Heart of Steele

by Alysha Huddleston

  The cop grunted, and Magnus scrambled to his feet, running toward the mayhem of trash and boxes along the fence.

  But the cop was on him again, clamping arms around his legs.

  Magnus slammed against the pavement. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. He kicked at the guy, turning to slam his foot in the man's face.

  "Fuck!" The cop cried out and reached a hand behind his coat.

  Gun.

  Magnus scrambled away on all fours, his eyes darting for a way out. He glanced back, a shadow emerged from the dark. He watched the figure in terror.

  Shit. Another cop?

  The shadow became a man, running toward them. His foot crashed into the side of the cop, his gun spinning away, then he kicked the pistol under the chaos of boxes and trash. With his face still hidden, he slammed the cop in the side, before sprinting toward Magnus who had gotten to his feet and was running to the fence.

  The man grabbed him by his arm and Magnus swore, trying to push him off, but his grip was like a vise.

  "Move it kid, more cops on the way." Sirens screamed in the distance.

  He was yanked along, pulled around the corner, then another corner and thrown over a fence, scrambling low into the bushes alongside a house.

  The man followed. Their harsh, quick pants fogged the cool air. Magnus's ears pounded until his breathing steadied. He glanced out from the bushes toward the street. The cop hadn't followed them out that way. He was probably still searching for his gun.

  "Who the fuck are you?" He demanded in a harsh whisper.

  "You might want to say thank you before shooting off your mouth." Came a deep, raspy, familiar voice.

  "Jamie?"

  "Good guess, stupid shit."

  "Hey."

  "Shh."

  Magnus heard footsteps and they crouched lower. The sound of the steps faded into silence, the rustling of leaves and distant hum of cars filling the void.

  Jamie raised his head slightly, then waved Magnus back as he crawled to the other side of the yard and around to the back, slipping over another fence into an unpaved lane.

  They ran, their shoes pounding the packed dirt, until the path ended, opening onto the main boulevard.

  Jamie swept off the hood of his jacket. "Do you have a car?"

  "No." He forced through clenched teeth. Who the fuck did this guy think he was? His dad? Had he been following him?

  "Okay, let's get you home." The older man steered him lightly by his elbow, and Magnus wrenched his arm up, glaring.

  "I don't need a fucking babysitter." Shoving his hands in his pockets, he tried to walk past the other man.

  "Could've fooled me." Jamie matched his stride and they continued in silence, Magnus scowling at the ground.

  Jamie stopped him outside of the house. "Dealing drugs is a stupid way to make money, kid. What if you get caught like almost happened tonight, then what? Huh? Have you thought about what it would do to your mom? Fuck kid!"

  Magnus pressed his lips together. "It's none of your fucking business."

  "You're right. I should've just let you get busted? Is that what you want?"

  As much as he hated this guy for interfering, tonight had been close.

  "I know about your other little "businesses" too. If you're caught, they'll send you to jail...adult jail. Not a pleasant place for a kid."

  Unease worked through his stomach, but he just glared at the older man, and without answering, turned away, running up the stairs and into the house without a backwards glance.

  Chapter Thirteen

  The Present

  "Hey Autumn, Mike here. How was your day?" The text read.

  Autumn smiled. She was genuinely happy to hear from him. She needed to let go of her fantasy man and the aching sadness she felt. Mike had been wonderful and he was real, not some guy in a mask who obviously didn't want anything to do with her.

  Mike had told her briefly about Steele as the man who owned the castle. Jay Steele was a real estate investor from the west coast.

  When she'd returned to town, she'd looked up Jay Steele and found there wasn't much else on him. Since she wasn't about to jump on a plane and try to find him, she needed to let him go.

  "Better now. Classes done, test taken!" She texted back.

  She slung her backpack over her shoulders and pushed open the double doors, getting a slap of chill air in the face. Huddling into her hood and slipping her hands in her pockets, she felt her phone buzz.

  "That's great! How about dinner tonight?"

