Page 89 of Cole

Annie’s shoulders slumped. “Yes. And it seems that someone recognized me and sent a threat to my dad.”

“Wait…” Cole leaned closer to his phone. “What? You’ve been threatened?”

“My dad thinks I have been,” Annie said.

Cole listened in shock and growing dismay as Annie explained what had happened. “You took a risk that you shouldn’t have, Annie.”

Her face fell at his words. “I took a risk because… I wanted to be with you and do something… normal.”

Cole could understand why she’d want that, but if he’d known all of this prior to the fundraiser, he wouldn’t have invited her.In that moment, he completely understood what Duncan Burke was trying to accomplish in keeping Annie hidden away.

“Your dad’s right.” It pained him to say that, but in this particular instance, it was the truth.

Annie’s face briefly registered shock before her expression went blank, effectively blocking him out.

“I’m sorry, Annie,” he said, his voice soft. “I know that’s not what you want to hear from me, but I’m worried about your safety, too. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

“I’m under constant guard, you know,” she said stiffly. “I always have a guard, or sometimes two, with me.”

“Really?” Cole thought back to the times they’d spent together.

“My main bodyguard is Dawn, and Benji’s is Andrew.”

“Oh. Wow. So they’re not a couple?”

Annie hesitated. “They are, but they’re not supposed to be dating. Dad would flip his lid if he knew.”

“Why?”

“The people who kidnapped me and Angelica were a couple. The woman was our nanny at the time, and the guy was part of the security team. Back then, my dad wasn’t as rich as he is now, but he still had security around us.”

“Why is it so hard to find information on your kidnapping?” Cole asked. “I would have thought it would have been covered by every news outlet.”

“My dad did his best to keep all the information under wraps. And he preferred using his own team to investigate what happened.”

“But no one’s ever been found?”

Annie shook her head. “It’s like they disappeared off the face of the earth. Until this threat was received, which I’m not convinced is actually real.”

“Your dad isn’t going to take a chance on that,” Cole said. “And neither am I.”

“So that’s it then?” Annie’s voice was tight. “Things are over just like that?”

Cole’s heart broke at the thought of not having her in his life. And he hated that he was siding with her dad.

But the reality was that their lives weren’t compatible with each other.

Cole bent his head forward and dragged his hand through his hair. Was there a way to maintain his relationship with Annie while he was still living such a public life? Would they be able to have a strong, stable relationship if they kept it hidden from the public?

There was always speculation over who he was dating, so if he was ever spotted out with her, people would pounce on that information. He’d seen the headlines on the entertainment sites after he had appeared at the gala with Annie.

There had even been a lot of curiosity among his teammates and their significant others. The news that he’d taken someone to the gala had spread through the team, so even those who hadn’t attended were aware of the information.

All it would take was for one person to figure out who Annie was, and then, if they shared that information with the wrong person, it could all come out. Was it a chance he was willing to take?

Part of him said yes, it was. But his heart, as much as it ached at the idea of being without Annie, also balked at the idea of putting her at risk.

He was in a horrible position. He’d fallen in love with an amazing woman when he hadn’t been looking for love at all. And now, the only thing that outweighed his love for her was his fear that something would happen to her because of him. Because of his life in the spotlight.

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