More of Us ( A Love You More Rock Star Romance #3) - Laura Pavlov Page 0,95

if I didn’t admit I understood why she didn’t. Who the fuck would want to tell the person they love that their father offered them a million dollars to end their relationship? I wouldn’t ever willingly hurt her either. I understood it. I wasn’t pissed at Jade. I was pissed at the situation.

Did I think she considered taking the money? Not for a fucking second. So, why’d I lose my shit over this? Because I hated my father and everything he stood for. He’d found my weakness and he’d gone after it. I’d drive for a few hours and then pull over and catch some sleep at a hotel. I’d call Jade and work this shit out. For now, I was just going to drive.

Bright lights blinded me, and I used my hand as a shield to block out the brightness. That’s when I realized the car in front of me was on the wrong side of the road. I swerved and felt the impact immediately. My body slammed forward, and the sound of skidding tires surrounded me. Metal hitting metal. My phone flew through the air in slow motion, as the car flipped over multiple times. Round and round. And I thought of my girl. And that she’d told me she loved me. And I hadn’t said it back.

Love you more.

And everything went dark.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Jade

Twelve hours. Twelve hours since I’d heard from Cruz. And no one knew where he was. Lennon and I had been on the phone no less than one hundred times this morning. I hadn’t slept at all, as I’d been trying to reach Cruz all night. I knew something was wrong. I felt it in my gut. There’d been no word from him, and Lennon hadn’t heard anything either. I knew Cruz was mad, but this still wasn’t like him. He hadn’t taken his father’s plane, as Lennon had called to ask. I was in the process of calling every hospital in Austin, and panic was coursing through my veins.

To say I was manic was an understatement. I had Ari on the phone calling police stations. He’d vanished, and I didn’t know what else to do. Lennon was calling rental car companies while I continued to check the hospitals. I waited on hold while the lady searched his name and checked all the John Does that were brought in without identification.

Nothing.

“Okay, thank you.” My words broke on a sob.

“Good luck,” she said.

My phone rang as soon as I ended the call and Lennon’s name flashed across the screen.

“Anything?”

“Yes. He rented a car last night. He was planning to drive from Austin to Chicago. He couldn’t have gotten all that far, so we need to check all the hospitals on that path. But Jade, it is possible that his phone just died and he’s fine. He was pissed off, so maybe he just needs time to cool off.” Lennon sounded so hopeful.

I covered my eyes with my hand. “I don’t think so. He told me he’d call me in a few hours. Something’s wrong. He wouldn’t go this long without touching base with us. Something’s wrong, Lennon.”

“Alright, let’s split up the hospitals.”

“Okay. I’m looking at the map now. We can check for accidents. Send me the make and model of the rental car. I’ll send it to my father and see if he can make some calls. I’ll text you a list of hospitals to try next,” I said, swiping at my cheeks and frantically typing on my laptop.

“It’ll be okay. We’re going to find him.”

“I feel really bad. I lied to him. I just didn’t want to hurt him. But he was so angry when we talked. I told him I loved him, and he didn’t say it back. What if he never says it back?” I couldn’t contain my sobs, as all the worry bubbled to the surface and I fell apart.

“Don’t do that to yourself. My brother loves you more than anything. He’s crazy about you. Of course you didn’t want to tell him our father is a bigger piece of shit than we already thought. He understands. I promise. He was just angry at Dad.