Heart of Steele

by Alysha Huddleston

  He sipped his drink and rubbed at his chest, the emptiness having turned into a suffocating ache.

  He'd wanted her so fucking much.

  He'd needed her.

  He'd needed her laughter and smiles, her optimism in the face of life's shit. Maybe having a brother in the FBI had given her an inevitable understanding that sometimes life sucked, sometimes life was dark and messy and didn't always work out. Whatever it was, she had looked on his darkness, stepped into his world, and she hadn't lost that innocent strength that seemed to always be with her.

  Had he wanted her so much, he'd ignored the warnings?

  His phone buzzed again.

  He glanced at the name. Unknown.

  His heart picked up.

  Autumn?

  Yeah, well, he'd fucking ignore it.

  When it clicked to voicemail, he jabbed the buttons to listen.

  "Steele, this is Moretti. Is Autumn with you?" His voice was terse. "Call me or I'll be there in five minutes to break down your fucking door."

  What a shithead. But worry nagged at him. He turned, slamming down his drink. She wasn't his problem. Not now. He sucked in a breath, raking a hand through his hair. Let Moretti babysit the annoying woman.

  Magnus rubbed the back of his neck.

  Fuck.

  He grabbed his phone and hit redial.

  "Steele. Is Autumn with you?"

  "No, she's not working for me anymore." He would've said so you're on your own, but he couldn't. He needed to know if she was okay. "I haven't seen her since last Wednesday."

  He heard a sharp intake of breath. "Fuck."

  "What the hell is going on, Moretti??"

  "Her friends called me. She hasn't been at school for two days, which isn't like her. And she isn't answering my calls either. They go directly to voicemail. I went by her apartment and she's not there. Give me something, Steele, anything will help."

  Magnus squeezed his eyes shut.

  Think.

  Goddammit. Think.

  Wait.

  His tail.

  Ah shit. No.

  Jamie said the car had been Sinclair's, but it had stopped following him last week, and he'd assumed Sinclair had just been checking things out before he bought the clubs. Yeah it had pissed him off, but it was more annoying than dangerous, and he'd have done something similar.

  He could feel fury licking at him.

  What the fuck would Sinclair want with Autumn?

  To screw with him?

  He would fucking kill the bastard and tear his fucking head off.

  "Yeah." He gritted. "I might know. Meet me outside Ashton Sinclair's office."

  Magnus hung up and called Jamie. "Autumn's missing. We're going to Sinclair's. Meet me there ASAP. Bring Tony and Ronan."

  * * * * * *

  The man was nervous, pacing the stained, threadbare carpet. His hair plastered to his sweaty forehead, hands fidgeting, one hand punching the other.

  He whipped around, glaring at her, and she dropped her eyes, heart racing with a dread that clutched at her stomach.

  Both he and the other man in the room had guns, and she wasn't about to get them angrier by mouthing off.

  What could they possibly want with her? All she knew was it had something to do with Magnus.

  "You better fucking hope he takes this seriously." He glowered in her face.

  Autumn kept her eyes down, fear skidding along her spine. Did he mean Magnus? Did Magnus know this man? Did Matt? A million questions flooded her, but she couldn't speak when he got closer and a waft of stale breath filled the air. She tried not to gag.

  "I'm talking to you, bitch!" He grabbed her chin, his fingernails digging into her flesh and yanked her head toward him, wrenching her neck.

  She cried out and blinked back the tears filling her eyes. "What do you want?" She hissed, ditching her plan to keep quiet as fury swept through her.

  He narrowed his eyes and pushed her away. "Magnus's slut" He scoffed.

  His gazed landed on her chest, his lips stretching in a sneer as he reached toward her. Autumn flinched and pulled back from his hand, but the desk she was tied to didn't allow her to move any further.

  "Don't." She clenched her jaw, holding rigid.

  He smirked and started to fumble with her top. Autumn spit with all her force in his face. He jumped back.

  "You fucking whore." He screamed, and lunged forward, swinging his fist. The impact against her jaw threw her to the side, pain exploding in her temple and down her neck.

