Steal My Heart

by Lisa Eugene

  Still panting nervously, Maggie finished checking the first few rooms she encountered. She’d been lucky to find the back door unlocked and was pleased that so far she’d gone undetected. But she was starting to despair about not finding Gabe. All that she could see now was a long narrow hall, and quickly she took light steps along the carpet. She halted abruptly when she heard a man’s voice raised, and her stomach hollowed with apprehension. She tried to listen but the voice was muffled through the wall. The sound was a dull wave in her ears like she was deep under water. Her entire body felt like it was submerged, lethargic from the terror that seeped into her body to drown her. She tried to pump out the fear that filled her mind and blurred her thoughts. She was one woman with one gun. Who knew how many men were beyond that door. If she just burst in she’d probably end up dead, or worse, get Gabe killed. She almost dissolved at the thought. She needed to think. She needed a plan. Fast.

  I told you so! This is just all kinds of crazy!

  Gabe dragged a slow tight smile across his face, his silence ringing loud in the room. Had Thomas promised Cane both drives? That had been ambitious, even for him. Perhaps his brother hadn’t been as naive as he’d thought. Perhaps he hadn’t entirely trusted Cane. Maybe this was something he could use to his advantage.

  “Looks like another thing my brother did half right.”

  “I know you have it. Thomas assured me you would bring both.”

  Gabe tried to let nonchalance soak his words. “Don’t tell me you were stupid enough to believe him. You of all people know how inept Thomas is…was.” He swallowed, damning the tint of emotion in his last words.

  The hand that struck his jaw seemed to materialize out of the air. Gabe’s head swung sideways with the force of the angry blow. His face throbbed, but he issued a bored sigh and slowly rolled his gaze to fix on Cane’s strained face.

  “You’ve tried enough of my patience. You’re lucky to be still standing here considering our last meeting. I’m going to give you five seconds, and then I will start putting holes in your body.” He started to count mechanically.

  On the fifth count Gabe filled his lungs with a steady breath. “Thomas had it,” he lied, jerking his head to his brother’s body, hoping to at least buy some time.

  Cane tapped his foot for a long moment then walked around his desk. He placed his gun next to the computer. Gabe ran some quick mental scenarios, calculating his odds of usurping it. Considering the two men still holding him and the gun pressed to his head, his chances were dubious at best.

  Cane instructed one of the men holding him to search Thomas’ body as he slipped the drive into the port on his computer, confirming that he had some of the information he sought.

  Gabe now had only one man holding him. At least his odds were getting better. He watched the other one closely, his heart thumping in tune to his soft controlled breaths. He knew this would be his only window of opportunity. When the search of Thomas’ body commenced, he made his move, praying the man didn’t have a finger on the gun trigger. He twisted out of the strangling hold on his arms, turned and struck the man that held him in the face with an iron elbow, satisfied when he heard the loud crunch of bone.

  His captor was knocked unconscious from the force of his blow and Gabe reached quickly for the gun in his hand. Before he could grab it, a shot exploded over his head. He ducked and lost his grip on the falling man and the gun, his window of opportunity slamming shut. Damn!

  “Enough!” Cane barked angrily and Gabe’s body froze, expecting a blast into oblivion. He looked up.

  Cane had his gun clutched, leveling it at him. He stalked close to Gabe then nodded for the other man to continue his search. When the man straightened and shook his head, Cane turned to Gabe, the ferocious heat of his blue gaze landing on him like a blowtorch. Gabe stood rigid as Cane pointed the gun directly at his heart and sneered wickedly.

  Maggie huffed and cleared her head, staring at the gun in her hand and testing the weight in her tremulous fingers. This was not the time to second guess herself. As a nurse there were times she had to make decisions quickly, decisions that could mean life or death. She could do this. The gurgles from the room suddenly stopped and she froze, terrified of what could have happened. Her lethargic brain jerked to life as though it’d been shocked by the paddles of a defibrillator and she looked down at her shirt.

  Don’t even think about it!

