Love Rock'ollection: The Brutal Strength Rock Star Trilogy, books 1-3 (78 page)

When she sat back, Ray was standing at the side window. She rolled it down.

“Don’t do this,” Ray pleaded, his hand resting on the bottom frame of the window as if he could somehow prevent the car from leaving.

“I have to.” She turned over his hand and placed her cell phone in it.

“Good bye, Ray.”

THE NIGHT SKY was black, storm clouds obscuring the stars. A gusty wind whipped her hair into her eyes and buffeted her body. Her outward discomfort registered on some level, but it was trivial in comparison to the hollow gnawing pain she felt inside. The Pacific stretched out in wide in front of her. The surf raged. The sound of it roared in her ears, its surface as turbulent as her thoughts.

There was no solace to be found here.

Just hurtful memories.

Every song they had written.

A lie.

Every time they’d made love.

A lie.

Every gentle touch. Every thoughtful gesture.

Lies…all of it.

Leaving her alone.

That was real.

Sobbing, shuddering from the bitter wind and the cold rain that had begun to fall, she decided it was time to go in. But when she looked down, she found that the tide had come in. Her rocky perch was now completely surrounded by swirling water.

Holy crap!

She scraped her wet hair out of her eyes and scanned the shore for help. It seemed as deserted as it had been when she had first come out. The weather certainly didn’t conjure thoughts of a casual beachside stroll.

She was going to have to wade back. She slid off the rock, the sharp edges of the adherent crustaceans digging into her palms as she shimmied down into the water. Immediately she found herself in up to her thighs, the surf a lot deeper and a lot colder than she had anticipated.

Avery began slogging through the icy water. Suddenly, a frigid wave pounded her down to her knees with tremendous force. In its aftermath, she gasped for breath, but managed to regain her footing. Her thin silk top and jeans were saturated and plastered to her freezing skin, offering no protection from the cold.

She coughed at the salt water that had gotten into her mouth and burned the back of her throat. Her breath came ragged now and her teeth chattered. When she looked toward the shore again, it seemed further away than when she had started out. The current must have dragged her back more than she realized. She began to get really frightened. What if she didn’t make it?

Panicking, she tried to run through the seething waves, but her legs were too hard to lift. They felt numb and heavy as if they were encased in ice.

Another large wave smacked into her back. She went under. This time she didn’t have the strength to fight it anymore. The weight of the water pressed down upon her, the cold penetrating into the very marrow of her bones. She felt herself slipping away.

Then she struck the bottom. Instead of the cathartic release she’d expected to find, she found clarity and reasons to renew her resistance. She probably wouldn’t be able to find another man as right for her as she thought Marcus had been, but that was ok. He wasn’t the only thing worth living for. She had her brother. Her friends. Her music.

And she had herself.

She broke for the surface, momentarily disoriented in the darkness. And that’s when she heard the singing, those clear bell like tones so familiar and full of love.

Her mother.

She followed the sound, blinking salt water out of her eyes. Frantically, she struggled back toward the shore, battling the waves that seemed unwilling to give her up. Time and again they knocked her down and pulled her under. Her lungs burned, and her muscles stained with fatigue.

I’m not going to make it.

Suddenly, she felt a strong hand gripping her arm, dragging her from the tenacious surf. As the fog of exhaustion enveloped her, Avery peered up at her rescuer.

It was
him
.

“WE’VE GOT TO find her!” Marcus shouted at Dwight as he paced the length of his hotel room. “I need her back here now!”

“Lower your voice and calm down, Marcus. We’ve got people looking everywhere we can think of.” Dwight returned his glare with his arms crossed over his chest. “In the meantime, you wanna tell me what this is
really
about?”

“No. I don’t.” Marcus ran a panicked hand through his hair, gaze jerking to the door as Trevor walked in. “Any news?”

“Sorry.” He shook his head. “No one’s seen her since the concert.”

Marcus let out an exasperated sigh.

“I checked for Jackson, too,” Trevor continued.” Just like you asked. No sign of him, either.”

“Shit!” The lid he’d been holding on his temper burst. His vision turned red as his anger erupted. Predictable. She had run to Bryan. Furious, he swept an arm across the suite’s bar, sending delicate glassware flying and shattering against the wall. Without pause, he grabbed a lamp by the base and slammed it into the glass coffee table, breaking both.

“Dammit Marcus!” Dwight exclaimed. “Stop!” His arms locked tightly around his brother, pinning him back against his chest. “Get it together, man. What the hell’s going on?”

“Let go!” Eyes bulging, pulse pounding in his ears, Marcus twisted in his brother’s arms.

“Not until you calm down.”

Ray came into the room, brows lifting as he surveyed the scene.

“Ray!” Marcus called, shrugging free from Dwight’s grasp. “Did you find her?”

“Yeah, Boss.”

“Thank God.” His tension eased, ever so slightly. “Where is she?”

“Gone.”

“What do you mean gone?” he demanded, his heart rate accelerating.

“I mean gone. She hopped into a taxi and left.”

“Why the hell didn’t you stop her?”

