Page 96 of Stolen Sun

The image on the screen is of Declan kissing a different woman passionately while he holds her hair and presses her back into a wall. This time I can’t stop the bile. I throw up on the floor beside my chair.

Veronica runs out of the room to return with towels and cleaner.

“I can’t imagine how you must feel. I told Nate it would be too much too fast for any woman. He’s just so in love with you. He wants you back and doesn’t want to wait any longer.”

“Why would you agree to give up your own child?” I ask her as she cleans my vomit off the floor.

“I’ll still see the baby every day as his nanny. I could never give a child the life they deserve, so this is the only way for me to be a good mother,” she says, softly.

Damn it!She’s so broken that I can’t even hate her. She’s just as much a victim in this as her baby, as me.

“Let me go. We can both leave while he’s away. Declan and I can help you start a life of your own to raise your baby,” I offer, trying to convince her.

“Noel, Isaiah will kill me if he finds me. I borrowed a lot of money from him to afford to not work for a year. He doesn’t know that Nate paid my bills. But I gave Nate all the money Isaiah loaned me, and I can’t pay it back. I’ve made my choice. Besides, Declan may not be your best option either,” she says, pointing at the screen.

This image has a timestamp of only two weeks ago. He’s standing in an elevator in front of a woman on her knees. Clothes are piled in the corner, and his pants are obviously undone.

“Oh, God, no,” I sob.

“I’m here for you,” she says, patting my leg as she speaks.

Then, she’s out the door, leaving me to watch image after image of Declan with other women while “You are my Sunshine” plays on repeat from the music box.

Chapter twenty-four

Declan

We watch from various points around the house, as a man wearing all black steps out for a cigarette. When he’s almost done, another one joins him. The morning is so quiet their voices carry across the yard and through the trees.

“You gave her too much last night. There’s no way he doesn’t notice, and he’s going to come out pissed at you,” the first man says to the second.

“She might have some memory loss, but it won’t hurt her,” the second answers, shrugging his shoulders.

Rage surges through me. It’s all the confirmation I need that Noel is inside. They must’ve drugged her, and she hasn’t woken up yet. If Zander wasn’t standing on my feet to keep me in place, I’d already be charging the house. The toes of his boots dig into mine as he shakes his head slowly and warns me to stay put with his glare.

Clenching my jaw and fists, I watch over his shoulder as they both go back into the house. Zander backs off at my deep breath, and I pull my phone out to call Garrett back.

“Who the fuck brought her here?” I whisper-shout into the phone.

“Nate,” he says, dropping the name like a fucking explosive.

“Tiny fucking pieces, G,” I say.

“Yes, sir,” he answers and ends the call.

Zander was close enough to overhear. His blue eyes stare at me in surprise at what we just heard.

“He’s mine.”

Zander nods at me just as we hear the door open behind us. Nate walks out and gets into a car to leave. We let him go, not willing to compromise Noel’s safe rescue.

Once the car is out of sight, Leah walks up to the front door. Veronica answers the door, and hugs Leah while asking her how she got here.

Dumb bitch.

I signal to Chance who’s stationed near the back of the house, and he approaches the back door.

“One,” he says through my earbud, confirming that he’s taken one guard down.

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