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.
FOURTEEN
ISABEL GOT A TASTE OF XO MANIA WALKING THE GAUNTLET TO THE CAR. SHE LIKENED THE
crazed fans surrounding the guards on all sides to an angry swarm of bees. Following instructions, she kept her head down and stared at the pavement while her unflappable escorts moved as a single unit through the shrieking crowd. It was sheer bedlam and a little bit terrifying. By the time she dove into the backseat of the car, she was trembling.
Once they were on their way and Jax called, “All clear now,” she was able to breathe.
“Jax, I don’t understand why they were screaming at me. Couldn’t they see I wasn’t XO?”
“It’s impossible to understand the mindset of a mob. Maybe they figured you were a friend of Xavier’s. Who knows?” He added, “I’ll warn you now. This was nothing compared to what’s coming.”
“Oh my,” she whispered. What had she gotten herself into?
She had never been so happy to see the bridge that would take her back to the island, and when Jax finally pulled into the drive of the Buchanan house, she was weak with relief.
“Did Xavier go over the schedule with you for tomorrow?”
“Yes,” she said. “We tweaked it a little. He wanted me at the arena by one o’clock. I talked him into a later hour. The Hamilton Hotel is just fifteen minutes from The Garden. I wanted you to pick me up at six o’clock, but Xavier wouldn’t hear of it. He said traffic will be horrible, and if there was an accident . . . so we settled on you picking me up at the hotel at four o’clock. I won’t be late,” she promised.
“Why the Hamilton?”
“Xavier didn’t want me to stay on the island. It’s too far away from The Garden. He suggested I stay at his hotel, but I’d rather stay at the Hamilton.”
“The traffic around The Garden is going to be horrible,” Jax said. “Fans like to get there early even though there is assigned seating, and there will be a long line at least three deep wrapped around the parking lot and the building by five o’clock. You need to understand what I call ‘Xavier talk.’
Picking you up at four means I’ll be there at three.”
“Okay, I’ll be ready.”
“Will you be bringing anyone with you?”
“I’ll have some friends and relatives at the concert, but I wasn’t planning on bringing guards with me. Do you think I should?”
“A few extra guards wouldn’t be a bad idea. Tomorrow night’s going to be chaotic.” Then he laughed. “That’s an understatement.”
He insisted on opening the door for her. She thanked him and started up the drive.
“Don’t worry about anything, Isabel,” Jax called. “Xavier will take good care of you.”
Dylan was rounding the corner of the house and was holding his tackle box and fishing pole. He propped both on the side of the steps and shouted to Isabel, “Hold up.” He waited until she reached him and then said, “You look shell-shocked.”
“That’s how I feel,” she admitted. “I need to talk to you, but I don’t want the whole family there.
Where is everyone?”
“Dad’s in his office working,” he said. “Theo and Michelle are upstairs. They said they wanted to call and check on the twins. Now that they’ve caught up on their sleep, I think Theo and Michelle are a little homesick. Everyone else is in the city. I’ve been fishing.”
“Did you catch anything?”