Все главы Stealing the Heart of Mr. Steele: Глава 141 - Глава 150

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Chapter 141

[Cordelia]The world stops. "Hit by a bus," and "tragic accident" were the last things I heard right before all the other sounds around me became white noise.It feels like Deja vu, only I can imagine this is what my parents felt like when they heard that the two of us had gotten into a near-fatal car accident. Did their world stop spinning too when they heard about Angelica and me?Sitting stunned and numb at the foot of the bed, the comforter pulled around me like a cloak, I didn't even notice that Atlas had left until he came back into the room. He must have called down to the concierge to have clothing brought up because as soon as he sees me he hands me a little bundle of comfortable, soft clothing while he pulls off his bathrobe and begins dressing from his own small pile. "It's going to be okay," he murmurs on repeat as we both get ready, "It'll be okay, Cordelia, it'll be okay." I have a hard time believing him. It doesn't matter how many times he repeats those words. Every
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Chapter 142

[Cordelia]I am grateful for Atlas' company as he guides me down the long hallways to where we both plan to get tested as potential donors. I hold onto his arm tightly as I explain to him how I've been deathly afraid of needles since our car accident 5 years ago. "I know I got off easy," I acknowledge, "I wasn't the one in a coma, Angelica was. But I had gotten knocked around bad enough to need a couple of days in the hospital.""I remember," Atlas looks like his mind is far away, his eyes unfocused as he stares in front of him. "I was there too. I," he looks at me sadly. "I visited both of you. Even though you had been the one driving, and even though I was so angry at you, I still..." he pauses. "I still felt this need to keep you safe, to protect you.""An annoying trait you still haven't outgrown," I try to joke, to help ease the tension.But it doesn't go the way I had hoped. Both Atlas and I are still too overwhelmed with the tragic nostalgia of shared grief and past trauma to f
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Chapter 143

[Cordelia]"She's going to find out one way or the other," My father hisses. "How would you like her to find out? From us or the doctors?" He grumps. "Or even worse, the media?"I take a step backward. I want to hear what they are saying, but I also feel guilty about eavesdropping and nervous about their words. What is it that they are hiding from me now? Is there no end to their secrets? And how does it concern me?"Nobody is going to find out," she insists. "Isn't that why you pay these doctors so well? To hide our family secrets. I'm sure that physician told her everything he felt she needed to hear.""But how can you be so sure," my father insists. "Things this big tend to find a way to float to the surface where everyone can see it. "She will never forgive us for not being honest with her, Stephen," she sighs. "Is that what you want? To lose two daughters this week?"Two? Angelica, is she going to die?"Is Angelica dying?" I can't keep the tears out of my voice as I turn the cor
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Chapter 144

[Cordelia]The four of us rush towards Angelica's room. A thousand different scenarios are playing in my head as we all skid around the corner, none of them prepare us for what we find when we make it to her room. Her machines are fine. She's exactly as she was. The person in the bed next to her is the one who is in dire need. The nurses in the room create a barrier between us and the other patient by pulling a long, wide curtain in the space between the two beds, but not fast enough for me to miss seeing the body in the bed convulsing as the patient struggles to breathe around a tube that was keeping them alive.The curtain isn't enough to protect us from the sounds of the doctors and nurses working frantically to stop the patient from seizing, nor does it stop us from hearing them say "critical condition," or "they are going flatline!" "Dear God," Atlas says under his breath pulling me in tighter. We all turn to look at Angelica. We had all thought it was her. At that moment we
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Chapter 145

"Now Meghan," my father rubs her back in an attempt to calm her. "Cordelia had nothing to do with this accident."THIS accident. He doesn't need to mention the other accident. We all know that I'm the one to blame for that one. I was the one driving after all. "Of course she is," she sobs, wiping her nose and her eyes with the back of her hands, leaving ugly streaks of black across her face. "If she wasn't so busy stealing her sister's fiance, Angelica would be at home right now planning her engagement party." Her glare is burning hot with anger. "If she wasn't being Atlas' whore, Angelica would have found her fiance exactly where she expected him to be. "I sit there stunned. Is that how they see me? As Atlas' whore? We were married for 5 years--a marriage they arranged for me. I remind them of this, and my mother scoffs, rolling her eyes. "You're pregnant by his brother, engaged to him, and yet Angelica found you two in bed together." Her voice grows louder, drawing the attention
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Chapter 146

