bottle of water out of the mini fridge. Cracking it open, he slid it in front of her. Plucking the paper up by its edges from her shaky grasp, he tossed it down on the counter. "Drink," he ordered, his temper and worry making his voice come out sharper than he intended.

For once though, she didn't argue. Picking up the bottle, she gulped down half of it before she finally met his eyes. This time, she seemed more focused and two small dots of a rosy hue began to fill in the pale void of her cheeks. Adam breathed a sigh of relief. "Don't touch it again," he said, stalking over to the couch to pick up his cellphone.

"Why?" Her eyes widened and she looked down at her hands. "Do you think there might be something on it?"

Adam jerked to a halt. "I was thinking more along the lines of fingerprints, but...shit...I don't know. The bastard is fucking crazy." He turned to her, trying to keep his face calm and not show the sudden fear running rampant inside him. "Go wash your hands, baby. I'm going to call Erich."

She stood up and headed to the bathroom off to the side of the bar. "Erich? Are we going somewhere?" she asked, sending him a puzzled look over her shoulder.

"Erich is an ex-CIA agent and head of my security team."

"I thought he was your chauffeur?" Her brows dropped to a small frown. "I didn't know you had a security team."

Adam chuckled, swiping his finger across his screen and hit speed dial. "He is many things and I told you Abigail, the safest place for you to be is by my side." He took a deep breath and silently prayed that was still true. "Now, go wash." He watched as she disappeared into the bathroom, his heart still jackhammering in his chest. He hadn't thought of the evil bastard putting something on the envelope. Perhaps, he should take her to the emergency room and have her checked out. His mind reeled as he brought the phone to his ear.

"Yes, sir," Erich answered as the phone connected on the second ring.

"I have a situation here."

"I'm in the lobby. I'll be up shortly." The phone went dead.

Adam paced around the living room, feeling like a caged animal. Worry for Abigail's safety warred with his need to find the son of a bitch and put a permanent end to his sick game. He usually wasn't a violent man, choosing intelligence over brute force, but in this case...he would happily make an exception. Especially after having witnessed firsthand the affect the man caused to Abigail. Snatching the keypad off the arm of the couch, he quickly sent copies of the still photos to Erich's phone, the security team and to his cell. Whoever this jerkoff was, they needed to find him and ask him a few questions.

The elevator dinged open and Erich came striding in, his phone in his hand. "Why are you sending me pictures of the delivery guy we just cleared a few minutes ago?"

"Probably because he brought me the flowers," Abigail answered, walking into the living room and giving him a tight smile. "Hello, Erich."

Adam noticed she had regained most of her composure and he was once again in awe of the amount of inner strength she possessed. He rubbed a shaky hand over the back of his neck. A strength he was far from feeling at the moment.

"Good evening, Ms. Lane." Erich nodded in her direction, his brow still puckered in confusion. "You received 12 long-stemmed red roses. I know, we checked the box." Erich's eyes flicked from hers to Adam's.

"One of your security team seemed to have missed the fact they weren't addressed to Abigail, but to Elizabeth Swanson," Adam snapped, stalking over to the counter and jerking his head in the direction of the envelope which still laid on the table as he poured himself a couple of fingers of scotch. He downed half of it in one swallow, welcoming the burn.

Erich walked over, his eyes narrowing at the envelope. "That wasn't attached to the box when we allowed the delivery," he muttered, taking a pen out of the pocket of his dark suit and using it to pull the letter towards him. "I assure you, sir, if it was, it would have never made it up here and the delivery man would have been detained."

"So the delivery guy put that on the box?" Abigail asked, moving towards Adam.

He wrapped his arm around her and drew her to his side. "It would appear so."

"Have you handled it?" Erich asked, his eyes still searching the envelope.

"Yes, I picked it up."

"I touched the corner when I placed in to the counter."

"Then it should only be your prints and the suspects. We have both yours and Ms. Lane's on file."

"He had gloves on," Abigail murmured, her face looking up at Adam's with a worried expression. "I know I saw gloves...like...leather work gloves."

"Shit." Adam pulled his phone out of his pocket and brought up the still photos. Zooming in on one of them with his thumb, he focused in on the man's hands. It wasn't until the third shot he could make out the gloves Abigail had seen. "She's right. The asshole has gloves on." He turned the phone towards Erich. "Is there anything on it we should be concerned about?"

Erich pulled the letter closer. "I don't see any evidence of residue, but I can test it." He pulled a small plastic box the size of a notebook out of his suit jacket. Popping it open, he removed a swab and ran it across the surface of the envelope. With a quick precision, he opened a vial and stuck the swab in, shaking it to agitate the liquid inside.

"What is that?" Abigail asked.

"It's a test that allows me to check for narcotics and foreign substances." Erich held the bottle up to the light and tilted it in several directions. "It's clean," he declared after a few agonizing moments ticked by.

Adam let out a sigh of relief as he felt Abigail do the same and sag against him. "One less worry," he mumbled, kissing the top of her head.

