Page 19 of Pastel Kisses

She thinks she’s won.

She has no idea what’s coming.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Liam

The press conference wraps up, the blinding camera flashes still dancing behind my eyes as Jaxton and I step away from the podium. My jaw aches from clenching it too tight, my patience worn thin from answering the same damn questions over and over.

Do you have any leads?

Do you believe Avery is still alive?

What do you want to say to whoever took her?

I grit my teeth and force my hands into my pockets before I break something. Every second we spend here is another second wasted—another second that she’snotsafe,nothome with us.

Jaxton stands beside me, his shoulders tight with restrained fury. He’s been the face of the search, using his name, his influence, his money—whatever it takes to keep Avery in the public eye. Weneedpeople talking about her, looking for her. But these press conferences? They feel like an exercise in futility. We don’t need sympathy; we needanswers.

Avery’s dad stands a few feet away, his face lined with exhaustion. Daniel looks like a man running on fumes, and we insisted he take a break. He fought us at first—said he wasn’t leaving until he got some real news—but eventually, Jaxton convinced him. Barely.

“I’ll be back first thing in the morning,” he mutters, shaking my hand before gripping Jaxton’s shoulder. His eyes are bloodshot, his movements sluggish. He looks how weallfeel—like the world’s been knocked off its axis, leaving us stumbling through the wreckage.

“Get some rest,” I tell him, even though I know damn well none of us have been sleeping. “We’ll keep working.”

He just nods, rubbing a hand over his face before heading toward his truck.

Jaxton exhales sharply the second he’s gone, his hands gripping the back of his neck as he paces. “That was a fucking waste of time.”

“Yeah,” I mutter, scanning the thinning crowd of reporters. “But we don’t have a choice. ,If we stop pushing, people stop looking.”

Jaxton kicks at the pavement, his frustration boiling just under the surface. “She’sout there, Liam. Somewhere. And we’re still standinghere.”

I swallow down my own frustration, trying to stay level-headed for both of us. “We’ll find her,” I say, because the alternative isn’t an option.

But the longer she’s gone, the harder it is to believe my own words.

The ride home is tense, the silence between Jaxton and me stretching like a taut wire, ready to snap. The weight of the press conference still lingers, but now there’s something else simmering beneath the surface.

Jaxton’s hands are white-knuckled on the wheel as he relays what happened—how Sarah cornered him again, how she tried to manipulate him, how shekissedhim. The disgust in his voice is palpable, but my stomach still churns with unease.

“She moaned, Liam,” he bites out, shaking his head like he can scrub the memory from his mind. “Like I’d actually be into that shit.”

I exhale through my nose, my grip tightening around the handle of the car door. Sarah’s desperation is growing by the day.

“You can’t give her an inch,” I warn, my voice low but firm. “She’s trying to sink her claws back in, Jax. She’s always been manipulative, and now that Avery’s not here—”

Jaxton jerks the wheel slightly, cutting me a sharp look. “You think I don’tknowthat?” His jaw flexes, his nostrils flaring. “You think I’d fall for thatafter everything?”

I don’t answer right away. The truth is, Idon’tthink he’d fall for it—but I also didn’t think Sarah would be bold enough to pull this shitagainafter what happened last time. The fact that she’s escalating means we need to shut this down now.

I sigh, dragging a hand down my face. “I’m not saying you would. I’m saying she’s desperate. And desperate people do stupid, dangerous shit. She’s already done enough damage. She doesn’t get another second of our time.”

Jaxton huffs out a breath, shaking his head as he focuses back on the road. “She’s fucking unhinged.”

Yeah. Weallknow that now.

When we pull into the driveway, the sight of the house slams into me like a punch to the gut. Every time we come back, it’s a brutal reminder that she’s nothere.

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