Steal My Heart (31 page)

“Okay, guys! Sounds like the main event is over. It’s time for the after party! Come on out and we’ll celebrate the two of you making up! I’ve got a couple of wine coolers and a full bag of Doritos—ranch flavor, your favorite, Mag!” 

Maggie pursed her lips and groaned. “No. Somehow I don’t think tact is his thing.” Her shoulders collapsed in a sigh. “I think I’ll be hearing about this for the rest of my life.”

Gabe chuckled behind her, his deep voice filling the room and her heart. “Doritos? Mmmm. Ranch is my favorite too. We can’t miss this.”

She turned and leaned her back against the wall. He hovered over her, his palms braced on either side of her head. She rested her palms on his slick chest and rolled her eyes at his teasing. His lips found her neck again, sending tickles along her skin.

“Guys?” David’s voice intruded again. “Don’t tell me you’ve fallen asleep in your afterglow?”

Gabe’s head snapped up. One brow quirked. “What did he just say?”

Maggie grabbed the back of his head and pulled him back to her neck. “Nothing. Ignore him.”

“Guys? Hellooooo?”

Maggie huffed. “Go away, David. We’ll be out soon.”

“Fine!” She could hear his indignant smirk through the door. “But I hope you guys didn’t mess up my bathroom. I just had it cleaned! And I can’t guarantee they’ll be any Doritos left by the time you come out.”

“Damn, if he eats all the Doritos I’ll kill him!” Gabe straightened. “Just a figure of speech.” He shrugged and laughed when she shot him a surly look of exasperation.

“I swear, when it comes to pushing my buttons, the two of you are cut from the same cloth.” She ducked under his arms and marched over to the shower.

He groaned deeply and turned towards her, drinking her in as she turned on the shower and stepped into the tub.

“You know how I love to push your buttons…” A wicked look settled on his face.

Maggie shook her head in frustration, but encouraged him with a wide flirtatious smile. She nodded towards the spray of water. “You coming?”

His smile was as broad as hers as he waggled his dark brows. “Oh, I hope so.”

Maggie poked her head out of David’s small kitchen and regarded the two men sitting on the couch. There was something disturbingly comforting about seeing two men she loved lounging on the couch popping Doritos into their mouths and crunching noisily. The crumbs were killing her, but she refrained from grabbing David’s hand held vac and sweeping it over their clothes. She was surprised at how well they got along, considering how opposite they seemed to be. Gabe’s big body took up half the couch, his long legs spread out in front of him. David’s wiry frame was sprawled next to him, and occasionally they’d argue amiably about something on the TV in front of them. David saw her poking her head out of the kitchen and he gave her a giant two-thumbs-up accompanied by a colossal grin.

Could he be more obvious?
She shot him a playful smirk and ducked back into the kitchen, checking the clock on the wall. It was almost time for them to leave to meet Victoria Rollins at the private air strip. She turned around and almost bumped into David.

“He’s awesome, Mag!” David beamed. “Can I pick ’em or what?”

Maggie stared blankly. Finally she blinked, confused.
How had he picked Gabe? By leaving her stranded at the hospital?
She was sure that somehow in the knotted labyrinth of his brain, he’d concluded that he’d been matchmaking.

He reached into the cupboard and took out a bowl. “I’m glad you two made up. That seizure excuse works every time. But you have to be careful, you don’t want him to think you’re a weirdo or something.”

“David, I didn’t—” She shook her head and started to explain, but stopped when she noticed Gabe’s tall frame filled the kitchen doorway.

“We have to leave. It’s time,” he said to Maggie.

She sighed and looked down at her inadequate clothes. “Do you think we could go over to my apartment so I can get some of my clothes?”

He shook his head firmly. “So far we’ve been lucky that we haven’t been detected. Plus, the longer we stay here, the risk goes up for David. I don’t want to take any chances.”

She nodded and turned back to David who was now adding salsa to his bowl and splashing it all over the counter. Finished, he walked past Gabe, stopping briefly. “Don’t worry. I won’t say anything. Oh, by the way, she only gets the seizures a few times a year. There’re really not that bothersome. Kindda like the flu,” he informed, then walked away.

Gabe stared at her, his brows wrinkled in confusion. “What did he just say?”

