Counting On Cole (Wilde Ways #8) - Cynthia Eden Page 0,69
the photos. Instead, his stare burned into Cole. “Do you want me to produce photos, too? Is it show and tell time already?”
Cole didn’t respond to the taunt. Not so much as a flicker of his expression.
But he felt Chase’s gaze sweep his way. “Am I missing something?” Chase wanted to know.
“The only thing that’s missing is Gia Eastman,” Cole responded flatly as he kept his gaze glued to Robert Demakis. “So why don’t we stop the games? Tell us where she is.”
Surprise had Robert’s eyes flaring. “Gia is missing?”
“Yes, and seeing as how you were with her in the middle of the night, you can see why you look suspicious as all hell.”
“But I didn’t do anything to her!”
Cole was so not in the mood for BS. “Where is Gia Eastman?”
Chapter Fifteen
There are things I wish Evie would never know. Sometimes, not knowing is better. Easier, right? Dammit. I’m screwed.
“Gia was fine when I left her.” But sweat beaded Robert’s brow. “Look, she was shaken up by what happened to Evie. She didn’t want to be alone. Cops were questioning us like we were suspects!”
“That would be because we pointed the cops your way,” Chase offered, ever helpful. “Due to the fact that you and Gia happened to be at the top of our suspect list.”
Robert’s jaw dropped. “What?”
“Someone is after Evie again. Obviously.” Cole didn’t let any emotion enter his voice or show on his face. “You’ve worked with Evie.”
“Well, yes, sure, but—”
“You let her think you were her friend.”
“I am her friend—”
“Only you never mentioned to Evie that her step-father bankrupted your parents.”
Robert blew out a long breath. “What would have been the point?” His shoulders sagged. “You know Evie,” he mumbled. “Her heart is too freaking big. On the sets, I’ve seen her sit and hold the hand of an actress who’s getting hit with stage fright. I’ve seen her stay and rehearse for hours and hours—extra time, nothing she’s getting compensated for—just because she had a dancer who was afraid she didn’t have the steps down. I’ve seen her take freaking soup to sick stage hands. Evie tries to help everyone.”
Yeah, I know Evie.
“If I’d told her about my parents, she would have felt guilty.” Robert’s gaze lifted. “She had nothing to feel guilty about. Evie wasn’t involved in that mess. Was her step-father a creep? A cold-blooded bastard? Hell, yes. He ran shady deals all the time, and my dad fell for his lies. That didn’t involve Evie. She was sixteen when that mess went down.”
The guy seemed truthful enough, but Cole knew appearances could lie. “You’re not angry at Evie, but what about her step-brother? How do you feel about Harrison?”
“He can be a dick, too, but he can also surprise you sometimes,” Robert admitted the last part grudgingly. “Who do you think gave me the money I needed to open my first show?”
Okay, now this was surprising. “When we investigated, we didn’t learn that.”
“Well, yes, because Harrison didn’t want anyone to know. He came to me, said he’d learned what happened to my parents, and he wanted to make amends. The money was supposed to be untraceable—he worked some kind of magic with that, don’t know if he set up a fake corporation or whatever the hell he did—but he gave me what I needed. He set me up to succeed. And he never asked for a dime back.”
Interesting.
“So I don’t have a reason to hate Evie or her brother.” Now Robert’s shoulders rolled back. Straightened. He focused on Cole with grim determination. “In fact, it’s quite the opposite. I want to protect them from people who might try to hurt them. People like you, Cole Vincent.”
“Uh, yeah, buddy,” Chase interrupted. “You’ve got this all wrong. He’s her bodyguard. He’s not here to hurt her—”
Robert reached into his desk drawer.
Cole tensed. If that guy went for a weapon—
Instead, Robert tossed photos onto the desk. Big, glossy color photos. Of Cole.
And Evie.
“My turn for show and tell,” Robert announced as his hands went to his hips. “From what Leopold told me, you just started working as Evie’s bodyguard. So why in the hell were you tailing her for the last year? Just how obsessed with Evie are you?”
Cole reached for one of the photographs. The photo was a close-up of Evie as she laughed with a man in a black suit. And in the background…
I’m there. Watching her.
“Are you so obsessed…” Robert continued doggedly. “That you were willing to do anything to get