Page 150 of Tangled Kisses
I swipe to answer. “Pearl?”
Her voice is tight. Broken. “Griffin, thank God. I’ve been trying to reach you.”
“What’s going on?”
She’s crying now. “It’s Dad. He had a massive stroke. The doctors don’t think he’s going to make it.”
The floor sways beneath me.
“I—I need you to come get me,” she begs. “I don’t want to go to the hospital alone. Please.”
“I’m coming,” I choke out. “Just hang tight. I’m on my way.”
I end the call and turn to Piper, barely able to find the words. “That was my sister. My dad had a stroke. A bad one.”
Piper’s face softens, mouth falling open. “Oh, no.”
“I—I need to get to Pearl.” I shove into my boots before reaching for my keys. “I have to get to the hospital. They don’t think he’s going to make it. But Reese?—”
“Griffin,” Piper steps in front of me, her voice calm, belying the fear I know she feels. “Go. Get your sister. Be with your dad.”
“But, what about Reese? What if she didn’t leave of her own accord? What if she needs me?”
“I’ll take care of it,” she says firmly. “You go be a brother. Let me be a sister. Look, maybe I’m overreacting. Maybe Reese did just run. We don’t know yet, but you’ll regret it forever if you’re not there for your dad.”
“I can’t just?—”
“Youcan. You have to.” She grabs my shoulders. “We’re not losing Reese. I promise—I’ll find her. I’ll get in touch with people I know in New York. Have them check her old apartment, see if they can track her down.”
Best-case scenario? That she’s fine. That she used me for a few fucks before running back to her real life. That she loves Vander and never loved me.
I hate that scenario. But it’s better than the other one—that he dragged her away, and I was too blind to see it.
My throat tightens as I nod. “Okay. Call me as soon as you know anything.”
“I will,” she says. “Now go.”
On my way out, I glimpse myself in the mirror by the door. Bloodshot eyes. Shaking hands. Bruised knuckles. A stranger stares back at me—someone I don’t want to recognize.
The woman I wanted forever with just told me I was nothing, then shoved her life savings into my palm like a severance package. Her sister’s convinced she’s been abducted. And now Pearl’s voice won’t quit echoing in my head—broken and begging. Our dad’s dying. The man I swore I hated.
I thought I had more time. With Reese. With Dad. With everything. Seems I was wrong.
The drive isa blur of asphalt and headlights, my hands strangling the wheel hard enough for my knuckles to ache. Every mile that ticks past feels like one more I’ve wasted—on silence, on avoidance, on telling myself I’d deal with it later.
I should’ve pushed Reese harder. Demanded answers instead of swallowing her lies. She wouldn’t have cut me out like that. Not if she loved me. And I know she does. Or at least, Ithinkshe does.
Doubt pricks me like a poison dart.
What if Piper’s wrong? What if Reese meant every cold, brutal word? What if I was nothing more than a diversion, and I read it exactly right?
My vision blurs, lungs seizing, thoughts spinning so fast I don’t see the headlights until a horn blares and a semi roars past, close enough to rattle my truck. I jerk the wheel back, breath tearing out of me in a harsh gasp.
If I wreck this truck, if I don’t make it in time, then I’ll have lost them both. Reese and my dad.
“Get it together, Griffin,” I snarl under my breath.
By the time I pull up at Pearl’s place, my chest feels hollowed out. My legs don’t want to carry me up the steps, but somehow I make it. The door swings open, and there she is—my sister, eyes wide with worry.