  Trudging through the snow to the parking garage, she tapped a reply.

  "Sure. Meet somewhere?"

  "I can pick you up."

  She chewed her lip. What harm could come of giving him her address?

  She texted him back and they agreed on a time.

  "Wear something nice." He'd said, so she pulled out one of her only "nice" dresses, a black knit calf length turtleneck.

  He was exactly on time, and when Autumn opened the door, her stomach fluttered at how gorgeous he looked.

  Oh, those blue eyes. She hadn't seen him for almost a week. She'd forgotten how beautiful his eyes were, how much they resembled the deeper colors of a cut blue diamond, shadowed but full of light.

  With his black hair, he looked like a painting in bold, vivid colors. Her eyes descended his 6-foot-plus-plus frame and for a moment was breathless.

  Until he gave her his slightly goofy grin and put his hand up in greeting.

  "Hey."

  And just like that he was Mike again. Sweet, trustworthy Mike. She grinned back, standing on her tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek. He smelled good too, clean skin with a hint of after shave.

  His arm came around her waist to hold her steady and Autumn's attention was briefly pulled by how strong he was, then he released her and they headed for his car.

  Mike opened the door to his Kia and she slipped into the small, clean space. Wow, it was super clean.

  When he pulled out into traffic, Mike turned to her. "Sorry I couldn't take you in a Ferrari or a Porsche or something. You would look good in one of those."

  "Mike. This is a great car. I love the color." She smiled, laying a hand on his arm.

  He glanced at her hand and smiled as they came to a stop. "They call it Urban Blue. It really is a great, dependable car, but who doesn't dream of owning a Porsche or Rolls Royce?"

  Autumn shrugged. "I don't know; I kinda like dependable."

  His eyes locked onto hers and his voice dropped. "You're a sweet girl, Autumn."

  Was he flirting with her? She felt the deep vibration of his low voice in her belly, and she turned toward the window, taking a deep breath.

  If Mike had known how to switch a few things, make that sweet grin more seductive, his eyes intense and his body poised and cool, he would need a security team to keep the women away.

  Still, every once in a while, he made her body ache in response and then she would feel silly the next second.

  The valet held the door open when they arrived at the restaurant tugging her dress back in place. Mike came around and tossed his keys to the valet who looked from him to the car and back again, frowning.

  "Here's your ticket, Mr...." The kid couldn't finish as Mike cleared his throat, drowning out the next words.

  "Thank you..." He cocked his head to look at the nametag. "Darren. Appreciate your help."

  The valet slowly nodded and watched them walk away, clutching the bill Mike had stuffed in his hand.

  "What was wrong with him?" Autumn asked, as they headed toward the restaurant.

  "Astounded by your beauty?" Mike shrugged, eyes twinkling.

  Autumn rolled her eyes. "Hardly."

  They approached the blue restaurant doors, but instead of stepping through them, Mike went to the glass panel on the side, which opened to a smiling hostess.

  "Shall we?" He gestured with one hand while taking hers with the other.

  Autumn laughed and glanced at the doors that were just for decoration apparently.
"I feel like I'm in one of those fairy tales where things aren't what they seem."

  She looked back at Mike. His smile had wavered and he was watching her as if he was searching for something in her expression.

  She hesitated as they stood on the threshold, but then he slipped her hand into the crook of his arm and headed inside with a warm smile.

  "Hungry?"

  Autumn blinked. "Um...yes..."

  She picked up her menu and saw the name of the restaurant, which had somehow eluded her until then. Her head snapped up and she looked around her in astonishment. "Mike. This is Per Se!"

  "Mmhhmm." He agreed without looking up from the menu.

  "But..." Could he afford this? She looked at him. How could she tell him he didn't need to do this to impress her? How much did construction managers make anyway?

  Mike glanced up. "Let me treat you, Autumn. I've got it covered, okay?"

  She blushed. "I'm sorry. That was rude."

  He put down the menu and reached over the table, slipping her hand in his, his thumb stroking her fingers.

