“Do you honestly think she will believe anything out of my mouth right now when she saw that?” I was hoping she would say yes, but her silence was answer enough.
“Good point,” she said after a few tense moments. “Shaw is as stubborn as they come. Momma had to get all those stupid girls together to show that one chick’s nude picture was because of that damn game. This… She might not believe anyone who tries to tell her the truth. I mean… Well, if I’d walked up on that scene, I wouldn’t have believed it either. It looks so bad, Jags.”
“I know,” I whispered and pressed my fist into my temple.
“And on top of everything else, Shaw’s biggest fear was what happened to Vi happening to her. It’s like that fear came true.” She made a pained sound in her throat. “Fuck. She must be a mess right now.”
“She seemed calm enough when she left.” At the time, it had killed me how calm she’d been. I thought it was further proof that she didn’t want to be with me. Now, I was sure that she’d been holding it together until she was alone.
I wanted to hold her. Tell her that what she saw was a misunderstanding. That I would never cheat on her or hurt her like that.
“Dallas says Shaw isn’t answering her phone,” Ma said. “Jagger, get your ass in gear. Go look for her.”
I jumped to my feet and started pulling clothes out of my closet. “Do you think she’ll even talk to me?”
“I don’t care if she talks to you or not,” Ma snapped. “I only want to make sure she’s okay. Check anywhere you think she might go. Dallas has Cannon out looking too. If you find her, let me and her mom know.”
Promising her I would, I got dressed and then ran down to my car. I checked the location of her phone that I’d shared with mine all those months ago, but it wasn’t showing me anything. Either she’d turned off her phone or disabled the location function. For the next few hours, I drove from LA to West Hollywood to Malibu to Santa Monica. But no matter where I went, I didn’t find so much as a sign that Shaw had been there.
It was nearly midnight when Ma finally called me with an update on her end. “You can stop looking,” she said with a heavy exhale. “She’s safe.”
“Where?” I was ready to turn my car around, but the next words from her had me slamming my brakes so hard the person behind me nearly rear-ended me.
“She’s in Knoxville with Kenzie and Bishop,” Ma informed me. “She said she’s going to spend the rest of the summer with them. Even had her agent cancel any jobs she had lined up for the next few months.”
“Fuck,” I groaned. “She ran.”
“Of course, she fucking ran!” Ma exploded. “What did you expect her to do when she walked up on that scene?”
“Yell at me. Scratch someone up. Go batshit crazy because she’s a hothead like that.” The person behind me honked their horn angrily, and I finally eased on the gas. “Shaw doesn’t run. She faces shit head on because she’s a badass like that.”
“Yeah, well, when the guy a girl is in love with breaks her heart the way she’s been terrified of, she goes into self-preservation mode. I’ve had to deal with it plenty of times in the past, trust me. Hell, I almost did it myself once when I was pregnant with Mia.” Her voice softened. “Just give her some time, Jagger. She will heal, and then you can fix this.”
“Do you think that’s even possible?” I asked, desperately hoping for a miracle but already feeling defeated because I knew it was a one-in-a-million chance where Shaw’s stubborn, beautiful ass was concerned.
There was a pause on her end before she finally spoke again. “Anything can happen, baby boy.”
Chapter 31
Shaw
Fifteen Months Later
I smiled down at the picture of Violet with Remington and his huge dog, Krush, that she’d just texted me. After meeting up with him in London during my photo shoot for his company’s sexy-as-fuck car, my bestie had stayed behind to explore their budding relationship.
It had done my bruised and battered heart good to see Vi so happy with a guy who already treated her like a princess. She deserved to be happy, and Remington Sawyer was determined to give her the world.
While she was in London being spoiled by the billionaire and his giant puppy, I, however, had work to do. Work had been my salvation over the last year. Between traveling for that and school, I hadn’t had much time to think about Jagger. And whenever family events came up, I got to use work as an excuse not to have to face him.
Work was why I’d had to leave Violet in Remington’s capable hands and fly back to the states. Apparently I’d agreed to some kind of photo shoot or something for the end of my brother’s summer tour during a weak moment, not thinking about all it would mean I had to do.
Cannon had been sketchy when he’d made the request earlier in the summer while he was on the road, but I’d been distracted at the time, and I’d barely paid any attention to what he was asking. I hadn’t even remembered to tell my agent about it because I’d assumed it was just a favor to my brother. But Cannon had called her himself, and she’d reminded me about the job when she’d called with all the information she had on the WAR-SAW Global contract.
Which was why I’d flown to Miami instead of going home to Santa Monica like I wanted to. Or stayed in London and watched the adorableness that was Violet and Remington as I’d really wanted to do.
Mom and Dad had been with Cannon during the tour. They were supervising my grown brother, because while he’d changed a lot for the better, thanks to Violet, he was still a total dick when it came to Piper Bryant, who was one of his opening acts on this tour. Also, because he and Jagger were still not friends for whatever reason, and since Aunt Emmie couldn’t tour with her son, it was my parents who had to keep the peace between the two of them.
My plane touched down, and I was met by some goon in a suit who probably worked for Barrick’s security. He held up a sign with S. Cage written on it, so I rolled my carry-on in his direction. But as soon as I got within three feet of him, Jagger appeared as if out of thin air and slung me over his shoulder.