Read Online Stolen: A Novel of Romantic Suspense by Shiloh Walker - Free Book Online

heart raced along at about two hundred beats a minute, or at least it seemed that way. He had to work to keep his breathing level as he watched Shay, as he waited.
    And then she opened her eyes and said quietly, “I need to know about whoever signed this book, Elliot. Because whoever did it is a fucking
liar
. Whoever did it isn’t Shane Neil.
I
am.”

    I am—
    Shay had thought it would be hard to say that.
    She’d thought she would have to force herself to admit something she’d kept such a closely guarded secret.
    Oh, yeah, sure. A few people knew, but only two of them knew her in real life, knew the
real
Shay. Darcy knew and Shay’s adopted sister Angie knew.
    That was just about it.
    The rest of them, none of them really
knew
her—not in person. Her agent, her editor—neither of them had met her in real life. All of their contact had been online, through email. Shay had never met any of them out in the real world—no conventions, no signings, no business lunches. Not a one of them knew what she really looked like.
    None of them really knew
her
.
    But Elliot did.
    He knew her better than Darcy did. Better than anybody, probably even better than her sister … she hadn’t seen Angie in years and while Angie knew the girl she’d
been
, Elliot knew who she was now.
    And nobody had ever made the impact on her life that he had; what he thought about this
mattered
in a way she couldn’t describe. Swallowing, she dared a quick look at him but saw that he wasn’t looking at her. He was staring at the book he held.
    A lock of hair fell into his eyes, shielding his gaze from her. Seconds ticked away into minutes, and finally, she said softly, “Elliot?”
    A harsh sigh escaped him and he stood up.
    “Yeah?”
    She managed not to flinch at the abrupt sound of his voice, but just barely. It was enough to make her heart bleed, though. He didn’t believe her. She could tell, justby the way he sounded, just by the tension in his voice and the rigid set of his shoulders.
    Tears burned her eyes, but she blinked them away, refusing to let them fall.
    You can do this
.
    And there was no doubt that she could. She’d gotten through hell. She could get through this without letting him see how he’d hurt her.
    Swallowing, she shifted around until she had her legs beneath her before she started to get up. She still had to grab hold of things to stand—her strength was coming back, but it was slow.
    A hand came around her arm, gently. A blush stung her cheeks and she would have pulled away if she could have figured out a graceful way to do it. “I’m fine,” she mumbled.
    “You’re not.” He dropped a kiss onto her head and stroked a hand down her back. “It’s okay to need a hand every now and then, Shay.”
    She shrugged and turned away the second he let go of her arm. Coming here had been a waste of time, she realized.
    Okay to need somebody?
She resisted the urge to laugh. She’d come here because she
did
need somebody. She’d needed him. But he hadn’t even realized it.
    Hunching her shoulders, she turned away, staring at the brightly decorated kids’ area of the store, trying to figure out what to say, what to ask—
    “What’s the deal here, Shay?”
    “I told you. I’m Shane Neil.”
    She heard another heavy sigh come from him. “And I’m just supposed to believe that?”
    “Hell, why would I
lie
about it?” With a harsh laugh, she nodded at the book he still held. It hung from one long-fingered hand and she could see, faintly, how the light glinted off the red foil of the title font. She’d beenso excited when she’d heard about what they were doing with the cover of that book—it was the kind of cover that authors hoped for, prayed for, and it was
hers
. And damn it, somebody else was trying to claim it. Trying to take it over. “You just believed it from somebody else easily enough, didn’t you?”
    “Shit, she came in here with an advance reader’s copy and bookmarks. Those don’t