  "You're never rude, Autumn. I appreciate you looking out for my bank account, because that's where I assumed your thoughts went, but I would still bring you here even if it was on my last dime, which it is not."

  Autumn looked down at their hands. He could send heat through her body, and she didn't know quite what to make of it. She nodded and lifted her eyes to meet his. "Thank you."

  He gave her a lopsided smile. "You're welcome. Now..." He picked up his menu and nodded toward hers. "Do you know how it works here?"

  She frowned at the menu. "We order food?"

  He chuckled. "Ah...no. There is a tasting menu with nine courses."

  "Nine courses?" She choked out.

  "Yes, nine courses, but each course is a small portion. They serve a seasonal menu. I hope you like seafood."

  Autumn found she enjoyed his company. He told her stories about growing up in Brooklyn and touched on his family a little, but curiously he didn't say all that much about them.

  She told him about her family, the vineyard, papa's death when she was eight, and that mama was living part time in Italy.

  "So, what's it like owning a vineyard? Do you all get drunk every night?" He teased, his lips curving in a smile.

  Autumn stared at his lips. His smile was more personal than before, hotter, sexier. But then maybe it was her 3rd glass of wine. She thought she could hold her liquor better than she had been for the past week, but apparently not.

  She blinked, mentally shaking herself. "What? No, we do not get drunk every night." She answered with mock indignation, then gave him an impish smile. Scratching under her chin, she lowered her voice, making it raspy like the Godfather. "Just enough to maintain our place of honor and respect among the families."

  Mike let out a loud guffaw of laughter and Autumn giggled.

  She showed him pictures of her siblings on her phone.

  "Who's Mr. Smiley?" He asked, pointing to the picture of the definitely not smiling Clay.

  "My oldest brother, Clay. He's a little, uh, stern, but..." She stared at the picture. "he took over when my father died, including the raising of us younger siblings. He was eighteen, been accepted to Stanford, and...and, well, of course, that never happened for him."

  "Where was your mom?"

  "She took me and Jo...Giovanna...we were the two youngest...she took us to Italy for a couple of years. It took her a while to get over Papa's death."

  "So at eighteen, your brother managed a winery and took over looking out for his younger siblings?"

  Autumn nodded, lifting her glass to her lips. "At first, three younger brothers and my sister, Cynthia until Jo and I came back, then all of us. Clay had already been helping papa, so he knew most things about running the business. He just had to make sure everyone else knew it too. A lot of people tried to take it from us, but Clay fought them off with the help of his older employees and a slew of lawyers, of course."

  "That's pretty impressive for a kid." He said, and Autumn saw respect in his eyes.

  "He is a pretty amazing guy, but he can be stern and bossy. He was like our dad, tried to fill his shoes, making sure we all got to college and that we still worked at the winery when we could. He also grew the family holdings."

  "Family holdings? Like a dynasty?" Mike sounded amused, as he brought a bite to his lips.

  Autumn followed his movements. What in the world was so fascinating about his lips?

  When she brought her eyes back up, he was watching her. She blushed.

  "Dynasty. Oh, well, not really. Clay started looking for businesses to invest in, but then he decided to start a few of our own. That's when he started our first restaurant. Now we have five restaurants from Santa Barbara to La Jolla and a publishing house."

  He lifted his eyebrow. "A publishing house? Huh. Why publishing?"

  She'd never considered it unusual before but now thinking about it, a winery owning a publishing house wasn't typical.

  "Jake, that's my second oldest brother. Jake wanted to publish sports books, which is how it got started, and now we publish almost everything a typical house does...except romance which they'll be adding this coming year. Clay finally broke down Jake's resistance and he'll be hiring a romance editor in the spring, I think."

  "What made the difference?"

  "Money." She laughed. "Jake couldn't ignore the numbers anymore."

  Mike grinned. "Profits are hard to ignore."

  "Jake likes his toys. He already has three cars, one is a Bugatti and that cost more than a college education. No one can drive it but him, so yeah."

