Despite all of that, my mother had obviously been in my life for much longer. Having gone this long without speaking to her was like I was missing a limb. Surely, I couldn’t let any relationship get in the way of the one I had with her.
There had to be something I could do. I just needed to figure out what it was. A strange sensation washed over me, and I suddenly needed to see Addy.
Yes, that was the right way to go about it. I’d discuss the phone call and my conflicting feelings with her like a goddamn adult, and we’d figure it out together. Wasn’t that the way you were supposed to go about doing things when you were in a relationship with someone?
I couldn’t even really pinpoint when I’d started thinking of us as being in a relationship, but air had been breathed into the word, and the term had stuck. I couldn’t find it in myself to fight it, so I was going with it.
Determination to resolve the conflict brewing between the two women in my life pushed me to my feet. I wasn’t a fucking coward. I’d negotiated with some of the most powerful people in my industry. I could handle Mom and Addy.
Resolve was still burning hot in my chest when I strode into her office without knocking. She was on the phone, and it took me all of a split second to realize that something was seriously wrong.
Her face was pale, ashen even. Those royal-blue eyes were as wide as I’d ever seen them, bright with unshed tears and panic. She didn’t acknowledge me, even though she was staring right at me.
“Is he okay?” she asked quickly, then paused to listen for a moment. “Tell him I’ll be on the first plane out to come see him. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
The phone slipped from her fingers as if they’d gone numb when the call disconnected, landing with a thud on her desk. In three long strides, I closed the distance between us and dropped to my haunches in front of her.
“What’s wrong, baby? What happened?”
Addy only blinked at first, her shoulders slumping before she buried her face in her hands. A sob tore out of her, her head shaking fast. “It’s Kyle.”
My heart turned to a useless lump of ice. Her brother was her only family in the world. If something had happened to him… “Is he okay?”
She dragged in a deep breath, her voice coming out shaky and muffled. “He had a heart attack this morning. He collapsed. Apparently, he’s in recovery now, but I have to get home. I have to be there for him.”
“Yes, you do.” My body jumped into motion while my brain tried to organize all the moving pieces. “I’m coming with you.”
“Thank you.” It wasn’t an express agreement, but I’d take it.
She looked so dazed that the first thing I did was to wrap my arms around her, murmuring into her ear. “We’re going to be with him soon. I promise. He’s going to be fine. You’ll be with him so soon.”
Her entire body shivered like a leaf in my arms, but she nodded against my chest and eventually pulled away. “I need to go. I need to make arrangements, and—”
“I’ll make all the arrangements. Let’s go.” I kept a hand on her elbow and steered her out of the office. No one questioned me when I told them to cancel everything on our calendars for the rest of the day. At least it was Friday, so I had some time to reorganize next week if I had to.
I told them to say there was a family emergency and left it at that. Addy moved like a robot at my side. Shock radiated from her, making her movements jerky. Her eyes were glazed over, and I didn’t know if she could even hear me, but I kept reassuring her anyway.
When we got to her apartment, I scrawled out a note to Elena before going to help Addy throw a few things into an overnight bag. I made sure she had the necessities, grabbed her toothbrush and other toiletries from the bathroom, and remembered to ask about her passport.
Once we got her stuff, we made a quick stop at my place. I didn’t even turn off the car there, though. Addy waited in it, and I was back less than five minutes later with everything I needed.
All the while, I barked orders into my phone to ensure we’d get to Oregon as soon as possible. I briefly remembered that I still had to talk to her about the situation with my mother, but that could wait.
My family wasn’t the one in trouble right now. Hers had to come first.
Aldo texted me at some point in the rush, but I barely glanced at my phone. I’d get back to him when we were on the plane.
There was no time to reply right now. Addy was quiet on the way to the airstrip, and she only seemed to realize we were going in the opposite direction to the airport when we were nearly there.
She stiffened in her seat. “What are you doing? I need to go to the airport. I need to go home.”
“That’s where we’re going, baby,” I said soothingly. “I’m getting you home. Just trust me, okay?”
Panic flared in her eyes, but she jerked her head in a nod. “Yeah. Okay, I trust you. Get me to Kyle, Marco. Please get me to my brother.”
My entire being burned at the anguish that rang clear as day in her voice. I pressed my foot down harder on the gas pedal, making it to the private airstrip a few minutes ahead of the navigation system’s estimated time of arrival.
Addy frowned when the car squealed to a stop. “Where are we? Whose plane is that?”
“It’s