  A whimper caught in her throat and she swallowed it down, her breath dragging through her nose. Teeth clenched, she stared stonily ahead, ignoring the pain.

  He stormed away, leaving her with the other man, quiet in the corner, watching her with a blank expression. Her eyes flicked down, and she saw the gun held negligently in his hand.

  "Why am I here?"

  He didn't move or speak.

  "Why am I here?" She demanded, her voice rising in desperation. Nothing. She dropped her head, squeezing back another rush of tears.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Guns drawn, Magnus and his men stormed the offices of Ashton Sinclair. The men inside immediately yanked their guns out, fixing them on the trespassing group, two on Magnus, who ignored the danger and strode straight to Sinclair's desk, his gun pointing at the man's head.

  "Where the fuck is she, Sinclair?" His voice was low and menacing.

  "Steele." The man nodded politely as if they were meeting for fucking tea at the palace.

  "Answer me, or I swear to god, I will put a fucking bullet through your head." Magnus didn't waver, his eyes holding the other's narrowed gaze.

  "You won't walk out of here alive, you know that." said the other man. "Which is why I'm trying to figure out the reason you'd put yourself in this predicament."

  "Location, Sinclair." Magnus gritted out, his breath barely making his chest rise as his focus centered on the one person who could save Autumn. "Now."

  "I don't have her, Steele." He said, watching Magnus closely as he said the name. "Jamie told me someone's been using one of my cars to tail you. It was Sean Murphy and not at my direction. I'm fairly certain he has her."

  Magnus's gut twisted sharply. Murphy had already sent one of his girls to the hospital. Sinclair must have seen the flash of trepidation in Magnus's expression.

  "Yes. You would probably rather I had her than Sean. Spite isn't the game I play, as you know." Sinclair regarded him with sympathy. "The brick 5-story warehouse near Hunts point. Midship Way. It's my best guess."

  Magnus assessed the man who was coolly watching him.

  He lowered his gun and nodded, taking a step back, then turned.

  "Let's go." He strode out the open doorway, emerging into a pool of artificial light from the street lamps. He scanned the area for Matt who was waiting near the cars with several of his agents.

  "He gave me a location." Magnus took a deep breath of the dusky air. He hadn't felt fear like this for so long, he was having a hard time keeping it under control. "We have to go in quiet. If he knows we're there, he'll...kill her and try to run." The ache in his gut made his voice throb and he caught Matt's intent gaze.

  He flicked his eyes to the group of FBI agents. "Your men need to stay outside. I won't risk Murphy getting skittish. Ride with me. The less vehicles, the better."

  Matt hesitated, searching the other man's face, then nodded reluctantly. "Fine, but don't fuck this up."

  The two men stared hard at each other, each one struggling with fury and anguish, trying to maintain a composure neither felt.

  Magnus looked away, raking an unsteady hand through his hair. "If I fuck this up, you'll be the least of my problems." He said and turned, not waiting for a reply.

  Moretti slid into the passenger seat beside Magnus, crossing his arms and staring ahead.

  They gunned down familiar side streets, avoiding the thick traffic. Magnus thought of Autumn. Like a petulant kid, he had accused her of b
etraying him, but he hadn't really listened to her.

  She'd told him why she'd been in his office and he'd ignored her, hadn't wanted to listen to her excuses, but maybe they hadn't been excuses, maybe she had been telling the truth.

  Taking a sharp left and jamming his foot on the gas, he voiced his doubts. "Did you tell Autumn to go through my shit?"

  "What?" Moretti bit out.

  "I caught Autumn in my home office going through my files. Did you put her up to it?" He still didn't look at him. It would just add rage to the already emotional upheaval he was feeling.

  "You don't even know her, do you?" Moretti snapped, shaking his head. "Autumn would rather tear out her heart than hurt someone, especially someone she cares about. I would never even ask it of her."

  Magnus's gut wrenched in despair and regret. Of course she wouldn't. How could he have thought otherwise? How could he have hurt her? Now she was in the hands of a fucking lunatic and he was to blame.