The elevator dinging another arrival broke the tense silence in the room. Adam whirled around, pushing Abigail behind him as Erich made a reach for his gun tucked in the holster under his arm. Both men cursed under their breaths when they saw his brother saunter in followed by the one man Adam had been hoping to see. Logan Hathaway.

"I thought your team were to announce any arrivals," Adam growled at Erich, who was already pulling out his phone.

"They are, sir," he grumbled in response, walking away with a scowl on his face.

"Awe...you got me flowers. You shouldn't have," Jonathan joked as he walked up to his brother and slapped him on the back. "Look who I found." He nodded to the man still standing to the side and helped himself to a shot of Grey Goose.

Adam turned and took in the man he had requested his brother to find. Typically, he was dressed in ratty blue jeans, t-shirt, boots and leather jacket. His blonde hair was a ratty mess, as if he hadn't bothered to comb it when he had gotten up this morning. Adam remembered he had once sported a severe, clean military cut, but he must have decided to let it grow out in favor of this devil-may-care look. His eyes drifted over Logan's face, taking in the well-groomed goatee and that expression devoid of any emotion he was known for. He might have changed his looks, but that hard, dark edge was still present.

"Hello Abigail, what a pleasure to see you without a weapon," Jonathan said, bringing Adam's attention to him. He raised his glass in a toast and gave her a smirk. "I'd shake your hand, but I only recently regained full functionality in mine and I would like to keep it that way."

She blushed deeply and ducked her head, mumbling a hello.

"Never mind Jonathan, baby. He's always been a sore loser," Adam said, sending his brother a quelling look.

He simply flicked Adam the bird for his troubles.

"See? If you had permanently damaged my hand, I would have lost the ability to communicate effectively with my brother."

"I can't imagine what a terrible loss that would have been," Adam muttered.

"Ah...family dynamics. It's so touching, it gets you right here." Hathaway patted a hand on his chest. "Sort of like indigestion."

Abigail creeped closer, wrapping her arm around Adam's waist as she warily took in their new guest.

"Abigail, this is Logan Hathaway. A private investigator I hired to help us," he said, drawing her out from behind him.

Logan's eyes moved from taking in the penthouse to hers. "A pleasure to meet you, ma'am," he said with a hint of southern drawl as he extended his hand. "What Steele forgot to tell you, is that I am the best private investigator in the business." A smile finally cracking his stoic appearance.

Adam observed her brief hesitation before she shook it. "Nice to meet you too, Mr. Hathaway."

"Just Logan will do. I don't have the same corncob shoved up my ass about propriety as Steele here," he said, flashing her a charming smile.

"Shocking, considering you were raised in the finest of trailer parks," Adam countered through clenched teeth. He had forgotten what a good-looking, smarmy bastard Hathaway was and right now, the asshole couldn't take his greedy little eyes off his woman. With a calculated move, Adam stepped between them. Giving a quick fuck off glare over his shoulder to Hathaway, he turned to Abigail.

"If you will excuse us for a moment, baby," he said softly, taking his fingers and tucking an errant hair behind her ear. "I need to fill Hathaway in on recent events." Deliberately, he moved his fingertips along her jaw line to the bottom of her chin. The slight shiver of her body and the start of darkening desire in her eyes, filled him with a deep satisfaction.

"That won't be necessary, Steele," Logan interrupted, brushing past them and making himself right at home by fishing out one his imported loggers out of the fridge. Popping it open on the side of the counter, he took a long pull and gave a sigh of pleasure that made Adam's blood simmer. "It was a long flight from the jungles of Brazil to here and it gave me plenty of time to go over the information Jonathan sent me. Thanks for the first class ride by the way, that was damn nice of you." He held up his beer in salute as Jonathan choked on an olive. "I'm up to speed with your situation and the rest I would like to hear from Abby." He gave an amused grin to Adam's growl.

He was about to tell Hathaway exactly what he thought about his idea, when the elevator pinged open again causing him to give a startled turn.

"I have to tell you, Poppy...I am in love with all that gorgeous security you've got going on in the lobby. I feel thoroughly and delightfully molested. That handsome, dark haired darling could feel me up anytime, if you know what I mean. Heck, if he does it right, he might just find my concealed weapon." Jo Jo stopped in the middle of the living room, his red slickened lips falling open wide. "Wow! Who's the hottie?" he asked, his eyes roaming appreciatively over Logan as his lacquered nails fluttered over his very exposed chest. "Bang, Bang...baby you shot me down," he purred, sidling up to the bar and giving Logan a seductive smile.

A slow grin eased across Adam's lips. "Logan Hathaway, I would like to introduce you to Cher."

Author's Note:

I wanted to take a little moment and wish everyone a safe and sane Labor Day Weekend! I hope you enjoyed this latest installment of Bending Steele and if you liked it, you will consider giving it a vote. I love hearing from you and comments are always appreciated. If you don't see any updates here, feel free to check out my other stories When Roses Collide, Steal You Away and FANGED.

The next scheduled update for this book is September 15th.

As always, thank you for reading!

Sincerely,

K