CHAPTER NINETEEN
When Cole’s alarm went off, he was already awake. His night had been restless as he’d considered the coming day and the call he and Annie would have. That was disruptive enough for his sleep, but he also had the team meeting weighing on his mind.
They were in a losing streak, and nothing made Coach angrier than losing more than one game in a row. He tolerated a single loss, but when it became more than that—they were now on their third loss—he took action.
Cole knew that his own performance on the road trip had been less than stellar. He wasn’t a stranger to having off-games. Though he was known for his consistency, he still had games that didn’t go great.
The bonus to playing with this particular team was that they were good enough so that his bad days didn’t always result in a loss. But lately, it felt like the majority of his teammates were struggling like he was.
Coach would be frustrated if he couldn’t pinpoint what was going on. Unfortunately, Cole wasn’t about to share what had him knocked a bit off-kilter. The NDA prevented that, but even without it, he wasn’t sure he would have been interested in sharing details of his personal life at a team meeting.
Cole groaned as he sat up on the edge of the bed, his body holding tension both physically and mentally. He stretched for a few minutes before going to the bathroom to take a hot shower.
After he was dressed for the day, he debated what to do for breakfast. He could get room service, or he could head down to the room where they’d said breakfast would be served.
Before he’d made up his mind, there was a knock on his door. He checked the peephole, then stepped back to open the door.
“Morning, bro,” Marcus said as he brushed past Cole into the room.
Cole closed the door and turned to see Marcus heading for the coffee maker. “Your room has no coffee?”
“Oh, it does.” Marcus began the process of making coffee in the small appliance. “I just thought we could have breakfast together.”
“I was thinking of going downstairs,” Cole said.
“Let’s just order room service.” Marcus glanced over his shoulder. “I think we need to have our own discussion about the last few games. Maybe we can hash some of it out so we’re not fumbling around when Coach demands answers.”
Cole wasn’t opposed to that, so he grabbed the room service menu. It didn’t take too long to decide on what they wanted. Heavy on protein, moderate on carbs plus healthy didn’t allow for too much creativity.
Once they’d placed their order, Marcus filled two of the provided mugs with coffee and brought them to the small table. The mugs looked hilariously small in their hands, and Cole felt like he was at a tea party or something.
Marcus didn’t waste any time diving in. This wasn’t the first time they’d had this type of conversation over the years.
Though not official, he and Marcus had shared the role of captain for the past couple of years. So there were times they discussed things before a team meeting, just to get a feel for what the other person was thinking.
Cole wasn’t surprised when they pinpointed the same things. And he was grateful to have something to focus on during the couple of hours he still had to wait before his conversation with Annie.
They only paused to answer the door for their food.
“So,” Marcus said as he pushed his empty plate away from him an hour later. “Want to tell me what’s been impacting your play?”
Cole had known they’d get to this point, and he’d tried to think of what to tell Marcus. The NDA prevented him from telling him the truth.
“Stuff going on with your girl?”
“Something like that,” Cole said. “Just working through our first real challenging situation.”
“Want to talk it out?” Marcus asked.
“Not yet.”
“Is it something you might break up over?”
Cole didn’t like to consider that, but he couldn’t discount any possible outcome. “Maybe?”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Marcus said with a frown. “She seemed to make you really happy.”
“She does,” Cole agreed. “But it’s possible that our lives don’t align very well.”
“Do you think she was just with you for the attention or the money?”
Cole couldn’t help the huff of laughter that escaped before he could hold it back. If only that were the case. He’d have no trouble walking away from someone like that. He’d done it before.
“No. That’s not it at all.”
“Well, if you ever need to talk about it, you know my number.”
That was something that Cole appreciated about Marcus. He made himself available but didn’t push.
Before Cole could respond, Marcus’s phone chimed, followed almost immediately by Cole’s. That could only mean it was a message to the team chat.
Cole opened the app and read the message from the coach.
I’ve got practice space at noon. I’m moving the meeting up to ten-thirty.
