Steal My Heart (29 page)

I’m a bad man, Maggie
…

How many times had he tried to warn her? How many times had he pushed her away? She’d seen what she’d wanted to see. Was he truly evil? Did he truly not have a heart?
Oh God…
she’d been such a fool! She’d beguiled herself into thinking there was good in him. Somewhere amid the chaos of her thoughts, her brain registered activity in the distance. Suddenly she saw Gabe, his tall form clad in black, sprinting towards the entrance of the park.

Blinding panic swirled through her, horrible images of death and despair. A dead nurse. A dead man sprawled on her bedroom floor in the dark. A man’s head blown open right beside her, a plane crumbling into ashes and smoke… With jerky Tonic-Clonic movements she engaged the key in the ignition then floored the gas pedal. The responsive car bolted forward, screeching in protest and almost crashed into a tree. She somehow managed to regain control of the wheel, and with the urgency of an angel fleeing from the devil, she shifted gears and zoomed off into the quiet street and disappeared into the distance.

Gabe thought he heard the screech of tire wheels wailing in the distance. He glanced back, checking to make sure his stalkers hadn’t decided to pursue him by car. He’d lost them as he’d exited The Edge Corp. He’d left Cane Howard crumpled in a comatose sleep in a dark corner of the basement of the facility. He was sure to awake with a ferocious headache, and Gabe bristled angrily, wishing he could render him incapable of waking period. But, he’d leave Cane for the authorities. He didn’t deserve a quick death. He deserved to be exposed for the monster that he was.

Gabe looked around quickly as he spied the thicket of trees. Assured he wasn’t followed, he continued forward. He approached the bushy foliage and immediately knew something was wrong. He accelerated his pace, now frantically pushing past the overhanging branches that held him back like gangly appendages. He burst into the clearing where his car should have been parked and felt the immediate suspension of his heartbeat. Panting roughly, his shoulders pitched forward, his hands bracing on his knees. He struggled to take a breath as fat drops of sweat trickled down his brow. She’d run. She’d left him. Bloody hell, she’d left him! Liquid anguish swished through his veins and with a roar that came from his desolate soul he turned his face to the gray sky and bellowed,
“Maaaggieee!”

“That’s a fucked up story, Mag. You sure you weren’t away in Aruba or something for the past few weeks?” David inquired from his perch on the paisley couch.

Maggie huffed in frustration and stared wide-eyed at her friend. “David, this is serious!”

He shrugged dramatically and leaned forward. “Oh, I know this is serious. I’ve been going out of my mind with worry. It’s not like you to just take off…but, that’s just crazy what you’ve just told me.”

Maggie’s shoulders slumped as she took a deep renewing breath. She was still quivering with anxiety and confusion. The reporter’s voice still emphatically droned in her head, reminding her of the violent sphere she’d existed in for the past few weeks. She thought of Gabe and the flow of tears threatened to burst forth again. She’d been so wrong about him. She just wished her head could convince her stubborn heart. She recalled him jogging back into the park and her chest squeezed tight. At least he’d made it out of The Edge Corp safely. Hopefully he’d gotten the information he’d been after. After she’d driven off she’d seriously considered going to the police, but scared and confused, she’d decided to come to David’s instead. She peered down at the flash drive clutched in her fingers. Perhaps David would go with her to the police.

“Okay.” Her voice wasn’t as resolute as she’d like, but she continued. “Will you come with me to the police station?”

David’s eyes almost flew from their sockets. “
What? You crazy?
We’re not going to any police! When I started to worry about you I went down to the station, and that stinky detective Sullivan interrogated me like I was the one who stole his bar of soap! I was there for hours. A day later they called and said that you were okay, that you’d called your job saying you were just taking some time off. I thought you and your hot hobo ran off to some island paradise for a sex fest or something. To tell the truth, I was a little pissed off at you cuz you missed my friend’s party.”

Maggie slid to the edge of the couch; she gulped and swallowed. “What’d you tell the police?”

David wagged his curly head then gave a telling smirk. “Don’t worry. I didn’t say anything about your hot hobo.”

“He’s not
my
anything, David. Stop calling him that. I told you what happened.”

