Page 10 of Hard as Steel

Krystof dipped his chin, and side by side, they made their way to his vehicle. Steel tried not to think as he got Buttercup buckled into the backseat.

It wasn’t until they were back on the road that Steel spoke. “What happened with May and Gracie?” Steel had loved the German shepherd and toy poodle they had adopted together.

“Kuba fell in love with them. They were fat and spoiled all the way to the end. May suffered from hip dysplasia until we had to do the merciful thing. She lived to be ten. Gracie was blind and shaky with old age when she passed away in her sleep at seventeen.”

“Seventeen? Wow.” Steel chewed that over. “If I think about it, I’m not really that surprised. She always had a fighting spirit.”

“She did. I think her passing was…” Krystof stopped speaking as if catching himself.

Steel didn’t want Krystof to feel like he couldn’t talk about life without Steel. Steel wanted to know about those years.

“It’s fine. You can say whatever you were about to say. I want to hear about your life.” Steel kept his gaze on the road.

Krystof cleared his throat. “I started to say I think her passing was one of Ana’s final straws. Life finally broke her.”

He couldn’t lie. It hurt to know Anastasia loved his dog, raising her as her own. Steel had to swallow the bitter taste in his mouth. “Did she know?”

“Yes.” The resolute way Krystof responded made Steel wonder if that was the end of what Krystof would tell him about her. Once again, Krystof cleared his throat. It was an uncomfortable sound. “She begged me several times to reach out to you. I refused. If you had been even the least bit willing to listen and forgive, I would’ve caved. I couldn’t humiliate her like that if anyone learned of you. Forgive me if I sound harsh. Ana was a frail soul.” Steel heard the pain in Krystof’s voice. “As much as I’m sure you hate her, she was a good person.”

The sad note in Krystof’s voice had Steel reacting in a way he didn’t expect. He wanted to know more. “Tell me about her.”

When Krystof responded, Steel heard the love in Krystof’s voice. “I won’t disrespect you like that.”

Steel shot Krystof an annoyed look. “I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t want to know.”

“Very well.” Krystof sounded resigned. “Her father was a politician with his eyes set on becoming Prime Minister. Our families were rich and well-connected. Basically, it was as if we had been vetted and paired as children. We spent all our time together. She knew all my secrets. I knew hers. Eventually, she met a boy from the wrong side of the tracks and fell in love.”

“Dread?”

“Yes.”

Steel was surprised by the lack of animosity in Krystof’s voice as he spoke about the man who gave Kuba his DNA.

“She was so adorably in love. For a while, I thought it was the novelty of it all. Dread lived a very different life than we had. But her interest didn’t wane. Her feelings only grew. In fact, she was so obsessed with him that we basically stopped speaking so Dread wouldn’t get jealous. When Ana found out she was pregnant with Kuba, she was terrified. But this was a child with her soulmate, so she was equally thrilled. Ana waited until she couldn’t hide her pregnancy any longer and she was too far along for them to force her into an abortion. To her shocked delight, her parents were excited about the idea. She thought maybe the idea of a grandchild had softened them. No, they simply saw an opportunity to land Ana the proper husband.”

“Oh, no.”

“Yeah.” Krystof sounded so sad, it pulled at his heartstrings. “Unbeknownst to us, her father had a private meeting with Dread and convinced him Kuba was mine. He had already had it in his head that I was truly who Ana loved. So he vanished without a word, crushing Ana at one of the most crucial moments in her life. As I said, we believed Dread had simply skipped out. Her father was so understanding and livid on her behalf. He also openly worried about his career and the damage this would cause to his reputation. Eventually, his words twisted and turned, shaming her and berating her when she had already lost the will to go on. I honestly think his goal was to drive her to the grave. Without her, he could raise a son to follow in his footsteps one day.”

“So you married her and brought her here to save her.” Of course, he had. That was exactly something Krystof would do.

“Yes. I didn’t know what else to do. You were everything to me, but she was my twin flame. I couldn’t skip away and watch her and Kuba being hidden away and painted as the black sheep until it killed her or she killed herself. Of course, her father had banked on my conscience and our friendship. He knew I’d marry Ana. Of course, he hadn’t foreseen our move to America. He had thought I was only here to oversee the opening of our new branch. I hadn’t told anyone other than you and Ana about my father sending me here to keep a close eye on our new venture. When she passed away, her father was crushed. He confessed his deeds and then had the audacity to die two weeks later. Justice wasn’t served as far as I’m concerned.”

“Why didn’t you talk to me about this back then? I could’ve met her. Maybe things could’ve been different.”

“I know your beautiful heart, Steel. Between Ana and you, you’d have convinced me to keep us secret and hang on to the amazing thing we had. But we wouldn’t have been the same, and I couldn’t do that to either of you. I adopted Kuba. There was no way I’d let him grow up confused by an unusual life. You’ve always been the one, but he was a baby. I didn’t know what to do. All I knew was I didn’t want to be the reason everyone lived a lie. So I destroyed everything and built a marriage and family on top of a pile of rubble. Ana never recovered from Dread’s betrayal. Then he moved to Seattle, taunting her with his success. Eventually, her broken heart killed her. Kuba has survived on pure rage. He trained and fought like a wild man to take everything from Dread. That nearly destroyed him and his relationship with Diesel. In the end, I had to tell Dread and him the truth. I didn’t want him to make the same mistakes I did. I didn’t want him to lose the best thing that’s ever happened to him all because I was too much of a coward to speak up.”

The pain in Krystof’s voice sat on Steel’s chest. He had done the right thing. Krystof had done what was best for a child. Steel couldn’t say he wouldn’t have made the same decision, but with one modification. “Again, I get what you’re saying, but why didn’t you just tell me all of that? It’s not like I didn’t know Anastasia existed. We lived together. You talked about her all the time. All of this is something you could’ve said to me.” Steel heard the hurt and anger in his voice. Their relationship had felt so solid and healthy. Steel knew in his heart they could have had an open and honest conversation about the situation. Krystof’s leaving still would have hurt. But at least he would have known there was a good reason behind that heartbreak. Thinking Krystof had been a cheating bastard had nearly killed him.

“You would’ve stayed.”

Tears sprang to Steel’s eyes. The pain was nearly unimaginable because Krystof was right. He would have stayed.

Krystof didn’t stop there. “Ana had already pled with me not to wreck us over her. My conscience wouldn’t let me embarrass her or you like that. But if you had even hinted that we could still be together and work something out, I would’ve caved in a heartbeat. My weakness would have eventually ruined all of us. Everyone in the situation deserved better, especially Kuba. I couldn’t confuse him like that.”

Steel had no clue what to say or even think. He had always been levelheaded and empathetic. Steel saw every side and understood every decision. Unfortunately, the outcome had still been the same for him. It seemed no one had escaped being wrecked. How was he supposed to handle that?

Steel was quiet for the rest of the ride. When they reached the dog park, they shared the most common of small talk. Buttercup required constant attention, even playing. As Steel had claimed, she was not friendly. While she behaved like a good, loving, and sweet dog with them, she made it clear to everyone else that she was off-limits. In fact, so were they. No one could approach them.