The Billionaire's Secret: Billionaire Obsession (Tycoon Billionaires Book 5) (19 page)

Jake wished he wasn’t in love with Astrid. It made him want to protect her more than anything on this planet – and getting emotional meant he was possibly going to start making mistakes. But the sexual tension and warm affection flowed between them like magnetic energy. And there was nothing he could do to stop it.

He wondered, if he
could
switch off this feeling and walk away, would he? The part of him that was afraid of getting hurt wanted to. But it felt so good to be with her. Like coming home after years of wandering aimlessly in the wilderness. How could he
not
love her? She was the missing piece of the puzzle. The person he’d known was always there with him, just beyond the scope of his vision. It was as if perfection had been delivered to him in the beautiful form of Astrid Lawrence – and his life would now be occupied with worshipping and protecting the goddess she was.

But first, there was this one final mission…

He stood with his gathered men on the scrubby grassland under the suspension bridge, hoping he was out of sight of anyone looking from inside the warehouse. The huge disused edifice looked empty and lifeless from out here, but he knew Graves was in there, waiting for him.

It was a ten-story red-brick building, which looked as if it was about to fall down at any moment. Jake hoped Graves wasn’t planning on blowing it up, but luckily it was on a reasonably busy highway – surrounded by other ramshackle buildings and scrubby bushes – so another explosion would attract way too much attention for Graves’ liking. The bottom of the warehouse consisted of five giant metal-shuttered entrances, held up by gray concrete pillars – presumably where trucks would’ve driven into when this place had been alive with industry. But now the shutters were dull, grimy, and rusted shut. All except for one, which was open – like a taunting grin with a missing tooth.

And in the darkness was Graves, holding Emma hostage. And possibly Astrid’s ex Simon was in there too. He pushed away his fury.
Not
beating Simon to a pulp was going to take a lot of restraint...

He briefed the ten cops Daniel had recruited to help – forcing himself to focus only on rescuing Emma. He’d carried out plenty of briefings like this before, but never with so much to lose.

“You guys surround the place,” Jake said. “Daniel, you stay out here too – he’s already made it clear he’s not keen on having a crowd around. I’ll go in and confront him alone. You should provide assistance
if
you hear gunfire.”

The cops nodded. Luckily they weren’t asking who the hell Jake thought he was to be giving them orders. But he knew from experience that if you acted like you were in charge, people tended to believe you.

“What about me?” Astrid said, looking cold in the steely chill. “I want to come with you.”

“No, Astrid, you stay in the car.”

“No way. I’m coming in with you.”

“Astrid, come on…”

She glared at him. “No. That’s my sister in there, Jake. And Graves wants to deal with
me
, not you.”

“Well,
he
doesn’t get to decide what happens to you, sweetheart.”

“No, he doesn’t. But
I
do. And I’m coming in. Let’s go.”

She strode off and started to cross the busy highway toward the warehouse. Jake’s heart pounded with protective desire, suddenly terrified to lose her. He jogged to catch her up, but he realized he wasn’t going to be able to stop her without force.
That
would mean grabbing her, throwing her over his shoulder, and bundling her into the car. He wanted to do it, but he knew she’d cause a scene by screaming and struggling – possibly attracting Graves’ attention. Reluctant as he was to allow her anywhere near Graves or danger, time was ticking on, and they needed to rescue Emma. He glanced back to check the cops were in position, then fell into step with Astrid as they crossed the road.

She was so beautiful. He pushed away his tingling love for her. “This is crazy, Astrid. I might not be able to protect you in there. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

“I won’t let you down,” she said. “I’ll be helpful. You’ll see.”

“Just stay behind me, okay. Do everything I tell you.”

She nodded. “I promise.”

It jarred with his inner-protectiveness – he didn’t want her in there – but from the tough expression on her face, he decided to trust her. He knew she wouldn’t try anything stupid. And he knew those cops out there had his back. He realized maybe it was okay to let other people help. Maybe it was time to start letting people in a bit more. Not
everyone
in the word was an asshole…

Not everyone in the world was like Daniel…

They arrived at the cavernous entrance, and he pulled Astrid away with force. “Wait!”

“Hey,” she said, stumbling backwards. “I told you, I’m coming in.”

“I know. I’ll go first.” He drew his gun. “You armed?”

She smiled and flashed the revolver in her hand. “Let’s hope I don’t need to use it. But I will if he tries to hurt my sister.”

“All right. Come on.”

As Jake led her into the darkness, the tension smothered them. There was a dangerous feeling in here, which reminded Jake of the testosterone-fueled frenzies at the crowd-control stakeouts he’d been on as a cop. This place smelled of stale fish,
ground-in cigarettes, and burly men. The sleazy atmosphere sizzled off the dirty walls.
Something
was happening here. The abandoned crates and concrete floor seemed to be taunting him. But failure wasn’t an option.

They strode further inside, losing sight of the entrance. As they halted by a pillar, Jake gripped his gun and glanced back at Astrid
. She nodded her assurance. He threw her a thin smile, hoping to let her know how proud he was. But now wasn’t the time for sentimentality. He hardened himself against the world.

Jake stepped forward and his boot crunched on broken glass. Checking Astrid was behind him again, he led her around the corner, holding his gun up and ready to fire.

He wheeled around the pillar, bracing himself to see Graves, but he stopped in shocked confusion. There was no one here – just three ornate full-length mirrors – one ahead and one on each side – showing him his reflection for eternity. Astrid crept around and halted behind him.

They made eye contact in the mirror in front of them. “What’s going on?” she whispered.

He opened his mouth to call out for Graves, but a commotion between the gap of two of the mirrors seized his attention. Emma was suddenly shoved into the center of the space, where she fell to the dirty floor, whimpering. Her wrists were tied with gaffer tape, and her nose was bleeding. She was a shadow of the young woman who Jake had met back in her hometown.