He nodded and pierced her with his gaze. “Yes, I know what you told me, and I can see how tied in knots you are, Mag. You’re in love with him.”

She paused. She couldn’t deny it. When it came to David she was as transparent as clear glass. “Stupid, right?” she whispered softly and shamefully lowered her gaze to the floor. “It’s inconsequential. The question is: what do I do now?”

“Well, isn’t it obvious?” David regarded her as if she was daft.

Maggie issued a wry chuckle.
Quit the shit
. She knew David would call her to action. He’d tell her to stop longing for something she never had and to get on with her life. He’d remind her of how lucky she was to have escaped with her life intact.

She inhaled deeply, resolutely. “I know. I need to forget about him.”

“
Forget about him?
” David threw his hands in the air in blatant frustration. He frowned at her as though he was dealing with a recalcitrant child. “Mag, are you nuts? If what you tell me is true, that man protected you! He kept you by his side. He blew a man’s brains out for you. It doesn’t get more romantic than that! And damn, Mag, I don’t know what’s inside his pants, but from what I could see on the outside, he’s pretty damn hard to forget!”

Maggie’s forehead wrinkled in disbelief. She tucked her blonde curls behind her ears and gaped at her friend. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She was sure he’d be on her side. So much for supportive friend.

“David, the man is a murderer.” She enunciated each word clearly, trying to pound them into his brain. She sniffed back her tears. Gabe was an efficient killer. She’d seen him in action. “You just can’t see beyond his physical beauty.”

David issued an extravagant huff of indignation and pretzled his arms across his chest. “I resent that! I’m not that shallow…okay…I am,
but
, I think you’re making a mistake. There has to be some explanation for that news report. I think you need to get your ass back in that man’s car and go to him. Tell him you didn’t mean to leave him stranded. Tell him you didn’t know what you were doing, that you had a…a seizure…you know, the kind where you do weird things, or had to pee really bad and just went to look for a bathroom or something!”

“You are ridiculous! I’ll not discuss this with you any further. I need a shower!”

Maggie stood and flounced away towards the bathroom, her anger swirling through her like a storm. She couldn’t believe that David could defend that monster. The moment she stepped into the bathroom she cringed and let out a weak scream. The room was filthy!
Uhggg!
She would rather go over to her apartment, shower and get some clean clothes, but she wasn’t ready to face what she might find there. David had mentioned hearing some activity in her apartment a few days after she and Gabe left. He’d knocked on the door, thinking she’d returned, but no one had answered. Turning around she pulled the bathroom door open and rolled her eyes when she saw David standing there holding a bucket of cleaning supplies.

“Figured you’d need these.” He shot her a wide toothy grin.

“Seems they’ve gone unused!” She grabbed the bucket and slammed the door shut.

The shower did not have its usual placating effect, and Maggie emerged as miserable as she’d entered. She dried off with quick agitated movements, snapped on her bra and tugged up her underwear. She was bending over drying the rest of her leg when she heard the bathroom door open behind her. She angrily bit the inside of her cheek and shook her head in consternation, still fuming at her friend.

“You know, David, I’m really hurt that you could defend him. He’s a monster. Do you know what I’ve been through?”

“No, Maggie. Tell me.”

The deep baritone charged through her like a raging locomotive, wheels churning, steam blowing, and nose barreling at the wind.
Oh, God…
She spun around so quickly that she almost teetered off balance. Blue eyes wide and heart bucking like an unruly herd, she parted her lips to scream. Gabe instantly crossed the small bathroom and clapped a palm over her mouth. He leaned his face so close to hers that she could feel the harsh push of his warm breath against her cheek.

“We really have to stop meeting like this,” he quipped, but Maggie could sense the rage simmering beneath his words.

Slowly he pulled his hand away.

“Where’s David?” Her voice wavered as her gaze flew to the bathroom door.

“He needed to get some fresh air.” He stood very close, crowding her, his big body blocking any escape.

Maggie’s brows pleated into a deep frown. Chills tingled her skin. “David! David!” she yelled frantically. It was only the stunning quiet that answered her. “What did you do to him?” she demanded.

Gabe squinted his eyes and tilted his head, examining her leisurely. His dark hair was combed back from his high forehead, his brown eyes chips of black granite. “Why would I do anything to him?” His words were slow, deliberate.