  They hit the cross street and killed the engine as they pulled along the curb, hidden from the warehouse by a second building.

  Jumping out of the car, Magnus hurried along the side of the building, Moretti close behind. It was dark enough that even if Murphy was looking out a window, he wouldn't be able to see them, but they still crossed to the side of the building that had the least windows and no lights.

  He saw Matt plaster himself against the outside wall, his gun drawn, while their backup, both FBI agents and Magnus's guys, spread out, slipping into the shadows.

  With everyone in place, Magnus strode to one of the doors on their side. Its upper half a shattered mess of broken glass, while rust ate away at the metal hinges.

  He eased it open and slipped through the narrow space, sidling up the metal stairs to the walkway, where he would have a better view of the entire warehouse.

  He stopped to listen, for voices, activity, anything that would help him find her, but there was complete silence.

  He continued, moving like a whisper over the metal slats. He searched for a light from below or in one of the offices above lining the perimeter on all five floors. Shit. He couldn't see enough from that spot.

  He found another set of stairs to the third level walkway and stared into an office with a dim light under the drawn shades.

  He quickly rounded the corner, traveling fast now along one side of the long wall before rounding the corner that would take him to the office on the other side.

  Slowing his breathing, he focused his mind on something other than the fear that crept like poison through his gut and pointed his gun to the ceiling as he edged to the office window.

  The grimy glass was obscured by partially open blinds, but as he flicked his eyes over the room, he caught sight of Autumn sitting on the floor at the far side, leaning against a desk.

  He inched forward and saw her hands tied to the leg. Fury clawed at him and he took a deep breath, letting it calm his emotions before going in.

  Never let anger own you. You'll make a mistake. He could hear Jamie's voice over and over in his head. No emotion. He'd done this too many times to make a mistake now.

  He continued scanning the room, looking for Sean or accomplices. He had no idea how many people were involved, and he didn't want to find out the hard way.

  Magnus turned and scoured the dim walkway before moving quietly to the door. Magnus scanned the other side of the room. Crouching alongside the door, he laid his hand on the knob. Slowly he pushed the door open.

  Autumn lifted her tear-streaked face, the fear that flashed in her eyes gradually replaced by a desperate relief. A deep purple bruise covered one side of her face and a cut covered in blood split her lip.

  Rage sliced through him. He wanted to hunt down the motherfucker, but he needed to focus and get her out of there.

  Revenge later.

  Laying a finger to his lips, he hurried the few feet to her and crouched down.

  "Magnus." She whispered, brokenly, stifling a sob, fresh tears rushing down her cheeks.

  "I'm here, baby. Everything's going to be fine." He said softly, cupping her unharmed cheek, then jabbing his thumb behind him indicating for her to watch the door. She nodded and he flicked his knife open, carefully cutting the ropes that bound her wrists, before quickly moving to the bindings on her feet.

  It wasn't until he heard Autumn gasp that he knew Sean was behind him.

  "Gun." She whispered, bringing her anguished eyes back to his. She assumed he would be dead before he could turn with his own gun, and she was right.

  "Magnus fucking Steele." The man's voice poured into his veins like black vapor. "Last time we saw each other, I believe you were threatening me and then left me to your goons."

  A harsh breath of amusement shot into the air behind him. "Now here you are. And guess what? I'm going to kill you, and I'll fuck your bitch when you're gone."

  He heard Autumn 's sharp intake of breath.

  Although a sickening dread flooded his stomach, he needed to start talking, stalling.

  "Sean..." Before he could get another word out, a gunshot pierced the quiet, ricocheting against the walls.

  Autumn flinched as Magnus covered her body with his. Then a weight fell behind him.

  He grabbed his gun and spun half way around, making sure he still shielded Autumn. His eyes were pulled to the floor where Sean lay sprawled, a bullet hole through the back of his head.

  Jesus.

  What the fuck?

  Magnus flicked his eyes through the door.

  The tiny red flame of a burning cigarette flickered from the walkway, and Magnus squinted his eyes to see into the shadows.

  Silver glinted alongside the red.