Maggie squeezed her eyes shut with resigned frustration. “Nothing. Ignore him.”

CHAPTER TEN

The patch of land they drove across was a blanket of short grass interrupted by occasional rambles of weedy bushes. It was desolate except for the large silver hangar that Maggie could see rising in the distance. Dusk was descending on them with an orange sun that sank into the horizon and painted the earth with muted shadows. She studied Gabe’s profile. He seemed more relaxed than she’d seen him. His long fingers spanned her thigh, a touch that offered comfort and affection as he steered the car along the straight lonely road. He must have sensed her staring, and he turned and gifted her with a lop-sided smile, one that made thousands of butterflies flutter zealously in her stomach.

She smiled back and squeezed the fingers resting on her thighs. She took a deep breath. A long chapter in this adventure would be over soon. She wouldn’t feel as though she’d read the last words until the research data was safely in Dr. Rollins’ hands. She couldn’t help wondering what the next chapter held, especially for her and Gabe. What had he meant by his passionate words? She was too afraid to hope it was more than him needing her to stick by his side until the business with Cane was resolved. He had a fiercely protective nature and simply could have come after her only because he was concerned she was still in danger. He’d once said they were only a ‘we’ until this was over. The one thing she was sure of was that they had to get the information Gabe had to the authorities and expose Cane Howard’s criminal activities.

Gabe parked the car next to a gigantic metal door, and she followed him inside the cavernous hangar. She felt like she was in the belly of a great metal beast with transverse ribs crossing high over her head. It was well lit inside, and instantly she noticed the man crossing the room to meet them, his heels clapping against the tarred ground.

Gabe was holding her hand and she felt him stiffen, but the placid expression on his face never faltered.    

The tall blonde man stopped directly in front of them, his blue eyes alert but assessing beneath the wire frames of his glasses. He was wearing a suit that seemed expertly tailored to his thin frame and shoes that Maggie couldn’t help but notice because the leather was polished to perfection. A starched bow tie adorned his neck.

“The jet should be landing in a few minutes. I just got word.”

Gabe jerked his head. “Good.”

The other man narrowed his eyes and regarded Gabe for a protracted moment. “What hole did you just crawl out of, brother?”

Maggie’s eyes widened. Her head swiveled back and forth between the two men.
This was Gabe’s brother? His twin?
She’d assumed they were identical, but the two men looked nothing alike. Gabe was a full head taller than the other man, with wide shoulders and a thick solid build. His brother was lean and thin with an elegant boyish charm to his face. Handsome, but in a clean cut, conventional way. Although Gabe was also classically handsome, there was a definite edge to his looks. His brother had the same cleft in his chin, but that was where the similarity ended.

“Maggie, this is Thomas, my brother,” Gabe said, ignoring the question. “Thomas, Maggie.”

Maggie shook Thomas’ hand and accepted the warm friendly smile he gave her.

“Tom, please. Gabe can be rather stiff at times.” He gave her an insouciant grin, and she knew his was a face that easily offered smiles.

“Nice to meet you.”

They all turned towards the deafening screech of the plane growing closer as it taxied down the strip and stopped somewhere outside the building.

“Let’s go,” Gabe said, and taking her hand they walked towards the open wall of the hangar.

No sooner had the large, sleek white jet parked and deployed the air-stairs, than a woman exited and practically flew down the steps. Maggie noticed the capital letters MC entwined on the body of the plane. Recognition knocked at the door of her brain, but she was unable to find the right key in her memory to open up and allow it in. A man followed behind Dr. Rollins, yelling a word of caution that floated unheeded into the night sky. Victoria Rollins, eyes wide and questioning, took off at a run and came to an abrupt halt in front of them. She anxiously bounced her gaze between Gabe and Thomas.

“Hi, Doctor Rollins, I’m Gabe.” Gabe extended a hand.

“Oh, thank God! It’s been a long journey.” She shook his hand. “You must be Maggie.” She turned towards Maggie and eagerly pumped her hand. Dr. Rollins was just as Maggie remembered from her lectures. A short thin woman with dark shoulder length hair and thick glasses.

“I’m honored to finally meet you.” Maggie smiled.

