Steele Hearts Redemption (17 page)

That seemed to have set him back to where he
was before, his expression turning to stone once again. My head
throbbed and all I wanted to do was get away from him. I was
relieved when Linc turned in to the parking garage of Connor’s
building. All the passengers from all three SUVs got out and
everyone form the California flight together with Sterling rode up
the elevator to the top floor. Gabe and I both stood at the front
on opposite ends, refusing to look at each other. As the doors
opened we both rushed out and stomped our way down the short
corridor with the others following with questioning eyes. Gabe
flung the doors open to Connor’s penthouse, stomped inside only
stopping when he realized I continued down the corridor to my
apartment. I could hear Connor, who apparently was in the foyer as
Gabe entered, asked “What’s wrong? And why didn’t Ally come
in.”

No answer from him.

I quickly opened my door as Tyler made his
way into the penthouse declaring “Love, brother, love is what
happened. It makes you do and say stupid things.”

My heart jumped alittle.

Before retreating into my apartment for some
much needed alone time I heard Gabriel’s shout, “Fuck you
Tyler.”

I guess this was definitely the end of the
relationship.

**********

I needed a few minutes alone, to regroup my
thoughts and get the moody jerk out of my mind. To know that I
screwed up with my job was one thing but to have it thrown in my
face by the only man I loved was just to much. Everything inside me
was bubbling, my stress with having an asshole psycho of a sister
trying to kill people I loved, stress of loosing my job, stress of
having my brief but emotionally charged relationship with Gabe come
to an end and stress of keeping everyone safe rose to the surface.
It all came out in harsh sobs as I threw myself on my bed and broke
down. I was always good under pressure but this was building for
far to long and Gabe was just the straw that broke the camel’s
back. I cried for the whole god-dammed mess my life was turning
into, not feeling sorry for myself but for the consequences my
actions had for the people around me.

I felt the bed dip alittle and then her
stomach pressed against my back as her hands arms embraced me. I
turned onto my back and rubbed her ever-growing belly, my little
unborn nephew welcoming my touch with a kick in his mommy’s tummy.
I gasped in awe as it was the first time I felt the baby and looked
at Tess with tears in my eyes. He was not even here as yet but here
he was reminding me there was still something great happening in
our lives.

“Butterscotch….?” Tess asked.

“Butterscotch…” I replied.

Tess reached over on the nightstand and
grabbed the bag of candy she dropped there before climbing on the
bed. Butterscotch candy was a pick me up for both Tess and I ever
since we became sisters. My mom forbade us from having any form of
candy but when Tess and I realized we had the same love for
butterscotch candy we’d stock up on it and sneak out for a pick me
up when either one of us was having a bad day. All one of us had to
do was say the word butterscotch and the other knew what to do. My
mother and Alexis thought it was just a stupid nickname we had for
each other.

I unwrapped the candy and popped it on my
mouth, savoring the taste on my tongue.

“Wanna talk about it now?” Tess asked.

“Where do I begin Tess. Everything’s going to
shit right now and I can’t do anything about it,” I replied, hating
to place my worries on my pregnant sister, but knowing she would
not let up until I told her everything.

“Al, you don’t need to fix everything that’s
going on around you by yourself you know,” Tess said.

“I don’t know Tess, I fucked up with Gabe,
apparently, by saving his ass from being blown up by a bomb and
then it seems my bitch sister is coming after the people I care
about.”

“Okay so let’s start with Gabe. You love him
and I know he loves you,” I gave her a look that said I highly
doubted that but she shushed me and continued, “trust me Ally,
everyone could see how much in love he is with you. So you saved
his sorry ass from being blown up and I understand why you did what
you did. It was instinct and it’s ingrained in you from your FBI
training but from Gabe’s point of you, he doesn’t see you as an
ex-FBI agent, he sees the woman he loves and for you to have taken
the risk that you did in getting rid of the bomb was probably too
much for him. But being that he is a Steele, instead of talking to
you about it he lashed out. Al, think about how he felt in that
moment and tell me if the roles were reversed you wouldn’t be mad
at him.”

I considered what she said for a moment and
knew there was some truth to it. But that still didn’t give him the
right to be a jerk. I said exactly that to Tess, who only laughed
at me for a bit.

“Just talk to him Al, even if he doesn’t want
to. Don’t give up on something that is so right for both of you
because both of you are being equally pigheaded. It’s fixable.”

She was right. It was fixable, but first I
need to face the fact that as I move forward with my life, nothing
would be as it was before. I needed to come to terms with the fact
that I was no longer an FBI agent.

“Now, on to our next problem…Psycho Alexis.
What is up with her targeting Gabe? He did nothing to her. And
thanks for telling me about the bomb”

I gave her a sheepish grin and filled her in
on the events that happened in L.A.

“I know he did nothing to her, that’s why I
came to only one conclusion. She didn’t target him because he and I
were involved. She was working on whatever evil plan she has for
months before I got to L.A., which leads me to one conclusion.
She’s set her sights on destroying the whole family Tess, just to
get back at us.”

Tess visibly paled and I hated the fact that
I was laying any form of worry on her.

“Al, we need to end this, we need to find her
and end this before someone we love gets hurt,” Tess said, a quiver
in her voice.

“I know, I just don’t know how right now.”
And that was the truth.

“Hey girls, Sterling texted me, everyone’s
gathering for a sit down with your friend Max, Ally. He wants us
all there,” Lucas’ voice called out from the living room, startling
me.

I shouldn’t have been surprised that he was
close by, seeing that he was never far away from Tess, unless
Connor was with her. Somewhere along the way, Tess being Tess,
crossed that line, and dragged Lucas along with her, from
considering Lucas as her bodyguard to one of her best friends.
Knowing he was always with her made me breathe easier.

