Page 50 of Lucas (The Valeur Billionaires #2)

Chapter Thirty-Four

AVA

“ H ey!” I call out as I enter the estate after an hour and a half of driving. “Lucas?”

I don’t understand what’s going on, my stomach churning with unease.

Hugo appears in the foyer, his face creased with concern. “Mrs. Ava.”

“Where’s Lucas?” I ask, my voice tight with urgency. “I need to talk to him.”

“Mr. Valeur was here. He was looking for you. I told him you weren’t home.” Hugo shifts on his feet, his hands clasped behind his back.

“Okay. But where is he now? At the office?”

“I don’t know. He left, but he didn’t tell me where he was going.”

“He’s not home?” My heart sinks, dread unfurling in my gut.

Hugo shakes his head. “No.”

“But I saw the Jaguar outside.”

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Ava. He left while I was in the kitchen. He seemed quite upset. Is everything alright?” Hugo’s voice is gentle, and concern fills his tone.

“It will be as soon as I find him,” I say with more confidence than I feel.

I rush to the garage and fling open the door. All his other cars are here. There are no empty spots. Did he leave on foot? Where would he go?

I try calling him again, but he doesn’t answer.

Fuck, he must think I believed the picture. He came home and saw I was gone and assumed the worst. He didn’t know I had plans to meet Cora. If he had just waited, just talked to me, he would know.

I would never leave him like that. I love him.

Except I never said the words. He doesn’t know.

I leave the garage and head back into the house. I’ll wait for him here. When he comes back, he’ll find me waiting. I love him, and he needs to hear me say it.

I enter the bedroom, our bedroom.

I need to tell him about what my father did, about the state of the company. That I’m sorry.

What if he doesn’t want me anymore after he hears it all? What if he doesn’t believe I had no part in it?

I stare at myself in the mirror, my eyes wide and scared in my pale face. “Be brave, Ava. He loves you, and you love him. You can work this out,” I whisper to my reflection, trying to bolster my courage.

I sit on the bed to wait.

Then I lie down on the bed. And wait .

And wait.

I jerk awake when my phone rings, my heart leaping into my throat.

I scramble for it, my fingers clumsy. “Lucas?”

“No, it’s Cora. You thought it was Lucas?” Her voice is sharp with worry.

“Yes.” I sit up, rubbing my face, trying to orient myself.

“He’s not with you? I thought he went home a long time ago,” she says, the words tumbling over each other. “Where is he?”

“He wasn’t here when I arrived.” I glance at the clock and curse. “Fuck.” I leap to my feet, ice flooding my veins. “I must have fallen asleep. Is it really almost midnight?” Panic claws at my chest, strangling my breath.

“Yes. Are you telling me you haven’t seen him since you left my place?”

“I came home, and Hugo said he had left without saying where he was going. I assumed he went to clear his head, so I waited.”

“Ava, it’s been hours! He should have been back by now.” The strain is clear in her tone, fear bleeding through.

God. The pressure in my chest intensifies, squeezing like a vise. “I fell asleep. Shit. Maybe he’s home? Maybe he came back, and I didn’t hear him?” I leave the room and start opening doors, one after the other. “Lucas?”

The house is dark. I check every room, calling his name, just to be sure.

“Fuck, Cora, he’s not here. What if...” My voice trembles, hot tears pricking at the backs of my eyes.

“Don’t say that. We need to find him. Focus. Where would he go?” she demands, her words clipped and urgent .

I force my thoughts to slow, to focus. I take a deep breath, then another.

“His bike,” I breathe, the pieces clicking into place. “Maybe he went for a ride to clear his head.”

I race outside to the bike shed, my bare feet slapping against the cold flagstones. I wrench open the door. I scan the rows of gleaming bicycles, my heart in my throat until I stop short.

“There’s... There’s an empty rack here,” I tell Cora over the phone. I reach out to touch the bare metal.

I open the equipment closet. “Yes, his helmet is missing, too. I think he went out on his bike.”

“He went cycling alone? At night? And he’s not back yet?” Cora’s voice pitches higher with each question, edging into full-blown hysteria now. “Ava, it’s pitch black out there! What the hell was he thinking?”

“Oh, God. What if something happened to him?” I whisper the terrible thought, the words scraping my throat raw. The vise around my chest tightens another notch until I’m sure my heart will implode under the pressure. “What if he crashed or got lost or...”