Astrid moved as if to run to her, but he grabbed her arm. “No, Astrid, it’s a trap.”

“I can’t just leave her.” She broke free of Jake’s grip and darted over to hold her sister in her arms. Jake let her go – realizing it shouldn’t do any harm. Emma started crying and telling Astrid how sorry she was, but Jake refused to be distracted by their reunion – he needed to find Graves, and he needed to make sure justice was served. The tense atmosphere sizzled in his bones.

Jake’s attention was caught by a shadowy male figure trying to creep out from behind the opposite mirror – obviously hoping Emma’s dramatic appearance would distract from
him
. Jake gripped his gun. It was Graves…

His heart pounded, ready for action. “Graves, freeze, it’s over.”

Graves smiled sinisterly. He pointed his gun at Astrid’s head, where she was still on the floor with her sister. “I don’t think so. You got my money?”

“Sure,” Jake lied. “Right here. Drop your gun.”

“Show me,” he said.

Jake opened his mouth to reply, but another man rushed out from behind the mirrors –
Simon
.

“Astrid, you fucking bitch!” he shouted, running at her.

Astrid glanced up. “No!”

Jake aimed his gun to shoot Simon, but he hesitated. Simon was unarmed – and Graves was pointing his gun right at Astrid’s head. In a split-second he realized he couldn’t risk Astrid’s life.

Simon bent to grab Astrid by the shirt, but she struggled in his arms – shouting at him to leave her alone – so different to the Astrid Simon had previously known, who he could bully and abuse. Jake rushed to help her, as Graves shouted angrily at Simon. “This isn’t part of the plan, Simon, what the hell are you doing?”

“I need her back. I want her back!”

“I won’t let you hurt me anymore!” Astrid shouted. “You’ll never get me back.”

Jake dived into the fracas as Astrid drew back her fist and punched Simon, who stumbled at the impact.

Jake was impressed. “Nice right-hook, sweetheart. But here’s how you can punch him even better.”

Jake slugged Simon hard in the face, causing him to crumple to the ground.

“I prefer this tactic,” Astrid said, pulling back her foot and kicking him in the balls.

Simon whimpered as her foot made contact between his legs.

“That works too,” Jake said.

With his last ounce of determined strength, Simon grabbed her ankle.

“You leave me alone!” she shouted. “I’m not the girl you think I am, and I’m not afraid of you anymore.”

Jake grabbed her before she could kick him again – Simon was definitely incapacitated now, but in the confusion, Graves grabbed Emma and held his gun aggressively against her head. “Stop it or I’ll blow her fucking head off – I mean it!”

They both turned to where Graves was holding the struggling Emma against himself.

“Please don’t hurt her!” Astrid shouted.

Jake shrugged. “It’s okay, Astrid. Go ahead, Graves. Blow her fucking head off.”

Astrid’s head whipped around. “Jake, what the hell are you saying!”

“He won’t do it.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because Emma’s on
his
side.”

Astrid’s mouth fell open in shock. She breathed heavily, still trying to get her breath back from the assault on Simon. “What?”

“Right, Emma?” Jake asked.

Astrid turned to gaze at her little sister. Shocked silence reverberated off the walls as they waited for her answer.

Emma’s rigid frightened demeanor softened and Graves released her from his grip. She stepped away, reverting to the troublemaker Jake had previously known before. “Clever, detective Quinlan.” Emma said.

“What’s going on?” Astrid asked. “Emma… you’re Graves’ accomplice?”

Guilt flashed over Emma’s face. “Just give us the money and we’ll leave.”

“There’s no money,” Astrid said. “What are you doing? You faked your own kidnapping with these two scumbags?”

Emma opened her mouth to explain but, before she could speak, Graves grabbed her again, actually hurting her now and making her struggle. “Cole, what are you doing?”

He pushed her to the ground and pointed his gun at her. “If there’s no money, then I have no further use for you, Emma. As much fun as it’s been… And after I’ve taken care of Emma, I’ll kill you too Astrid.”

“Please…” Astrid stuttered. “Neither of us have done anything wrong.”

“That’s not true!” Graves shouted, suddenly furious. “I’ve promised my technology to some Russians who are keen to sell it on their arms black-market. And other militaries around the world want it too, including the Iranians. If I can’t deliver, my life’s at stake, and
you
convinced the Quinlans to quash my project. All I wanted was for you to approve it – was it really that hard?”

“But it’s not safe…”

“You’re such a fucking do-gooder. Why couldn’t you do as I ask? You’ve fucked up my project, you didn’t bring my money… and didn’t I say no cops?”

Graves glanced angrily at Jake.

Jake loved these kinds of protracted speeches – it gave him time to think… to plan. “I’m no cop,” he said. “I don’t need to worry about obeying the law, and I’m not afraid to shoot you. So drop your weapon and let Emma go. Right now. Or I’ll blow Simon’s head off.”

Jake directed his gun at Simon. Simon flinched, cowering. “No, please!”

“Why should I spare
your
life?” Jake asked. “Astrid’s told all about the shit you put her through. So killing you would really be my pleasure.” He turned back to Graves. “You kill Emma and I’ll kill Simon.”

Graves snorted. “Why would I care if you killed Simon? He’s of no use to me.”

“Because he’s still got something you want… the dirt on Astrid. The diaries… it all makes sense now – Simon’s involvement in all this. You bribed Simon to get the diaries from Emma, because he wanted some dirt on Astrid – because she was about to discredit you.” He flicked his glance at Astrid. “You don’t realize how much power you have, sweetheart – how much you’ve always had.”

“I was just doing my job. I don’t make the rules.”