Chapter 736

The cops hadn’t shown up yet, but Cole did. Ever since Thorsten stepped back into his shadow-boss role, Cole had been the public face of the Drago family, handling all the messy PR and, apparently, me.

“Where’s Nina?” he demanded, skipping any kind of small talk.

Sasha had already said the figure just resembled me, but Cole? He sounded like he was 100 percent sure it was me. Whether he genuinely couldn’t tell the difference or was just faking it, I couldn’t say.

“I don’t know, and it’s got nothing to do with me,” I shot back.

“If I’m here, it’s for a reason. If it’s money you want, that can be arranged—just hand her over,” he said, like I was some cash-hungry gold digger.

I raised an eyebrow. I guess that’s all he thought of me. People loved to assume my current assets were just leftovers from my breakup with Jace. The internet had a field day calling me a sellout who treated relationships like transactions.

“What do you want her for?” I asked, brushing off the insult and leaning into curiosity instead.

“That’s none of your business,” he snapped.

I threw in a mock pout. “Let me guess. You’re planning to use Nina to keep Sasha in line? Or maybe you’re worried a missing kid will tank DracoLux’s image? Or could it be…”

“Keira,” Cole cut me off. “That’s family business. Stay out of it.”

I ignored him completely. If I was already poking the bear, might as well finish. “…or did your mother send you?”

For the first time, Cole’s mask cracked, just for a second. Oh? So this was his mom’s doing. Interesting.

“Seems like you know a lot about my family,” he sneered.

I shrugged and laid it out flat. “Nina’s disappearance has nothing to do with me. You know where I’ve been these past few days. Besides, why would I even kidnap her?”

Cole stayed silent for a beat before leaning in, his tone slow and calculated. “But that little girl ran off chasing someone who looked just like you. Even if it wasn’t you, the resemblance makes it…suspiciously connected to you.”

Translation: Someone used my face to stir up drama, and now it’s my problem.

Of course, Cole had already pieced it together. Smart guy. Too bad for him, I wasn’t about to confess anything.

“So what?” I said, playing dumb.

He gave me that smug, knowing smile. “You’re too clever not to know what I mean.”

“Enlighten me,” I replied with the fakest confusion I could muster.

Cole nodded. “Fine. Someone used you to pull off this stunt.”

“And who would that be?” I shot back.

Cole’s eyes drilled into me, like he was trying to crack me open and spill my secrets. Too bad for him, my poker face was rock solid. After a beat, he shook his head. “I don’t know.”

“Then maybe stop wasting time on me and figure it out. If you actually want to find Nina, standing here accusing me isn’t helping.”

But Cole didn’t bite. His gaze stayed sharp as ever. “Why do you think someone would use you?”

Nice try. He was laying a trap. I shook my head. “No clue. Maybe they’re trying to stir up drama and pin it on me. You’d never let me off the hook if I couldn’t produce her.”

“That could be it,” he said, nodding slightly. Then he leaned in, his smile turning just a little sharper. “Or maybe…”

“Maybe what?” I asked, tilting my head and throwing on my best clueless-but-curious expression.

“You set this whole thing up yourself.”

I had to admit, he wasn’t stupid. The guy knew how to work a theory. Even if I hadn’t orchestrated this, Hayden had already walked me through the intent behind it.

“Me?” I let out a soft, mocking laugh. “And why exactly would I do something like that?”