Xavier raised his hand. “Isabel, these two are Calum and Amy. They’re part of my creative team. They’re always looking for an angle.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll come up with some other nicknames if you don’t like Isla or El,” Amy promised.
Everyone started talking at the same time. Isabel was thoroughly bewildered. She couldn’t make sense out of what was happening. She had a name. She didn’t need another... did she?”
Xavier put a stop to their brainstorming. “Her name is Isabel. It’s a beautiful name and we’re not going to change it.” He then took her elbow and pulled her into the other room, shutting the door and leaving the chaos outside. It was time to go to work.
It took a little while for Isabel to settle her nerves, but once she did, she was able to sing without messing up. She actually remembered all the words, which was quite an accomplishment considering the sex god was in the same room with her. Xavier was easygoing and that also helped. Once the song took over, she lost herself in her music, just as she always did, letting the melody flow through her.
They worked on two songs, one she would sing alone and one she would sing with him. After they finished rehearsing, they talked for a long time, and she was surprised by how comfortable she was becoming. Then he took her to the stage. He showed her the way she would enter, where she would stand, and where he would be if she needed him.
“The spotlight on your face will be filtered so you won’t squint,” he promised.
After they went over the plan for Friday at least three times, he told her not to worry about anything because there would be a staff member by her side at all times guiding her if she ran into a problem.
Isabel stood in the center of the stage and looked out at the thousands of seats. She wasn’t filled with euphoria, nor was she thrilled by what was happening, probably because she was so scared. She still didn’t know if she had the courage to step on the stage and sing. Guess she would find out Friday, she thought a little hysterically.
By the time they finished going over everything, the adrenaline was fading, and Isabel felt as though she’d just run a marathon. Xavier put his arm around her and walked by her side back to his suite.
“Isabel, are you seeing anyone?”
The question surprised her. “No. Are you?”
He grinned. “No.”
She laughed. “Aren’t we a pair.”
“Maybe I could take you out sometime. It will involve a lot of planning,” he explained, and then he sighed. “Weeks of planning to go anywhere without a mob scene. It will be a hell of a challenge.”
“Maybe I could take you out sometime,” she countered. “To an island, and I promise there wouldn’t be a mob.”
“Nathan’s Bay.”
“Yes.”
“Will the FBI agents, the Justice attorney, the federal judge, and the chief of police be there?”
She laughed. “Jax told you.”
“I already knew about the Buchanan family. When do your stitches come out?”
She came to an abrupt stop. “You know about...”
He leaned down and whispered into her ear, “The shooting? Yes, I know. I watched the video.”
“But how...”
“I have ways of finding out things, Isabel,” he said with a smile.
Still stunned, she said, “The video didn’t identify me, how could you know...”
“Actually, I found out from one of my guards,” he admitted. “He’s an off-duty cop. He saw the video of you singing and connected it to the other one.”
“Oh,” she said. This was the last thing she wanted to hear today.
“Relax, Isabel. None of my staff knows, and if they did, none of them would leak it to the press.” He shook his head and added, “That was one hell of a shot.”
He nudged her along. When they turned down the last hallway, there were four guards waiting. While one of them stepped forward to speak to Xavier, Isabel walked into the suite to collect her purse and say good-bye to everyone.
“Amy, get a baseball cap or a scarf to put over Isabel’s head,” Xavier said. Turning to the guards, he instructed, “I don’t want anyone to see her or take photos, and I want all of you to block her in on all sides until you’ve got her in the car.”
“Is there a problem?” Isabel asked, knowing full well there was.
“Word got out that I’m here,” Xavier said. “There’s a crowd outside, front and back. Don’t worry. You’ll be okay.”
He took both of her hands in his and kissed her cheek. “All your dreams are about to come true. Tomorrow night you’re going to become a superstar. I hope you’re ready for it.”
He was wrong, but she didn’t tell him so. Being a superstar wasn’t her dream.