[Cordelia]Atlas is looking up at me with so much fear, so much longing. My mouth goes dry as he takes my hand and gently kisses it.From within his car, he pulls out a small box. "This morning, before your mother called, I had texted Clark to bring me this."He opens a small green velvet box. Inside is a delicate ring of gorgeous gold filigree in an art-nouveau style. In the center is a smallish green emerald and two smaller diamonds."It was my grandmother's." He explains. "And before her, my great-grandmother's." He holds it up to me. "I know it isn't much, but in that era, it was in style to have a smaller gemstone. The ring is 100 years old and..."He's so nervous that he is rambling, waiting to be released from his one-knee torture of kneeling in the traditional position.The only thing is, he hasn't asked me "the question" and I don't want to answer in case I am wrong.What if he just wanted to apologize and be fancy while doing it? I don't want to presume."I wanted to have a
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Chapter 147

[Atlas]Some days I wonder if my life would be easier if I never learned to fall in love.Watching Cordelia slowly fall, clutching our child protectively, her face twisted in pain, is more frightening than facing my own demise. I would gladly die a thousand deaths to keep that look of suffering from her face."It's nothing, Atlas. I'll be fine."I am too scared to speak. All I can do is hold her close and pray that she is right and this isn't what I fear it to be. My grandparents had eight children. Only one survived past infancy. My parents had four mid-term miscarriages before me. It was their first successful pregnancy. Clark and I are so many years apart because it took them another seven years to conceive again, and he was premature. Thank God for modern medicine or my little brother would have joined our siblings in the afterlife. My family is cursed. "It's just a cramp," Cordelia insists as I run into the Emergency Room, my entire universe contained within my arms. "I get cra
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Chapter 148

[Cordelia]Labor. The word hits me like a brick in the chest. "No," I argue. "I can't be in labor, It's too soon."Atlas squeezes my hand as he gently pats my back as the nurse explains that while a child can survive outside the womb at 24 weeks with a lot of intervention, the odds are not favorable. "I will consult with the obstetrician, who will also want to examine you," he looks over his computer at me while he types a few more notes. "But if I were you I'd be prepared to stay the night, maybe longer, for observation."The nurse leaves and my new obstetrician, Dr. Bennet enters. "Call me Susanna, please," she insists, her perfect chestnut curls bouncing as she does her examination."So good news or bad news," she asks with a chipper grin. I'd be annoyed if she wasn't so genuine and cute.I can't decide what I want to hear first, so she chooses for me. "Well, the good news is, you are very healthy and your baby looks healthy."Okay, that doesn't sound bad at all. "And the bad ne
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Chapter 149

He kisses my neck again. And again. "Atlas," I moan, my sensitive skin eager for even the smallest touch. "We're in a parking lot."“Hmm…” he mumbles against my neck, ignoring my protests. “I have to follow the doctor’s orders” he insists. I can feel the outline of his smirk against my shoulder as he continues his gentle assault. "So relax and let me love you.""Shouldn't we be getting home?” my voice hitches as his hand finds my breast, my nipple growing hard in response to his caress. "Eventually,” he agrees as he pushes down the strap of my shirt to give himself easier access to my tender flesh. “And when we get there we are not leaving my bedroom.”“We can’t stay there for the next 8 weeks,” I laugh as his scruffy stubble tickles my cheek. “Um, is that a challenge?” he locks the wheelchair and helps me stand. Pressing me against the side of the car his hand reaches up my shirt. “I like a good challenge.""Atlas, this is not what the doctor meant," I laugh as I push at him playf
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Chapter 150

When I open my eyes, I find myself blinking as sunlight streaks through the open door. "Oh good," he smiles. "You're awake. I..." he looks down at his hands, suddenly nervous. "I have something I want to show you.""How long was I asleep?" I ask meekly as I rub my eyes, Atlas leading me down a gravel road. "Where are we? This isn't the estate."The Steele Family estate is nestled in the heights above Beverly Hills. We are nowhere near that now. "I told you I was taking you home," he grins up at me through his lashes, his fingers interlaced with mine. Lately, the Atlas Steele I've seen has been more shy than confident. Could it be that his confidence hides an inner fear of rejection? "I wanted to wait until I received your answer...but I also can't wait to show you this place. I...I hope you like it.""What is this about, Atlas," I query as the driveway bends around and empties into a beautiful garden of roses and jasmine and other flowers in bright colors, the whole space glowing wi
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