Well, that sucked. Now he wouldn’t be able to talk to Annie. He wanted to tell the coach he had something else on, but Cole knew he couldn’t. As far as Coach was concerned, when the team was struggling like this, there was nothing else to focus on.
He had no choice but to text Annie and let her know that their call wouldn’t be happening. Cole hated that that was the message she’d wake up to, but there was no avoiding it.
Once he’d sent her a message, he grabbed his team jacket, then they left the room. Marcus led the way to the room the coach had booked to use for their team meetings.
Several of their teammates were already gathered outside the meeting room when they arrived, their expressions ranging from resigned to anxious. No one liked these post-losing-streak meetings.
The one the previous night had contained a prolonged lecture about how they were supposed to operate as a team of elite athletes. This one would probably be more focused on figuring out the problem and fixing it.
“Hey,” Evans nodded at them, his usual cheerful demeanor subdued. “Coach is already in there. Setting up film, I think.”
Cole checked his phone again, hoping Annie had responded to his cancellation message. Nothing yet. It was early in Serenity—she might still be asleep.
“You good?” Marcus asked quietly as they filed into the room.
“Yeah,” Cole said, though they both knew it wasn’t entirely true.
The meeting room was arranged with chairs facing a large screen. Coach stood at the front, his tablet connected to the display, scrolling through game footage with quick, irritated swipes. He didn’t look up as the players entered, which was never a good sign.
Cole took a seat in the second row, his mind still half on Annie. What would he say to her when they finally spoke? How could he ask about her family without revealing that he’d spoken with her father? The NDA hung over him like a thundercloud, limiting his options.
“Gentlemen,” Coach finally said once everyone was seated, his voice cutting through the murmured conversations. “I think we all know why we’re here.”
The room fell silent. On screen, a freeze-frame from their last game showed their defensive breakdown in painful clarity.
“Three losses. Three. And not because our opponents were that good, but because we’re playing like we’ve never met each other before.” Coach paced in front of them. “Halverson, your shooting percentage is down fifteen points from your season average. Williams, you’ve turned the ball over five times in three games. Evans, your defense looks like you’re escorting opponents to the basket.”
Cole nodded, accepting the criticism. Coach wasn’t wrong.
“So here’s what’s going to happen,” Coach continued. “We’re going to watch every painful play of these losses. We’re going to identify exactly where we’re falling apart. And then we’re going to fix it. Because I refuse to let this become a four-game losing streak.”
As the lights dimmed and the footage began to play, Cole felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Discreetly, he checked the screen.
“No problem. Dad’s coming today, so I won’t be available later. Dinner with him tonight. Can we talk tomorrow instead?”
Cole felt his stomach tighten. Duncan Burke was visiting Annie today—the same day she’d planned to tell Cole something important. That couldn’t be coincidence.
“Everything okay?” Marcus murmured, noticing Cole’s expression.
“Yeah, just rescheduling,” Cole replied, typing back quickly: Tomorrow works. Enjoy the time with your dad.
He slipped the phone away just as Coach paused the footage on a particularly egregious defensive lapse—one where Cole had been out of position.
“Halverson, what were you thinking here?” Coach demanded.
Cole studied the screen, trying to remember his thought process in that moment. Had he been distracted by thoughts of Annie and her father? Probably.
“I misread the play,” he admitted. “Thought they were setting up for a different screen.”
Coach’s eyebrows rose skeptically. “You’ve seen that play a hundred times. You knew exactly what they were setting up.”
Cole nodded, accepting the criticism. “You’re right. Won’t happen again.”
“It better not.” Coach turned back to the screen, advancing to the next breakdown. “This isn’t just about basketball anymore, gentlemen. This is about mental discipline. Something we seem to be sorely lacking lately.”
The film session continued for nearly an hour, each mistake dissected with surgical precision. Cole forced himself to focus, pushing thoughts of Annie and her father to the back of his mind. This was his job—his career—and regardless of what Duncan Burke might do to it in the future, right now, he needed to be present.