“You threatened to kill him once, remember?”

“If I wanted to kill him, he would have been dead already,” he stated calmly.

Maggie pursed her lips, dark fury and wretched sorrow erupting inside her. Why did he have to be like this? How could she be so foolish to love him? How could she have been so wrong about him? She braced her palms against his wide chest and tried to push him back, away from her. He didn’t budge. Instead he glided forward, forcing her to step back until her back hit the cold, damp wall. His hard body trapped her against the tile, his muscles undulating against her as he shifted to cage her more effectively.

“That’s what you do so well, isn’t it? Kill?” she spat out.

She saw that haunted look cloud over his gaze, and an errant muscle ticked viciously in his jaw.

“Why did you run, Maggie?” he grated between clenched teeth.

“To get away!”

“
Why?”
he yelled angrily, his voice flying into her face.

She tried to speak, but only a broken sob surfaced. She turned her head away from his close scrutiny. She could feel her heart shattering into tiny bits and pieces. His large hand shot up to grasp her jaw and force her to meet his penetrating gaze.

“
Why did you fucking run from me?”
His voice was thunder in her ears, an impassioned storm. His face was ruddy with color and terrifying.

Maggie’s vision blurred with the rush of tears. She’d never seen him this angry, this out of control, this…this…emotional. Her bottom lip quivered uncontrollably, and she exhaled an unsteady breath. She wanted to halt that breath when it returned imbued with his natural spice and masculine scents. The scent was tinted with his fury. She closed her eyes to block him out, imagining the faces of his victims.

“Don’t you
ever
leave me!” he hollered.

“How could you do it, Gabe?” she whispered.

“Do what?”

Her blue eyes flew open to accuse him. “Kill those people? They were innocent.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“The nurse and the cop at Washington Memorial,” she clarified angrily.

She watched his eyes flare fractionally, then his expression hardened even more. Something like disappointment filled his eyes.

“I didn’t kill them, Maggie. When I left the hospital they were both very much alive.”

Maggie scrubbed the back of her head against the wall, not wanting to believe him, not wanting to be fooled again. She’d placed so much trust in this man she’d only know a short while. A man who’d turned her life upside down. This man could leave her irreparably broken.

The fingers bracing her chin tightened their hold, and she couldn’t look away from him. He trapped her with his dark compelling eyes and something seemed to shift inside him.

“Look at me, Maggie,” he hissed. “You’re the only one who knows me. You know me better than I know myself. You’re the only one who believes in me. Tell me the truth. Do you really think I would do that? Do you think I’m a monster? Like Cane?”

She stared for a long moment, her eyes wild, searching his face, searching his heart. His wall had crumbled to rubble, and he stood bare and wounded, alone and brimming with so much guilt and pain she wanted to weep. She saw his steely determination, his endless fortitude, and his seething aggression. But she didn’t see a monster. Her tears were coming now, sliding down her face in a blinding steady stream. She loved this man. She knew this man. Gabe could never murder in cold blood.
Oh, God…She’d been so scared!
She’d been doubtful of herself and her judgment and terrified of the profound emotions she felt for him. Ironically at the same time she’d been afraid of losing him and herself in the process. So, she ran.

In one fierce burst of emotion, she swung her arms around his wide shoulders and clung to him, her nails digging into the cotton on his back. His warmth floated over her like a shallow sigh, teasing the hairs on her prickling skin and dissolving her fear and doubt.

“
No. No. You couldn’t!”
she whispered into his chest, and felt his body relax. She realized then the gravity of her words and the significance he ascribed to them. Why did it matter so much what she thought? “I’m sorry. I do know who you are.” She pulled back and stared earnestly up at him, the irony of her words not escaping her.

His handsome face tilted down to hers and his hands glided up her naked spine. “Don’t apologize. It’s me who owes
you
an apology for getting you into this mess. I’ve had Cane on my tail since I left Cryostar. I’m sure he sent men to the hospital. I’d expected him to. They probably got there right after I left.” His deep voice was sincere, grave. He snuggled her against his body, his soft lips feathering against her ear. “I wish this whole business with Cane had never happened.”