Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 105231 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 526(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 351(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105231 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 526(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 351(@300wpm)
Travis sighed and pinched the top of his nose as he stared down at his feet. “Sorry. We’ve just all been worried about you, Rory.”
“That’s Rory? Where is she?”
He glanced up to find Jace bearing down on him, worry filling his face.
“She’s at Whip It,” he told his brother.
Instantly, the worry disappeared and anger filled its spot. Uh-oh. It was rare for Jace to get angry, but when he did, everyone had to brace.
“What the fuck?” he whispered.
Travis eyed him warily. “Kane, keep Rory there. I’ll be there shortly.”
“Give me the phone,” Jace demanded, holding out his hand.
“Nope.” He ended the call. “You need to take a moment to breathe.”
“I don’t need to fucking breathe!” Jace roared.
People spilled out of the meeting room to gape at them both.
“Rory has been found safe,” he explained. “She’s at Whip It.”
“Uh-oh,” Tyler said. “Somebody isn’t sitting for a week.”
“Jace and I are going over there now. You can all go back to your jobs. Clay, can you call Gray? Tyler, call Hunter.”
“Oh goody,” Tyler grumbled. “Can I call Cady instead? She’s so much easier to talk to. And prettier.”
“I don’t know, I think Hunter is kind of pretty,” Alexa said. “Want me to call him?”
“No!” everyone snapped.
Fuck. That was the last thing he needed. Why had he hired Alexa?
Oh yeah, because she was a fucking genius.
But sometimes he really did worry about her.
“I can’t believe she just turned up at Whip It,” Jace said as he followed him to the stairs. Travis thought it was better to take the stairs than the elevator, give Jace a chance to work off some steam. “Did she say why she was there? Or why she didn’t tell anyone?”
“I don’t know anything other than she sounded upset when I told her everyone is worried and searching for her.”
“Why was she upset? Did you upset her? You shouldn’t have snapped at her,” Jace told him.
“Jace, pull it together, man,” he replied as they reached his car. “You look like you’re torn between hugging her tight or spanking her ass. All I did was scold her a bit. And everyone is worried about her.”
The drive to Whip It was quiet. Not necessarily a good sign. Jace jumped out before Travis had even stopped his car. With a sigh, Travis followed him into Whip It and then through to Kane’s office. He was here early. Kane didn’t usually get here until after six.
Jace stormed into the office and Travis shook his head. This wasn’t going to end well.
He moved in quickly behind him as his brother walked over to where Rory sat on the sofa.
She looked tiny and pale. Her oversized clothes dwarfed her and she wore her dark hair long and falling over her face.
Shit.
Travis tensed. She didn’t look like she was in a strong enough state of mind to handle Jace on a rampage.
“Jace,” he warned as Kane stepped in front of her.
Fuck.
He didn’t know how Jace felt about Rory, but all the signs pointed to him caring about her. Because Jace didn’t usually get this riled up over anything or anyone.
So he wasn’t going to take Kane trying to protect her very well.
“Get out of the way,” Jace ordered.
Kane stood his ground.
“Kane, let him see her,” Travis told him. “Don’t worry, he won’t harm her. Will you, Jace?”
“Not worried about physical harm,” Kane said. “She’s fragile.”
“I’m fine,” Rory protested.
Travis shot her a look, running his gaze over her. Yeah, she didn’t look fine. She looked pale and thin. “Jace has this.”
Kane grimaced but moved.
Travis was prepared to interfere if Jace started yelling. But to his shock, the big guy kneeled in front of Rory and reached up to take gentle hold of her chin.
“You’re okay?” he asked.
“I . . . I am. I promise. I’m so sorry I worried everyone. I really didn’t mean to. Why didn’t Mom tell you all where I was going?”
“Because your note didn’t say anything about where you were headed,” Jace told her. “It just said you were going back to the beginning.”
“But I wrote over the other side that by beginning I meant New York,” she said. “And I’ve been talking about coming back here for a while.”
“Shit. Did anyone think to check the note?” Travis asked. He quickly sent off messages to Gray and Hunter.
Fucking hell.
He thought that Hunter would have sent someone around to check the note.
Hunter messaged back. And he sounded angry.
“Hunter said that your mother threw the note out before anyone could see it,” Travis told her.
Rory shook her head. “Of course she did. Because then you’d all know where I was and she couldn’t create a drama.”
“You think she deliberately kept that information from us?” Travis asked. “From your brother?”
“I don’t know. Maybe not.” Rory looked tired. “Living with her is like . . . like being caught in a dark web. She manipulates things how she likes them. I don’t think Gray knows just how bad she can be. She’s kept me scared of the world for so long with her stories of doom and gloom. I just couldn’t take it anymore. I had to leave. I had to . . . to come here.”