Cole (The Leaves) Read Online Free

Annie.” I thought it best not to comment on that.
    “So after you saw me in the bar…”
    “I had been looking at boutique hotels to add to Trinity. My plan was to secure these small struggling hotels, and make them beautiful like the vineyard is now. I also had been following Cole Carlyle and it seemed he had the same idea. He went into that bar, I followed. Then your relationship developed and I knew it was fate. He handed me the key to return the company to my family and get Serena back… you.”
    Cole would be devastated if he thought he was to blame for this.
    “I must prepare to make another call to your Cole, Annie. You stay quiet, as we agreed… yes?”
    I nodded and listened for my fate.

Cole 3
    Cole
    It took less than an hour for my living room to fill with Gus, Aimes, and my mother. The four of us stood there, waiting for my father to arrive with someone who would make sure everything was done quickly and efficiently.
    “I need to call the police.” I was officially losing my mind.
    Gus was almost as calm as my mother, “Let’s see what your old man has to say. If we call the cops, Cole…” He shook his head slightly.
    He didn’t want to say what deep down, I already knew. Just then, my father walked in the door followed by three men. One was my friend, Olaf. The second was my father’s lawyer, Daniel Scribner. The last was someone I didn’t know, but, for lack of a better description, looked like an extra from, “The Godfather.”
    “Richard.” My mother gave him the voice. The one that told him everything without saying anything. They may not get along, but my parents were experts with
the look
and
the voice
. She whispered something in his ear and moved back to Aimes. “Come with me dear. Let’s get some fresh air and let the men get to work, shall we?”
    Gus gave Aimes’ hand a squeeze and she reluctantly followed my mother to the deck outside.
    “Where can we have privacy, son?” my father commanded. I ignored the
son
bit. It irritated the hell out of me when he called me that. A fact he was well aware of.
    I led them all to the garage and leaned against the door of my car, flanked at each side by Olaf and Gus, facing my father, Mr. Scribner and Thug. I relayed everything that was said between Anika’s captor and me. When I finished, my father asked me, “Did you look in the box?”
    “It’s there.” I point to the hood of my car.
    “Have you looked inside, son?” His manner was almost gentle, which caught me off guard.
    “I waited. I didn’t want to do it alone.” Maybe this was a pussy thing to admit to, especially to someone as macho as my fucking father, but it was the truth.
    “We can do it and spare you, Cole. You can go and join your mother and that other woman, her friend, everyone will understand-”
    “No. I did this to her. I caused this. I need to know.” I had time to connect the dots enough to know that Giuseppe Drago, Jr was, in fact, Papa Joe; a man that had done terrible things to my Anika. I also knew my father had taken the Drago’s hotels and now Anika was paying the high price of his greed.
    No one stopped me as I stood in front of this small box. I was terrified what it would be, but I had to do it. My hands were shaking when I reached down and took it in my palm. It didn’t feel like there was anything inside and I hoped that it was just some kind of psychological mind fuck. Just a game. I held it in my left hand and took a deep breath, closing my eyes. When I opened them, I removed the lid. “Jesus fucking Christ.”
    The men all gathered around me to see ten bloody fingernails lying amongst an engagement ring. Olaf leaned into me, took the box from my shaking hand, and gave it to my father. He pulled me away so he could talk to me. “They’ll grow back, Cole. She’ll have her life. This is probably the worst that will happen. Your father’s an asshole, but he’ll deal with this quickly and get her back safe.”
    I leaned over, my head