Counting On Cole (Wilde Ways #8) - Cynthia Eden Page 0,70
back in her life?”
“Dude, I don’t like the tone,” Chase snapped. But he poked at the photos.
Robert ignored him. He pointed at Cole. “Were you so obsessed that you faked attacks on Evie so that you could get back in her life? Just so she would need you again?”
***
“I don’t trust that guy as far as I can throw him.” Chase lifted his hand and pretended to heave a football. “And I was a player back in the day. You should have seen my arm…”
Cole’s gaze swept the perimeter as they left Robert’s office.
“Uh, Cole? You with me? You didn’t buy his lines, did you?”
“The photos were real.”
“Well, sure, because you’re a lovesick jackass.”
Cole’s head snapped toward him.
Chase shrugged. “You think I didn’t know about the side trips up here? Hell, James was the one who first tipped me off on them. Said you were moony-eyed over your ex.”
“I am not mooney-eyed.” Seriously?
“Huh.”
“Do not pull that ‘huh’ shit on me—”
“You’re not mooney-eyed now because you have her back, but you were. I mean, you were obviously hung up on her. When we hit the bars in Atlanta, you never flirted with anyone. You mostly just glared at any poor woman who came too close. Then you get around Evie, and you start lighting up like a Christmas tree.”
He stalked away from his friend and hurried for the elevator. “I am not a damn Christmas tree.”
“Sure you are.” Chase entered the elevator with him and stabbed the button for the ground floor. “But I’ve got to say, one thing about that meeting really bothered me.”
Only one thing?
“Was it me or did the guy not seem to give a shit that Gia Eastman is missing? Just said she was fine when he left her, but Robert barely had any interest beyond that. He immediately changed the topic to Evie.” He rubbed his chin as the elevator descended. “Now, call me crazy…”
“Because you can be,” Cole agreed.
“But if I find out my fuck buddy is missing—”
“Jesus, man, you don’t call them that—”
“Fine, if I find out that my late night hook up, booty call, sexy party partner—whatever—is missing, then I don’t just immediately turn the conversation to another woman.” His words were mocking, but his gaze had gone flat and cold. “I demand answers. I ask as many questions as I can. I try to help.”
Robert hadn’t done any of those things. “He knew more than he was saying.”
“He’s not worried about Gia. Not even a little.” A pause. “Why?”
Excellent question. The elevator doors opened when they reached the ground floor. They walked out—and Cole almost walked right into Stephen Lowe.
“This is sure one hell of a coincidence,” Cole muttered. “What are you doing here?”
Stephen blinked a few times. “I-I have an appointment with Robert Demakis.”
Cole lifted his eyebrows.
“I have to tell him that I can’t help sponsor his new show. Not exactly cash fluid right now.” He surged past Cole and threw out his hand. “I need that elevator!”
Cole and Chase watched him hurtle into the elevator.
“Huh,” Chase said.
“Fucking exactly,” Cole agreed.
***
“We think we know where Gia Eastman is.”
Evie leapt to her feet when Cole came in and made that announcement. She’d been trying to make exceedingly awkward conversation with the guy who claimed to be an assassin… conversation that went like…
“So…you kill lots of people?”
“Um…”
“So…you, ah, do anything for fun?”
He’d stared at her.
Then winked.
Now though, Cole had returned, and she focused totally on him. “Did the kidnappers make contact?”
“No, but Gia’s cell phone turned on for a bit, and Wilde was able to track her location. We’ve got it triangulated down to a small sector of town, and we’re going to do a perimeter check until we find her.” A brisk nod. “Chase and I are going in with a team. We’ll get her back.”
She remembered being trapped in the closet. Hoping desperately for some sort of rescue.
Gia had to be feeling the same way.
“We’ll have two Wilde members stay with you. A guard is downstairs, and another is going to tag out with Ghost—um, James here.”
Ghost?
“James is very good at getting in places undetected,” Cole added. “Since we don’t know what might be waiting on us, we need every advantage we can get.”
Absolutely. She understood that.
James and Chase huddled together.
Cole closed in on her. He stared down at her, and there were so many emotions swirling in his bright gaze. “We need to talk,” Cole told her softly. “Put everything on the table.”