I jumped of the bed and watched in amusement
for a couple of seconds as Tess tried righting herself on the bed
to get off. As the giggles burst from my lips I grabbed her hand
and gently pulled her up earning one of her fierce ninja stares
that had me giggling uncontrollably. It took less than ten seconds
for Tess to break down and we both entered the living room, arms
around each other as our giggles turned into full on belly ache
laughter. Lucas stared at us like we had finally lost it and maybe
we did for a moment because it sure felt great laughing amidst the
chaos around us.

We entered the crowded living room of the
penthouse and the laughter from my face disappeared as I surveyed
the room. Everyone who meant anything to me was here, as well as
eight guys from Sterling’s security team. My eyes sought out Gabe
and they landed on him leaning against a wall, hand shoved in his
pocket, his eyes brooding as he took in the scene in front of him.
As if sensing my eyes on him, he looked up, his eyes colliding with
mine. I had to make the first step. With slow measured steps I
walked up to him.

“I’m sorry,” I said, pouring my heart and
soul into the simple apology.

“I’m sorry, baby,” he said, before pulling me
into his arms and slamming his lips onto mine. I melted in his arms
and knew in my heart, although we had a lot to talk about and work
out we were going to be fine.

Someone cleared their throat next to us and
we broke apart. I looked around to find all eyes on us.

“Okay then, now that that’s out of the way,
how about we get down to business,” Connor said.

Turing in Gabe’s arms I faced them all.
Spying Max next to us and knowing he was probably the culprit who
interrupted our kiss by clearing his throat, I pulled out of Gabe’s
arms and walked into his.

“Thank you for everything you’re doing for my
family and I,” I said to him, grateful he was on our side.

“No problem kid. I just wish there was more I
could do.”

Gabe gently pulled me out of Max’s arms and
back into his and we all stood quiet for a few moments waiting for
someone to say something. Max was the first to speak up.

“I take it everyone knows everything that has
happened so far so no need to go over it again.”

Everyone agreed.

“Okay, so what we’ve learnt since the bombing
and with all the information Jonah has given us is that it’s
confirmed Alexis is involved. The bad news is that she seems to
have gone underground again. It is safe to assume, seeing that she
did it once, she’s going to assume a new identity and possibly try
an get out of L.A. Maybe she knows by now we’re on to her, maybe
she doesn’t, but the FBI has an APB out on her. There is not much
else to say guys. We’re combing through her apartment, but there’s
not much there. Apparently that was not her primary residence. It
was just part of her cover, where she met up with Jonah, but
fingerprints have confirmed it’s her. It’s just a matter….”

“Holy shit, she just texted me!” Jonah,
exclaimed, interrupting Max.

All eyes were instantly on Jonah.

“That fucking bitch is actually texting
me!”

“Jonah, language,” Marianna chastised.

“Sorry, but look she texted,” he said,
holding up his phone as he read the text out loud.

“Hey babe, pls call me. Worried sic, heard
there was an explosion @ Gabriel’s place. Need to know ur ok.”

“I have a mind to text her back and tell her
go to hell,” he said, anger blazing in his eyes.

A light bulb went off in my head and before
anyone could say anything and Jonah had the opportunity to text
Alexis back I lunged at him and grabbed the phone shouting,
“No.”

All eyes were on me now as I calmed myself
and gathered my thoughts. This was the in we needed to get Alexis
to come to us. I looked at everyone around me and knew it was now
or never in order to prevent harm from befalling the people I
love.

“Al, you want to tell us what’s going on
sweetheart,” Conrad, asked.

“I have a plan, I know everyone here knows
I’m no longer with the FBI and I’m not trying to play hero, but I
need you guys to trust me and back me up on this,” I said, my eyes
imploring them all to so.

Gabe’s arms snaked around my waist as he
stated,

“I trust you baby.”

“We all trust you Al,” Connor backed his
brother up.

“Okay then.”

My plan was simple and it hinged on Alexis’s
ego and her hatred for Tess and I. This was first going to be a
game of phone tag. We were simply going to lure her to New York by
texting her the truth from Jonah’s phone as far as the bomb was
concerned. The only thing she wouldn’t be informed of was that we
knew it was her.

Thirty minutes after I laid out my plan a
texting marathon ensued. Under the supervision of Jonah, who
ensured I used the same text context that he would normally use
with Alexis, I was feeding her everything that happened the night
of the bombing, making sure she knew how much Jonah wished she was
with him for comfort. She was intrigued that he was whisked away on
a private plane to New York for his safety and after she expressed
concern and coyly hinted she would drop everything in L.A. to be
with him I knew we had her hook, line and sinker. After some
“manipulation” and “convincing” on her part it was agreed upon that
she would meet up with Jonah at the penthouse tomorrow afternoon,
with the promise they would have the place to themselves seeing
that almost everyone was staying at Gabriel’s parents place for the
weekend.

I knew Alexis couldn’t resist coming back to
where it all started. She was arrogant enough to think that she
could simply stroll back into Connor’s penthouse and not a hair on
her head would be harmed. I was willing to bet everything that I
owned that she was going to place another bomb somewhere in the
penthouse. Apparently I was not the only who thought so because
everyone agreed with me when I voiced that thought.

After the texting marathon everyone retreated
to their own little corner. Everything was now in the hands of Max
and the FBI and for everyone else it was just a waiting game. After
conferring with his boss and having the sting set up for tomorrow,
Max pulled me aside before he left.

“Al, I know how much this case means to you
so I asked Domer if you could get in on this,”

I was surprised. Domer was his boss’s boss
and even though Max got along with everyone he worked for I was
taken aback that he would use such a huge favor to get me in on
this.