Ray gave him an exasperated look. “How was I supposed to do that?”

“This is bullshit!” He advanced toward his bodyguard, hands curled into fists. “You’re supposed to be protecting her.”

“Really?” Ray held his ground, his dark gaze narrowing. “You really want to get into a finger pointing match with
me
about what
I
should or shouldn’t have done? Did you not see her when she left?”

“Yeah. I saw her,” Marcus said bleakly. He’d watched her shatter like those glasses into a million jagged pieces right before his eyes. He stuffed bleeding hands into his pockets, shoulders hunched with tension. The glass crunched beneath his Vans as he shifted. “Was she by herself?” he made himself ask, dreading the answer.

“Yes.”

Marcus let out a breath.

“She said she wanted to be alone. She left this with me,” Ray finished, holding out her cell.

“Holy shit.” Marcus took it, hand trembling as his fingers closed around the familiar VH cover.

“That’s weird. Why in the world would she leave her cell behind?” Dwight asked, brow furrowing.

“Trevor.” Marcus head whipped up, eyes burning. “Call the cab company. We need to figure out who picked up passengers in the past couple of hours and where they dropped them off.”

“Sure,” the band manager said, pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. “I’ll call right now.”

“Here.” Ray offered him a piece of paper. “I jotted down the number of the cab she left in.”

Sam walked into the room, eyes widening as she stepped gingerly around the destruction. “Has anyone heard anything?”

“Ray saw her leave in a taxi,” Marcus answered. “Trevor’s calling now to see where they dropped her off.”

“Ok. Good. Someone as famous as she won’t be able to stay out of sight for long.” She wagged an accusatory finger in front of Marcus’ face. “I get the feeling that you might have some idea why she took off tonight without telling anyone.”

Marcus turned his back on her.

“Perhaps I should rephrase that,” she said, moving in front of him again. “I just spent the past half hour talking down a bunch of VIP’s. They’re pissed off that the meet and greet was cancelled. I don’t have to tell you that Mary is pretty unhappy, too. So pardon me if I’m a little irritated and not in the mood for evasion.”

Marcus folded his arms and stared down at the riled tour manager.

Sam stood up straight and returned his glare. Taking a step closer, she put her finger out as if she was going to poke him in the chest, but folded her arms across her chest instead. “She’s my best friend, Marcus,” she told him lowering her chin. “I’m worried about her. A responsible girl like her doesn’t just up and disappear. Something’s happened.” She looked back in his eyes. “And you’re gonna tell me what.” Her words were more a plea than a demand.

The room fell into a suspenseful silence.

“She walked in on me with someone,” Marcus admitted softly.

Sam covered her mouth.

“A groupie,” Dwight interjected with a frown. “A very famous kiss and tell one.”

“You have Avery and you slept with a groupie?” she asked, voice muffled through her fingers.

Marcus could feel all eyes on him. He crossed the room, the bedspread creasing as he sank down on top of it.

“She
thinks
that I did,” he whispered.

He’d only wanted to protect her, but instead he’d broken her. His chest was so tight he could barely breathe. Nothing, nothing in his life could have prepared him for the way he’d felt watching her look at him like that. Watching their love die.

I hate you
.

Fuck.

“What do you mean
thinks
?” Dwight demanded with a frown.

Suddenly everyone was speaking at once.

Dwight took one long measured look at Marcus before seizing control of the chaos. “Trevor, keep working on the taxi thing. I think the sooner we find her the better.” He shifted his attention. “Sam, talk to War or someone with Tempest and get Jackson’s number. Maybe he knows something. We need to explore every avenue. Everyone keep your cells on. I’ll stay here with Marcus. We’ll work on getting this hotel room cleaned up.”

As soon as everyone left, Dwight turned on him. “What’s really going on here?”

There was a long uncomfortable pause. Marcus glared at him, watching comprehension dawn in his brother’s eyes.

“This was all just a set up. You
wanted
her to think you slept with Adrienne.”

“Yes.” Marcus let out a long sigh. “I just wanted Avery to get on with her life…minus me. I knew Adrienne would go along with it. She’d never tell anyone that I
didn’t
sleep with her. It’d ruin her reputation.”

Dwight rolled his eyes at Ray who just shook his head.

“After the accident,” Marcus explained, “I knew she’d be better off without me. But she kept pushing, wanting us to get back together. I knew that it would take something drastic to make her give it up.”

“Shit, Marcus,” Dwight exclaimed. “This is so jacked. You’re looking at it all wrong. It’s not whether or not you’re good enough, but whether or not you’re the right one for her. It’s really messed up that you took that choice away from her by doing something this stupid.”

“I had to. You know Avery. She wants to save everyone. She would have stayed with me. The only way I could be sure she’s safe is to keep her away. You weren’t there that night.” He dragged a shaky hand through his hair. “I can’t get the image of her unconscious and covered in blood out of my mind. I thought I had killed her. Every time I look at that scar I think about how close it was. I’m not willing to take that risk with her again the next time I fuck up.”

“Then you don’t fuck up, Marcus. If you love her: You. Don’t. Fuck. Up.”