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Chapter Thirty
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2024-10-29 19:42:56The center itself was within two weeks of opening its doors for the first time. The fact she had a hand in building it made her smile, she was so glad she could be a part of helping others.
They had their first fundraiser for it a week from now. Damon’s sister was helping to plan it and inviting all the donors from her charity as well. She was also in the middle of negotiation with Garrett about the businesses she co-owned with her brothers and the Kingsley companies all of which turned out to be much more than she’d imagined, to begin with. After his in depth research, Garrett had uncovered that the reason Kingsley’s company wasn’t producing a profit was because he’d had someone on the inside who was embezzling the funds.
After his investigation was through, they had actually managed to catch the man, and to their disbelief the money was sitting i his account. It was one of those surreal moments where a criminal was incredibly stupid. Which put an obscene amount of
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Hidden in the Shadows Chapter Thirty-One
It was after dinner that the twins suggested going for a swim. When Angel mentioned they didn’t have suits Hunter told her that he’d stocked the pool house with suits to fit her and her brothers. When Angel exited the pool house ten minutes after all the men had changed three of the men stopped and stared in fascination. Garrett had seen her before in a bikini but lord she was a work of art. Hunter noticed their preoccupation and cleared his throat loudly before all three of them visibly shook themselves back to reality. They all watched as she went to the diving board and performed a flawless dive into the water. It was at this point Kaleb said “Oh, Angel, I forgot to tell you I entered some of my photos into a contest. They want to publish one of them.” Angel congratulated him and then the other shoe dropped as Kaleb said, “It’s the picture of you in the surf in the Maldives.” Angel wasn’t thrilled about her photo being published but this was her brother, she w
Hidden in the Shadows Chapter Thirty-Two
Angel was sure in that moment her brothers knew why she’d wanted them to know how to tell when they were being lied too. Amanda invited them to come meet her friends, the people from her dorm. They quickly discarded the remnants of their lunch and followed Amanda to an area out on the green where about ten people sat, it was a mixture of males and females. When they arrived, everyone looked at Amanda oddly and she said “This is friends of my family, my sister actually works for Angel. This is her two brothers Jackson and Kaleb.” One of the younger girls pointed at Angel and said, “Wait I know you...” at Angel’s curious look she pointed to her Magazine which was on photography and said, “Your picture is in here.” Angel looked at Kaleb and asked, “Was it published already?” Kaleb shrugged and said “I sent the verification for it by email then we went to Paris. Which reminds me I need to send Jacques a bigger sample of my portfolio.” The girl was staring at Kaleb wide e
Hidden in the Shadows Chapter Thirty-Three
It was after her last class that Grant called, he told her he had located Jay Tannen and she would not believe where. It turned out the Jay Tannen she had known in California had been living in Houston for the last two years attending the same University she was. If she had ever needed any proof fate had sent her here, this was it. Grant told her that he had a class not far from where she currently was right now and if she waited around, she might see him. Angel sat on top of one of the picnic tables and waited, her brothers and their guards looked concerned, but they sat silently as she waited and watched. She smirked the minute she recognized him; he had changed some but not a lot he still looked like the Jay she knew. When he, would have walked right past, she said loud enough he could hear “I’d have never believed it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, Jay Tannen, in Houston.” She was not sure if it was her voice or the use of his name that drew his attention. Hi
Hidden in the Shadows Chapter One
Finding out you were adopted would be shocking for anyone but finding out your birth mother had wanted to be rid of you so badly she’d handed you off to a stranger, was lowering in the extreme. She couldn’t doubt the words the woman who supposedly raised her, had thrown at her. At nineteen she’d always wanted something better she’d prayed for it. Her mother had never worked a day in her life that she remembered but the bills were always paid, her mother was always high, or drunk. To think that her biological mother had footed that bill while her daughter had been miserable. It was unthinkable that a woman could hand her child over into this. She couldn’t count the number of times that someone her mother knew had tried to corner her and take advantage. But she’d learned early in life that she had to protect herself, no one else ever would. The most crushing blow was knowing that other than a transfer of custody paper with the woman she’d called mother all these years,
Hidden in the Shadows Chapter Two
The silence that fell in the room was so thick it could have been cut with a knife, even Gabriel who’d been on the phone looked sick. She was getting a weird vibe from them and wasn’t sure why, she should have known this would be a mistake. She asked cautiously “Should I leave, I’m stirring up things that probably should have been left alone.” It was Justin who cleared his throat and said “No, you’re good. They are just a little bit shocked at, the moment.” Michael rushed to say “Gabriel, I think you have another phone call to make.” Angel looked at Justin she was curious how one made it out of the neighborhood and asked calmly “How’d you get out?” Justin stared at the girl before him. For someone her age she had old eyes, as if she’d seen the world from so many different angles, she wasn’t sure which was supposed to be right. He replied, “I joined the military, and that helped me tremendously.” Angel nodded absently; Justin could see she was concerned about being here in th
Hidden in the Shadows Chapter Three
Meanwhile, Justin gave everyone a meaningful look as they all entered the elevator he said “I talked to a friend he knows Angel. I think we should all talk.” The look Hunter turned on him would have made a lesser man piss himself, Hunter said “I have a feeling I’m not going to like this.” Justin clenched his jaw tightly and said coldly “You have good instincts.” It took them three minutes to get into the room and settled. Then it took Justin five minutes to give them the full run down on what Antonio had told him. Including the part about Maria’s male friends trying to take advantage of her both as a child and a teen. It was Marigold Stacia’s mother who said, “This has to be illegal, after all my daughter was only sixteen at the time.” Justin replied “It is highly illegal, though technically no one ever adopted Angel. She was just left with the paper you all read.” It was Hunter’s father Jamison who said angrily “Then we should bring the authorities into this.
