When she looked up, his dark, moody face watched her closely.
Curiosity getting the better of her, she sighed and said, “I am interested. Why the disguise?”
The corner of his lips twitched into a smile. “Will you ever leave it alone?”
“Probably not. I can’t discover something so huge and not know anything about why.”
“I don’t want to be famous,” he said flatly.
“Isn’t that the dream of every guy who joins a band?”
Their meals arrived before Nate could reply. Placing their plates on the table, the waitress searched his face, still trying to pinpoint where she’d seen him, probably not satisfied with his health food commercial answer.
“Can I get your autograph?” the woman asked. “Just in case you become famous.”
Jade bit her trembling lips to stop from laughing as she watched Nate sign a napkin.
When she left, Jade couldn’t hold it in any longer. God, if she only knew who she just served dinner to. “This will bug her all night.”
He laughed too. “She’ll forget all about me soon enough.”
He quickly dug into his plate of veal scallopini, and Jade had to wait before she could ask more questions. Impatient fingers tapped the table.
“Why don’t you want to be famous?” she finally asked.
He looked up, dabbed his mouth with a napkin, and took a long swallow of wine. “I’m not comfortable with the attention.”
“On stage you appear extremely comfortable with it. In fact, you looked like you were born to be there.”
“In a way I kind of was.”
She frowned. “What do you mean?”
“You have no idea about the history of my music and my family, do you?”
She shook her head. “Sorry, like I told you, I’d never heard of your band until the night I went to the concert.”
“Have you heard of Cold Revenge?” he asked.
“Yes, my dad was a fan.”
“My dad was Liam Harvey, the lead singer.”
She took a moment to put the fuzzy puzzle pieces together. She remembered years ago her dad mentioning the lead singer had passed away. How, she couldn’t remember.
“My parents died when I was twelve…overdose,” he added before she could ask.
Then he cut into his veal and took a bite. Jade gave him time to get his thoughts together.
“Their life was one big party. Every night when they were home from touring or movie sets—which wasn’t often—they’d throw parties with all the major celebrities. My parents’ lives really were about sex, drugs, and rock-and-roll. And fame…they loved the attention. Always wanted to be seen. They’d tip off the paparazzi when they went out in public and leaked stories about their lives.” He cleared his throat. “One night at a party, they took too many drugs and mixed them with too much alcohol and never woke up.”
“Oh, Nate…You must have been devastated.” How horrifying for a young boy to lose both parents that way.
“I was staying at a friend’s place when I saw it on TV the next day. I thought someone made it up. Dad was releasing an album, and Mum was promoting her new movie. What better way to gain publicity? Then they’d show up telling the world someone had made up a cruel joke.”
Jade’s heart sank for what it must have been like. “When did you find out the truth?”
“Later that day, my nanny picked me up and told me. Then two weeks later I left New York and moved to Australia to live with my grandmother Fi-Fi in Brimland Point.”
