Stealing the Heart of Mr. Steele novel Chapter 134

[Atlas]

Fueled by the need to find her, to tell her how wrong I was, I race out of the building and onto the street. I don't have anything on me but the clothes on my back and my phone tucked away in a pocket.

With my rumpled jacket and hair, I could be anyone on the street. Nobody would mistake me for being myself. I wasn't billionaire Atlas Steele, I was just an ordinary guy desperately looking for his pregnant wife on the streets of LA.

"Damn it, Cordelia," I curse as I feel the wind pick up and remember that she left the house without a coat. "Where the hell did you go?"

"Hola senor," A sweet woman pulling in her laundry calls from her balcony. "You lost?"

"Un poquito," I hold up my fingers to express that I am a little bit turned around. "I am looking for my wife. I think she came this way. Very pretty, very pregnant."

I make a round gesture over my belly and she laughs playfully, amused by my poor attempts at pantomime.

"La bonita prenada mujer," she nods. "I see her, senor." She points in the direction of the nearby neighborhood center lined with small businesses and family restaurants and explains that she saw her speaking with a kind old man. Smiling my thanks I head off in the direction she indicated, thanking my lucky stars for the kindness of strangers.

LA often gets a bad rap for being an unfriendly, artificial place. But if you know where to look, you can find the kindest, most genuine people.

Just as I turn the corner the rain starts to fall. It is gentle at first and feels refreshing on my fevered skin. I hope that she has taken shelter, even if that does make my search a bit more difficult.

There are dozens of shops and restaurants in this square. I immediately eliminate half of them, but that still leaves dozens of possibilities.

What does Cordelia like to do when she is upset?

After spending a couple of hours looking through every bookstore, coffee shop, frozen yogurt, and shoe store, I realized that I have no idea what she might like to do when she is upset. I tend to be the reason why, and she tends to storm away from me. What she does after that is a mystery.

As I'm thinking this, I hear a familiar voice. It takes me a few minutes, but I see her standing across the way, speaking with an older gentleman who looks a little too dashing and far too predatory to be harmless. My face grows red with old jealous rage. Was she on some kind of date, with this old man?

Is that why she left in such a hurry? To meet him?

Looking at Cordelia's face I see a bit of trepidation.

I should have never doubted her. Whatever is happening between them it is not a romantic tryst. She looks a bit frightened of him.