By the time they broke for a quick lunch before practice, Cole’s head was pounding with a mixture of basketball analysis and personal anxiety. He grabbed a sandwich and water from the spread provided in the meeting room and found a quiet corner.
“You sure you’re okay?” Marcus asked, joining him. “You seemed distracted.”
Cole took a bite of his sandwich to buy himself time. “Just processing everything Coach said.”
“Uh-huh.” Marcus didn’t sound convinced. “Look, whatever’s going on with you and your girl, you need to compartmentalize. Figure out how to leave it off the court.”
“I know.” Cole sighed. “Easier said than done.”
“True that.” Marcus glanced around to make sure no one was within earshot. “Is it serious? Between you two?”
Cole considered the question. Was it?
He hadn’t known Annie long, but there was something about her that felt different from any other relationship he’d had. The quiet intelligence in her eyes, the way she truly listened when he spoke, how she seemed to understand parts of him he rarely showed others.
“I think it could be,” he admitted. “But there are… complications.”
“There always are.” Marcus shrugged. “Question is whether she’s worth working through them.”
Before Cole could respond, Coach called them back to attention. It was time to head to practice.
As they filed out toward the waiting transportation, Cole checked his phone one more time. Annie had responded to his good luck message.
Annie : I’ll try, but my dad might have other ideas.
The statement might have made him chuckle if he hadn’t known who her dad was and what might transpire during the dinner.
The knot in his stomach tightened. What was Duncan Burke planning to say to his daughter tonight? Would he tell her about meeting with Cole? Would he pressure her to end things?
Cole slipped his phone into his bag, knowing he needed to focus on basketball for the next few hours. But as they boarded the bus to the practice facility, one thought kept circling in his mind: Annie was worth fighting for.
The question was, how could he fight for her when her father held all the cards?
~*~
With winter bringing with it shorter days, it was already dark by the time Annie left her cabin with Nyla to walk to the main house. The globe shaped light posts lit the paved road, and the snow crunched beneath their feet as they made their way to the main house.
The night held a chill, and she probably should have brought her car. But she’d wanted these few minutes to continue to prepare herself for whatever conversation her dad had planned during that night’s dinner.
The main house loomed ahead, windows glowing warmly against the darkening sky. Annie paused to take in the familiar sight. The sprawling mansion had never felt like home the way her cabin did, despite her having grown up there. But it was the only home she clearly remembered.
After the kidnapping, her dad had packed up the family and moved them across the country from New York State to Idaho. He’d bought the hundred-acre property and beefed it up considerably.
“Come on, girl,” she said to Nyla, who had circled back to nudge her hand. “Let’s get this over with.”
As she entered through the back door into the kitchen, she was enveloped in familiar scents—polished wood, fresh flowers, and tonight, something savory.
She hung her long wool coat in the closet in the large mudroom. Detouring through the kitchen, she greeted the housekeeper and her daughters, who were working with her. The woman and her two daughters took care of things inside the mansion, while her husband and their son tended to the grounds, along with a group of other men.
Annie knew her dad employed the whole family, counting on it being more difficult for them to break the NDA her father had them sign. If the whole family’s income depended on her dad, they would be less likely to betray him.
So far, it seemed to be working.
“Your parents are in the library,” the housekeeper told her.
“Thank you.” Annie continued through the house to the entrance to the library, Nyla a silent figure at her side.
She paused outside the room, hearing the low murmur of voices inside. Her father’s deep, authoritative tone contrasted with Elizabeth’s lighter one.
Stepping into the room, she noticed that Benji was there with them too, a frown on his face. Glancing at her dad, Annie saw that he was also frowning, but it was edged with worry.
It wasn’t an expression she saw often on his face, so instead of greeting them, she said, “What’s wrong?”
Her dad exchanged a look with Elizabeth, then said, “Unfortunately, Jude just called a few minutes ago to let me know that they’ve discovered a message that was uploaded on social media that he is confident is directed at me. At us?”