  Quickly, she pointed the gun barrel up, slid it up her sweaty abdomen and tucked it snugly between her breasts, wincing as she felt the cold metal snuggle against her skin. She needed to conceal her weapon, and right now that was the best solution her agitated brain could offer. The elastic of her bra held the handle tightly in place against her rib cage and she was satisfied it wouldn’t fall out. Hopefully, she would not need to use it, but at least it was there if she needed it.

  You crazy! What the hell are you thinking? This is your plan? All you’ll succeed at doing is blowing the girls off!

  She ignored the annoying inner voice of dissent once more, but prayed that the gun didn’t indeed discharge accidentally. Her boob-loving man would not be happy. She made sure her tee shirt hung loose even though she now appeared to be at least a cup size bigger. She blew away the threatening hysteria, praying that Gabe and Thomas were simply in the room talking to Director Miller. They could all joke and laugh later about how she almost suffered a stroke and a breast reduction for nothing.

  Gabe thought the bullet had ended his life when the door to the room opened and Maggie stepped inside. Her big blue eyes were wide and purposeful, but glassy with emotion. She had an arm in the air, waiving something in her hand. He blinked, the nanosecond enough time for him to realize horribly that he wasn’t dreaming, that the most important person in his life was courting certain death. Red hot rage as he’d never felt before drilled through him, leaving gaping holes that quickly filled with fear.

  “Maggie, no!” he shouted, desperate for her to turn and flee. What the fuck was she doing here?

  She bravely faced him and Cane, and he wanted to throttle her. The other man was behind her, out of her line of sight. Gabe heard her gulp and watched her throat work nervously. Her eyes quickly landed on him with the gun pointed to his chest, and acute panic filled her eyes with tears. Each stroke of his heart squeezed pain through his body as he looked at her face. His lips parted to yell again, but her words flew across the room.

  “No! No! Cane, stop! I have it. I have the drive with the research. Let him go!”

  “Maggie, no!” Gabe implored, rage scratching his words as they went unheeded. What did she think she was doing? Sweat was starting to bead and run down his temple and his muscles popped viciously, strained by his impotence. He went to make a move towards her, but saw the challenge in Cane’s eyes. He could tell by the man’s arrogant expression that that was exactly what he wanted. He’d pull the trigger. Gabe would be no help to her dead. He watched helplessly as the man behind her grabbed her arm out of the air and plucked the drive from her grasp. The man briefly padded down her waist, hips and thighs, and Gabe seethed angrily that his hands were on her. Her anemic struggle surprised him. His Maggie had more pluck than that and would definitely have put up a bigger fight. And what the hell was with her breasts? Gabe growled deep in his throat, an animal sound of untainted anger. He skewered Cane with his gaze.

  “If you hurt her, I will kill you!” he raged, uncaring about his unemotional cold logic.

  Cane chuckled, seemingly unconcerned with the threat, his saccharine gaze smothering Maggie.

  “Aha, the illusive Maggie Lawson. Seems you’ve got a champion. How sweet. Too bad our acquaintance will be brief. I would have relished getting to know you.” The honey in his voice was laced with poison.

  Cane used his gun to motion him over to where she stood, forcing them against the wall. Gabe knew the moment Maggie spotted Thomas’ body. He heard her sharp intake of breath and the choked cry that erupted from her lungs. He wanted to hold her, to p
rotect her, but the danger they faced was more real than ever. Now that Cane had both drives he’d quickly kill the two of them. He watched as Cane took the second flash drive and walked over to the computer, again he put his gun on the table and plugged in the drive. Gabe started to again calculate the odds. The man who had searched Thomas was a few feet away pointing his gun at them. Gabe didn’t like the way his eyes kept roving over Maggie’s figure, but he appeared meaningfully distracted by her buxom appearance.

  Suddenly, Maggie doubled over, coughing and grunting, seemingly in acute pain. The guard took a step towards her, his brows crinkled in confusion. In the next moment she straightened suddenly and slapped a gun into Gabe’s palm. Gabe banked his shock, quickly adjusted the grip, aimed and fired a bullet into the surprised man’s chest. A gasp tore from Maggie’s lips, but she kicked the weakening body and scrambled for the man’s gun. Gabe pushed her hard to the floor with one hand and with the other quickly trained his gun on Cane, who was now leveling his own gun in their direction. But Gabe was faster. With practiced precision and lightning speed he fired once, plugging a bullet between Cane’s evil blue eyes.