“This is Thomas, Thomas, Dr. Victoria Rollins,” Gabe introduced.

“Nice to meet you, Dr. Rollins. Medical doctor?” Thomas asked.

Victoria shrugged and offered a weak smile. “I consider myself more of a scientist, really. I’ve been in academia for so long now. I work for a research company called Cryostar.”

Thomas smiled kindly and shook his blonde head. “Never heard of them. What field of interest?”

Gabe looked to Thomas and pursed his lips. “I’ll fill you in later, Thomas. Right now I’m sure Dr. Rollins is exhausted.”

Victoria turned to Gabe, her gaze anxious. “Please call me Victoria. If you don’t mind. I’d like to have what was promised, please.”

“Of course.”

Maggie watched Gabe reach into his pocket to pull out the small gray flash drive and hand it to Victoria. She thought she saw the glassy sheen of tears fill her dark eyes. Her own eyes almost filled as well as profound relief settled over her. She exchanged a quick smile with Gabe and wished so many people weren’t around. She wanted to hold him and express the pride filling her heart.

“I need to take care of a few things,” he said, turning away. “I’ll be right back.”

Maggie watched as he ambled off to speak to the man who’d followed Dr. Rollins off the plane. Another man stood beside him who Maggie guessed was the captain considering his official attire.

She felt Dr. Rollins’ quick tug on her arm. “If you don’t mind, would any of you happen to have a computer?”

“There’s one here in the office. Would that do?” Thomas offered, and on Dr. Rollins’ nod, they headed towards the back of the hangar.

Maggie sat in the passenger seat next to Gabe. It was just after midnight and they were driving along a lonely circuitous stretch of road. Thomas was following in the car behind them with Victoria. Gabe advised Maggie numerous times to get some rest, but she found that her anxiety and nervous anticipation would allow for no such thing. He’d informed her earlier that they’d be going to his family’s home, and the drive would take just under two hours. Her nerves were knotted so tight in her belly that they induced a constant churning nausea.

She knew part of it was from realizing that Gabe had almost lost his life today. When he’d told her what happened at The Edge Corp. she’d been assailed with horror and guilt for abandoning him. It was a potent reminder of just how much danger they were still in. Cane had made more threats. And even though he still thought Victoria dead, Gabe thought the safest place for them now was his family’s estate.

He also explained that he needed the help of his family to get in touch with the government officials so they could go after Cane. Maggie knew that another reason for her GI distress was the idea of going to his home and the prospect of meeting his mother. He hadn’t told her much about his mother, except to say that she was ‘particular’. She tried to gauge his emotions, but as usual with Gabe, it was difficult to read him.

She knew this wasn’t an ideal situation for him either. He was a loner. If he’d been on his own this would not have been his chosen path. He would have dealt with Cane Howard in his own way. Having her by his side, and now Victoria Rollins, was an encumbrance. He now had two people he had to protect. Plus, now he was forced to seek help from a family he hadn’t seen in years and perhaps deal with a past that seemed to haunt him. Maggie couldn’t help feeling additional guilt. The last thing she wanted was to see him endure more pain. Whatever had happened with his father had been traumatic enough to change his entire life.

The car finally rolled up to a humongous iron gate that was ornately designed with giant scrolls of the letter M. In the middle was the same MC emblem she’d seen on the plane. Again, Maggie strained her brain for recognition. The emblem was familiar, but she still couldn’t place it. Gabe pressed a button, said a few words, and the two ends of the gate mysteriously folded opened.

She couldn’t see much in the dark, but she did see what looked like a small security booth not far from the gate. They drove for another mile, this road less meandering through large imposing trees that shot into the velvety sky. The car pulled up in front of a mansion that Maggie had to twist her neck to get a full view of. In the dark, the hulking structure was intimidating. There was only light coming from a single room on the first floor, otherwise the façade blended into the ethereal grays and blacks of the night.

Gabe squeezed her hand and looked over at her. “You okay?”

She nodded in the dark, wondering the same about him. She couldn’t clearly discern his expression but had sensed a change in him a few miles back as they’d gotten closer to the house. His entire body was tense. He probably didn’t realize it, but his hand held hers like a vice. She could also detect faint moisture in his palm.