Page 121 of Cole

“We haven’t figured that out just yet, but we do know there is someone she considers a sister.”

Cole felt Annie’s hand tense in his. He couldn’t imagine how this must feel for her. Although, from what she’d said earlier, she didn’t even know how she felt about it herself.

“So what makes you so certain that it’s her, and not some person posing as her?”

Duncan stared at Annie for a long moment, then he held out the folder his hands had been resting on.

Annie hesitated before she let go of Cole’s hand and took the folder. Cole didn’t say anything, and neither did Duncan. They just waited for her to open it and see what they’d seen. What made them so confident that this Angela was Annie’s missing twin.

It had been weird for Cole, looking at the pictures and seeing Annie, and yet… not.

Finally, she flipped the folder open and gasped, lifting a hand to cover her mouth. “She looks just like me!”

It was true. The only difference that Cole had seen was the length of their hair. Angelica… Angela… wore hers shorter.

He knew that Duncan would insist on a DNA test, but in Cole’s mind, there was little doubt.

“You girls look so much like my mother,” Duncan said. “While Julian looks more like your mother.”

Annie glanced up at her dad. “That’s why all the women love him.”

Cole wondered if Julian was a bit of a womanizer. He was well aware that the man was a bit of a jerk.

“Does she know about our family?” Annie asked.

“I don’t think so,” Duncan said. “It was your picture at the gala that she saw and had questions about.”

“Wouldn’t that be something?” Annie mused. “If the event you got so upset about me attending is what ends up bringing Angelica home?”

Duncan gave a huff of laughter. “I suppose I’ll deserve any and all ribbing you want to send my way over that.”

“So, what’s the next step?” Annie asked, apparently willing to let that go for the moment.

“I’m going to have one of my team make contact with her. To see what more information he can get before we go any further.”

“Is there a chance you won’t tell her who we are?”

Duncan’s silence took Cole by surprise. From what Annie had said, her dad had been obsessed with finding Angelica.

“Dad?”

“I don’t know, Annalisa,” he said. “I need to make sure having her back in our lives doesn’t invite the people who kidnapped her back as well. And who knows how they’ve raised her. I still need to protect you and our family.”

Annie’s face paled as she stared at her father. “Really? After all this time searching for her, you’d just… what? Watch her from afar? Have her followed?”

Cole felt tension radiating through Annie’s body. He placed his hand gently on her back, offering silent support.

“That’s not what I’m saying,” Duncan replied, his tone measured. “I’m simply suggesting we proceed with caution. We don’t know what she’s been told about her past, or who might still be in her life that was involved in the kidnapping.”

“But she’s your daughter,” Annie said, her voice breaking. “My sister.”

Duncan leaned forward, his eyes softening. “And that’s precisely why we need to be careful. I won’t do anything that would put you at risk. You should know that.”

“I never thought that would extend to my own sister.”

“Like I said, we don’t know her. We don’t know how she was raised. What type of person she is. We just need to move forward with caution.”

“Is this about money?” Annie asked. “Are you afraid all she’ll want is money if she finds out who you are?”

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