Total pages in book: 148
Estimated words: 135517 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 678(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 452(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135517 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 678(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 452(@300wpm)
“Where are you going?”
“I have an emergency; you have to cancel the rest of the tour.”
“What? What’re you talking about? Do you know how much money we’re gonna lose?”
“I can’t tell you how little of a fuck I give right now.” I brushed past him again and jogged down the hallway with my phone to my ear.
He tried keeping up with me, even tried to hold me back, but I pulled out of his hand and kept going. “Is this about that girl? Listen, Ryder, you’re married….” My look had him shutting the hell up, and he even took a step back.
The fact that he knew what this was about just put him on my shit list. I’d been spending my time here after my visit to Mom, trying to figure out what the hell was going on while trying to piece together the puzzling bits and pieces of memories that kept flashing through my mind.
I knew or had come to believe that I was surrounded by people with an ulterior motive; I just couldn’t figure out who. Of everyone in my crew, Scott, my manager for as long as I’ve had a career, knows what she means to me. He, of all people, should know that even though we weren’t together anymore, I still cared about her. Which means he should know that her being hurt was something I would want to know.
I had finished my call to the pilot by the time I slid into the backseat of the car after telling him I didn’t care what he had to do; I wanted in the air in half an hour or less. I was seven hours out, fuck. What was I supposed to do with that time other than obsess over what was going on with her?
I wasn’t looking forward to the next few hours, that feeling of helplessness was already setting in, and I’ve never been too good at the waiting game. I needed a hit in the worst way, but the fear of something happening to her before I reached her killed the need real quick.
I had never been so afraid before in my life, and for once, I had the power to stop the tears that came in a rush. I wanted to hit something or someone, but a good scream into the void helped take the edge off. Stay calm, Ryder. Getting upset isn’t going to change anything, and you won’t be of any help to her if you lose your shit.
I had a lot of questions, like why the hell was she so far away from home? What exactly had happened? Who was by her side? Was she alone? None of these things made me feel any better, so I thought it best to think about something else.
What did Mom mean that Janie and her friends had been tormenting her? What had they done exactly? And why the fuck was she still messing with her after all this time? I had to pull it back and rein it in. There was no point in being angry about that now, not before I learned all I needed about the situation, and then I could go from there.
Right now, the only thing I should be thinking about, the only thing that was rightfully on my mind, was her and getting to her. I know this won’t change anything, but it didn’t matter; I just wanted to be there. I just needed to be by her side until I was sure she was okay. I’ll deal with the fallout from the canceled tour some other time, or Scott could handle it himself, the jerk.
***
Those were the longest seven hours of my life. I barely waited for the jet to stop taxiing before running down the metal stairs to the car I had waiting there. I’m not dumb enough to leave things to chance, so I’d made some calls, greased some palms, and found a way into her room without being noticed.
The disguise wasn’t the best, and this late at night, I wasn’t really expecting the paparazzi to be there, but I wasn’t taking any chances. I had the car let me off around the corner from the medical center and walked the rest of the way, keeping my head down and eye out for any unwanted company.
I’m almost certain that Scott would’ve called Janie by now or one of the others who were bound to tell her. I’m not sure why they were all working so hard to keep Elena and me apart, but that’s something else I’ve been thinking about.
Granted, no woman wants her husband’s ex around, but they’ve been acting like she and I, even seeing each other from afar, would be some great catastrophe. I nodded to my source, who met me at the back entrance to the clinic and followed him through the maze of hallways leading to her room.