All Chapters of Stealing the Heart of Mr. Steele: Chapter 271 - Chapter 280

[Delilah]The entertainment news station has Atlas and Cordelia's break-up playing in an almost continuous loop. They were prepared for this. They were even hoping for it. "Go ahead and use my name," I offered. "My father already assumes and it will help with the plan." And yet, even so, I flinch every time she says "Delilah" with so much venom. That bitter, vengeful harpy of a woman is not the Cordelia Steele I've come to know over the last couple of weeks. Patiently I wait for my phone to ring. I expect he'll call any moment now. If someone had told me two weeks ago that everything would change that night, I'd When I got on my bicycle two weeks ago, heading out for a last-minute delivery to a wedding, I never thought it would be a pivotal moment in my life. But it was. Nothing was the same. ______________________________________________[Two weeks ago]After spending the evening speaking with Stephen Greyson I learned about Angelica and Sydney. Looking at their photos felt surr

[Cordelia]Steadying my frayed nerves with a deep breath, I realize I can't remember the last time I spoke with him. Oh yes, now I remember. It was when he was threatening my life."Cordelia, are you there?""Jude," I hiss. "Why are you calling?"There is a long pause. "You know why. "He must be somewhere that he can't speak freely. Then why did he call me? Why not wait? "Is he okay?" My little guy is so small and precious. "Is he...?"Would he call just to tell me he's dead? That my precious little joy is gone from the world, lost and far away, without his mother to calm him. "He's doing well now that I've adjusted his treatment. He still has a long way to go until recovery but..."Jude gives me precise medical details of my son's current condition. With his skills, he was able to bring him back from near critical. He's become quite familiar with the disease since working on Magnus' son, Devin. "Listen, I don't have a lot of time before she wakes up," he murmurs rapidly. "Listen.

[Jude]She isn't Angelica. No amount of wishing her to be Angelica will make her into the woman that I once loved. That I still love--I don't think it is possible for me to ever stop loving her. I knew what she was about when she started flirting, but I was lonely enough to not care. Now I just wish she'd go away, that I could forget we even started this mess. This isn't right, this fooling around. Especially now that I know she is playing around with my affections just to keep me under Magnus' control. I wish I hadn't seen that text on her phone. I could have gone on believing we had something real if I hadn't"It's 5:30," I nudge her foot and she groans, rolling over, her beautifully round breasts cresting the comforter. "It's time for you to get back to your job. Jasper will be hungry and Henri will be worried." "Do I have to," Sydney pouts, her eyes still closed as pulls the blankets roughly over her naked form, flashing her other assets in the process. Closing my eyes, I turn aw

[Cordelia]I've never been so happy, to get so little sleep. But in the morning the reality of our situation came to rest on us both as a crushing weight. We need to lure Magnus into our trap, but how?"We need to make a loud, public show of it," Atlas decides as he runs a finger up my naked spine, using my back as a prop as he maps out our plans, his fingers dancing along my ribs. "We need to taunt him into coming forward, get him to want to come to us." The problem is, that Magnus is an intelligent, complex man. He must know that someone at his headquarters is feeding us information. He's very likely testing Jude with this information that our baby's time is limited. "Do you want to risk that though," I sit up, grabbing a nearby robe. "What if Jude's report is correct? Our son will only have weeks to live without his treatment. "What he needs is the cure," Atlas looks up towards the attic. "But if we put the cure out there, he'll steal it. There is no way around it.""What if we

[Cordelia]Atlas turns the book around and shows me the pages in the book where his mother explains the locking mechanism she installed on the box. According to her notes, she had finished the lock only a week before she died."She knew," a tear fell on the yellowed paper. "She must have known he was coming for the cure. She made this lock knowing. And the key," he shows me her drawing of the comb with rays of light bouncing from the gems. It is a lovely rendering, the comb looking like a precious bit of treasure."She made sure it was something that would stay in the family," I marvel, laughing. "The first real present you ever give me turns out to be the key to saving our family. You weren't kidding when you told me it is priceless."There were so many moments when this precious heirloom could have been lost forever. I almost left it behind at the first fashion expo, it nearly burned in the fire that had been set at my studio as well. I almost gave it up for collateral for what ended