Hidden in the Shadows Chapter Four
Angel was self-conscious of her attire in the restaurant people were looking at her oddly. When they were led to the private dining room that really drew attention. Justin heard the whispers of ‘Who is she?’ “Wonder who she’s dating?” There was, of course the snide comments he overheard on her attire as well.He was glad Angel didn’t appear to have let any of it bother her. Angel wasn’t stupid or deaf she’d heard the comments, but she’d grown a thick skin over the years, what people thought or said didn’t bother her. When they entered the dining room she came to an abrupt halt. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out why. She was staring openly at Isabelle McDaniel’s known better as Belle McDaniel’s by family and friends. He knew what Angel was seeing; she was finally seeing the connection to her father’s family. This woman minus the hair and eyes was Angel at the age of nineteen
Hidden in the Shadows Chapter Five
Angel herself felt as if her world had been turned upside down then shaken. She felt like one of those snow globes people buy at souvenir shops as if everything was up in the air, and slowly falling down. Everyone watched as Angel excused herself, they knew she’d had enough drama and change for one day. Angel made her way back to the penthouse in a fog, did that really, just happen? Did that man really, just choose a granddaughter he’d never met over a nephew he’d known his whole life? It amazed her that kind of love and devotion, that man had earned her respect and her loyalty without even trying. Hunter had been promised by the Lab he’d have the results no later than the next evening. He’d paid a small fortune for that test, but it’d be worth it if it would make her feel like she belonged. He knew she did, it killed him that he’d had a daughter for nearly twenty years and never known her. Oh, he knew most people wouldn’t believe she was his, but he knew she was. It felt su
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Hidden in the Shadows Chapter Thirty-Three
It was after her last class that Grant called, he told her he had located Jay Tannen and she would not believe where. It turned out the Jay Tannen she had known in California had been living in Houston for the last two years attending the same University she was. If she had ever needed any proof fate had sent her here, this was it. Grant told her that he had a class not far from where she currently was right now and if she waited around, she might see him. Angel sat on top of one of the picnic tables and waited, her brothers and their guards looked concerned, but they sat silently as she waited and watched. She smirked the minute she recognized him; he had changed some but not a lot he still looked like the Jay she knew. When he, would have walked right past, she said loud enough he could hear “I’d have never believed it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, Jay Tannen, in Houston.” She was not sure if it was her voice or the use of his name that drew his attention. Hi
Hidden in the Shadows Chapter Thirty-Two
Angel was sure in that moment her brothers knew why she’d wanted them to know how to tell when they were being lied too. Amanda invited them to come meet her friends, the people from her dorm. They quickly discarded the remnants of their lunch and followed Amanda to an area out on the green where about ten people sat, it was a mixture of males and females. When they arrived, everyone looked at Amanda oddly and she said “This is friends of my family, my sister actually works for Angel. This is her two brothers Jackson and Kaleb.” One of the younger girls pointed at Angel and said, “Wait I know you...” at Angel’s curious look she pointed to her Magazine which was on photography and said, “Your picture is in here.” Angel looked at Kaleb and asked, “Was it published already?” Kaleb shrugged and said “I sent the verification for it by email then we went to Paris. Which reminds me I need to send Jacques a bigger sample of my portfolio.” The girl was staring at Kaleb wide e
Hidden in the Shadows Chapter Thirty-One
It was after dinner that the twins suggested going for a swim. When Angel mentioned they didn’t have suits Hunter told her that he’d stocked the pool house with suits to fit her and her brothers. When Angel exited the pool house ten minutes after all the men had changed three of the men stopped and stared in fascination. Garrett had seen her before in a bikini but lord she was a work of art. Hunter noticed their preoccupation and cleared his throat loudly before all three of them visibly shook themselves back to reality. They all watched as she went to the diving board and performed a flawless dive into the water. It was at this point Kaleb said “Oh, Angel, I forgot to tell you I entered some of my photos into a contest. They want to publish one of them.” Angel congratulated him and then the other shoe dropped as Kaleb said, “It’s the picture of you in the surf in the Maldives.” Angel wasn’t thrilled about her photo being published but this was her brother, she w
Hidden in the Shadows Chapter Thirty