  "Your brother has expensive taste."

  She blushed, remembering Mike's Kia. Did he think she was bragging? Would he feel weird that her family had money?

  Sometime during dinner, Mike had lost some of the goofy charm and became just a man. It made her slightly uncomfortable. He was supposed to be her friend, a friend, not a potential boyfriend, yet she found herself gazing into his eyes, feeling flutters from his smiles and bursting with happiness at his laughter.

  Where was that goofy smile that was his trademark? Did it disappear when he was relaxed and not so nervous?

  It had been forever since she'd talked about her family. Mike was so easy to be with and he was good company. She enjoyed the food and the atmosphere of the restaurant but she was pretty sure she would have felt the same anywhere, as long as Mike was there with her.

  He walked her to the door of her apartment but turned down her offer for a nightcap.

  "I have an early morning, but I was wondering if you'd like to go skating at Rockefeller Center on Saturday." He brushed her chin with his gloved hand.

  "I'd love to." She breathed and tilted up to receive the kiss she saw in his eyes.

  His mouth was warm and gentle, caressing her lips. Her legs wobbled when he released her, only his hand at her waist keeping her from collapsing in a starry-eyed heap.

  "So I'll see you Saturday." He said steadily so she began to doubt he felt anything from their kiss.

  She nodded, smiling, and he bounded down the stairs, leaving her breathless.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Magnus adjusted his pants, his erection straining against the restrictive material. Fuck. He was beginning to hate Mike Connor.

  He really should end this fucking fiasco.

  He was supposed to be blackmailing her brother. He should've already contacted Moretti and been done with it. But he wasn't ready for Autumn to hate him. And she would when she found out. He would never again see her smile with that sultry innocence or watch the light in her eyes when she laughed.

  It would happen.

  Just not yet. He wouldn't let it happen yet.

  He didn't like the thought of her despising him. And she would despise him. How could she not? She was from a world the polar opposite of his.

  He rounded the car and hesitated, leaning on the roof, and looking down the crowded street.
r />   He had no business talking to her, let alone touching her. He would never have approached her under normal circumstances.

  She was beautiful in the way of true beauty, from the inside out. She made his heartbeat, made him feel like the kid he never was, never could've been.

  She made him hope.

  She was one of those women who could feel the ugly pain of the world and not let it overwhelm her. No matter how far she had to walk through the fire, it would only make her a more compassionate person.

  At least he hoped it would because he was adding fuel to that fire.

  If his life had been different, he might have been one of those guys to write her pages and pages of poetry, read her sonnets, compare her to the moon, and make a fucking idiot of himself.

  He shoved his hands in his pockets. She might not think he was an idiot; she was the type to like that kind of shit. Maybe he would write something for her. Something small. A few lines, maybe.

  * * * * * *

  "Mike!" He heard her from across the square and felt his heart quicken, his blood suddenly thrumming through his ears.

  Magnus turned to scan the crowd, looking for her and finally finding a flash of golden hair, topped by a mint green knit cap. She waved, a big grin curving her pink lips.

  He felt his lips curving as he watched her. She was so fucking sweet, like sunshine and cotton candy. She trotted down the steps, almost crashing into him from exhilaration and momentum. He caught her, lessening the impact as his arms slid around her waist.

  "Oh." She gasped. "Are you okay?"

  Magnus chuckled. "Are you okay?"

  "I'm wonderful." Autumn's flushed cheeks and sparkling eyes were confirmation of that fact.

  "You smell good." He said, moving closer to her. He hadn't meant to say it, but the words slipped out unbidden. It was true. "Did you just come from the candy store?" He asked, smiling down into her sunny face.

  She laughed. "No. I did not, but great line."

  He gave her his Mike grin. "I'm serious."

  He was starting to forget he was supposed to be a different guy. The lines were blurring, but the whole point of Mike had been to make her trust him and didn't she trust him now? Couldn't he relax the Mike persona?