“Confident?” Annie asked. “Why wouldn’t he know for one hundred percent sure?”
“They didn’t use my name.”
“So why does he think it’s directed at you, then?”
Her dad’s phone buzzed, and he lifted it up to stare at the screen. After tapping the screen a couple of times, he lowered it as a voice began to speak.
“So, she’s finally peeked her head out? I know you thought that you could hide her and hope that the world would forget that you had twin daughters, not just the son everyone sees. But I’ve seen her now. Maybe it’s time to take the second one from you. I could always use the money.”
The voice sounded mechanical, making her wonder if it was a voice changer or AI.
“That makes no sense,” Annie said. “How did he see me and know? No one knew who I was when I went to the gala. So if he saw the picture of me, how would he know who I was?”
“There’s only one way he’d know that you were my daughter,” her dad said. “Your sister is still alive, and he knows her.”
It took a moment for Annie to understand what he was saying. “Because we’re identical.”
Her dad nodded. “That’s the only way someone could look at that picture and know who you were.”
Annie didn’t want to think that was possible, because that would mean he’d been right about what would happen if she appeared in public.
Was that really what had happened? Or was her dad trying to prove to her why he didn’t want her dating Cole or anyone else in the spotlight?
“Dad, that seems like a bit of a stretch,” Annie said, moving into the room to sit beside Benji on the leather sofa.
Her father’s jaw tightened. “Identical twins remain identical, even as adults. The chances of someone mistaking you for anyone else are astronomically low.”
“But we don’t even know if Angelica is…” Annie couldn’t finish the sentence. They never spoke the possibility aloud, though it hung in the air constantly, a shadow that had followed their family for over two decades.
“She’s alive,” her father said firmly. “This message confirms it.”
Annie exchanged a glance with Benji, who looked equally skeptical. Elizabeth sat silently beside her husband, her hands clasped tightly in her lap, knuckles white.
“What does Jude recommend?” Annie asked, referring to the head of their security team.
“He wants to increase security measures immediately. For all of us, but especially for you.” Her father began pacing, his footsteps heavy on the hardwood floor. “I’ve already authorized it. There will be additional personnel stationed around your cabin starting tonight.”
Annie felt the familiar tightening in her chest that came whenever her freedom was about to be further restricted. “For how long?”
“As long as necessary.” Her father stopped pacing to look directly at her. “And I need you to reconsider your relationship with Cole Halverson.”
There it was. The real reason for tonight’s dinner. Annie felt Benji shift beside her, a subtle gesture of solidarity.
“Dad, we’ve been through this—”
“The situation has changed,” he interrupted, his voice leaving no room for argument. “This threat emerged after you were photographed with him. This person now knows someone you’re associated with, making it easier for them to find you. The connection is clear.”
“Even if there is a connection, hiding isn’t the solution.”
Her father’s expression darkened. “Except that it has worked for all these years. You’ve been safe until you ventured into the spotlight.”
“I’ve been isolated,” Annie corrected. “There’s a difference.”
The room fell silent. Nyla sensed the tension and pressed closer to Annie’s legs. Elizabeth finally spoke, her voice soft but steady.
“Duncan, perhaps we should discuss this after dinner. Margarita has prepared something special since you’re home.”
Her father nodded stiffly, clearly not finished with the conversation but willing to postpone it. As they moved toward the dining room, he held Annie back with a gentle touch on her arm.
“I had a conversation with Cole Halverson after his game last week,” he said quietly.
Annie felt as though the floor had dropped away beneath her feet, even though she’d suspected he might have talked to him. “You did what?”
“I explained our situation. The need for privacy. The potential dangers of the two of you dating.”
“You had no right,” Annie whispered, anger and betrayal washing over her.
“No right?” Her father’s voice remained calm but firm. “I have every right to protect my family.”
“By going behind my back?” Annie stepped away from him, creating a physical distance that matched the emotional chasm widening between them. “What exactly did you tell him?”