The center itself was within two weeks of opening its doors for the first time. The fact she had a hand in building it made her smile, she was so glad she could be a part of helping others. They had their first fundraiser for it a week from now. Damon’s sister was helping to plan it and inviting all the donors from her charity as well. She was also in the middle of negotiation with Garrett about the businesses she co-owned with her brothers and the Kingsley companies all of which turned out to be much more than she’d imagined, to begin with. After his in depth research, Garrett had uncovered that the reason Kingsley’s company wasn’t producing a profit was because he’d had someone on the inside who was embezzling the funds. After his investigation was through, they had actually managed to catch the man, and to their disbelief the money was sitting i his account. It was one of those surreal moments where a criminal was incredibly stupid. Which put an obscene amount of
Hidden in the Shadows Chapter Twenty-Nine
Hank turned to Zachary and said, “Zach have you ever heard of anything like that before?” he shook his head and said “I’ve never known anyone to hunt someone down just to give them a chance at their dream. I’ve never met anyone like Angel McDaniel’s.” His secretary behind him said “There isn’t many women like that in the world I guarantee you. Most would be spending all that money she has on tropical vacations and luxury items. I heard tell that she gave Dean Sterling money to get his ranch going again. And she put those horrible Kingsley’s out of business. If the tabloids can be believed she’s done a lot to help a lot of people. It said she took in her two brothers who are identical twins that she’d never known existed. She’s their guardian now, and their fifteen, imagine that. Nineteen years old and already raising two half grown boys, plus running a successful horse ranch, top that off with that center
Hidden in the Shadows Chapter Twenty-Eight
While they had been away, she’d taught her brothers to surf it had been a blast for all three of them. She left Kaleb editing more pictures and went to check on Jackson’s progress. He and Dirk were immersed in the design program that would give them a rough draft of what the car would look like finished. She was still keyed up after all of that and decided she would go for a swim. This way she could get a bit of tension out. She wasn’t sure what time she went in, but it was nearly ten when she came out. She had swam at least three miles doing laps. It had worked too, now she felt she could go get a shower and get some much needed, rest without her brain keeping her awake. After her morning exercise and breakfast with everyone she headed out to the barn, she needed to check up on how everything was going. Cody had two mares here the day before to be covered by Heartbreaker and she needed to see how it had gone. According to him it had gone off without a hitch. N
Hidden in the Shadows Chapter Twenty-Seven
They had just wrapped up their meeting when Melanie came in, she would have been meeting the auctioneer workers at eight that morning. She said they had promptly taken all the antiques loaded them into their trucks and been gone within forty-five minutes. She had been very, surprised by their speed. She caught Angel up on all ranch news. She told her that they had received some irate calls from a couple people because of them not being chosen to allow their mares to be covered by Heartbreaker or Gambler. She sighed heavily and said, “Send them our apologies and tell them to try again next year.” She then filled Melanie in on what was going on with Seth Newton. Melanie said she would see what she could dig up on Seth and Elizabeth. Both meetings concluded she went to hunt down both of her Aunts for the files on the Kingsley’s and her mother’s business interest. She went to Ellen first, to her surprise Ellen was more than happy to hand it over, and she said she wanted to
Hidden in the Shadows Chapter Twenty-Six
She decided she had better check on Melanie, she’d left the girl trying to arrange an auction for the antiques at the old Kingsley Farm. When she entered the house, she found Melanie in her office pacing back and forth while speaking on the phone. She liked her take no prisoner’s approach to getting what her boss wanted. When Melanie hung up she said, “The Vanderbilt Auction Hall will host the auction, they tried to say they had no available dates for the near future but with a little persuasion they agreed to host it in two weeks’ time. They will send someone out to Kingsley Farm to gather and collect every antique and catalogue them for the auction. But they need you to make sure all personal items are removed from the antiques.” Angel nodded and said, “I’ll see to it immediately, when will they be arriving?” Melanie replied, “I’m to meet them tomorrow morning at eight.” Angel nodded and replied, “Good work Melanie, I appreciate it, thank you.” She went out by her pool to
Hidden in the Shadows Chapter Twenty-Five
Hannah had handled getting them passports and they would be leaving on the McDaniel’s private jet at five AM which meant getting up even earlier than she usually would have. So that meant an early night for her and her brothers. After she packed her things for the trip, she climbed into her bed exhausted it had been a long eventful day. When she woke up the next morning she showered and dressed quickly. She wouldn’t have time to get in a workout today. She got her bags and brought them all down to the Foyer; her brother’s bags were already waiting there. Grant drove them all to the airport; he wasn’t coming with them because her father wanted them to be as low key about who they were as possible because Angel needed the time away. She supposed she was going to have to get used to flying now, but to her it was still an odd concept. The flight took a long time, which allowed for them to nap on the jet ride. They had to stop to refuel so they had two layovers which allo
