Page 261 of G.O.D.S Omnibus

“Hold on a second. I knew she wasn’t happy about the babies, but is there more to it?” I ask Petra.

“It’s possible. She has been talking about how bad this is for business, leaving Olympia to kids and a girl who is practically a stranger. It’s only hearsay between us staff. But her own maid told me she had a call with someone and she mentioned the babies more than once, and how she wished they would disappear. I just put it down to jealousy and shit talk to anyone who would listen,” Petra says.

“Do you think you could describe the woman who was at the house?” I ask Corey. He nods, and Kai pushes his chair back and stands to retrieve his sketch pad from the kitchen bench. Both he and Corey move into the living room.

For her sake, let’s just pray it isn’t Elizabeth in that sketch because Chester won’t care if it’s his own mother. He will end her quicker than she can blink.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Jolie

Two days. Two fucking days they have kept me asleep or passed out on sedatives. Admittedly, every time I wake up, I freak out and start hurting people. After my last outburst, they sent the girls home.

Trace pops his head in the door. “Can I come in?” he asks, and I nod. I think my violent outbursts have passed, at least for now.

“Petra wanted me to bring you this. You need to eat and start pumping.”

I look down at my lumpy breasts, and tears fall. I have kept them at bay, and now—I don’t know if I can contain them. My heart hurts so much more than it ever has before in my entire life, for little humans who I barely know. Even as that thought forms, I tell myself I did know them; I grew them inside of me for months.

“Thank you. Any news yet? Have Chester and Marlow come home?”

He shakes his head, but his eyes tell me he isn’t saying everything. “Stop lying to me, Trace.”

They always seem to forget I was also trained to be able to pick up on deception. It may not be as well as the others since I was gone for a few years, but I can now remember all that training. While it was one of the most boring classes I ever took as a child, it always came naturally to Davis, and we later found out it’s because it’s his ability.

He sighs and places the breast pump, sandwich, and a bottle of water on the bed and takes a seat next to me.

“Fine. We wanted to tell you when everyone was here. Elizabeth was at the house with Melinda when Ziyon picked them up. Corey helped Kai sketch it out, but we think Chester and Marlow somehow knew, and they went to hunt down their mother.”

“Why would she help Ziyon?” I ask.

“Jealousy. She was so far up Mr Z’s ass, and we think she must have gone to Ziyon in hopes he had a plan, or she had a plan—we can’t be totally sure. Jimmie is trying to track her down, and Chester and Marlow are not answering their phones. We have even tried calling the guys from your phone and still nothing, so we think they have ditched. It seems they cut their tracking devices from their necks, as our attempts to track them were also unsuccessful. Colt found the trackers on the side of the road not far from where Melinda was being held in Sunset Haven.”

Fucking hell, my brain scrambles to process what he has just said. “I need to call Melinda. She never came across as someone who would steal babies. Maybe he is forcing her.”

I reach for my phone and dial her number, but it goes straight to voicemail.

“Hey, Melinda. It’s Jolie. Please, if you have my babies, I just need to know that they’re safe. Please. I never imagined you could do this to me after what they did to you. You were robbed of a life with me—don’t let him do the same to me,” I sob out, ending the call and slamming the phone on the bedside table.

“We will find them, Star. I’ve been running images, and so far, they don’t hit any red flags and have never been on Olympia’s radar before.”

“I know everyone is doing everything they can, but I’m scared for my babies, and I’m scared for Chester and Marlow. If they find her, Chester won’t ask questions, and taking your own mother’s life isn’t something anyone should have to do.”

“Marlow can deal with Chester. How about we set this contraption up, so when we find them, they’ll have milk to drink?”

I nod, and Trace picks up the box and opens it. It’s a little electric pump; we have a bigger one in the nursery.

“Do you mind if I use the one in the nursery? I just need to be alone.”

Trace nods, and I slip from the bed. I take the bottle of water with me and head towards the nursery.

I push the door open, and the sight of Case startles me. He looks up from his position on the floor where he is sitting with his back against the wall, clutching a teddy bear to his chest.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper.

“What for?” he asks, pushing himself up.

“Disturbing you. I just wanted to pump.”

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