Her father’s expression remained impassive. “I shared enough for him to understand the gravity of the situation.”
“And did you threaten him?” Annie watched her father’s face carefully, noting the slight tightening around his eyes. “You did, didn’t you? What was it this time? His career? Money?”
“Annie—”
“That’s why he’s been distant,” she said, the realization hitting her like a physical blow. “That’s why our conversations have been strained. You put him in an impossible position.”
Her father squared his shoulders. “I gave him a choice. The same choice I’m giving you now.”
“It’s not a choice when you manipulate all the variables.” Annie felt her hands trembling and clenched them into fists. “I was going to tell him everything—today, in fact. I was going to be honest about who I am, about our family, about Angelica. But you couldn’t even allow me that dignity.”
“I did what I thought was best,” he said stiffly. “I just wish I hadn’t been too late.”
Annie glanced toward the dining room, where Benji and Elizabeth waited. She lowered her voice. “Was there even a threatening message, Dad? Or was that just another manipulation to frighten me into compliance?”
Her father’s gaze went steely. “You think I would lie about something like that? About your sister being alive?”
The accusation hung between them, heavy and painful. Annie felt a twinge of remorse, but her anger outweighed it.
“I think you would do anything to maintain control,” she said quietly. “Even if it meant hurting me.”
Her dad pulled his shoulders back. “Annalisa, I am trying to keep you from being hurt.”
“By also hurting me.”
“A broken heart can mend. A lost life is gone forever.”
Before Annie could respond, Benji appeared in the doorway. “Everything okay in here?”
“Fine,” her father said, his business mask sliding back into place. “We’re coming.”
Dinner was a tense affair. The cook had outdone herself with a beautifully prepared meal, but Annie barely tasted it. Her mind raced with questions about what her father had said to Cole, what threats or promises he might have made. Each bite felt like ash in her mouth.
“Julian sends his regards,” her father said, breaking the uncomfortable silence. “He’s in Tokyo for the launch of the new medical imaging system.”
“How convenient,” Annie murmured, earning a warning glance from Elizabeth.
“He’ll hopefully be home for Christmas and New Year’s,” her father continued as if he hadn’t heard her. “The whole family together.”
“Except Angelica,” Annie said, unable to stop herself.
Her father set down his fork with deliberate care. “Yes. Except Angelica.”
The rest of the meal passed in stilted conversation. Benji made valiant attempts to discuss his studies, and Elizabeth talked about a fundraiser she was a part of, topics that would normally engage Annie. But that night, she couldn’t focus, her thoughts constantly returning to Cole and what her father might have said to him.
When dinner finally concluded, Annie stood quickly. “I should head back before it gets any later.”
“I’ll have someone drive you,” her father said, already reaching for his phone.
“No need. I have Nyla, and the walk will do me good.” She needed the solitude, the crisp air to clear her head.
“Annalisa.” Her father’s voice stopped her at the doorway. “This message is real. The threat is real. Please consider what I’ve said.”
Annie met his gaze, seeing the genuine concern behind his authoritative demeanor. Despite her anger, she knew his actions, however misguided, came from love.
“I’ll be careful,” she said finally. “But I need to talk to Cole myself. I need to hear from him what you said.”
Her father nodded once. A small concession. “The additional security will escort you home.”
“Fine.” It wasn’t worth arguing about.
Benji walked her to the door, helping her into her coat. “Want me to come with you?”
“No, but thanks.” Annie hugged him briefly. “I need to think.”
The walk back to her cabin felt longer than usual, the security detail maintaining a discreet distance behind her. Nyla trotted beside her, occasionally bumping her leg as if to hurry her along.
Inside her cabin, Annie immediately reached for her phone. No messages from Cole. She considered calling him, but what would she say?
Did my father threaten you?
Are you planning to break up with me?
None of the options felt right, especially over the phone.
Tomorrow. They would talk tomorrow, and she would finally know the truth of what went down between him and her dad. And hopefully, it wouldn’t be the end of their relationship.