  Sinclair?

  Magnus didn't move, waiting for the other man's next move, but there wasn't one. Sinclair had killed Sean, saving him and Autumn.

  He nodded slowly. The other man gave him a two-finger salute, then turned and disappeared into the shadows.

  Running boots and doors slamming open echoed through the empty space while Magnus finished cutting Autumn free. He pulled her up and clasped her to him. Fuck, he'd been so goddamned scared, but she was alive and he would never let her go.

  They clung to each other, her choked sobs making his heart squeeze in pain, his arms wrapped tightly around her, his face buried in her hair.

  "It's over now. Shh. It's all over, love." He murmured, stroking her back. He picked her up, his arms tight as he cradled her and left the room just as the walkway rattled with men clamoring across the metal grating.

  Matt swung around the corner, his quick gaze taking in the body on the floor and Autumn in Magnus's arms. He released the breath he'd probably been holding for far too long, shoving a free hand through his hair.

  He cupped Autumn's cheek, his gaze sweeping her face, his jaw clenching as relief and anger warred on his face. He glanced at Magnus who shook his head. He didn't want to explain now. He'd tell him later.

  "You all right, tum-tum?" Matt asked quietly, taking a deep breath and trying to sound calm.

  She smiled softly at his use of her childhood nickname, her face weary, then nodded, before her expression suddenly changed, a tear trickling down her cheek.

  "I’m sorry, Mattie." She whispered, emotion clogging her throat.

  "Hey, hey. None of that, now." He glanced at Magnus and swallowed like he had to force out what he was about to say. "Magnus will take care of you while we get this cleaned up, okay?"

  She nodded and Magnus tightened his hold on her, feeling the weight of fear in his chest dissolve.

  He swept Autumn down the passage, the odd gathering of his men and FBI agents all nodding as they passed.

  Epilogue

  The cloudless blue sky and perfect 75 degree day were straight out of a kid's picture book, and Magnus couldn't help the grin that crossed his face holding Autumn's hand and walking up to her family home that stood like a shimmering dream in the California sun.

  Reached by a circular drive and su
rrounded by colorful gardens, the gold washed seven-bedroom mansion sprouted Italian style balconies. Picture book, fairy tale or dream, the place reminded him of his wife, her optimism and enthusiasm, and her effervescent beauty. Autumn Moretti Steele.

  He turned and caught her sparkling eyes and that impish smile that was both sultry and innocent, the one that had him falling in love with her in those first few days at the cabin, a lifetime ago.

  They had married in a private ceremony in New York with just Jamie and Matt as witnesses. He hadn't wanted to wait after the kidnapping, and Autumn had agreed as long as they had a reception for the families soon after.

  He'd met the Moretti family when they'd come out for Autumn's graduation, but this time was different. Now he was in their territory.

  "Ready for the Moretti challenge?" Autumn laughed.

  "Bring it on, baby." He grinned, sweeping her into an embrace and kissing her deeply. "I love you, Mrs. Steele." He murmured, as he dropped hints of kisses along her lips and cheeks.

  "You know that won't save you, right?" She teased, before they walked behind the house where a tire had been set up...no, two tires, just for him.

  "I see what you mean." He mumbled.

  But Autumn huffed, putting her hands on her hips. "Two tires? Oh no they don't."

  "It's okay, baby, I got this." He hedged. He hadn't thrown a football since college, early college before he'd dropped out, and he had no idea if he could do it.

  He wasn't exactly worried, but no man wanted to look bad in front of the woman he loved, and the Moretti boys were fucking bloodthirsty.

  Jake and Danny bounded down the back stairs, trying not to bust up, and Clay followed them with unhurried steps, but with a knowing smirk of his own aimed at the newest member of the family.

  The best part was if he missed, they couldn't get rid of him like they had her other boyfriends. He wasn't going anywhere. He wasn't going to be chased away from the fucking best thing that had ever happened to him.

  He looked down at Autumn. Autumn Moretti Steele. Mrs. Steele. He had to keep saying it because it was still hard for him to believe. She was his.