Cole's Mistake (Haven, Texas 8)

Keira burst into laughter while Julian grinned. He just shook his head and dug in.

31

“Cole. I need to speak to you.”

Cole sat up and wiped the sweat off his face. He glanced over at Julian, who was working the punching bag. Keira moved closer to him.

“Julian and Keira too,” Joel said, looking at them both. “This affects all of you.”

What the fuck was it? Cole took hold of Keira’s hand. Julian grabbed her other one and they followed Joel to his office. His brother moved behind the desk and turned the monitor of his computer around.

Cole blinked, unsure of what he was seeing.

“Rich bachelor involved in ménage relationship,” Keira read the headline. Underneath was an image of the three of them walking along the main street of Haven. Keira was in between the two of them and they were holding her hands. “When was that taken? It’s online?”

“Yeah. That’s an L.A. gossip website,” Joel told him, watching them all closely. “It goes on to talk about this town, about Cole and the two of you. How you both used to work for him.”

“Oh my God.” Keira covered her mouth with her hand.

Cole just stared at the screen. “It’s on other sites too?”

“Yes,” Joel said sharply. “I’ve got my lawyers working to take it down, but these photos are out there now, it’s going to be hard to get it all down.”

“I don’t care,” Cole said.

Joel gave him an incredulous look.

“I don’t,” he insisted. “I don’t care who knows. I’m not ashamed of our relationship. Will people around here be unhappy that Haven is in the spotlight?”

Joel shrugged. “Maybe some. But that’s not your fault. It’s the fault of whoever sold these photos to the gossip rags.”

“Bridges,” Julian stated. “It had to be. He told us he was the one who sent those original photos. And this photo looks like it was taken that same day we saw him in the diner. He was probably pissed after that confrontation with Cole and decided on a bit of revenge.”

His jaw tightened. “That fucking bastard. I’ll ruin him.”

“Actually, I had someone look into Bridges’ after he turned up the other day,” Joel told them. “He’s nearly broke. Made some bad investments. And the CEO he put in place after you left is cocking everything up. The business is going downhill.”

“So he wanted me back to get him out of the financial hole he’s dug himself into.” It made sense.

“We can take care of Bridges later,” Joel said. “But we’ve got bigger problems right now.”

“Vincento,” Julian whispered. “He could see this. See the photos of us.”

“He could find us,” Keira cried.

Panic rushed through her, stealing her breath. He was coming for them. He’d find them. Take them back to that dark room.

And this time he’d kill them.

She couldn’t breathe.

“Keira. Take a breath,” Cole demanded.

“Kitten, you’re okay. Just breathe,” Julian ordered.

Black dots danced in front of her eyes. She knew she was close to passing out, and she welcomed it because he couldn’t get her then. She wouldn’t feel the fear.

“Little bit, calm down. Now.” Cole’s deep, commanding voice washed over her. “You are not going to faint. You are going to take a breath. Do as Sir says or there will be consequences. Take. A. Breath.”