“No. No, don’t go there. He’s probably fine.

He just got a flat tire or something minor and got stranded without reception,” Cora tries to reassure me, but her voice wavers and cracks, betraying her own escalating fear.

“Listen, I’m calling Liam, and we’re coming to the estate now, okay?

Just wait for us. Don’t do anything stupid. ”

I nod, forgetting she can’t see me. “Okay,” I choke out past the lump in my throat.

I run back to the bedroom and throw on some clothes, my hands shaking as I tug on jeans and a sweater. “He just got stuck somewhere, and he’s waiting for morning so someone will pass by. That’s all,” I mutter to myself, trying to stave off the panic clawing at my nerves.

It will take Cora and Liam at least an hour to get here from the city. I can look for him in the meantime.

I leap into my Jeep and head out, driving through the fields behind the estate and into the hills where he likes to ride. I drive slowly, my high beams cutting through the inky darkness, but it’s hard to see anything.

I roll down the window and yell into the night. “Lucas! Lucas!”

Only silence answers me, the words swallowed by the rustling leaves and creaking branches.

Where could he be? God, I’m so glad I did this route with him. That I know the way.

I creep along at a snail’s pace, but there’s no sign of Lucas anywhere.

My phone rings, and I jump, a scream lodged in my throat. “Cora,” I answer, my breath coming in sharp pants.

“We’re here. Where are you? The house is empty.”

“I went out to look for him in the Jeep.” My knuckles are white on the steering wheel, my whole body thrumming with tension.

“Did you find anything?” Hope and dread war in her voice.

“Nothing.”

“Send me your location. We’re coming to you.”

I pull up the GPS app and share my location pin, my fingers trembling so badly I nearly drop the phone. “Okay. I sent it,” I confirm, my words wooden and distant to my own ears as if they’re coming from someone else entirely .

“Good. We’ll be there in a few minutes. Just stay put, okay? Don’t move.” The call ends with a click, leaving me in ringing silence once more.

I pull the Jeep to the side of the narrow dirt path and cut the engine, plunging myself into complete darkness. For a moment, I just sit there, staring blankly into the night, my mind a screeching white void of static.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

He’s okay.

He has to be okay. There’s no other option because I haven’t told him yet. I haven’t told him I love him.

After a few minutes, which feels like an eternity, a large vehicle pulls up beside me, and the window rolls down.

“Get inside,” Cora says, her face pale.

I climb out and get into their SUV. Liam is driving, his jaw set in a grim line.

We’ve never talked much, but I know Lucas loves and respects him. And he came out here in the middle of the night to search for his brother.

“Thanks for coming,” I say, my voice hoarse with unshed tears.

Liam glances at me in the rearview mirror, his eyes soft with understanding. “He’s my brother. This is what you do for family. No need to thank me.”

I nod, swallowing hard. I wish my father understood that.

We continue down the dirt paths, slowly, methodically. Cora hands me a flashlight. “Shine it on the sides of the road. It’s not much, but better than nothing.”

I roll down the window and aim the beam into the darkness, searching for any sign, any clue. Neither of us says it out loud, but we’re both thinking the same thing—that something must have happened to him. Otherwise, we wouldn’t need flashlights.

It feels like we drive for hours, endless miles of empty road. I direct them, going by memory from my ride with Lucas. I pray he didn’t choose a different route today of all days, but we keep going and going, and there’s no trace of him or his bike.

“Where is he?” Cora mutters under her breath, her fingers drumming an anxious rhythm on her thigh. “Are you sure he went out on his bike?”

“No,” I admit. “I didn’t see him leave. I just saw that his bike was missing— Stop!” I scream, and Liam slams on the brakes, throwing us forward against our seatbelts. “Back up a little.”

Liam shifts into reverse and inches backward, the engine growling.

“Stop!” I yell again, and he jerks to a halt, gravel spraying.

“What did you see?” Cora asks, her eyes wide and frightened. We all scramble out of the car, pulses racing.

“There.” I point to the side of the road, my hand shaking. “There’s a bag.”

I run out, Cora and Liam hot on my heels.

Liam overtakes me within seconds, his long legs eating up the distance. He disappears into the ditch on the side of the path.

“Lucas,” I scream as I reach the ditch, breathless and dizzy with fear. I jump down into the muddy ravine, my heart in my throat.

Please let him be okay. Please, please, please...