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Nervous fear surged through her. “Can I meet him?”
“Sure. He’s just a human being, Astrid.”
“I know.” Her excitement bubbled up as she listened to Jake leaving a voicemail for Joseph Quinlan. It was unbelievable that this was happening. But she reminded herself to get a grip. It didn’t really matter about Joseph Quinlan, because more than anything, she wanted to see Emma again.
Chapter Seventeen
The journalists had left town by the time Astrid and Jake went out again – clearly they’d gotten bored of waiting around with no scandal to report after all. She said goodbye to her parents and, as Jake drove them back to New York City, she finished off her report on the Graves project – recommending to her supervisor that restrictions be placed on the technology until Graves was able to prove he could guarantee basic safety measures.
Jake dropped Astrid off at a cab stand a few miles from the venue, and they arrived separately, just in case the kidnapper was already hanging around. Jake told her to knock on the stage door when she arrived, so she paid the driver and walked across the small and secluded parking lot in the dwindling twilight, feeling apprehensive.
There were a few other parked cars dotted around – one of which was Jake’s Ferrari. She wondered whether the kidnapper was here yet…
She halted at the stage door and knocked. A huge security guard opened it and Astrid braced herself to be turned away, feeling insignificant.
“Yeah?” he asked, not smiling.
“Hi. I’m Astrid. I’m here to see –”
He grinned. “Oh yeah, come in, Astrid. We’re expecting you.”
Inside, Astrid saw an almost-empty venue with a few people milling around. She realized Joseph was onstage – with no shirt on and with his guitar slung over his shoulder – doing his sound-check. There was a photographer snapping away, as Joseph strummed a few chords and improvised some lyrics. In the place where all his adoring fans would later be standing, Astrid spotted a table set up, with a woman she recognized to be Ellie – Joseph’s lucky girlfriend – typing at her laptop. She was a journalist, and seemed to be hard at work on a story. Astrid knew she’d recently created her own community newspaper, which strived to help people at a grassroots level. Astrid didn’t really know what that meant, but she could see Ellie was a driven, ruthless businesswoman.
She spotted Jake leaning up against the wall, chatting casually with one of Joseph’s bandmates, as if they’d known each other years. Astrid felt like an intruder – as if she didn’t belong here. It all seemed a bit chaotic, but strangely peaceful too.
The security guard called out over the sound of Joseph’s guitar. “Hey, Jake – your girlfriend’s here!”
Jake looked over and Joseph stopped playing – causing the room to ring with silence. Joseph jumped off the stage and started to make his way over to greet Astrid with a friendly smile, making her insides feel like a billion buzzing butterflies. Jake also made his way over. Both brothers smoldered with sexuality – the rockstar was dressed in nothing but leather pants and scuffed boots. Jake looked much more serious in his designer suit.
Jake got to her first and halted. “Everything okay? No one tried to talk to you?”
“Everything’s fine.”
“Good.”
He held her hand, not wanting to show too much affection in public. But it seemed natural for them to touch each other.
Joseph joined them. “Hey, Astrid – great to meet you. Jake’s just been telling us all about you.”
Astrid gazed at the rock-god in awe. “Oh…”
He thrust out his hand for her to shake – obviously accustomed to this stunned reaction from women by now. He frowned as if realizing something. “Hey, aren’t you the woman working with Dylan and Adam at the moment? Or are you a different Astrid?”
He threw Jake a glance. Jake nodded and rolled his eyes, as if to say ‘Yeah, it’s gotten complicated.’
She swallowed her nerves. “Did Adam and Dylan mention me?”
Joseph treated her to the smile that broke hearts and melted panties. “Yeah, they said you most likely stopped them from making a stupid investment. They were impressed with how brave you were to stand up to them.”
Reality spun around Astrid. She held Jake’s hand tight. “Adam and Dylan said that?”
“Yeah. They’ve already told the owner of the project that they’re pulling out.” He turned his attention to Jake. “So you were supposed to be… er… watching her?”
“It’s okay,” Astrid said. “I know they hired Jake to spy on me. And – although I’m mad at him for invading my privacy – Jake actually stopped Graves from assaulting me in the street. So perhaps it all worked out for the best. Well, it will once we get Emma back…”
“Yeah, Jake told me about that.” Joseph grabbed Jake by the upper-arm. “Be careful, all right? I don’t want to lose you now we’ve only just found you.”
“I can take care of myself, Joe, don’t worry.”