  Maggie was climbing to her feet when he turned to her. He grabbed her shoulders and pulled her roughly to him. His gaze locked onto hers. His face was mere inches away and steamy breath charged angrily through his flared nostrils. He was certain his heart had plummeted into the acid pit of his stomach and was still there, sizzling in the juices. He thought he heard the faint sound of sirens but was certain it was the angry ringing in his head.

  “What the fuck did you think you were doing?” he yelled harshly. “That was the most asinine, reckless, stupid, rash, idi—”

  His tirade ended when Maggie crushed her lips against his. She wrapped her arms around his sturdy shoulders and squeezed him close, seeming to use every molecule of strength in her body.

  Tears were rapidly falling now, flowing down her cheeks in long lines of relief. Gabe’s fingers speared through her hair, holding her head in place as he greedily devoured her mouth. Abruptly he pulled back, hearing the sirens grow louder.

  “You are in so much trouble. Don’t you ever do something so reckless ever again! I can’t lose you,” he choked.

  Her lips pulled in a wry wet smile. “I can’t believe you pushed me onto the floor. Do you know what kind of microbial soup—”

  Her tirade ended with the crush of his lips, his tongue stealing her quarrelsome words. His brows wrinkled and he pulled up and looked down at her.

  “Where the hell did you have that gun?”

  She grinned. “Between my boobs. In my…support top.”

  He gazed appreciatively, a smile tugging his lips as he shook his head slowly. “That was just crazy!” He frowned. “A bra? Yet another thing I have to punish you for.” He brought his forehead to hers. “You do know you’re crazy, right…and brave…and wonderful?”

  “I know.”

  She watched a frown hijack his smile. “Why did you come? How did you know I was in danger?”

  “On the drive with the research, Masters Communications was listed as a sponsor.”

  His frown deepened as realization seemed to dawn. “That’s why they kept asking if I knew what was on the drive…strange, something compelled me to keep reading.”

  “Eventually you would have found it and figured things out.”

  The sirens had stopped and now intermittent shouts and orders floated up through the window. “Let’s get out of here. Cane’s men may still be in the building.” He retrieved the flash drives, stopping to look around the room at the carnage. His gaze landed on his brother’s broken body. The image of his father floated into his mind and he had to choke back the emotion that bled like a wound inside him.

  Maggie took his hand in hers and tugged gently. “Come on.”

  He took a shuddering breath and nodded, ready to follow where ever she led.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Maggie fluffed the silk pillow once again and placed it on the upholstered settee. She folded her arms across her breast and surveyed the room, ascertaining that things were in order. Early evening sun filtered into the room through the large colonial windows, blanketing the large space in a soft orange glow. Anxiety was causing her empty stomach to churn nervously, stealing the spotlight from her intermittent nausea. She couldn’t help but worry her tortured bottom lip. Not satisfied with the fluffiness of the pillow she retrieved it and started to pound vigorously at its shapeless form.

  “What did that poor pillow do to deserve that?”

  The deep baritone chuckled from the doorway and Maggie’s hand halted. She turned to see Gabe’s large body leaning lazily on the jamb. His gorgeous smile, as usual, liquefied her insides and kicked up her heart rate. Her breath suspended in her throat at the sight of him. He was in dark gray slacks and a button-down light blue shirt. The color contrasted handsomely with his inky hair and dark eyes. He straightened, his long legs bringing him to her in a few quick strides. He rescued the pillow and tossed it back on the settee, taking her trembling hands in his.

  “Don’t worry. Everything will be fine,” he assured, pulling her into his embrace.

  Maggie sighed heavily and inhaled the scent she loved most of all. “I know…it’s just that I want everything to be perfect.”

  He hooked a finger under her chin and raised her face to his. “Everything is perfect, beautiful.”

  Her eyes bounced around the room again. Despite Gabe’s protests she’d cleaned for hours. “You sure?”

  The edge of his lips pulled up. “Absolutely.” He slid a protective hand against her slightly rounded abdomen. “Are you feeling okay? Is the baby okay?”

  She nodded and smiled up at him. “I feel fine. The nausea is a little better.”

  His dark brows wrinkled slightly. “You sure you want to keep it a secret.”

  Maggie nodded firmly. “We just have so much going on right now.”

  He molded her against him once again and she felt his nose nuzzle into her hair. “Whatever you wish. Your call.”

  “I’m just so nervous. I’m sweating. Should I take another shower?”

  He chuckled, a soft melodic sound. “No. You’ve already taken two.”

  She playfully swatted his arm and looked up at him. “Those were because of you.”

  His dark eyes seemed to sparkle with a memory. “You know, we’re wasting a lot of water. We’re not being environmentally conscious.” He leaned in close to her ear and trailed his tongue along the rim. “Next time you feel the need to take a shower, I’ll just have to lick you clean…again,” he whispered wickedly.

  Oh, God… She shot him an exasperated look at his provocative words, but lust was starting to thrum low in her belly. A reminder that this pregnancy made her very needy. It took very little for her to drag him up to the bedroom. He never seemed to mind, and in fact took every opportunity to feed her ravenous desire.

  He brushed his knuckles against her cheek. “Really, Maggie. Don’t worry. Everything is perfect.”

  She looked at her hand resting on his chest and couldn’t help the happy glow that filled her. The sparkling diamond on her left hand seemed to wink at her, concurring with his words. She and Gabe had moved into an apartment in the city a year and a half ago so that she could continue working in the operating room and he could run Masters’ Communications now that he’d assumed the duties of CEO. She was surprised at how much he had to travel, but since she’d reduced her hours to part time at the hospital, she was able to accompany him on most of his trips.

  They spent almost every weekend here at the Master’s rustic retreat. Maggie loved the serenity of this place. It was their own private oasis in their too often chaotic world. They’d only been engaged now for a month, and Maggie had hoped for some time to bask leisurely in her happiness and take time planning her wedding. A trip to the doctor last week had her reeling with the unexpected news of her pregnancy.

  She and Gabe were excited, but decided to keep the new
s secret until after the wedding. The wedding was to take place in a month, and they were glad no one questioned the quick timing. David knew the reason. But only because he’d seen her racing for the bathroom on a few occasions and guessed her ailment. He was sworn to secrecy.

  Kate seemed thrilled about the upcoming wedding. She was very traditional and had frowned upon them moving in together unmarried. Getting pregnant before the wedding was something Maggie feared would throw her fragile mind into anarchy. She was still mourning the loss of her son and the fledgling relationship between she and Gabe was finally starting to show promise. Despite their rocky start, even things between the two of them had become amicable. It had been difficult for the family to deal with the aftermath of losing Thomas and the realization of what he’d done, but everyday a chunk of Gabe’s wall crumbled and more of the rays that lit his smile and brightened his eyes shined through.

  Maggie just wanted things to go as smoothly as possible.

  Kate was already in a frenzy with planning this engagement party and making preparations for an extravagant wedding at the mansion.

  Maggie tilted her head. Voices were filtering into the room from the kitchen and hallway. Some of Gabe’s relatives had flown in from the West Coast for the engagement party. His bow-tied uncle and two pastel-wearing cousins were staying for the weekend. Kate was overseeing the meal preparations, and David was roaming around the house somewhere. Her family was expected any minute now, and her anxiety had ratcheted a few more scorching degrees. Gabe had met her parents several times, but he’d never met her three brothers.

  Gabe touched his lips against the shell of her ear, diverting her thoughts. He played along the rim and lobe, and plotted a tantalizing path down her neck. She moaned, hooked her arms around his broad shoulders and leaned in. Her nipples instantly peaked, sensitive to the scratchy rub of the fabric over his chest.

  “I just want you all to myself.” She pouted.