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Izzy couldn’t hear what he said but whatever it was had them all laughing.
Looking round, she noticed that one wall was dominated by a huge flat-screen TV and next to it a library of DVDs and computer games. In the corner was a kitchen complete with popcorn maker.
‘Izzy?’ Matteo took her hand and led her towards a two-bedded room. ‘I want you to meet someone. This is Jessica.’
Izzy looked at the pale face of the girl on the bed. ‘Hi—’ she gave an awkward smile ‘—ignore me. I’m just a hanger-on. Honestly, you just go ahead and talk to Matteo and pretend I’m not here.’
‘Pretend you’re not?
?’ The girl gave an excited gasp and turned to Matteo. ‘You brought her! Thank you—you said you would but I didn’t believe you.’ She turned back to Izzy, her eyes filling with tears. ‘You’re, like, totally my hero. I love you so much. We all do.’
Izzy stared at her. ‘You love me?’
‘I’ve got all your songs on my iPod,’ Jessica burst out, ‘you’re my inspiration. Will you sign something? If I’d known you were coming I would have asked my mum to bring in the poster I have of you.’
Overwhelmed and feeling decidedly undeserving, Izzy fiddled with a strand of her hair. ‘You’re mixing me up with someone. My last single bombed. I mess up quite often.’
‘I know. But you never give up. You get knocked down and then you pick yourself up again. Even when you make mistakes, you keep going—’ Jessica’s eyes shone ‘—and when I saw those pictures of you crying in your wedding dress …’
Izzy pulled a face. ‘You saw those?’
‘Yes, and the ones when you kissed that guy and you were, like, “I am not going to let a man ruin my life,” and then you went to all those parties even though you were totally miserable—’
‘I looked miserable?’
‘Yes, but the thing is, you didn’t just lie down and pull the covers over your head. Loads of people would have given up, but you didn’t. Would you sign this for me?’ Jessica scrabbled in the locker by her bed and dragged out a stack of magazines, all open to articles on Izzy. ‘You’re so brave. And you look amazing. Mum says that once I’m better she’s going to try and find me a red sequin dress like the one you wore to the engagement party at the palace. I’ve got a picture of it right here.’
‘You liked that dress?’
‘Ohmigod, are you kidding? It totally rocks.’
Suddenly Izzy understood why Matteo had wanted her to bring the dress. She looked at the girl’s pale face and pulled it out of the bag. ‘Here—you might have to have it taken in a bit because I’m much bigger than you.’ She pushed it into Jessica’s hands. ‘I’m not giving you the shoes because frankly they should come with a health warning.’
‘You’re giving me your dress?’ Jessica held it reverentially, touching the sequins in fascination. ‘You can’t do that.’
‘I can.’ And she discovered that the delight on the girl’s face gave her the same high as singing to thousands of people. ‘It’s yours. You’ll look great in it.’
‘I’ve never owned anything so pretty.’ Jessica looked up at Matt, adoration on her face. ‘I can’t believe you brought her. Thank you.’
‘Good job you mentioned she was your idol.’ Matteo sprawled in a chair by the bed, taking a backseat as the girl questioned Izzy on everything from singing to make-up. After about twenty minutes Izzy realised he’d fallen asleep.
‘He’s been working hard,’ she said by way of apology, and Jessica smiled.
‘I don’t care. It’s you I wanted to see. Not that I’m saying he’s not cool, because he is. He raises loads and loads of money and he’s always popping in here when no one is looking. You’d think he’d want the press to know but he isn’t like that.’
‘No.’ Izzy thought about all the times she’d courted publicity for her own sake. Matteo used who he was for the good of other people. His cold, ‘moody’ act was simply that. An act, to keep the wrong sort of person at a distance.
Finally she understood why his reputation mattered to him so much. It wasn’t just that he wanted people to be positive about the royal family. It wasn’t that he wanted to read good things about himself. He wasn’t that shallow, and acknowledging that made her blush because she knew she was exactly that shallow. His reputation mattered because without it people wouldn’t support the Prince’s Fund. They wouldn’t turn up to his charity functions and bid huge sums of money for deserving causes. If the press printed bad things about him it didn’t just affect his reputation, it jeopardized the work he did and the lives of all the people he helped.
She loved him, she thought numbly. Really loved him.
And the realisation terrified her because their relationship was a disaster, wasn’t it? He was never going to trust any woman and she couldn’t live her life walking on eggshells and worrying about letting him down.
‘Are you OK?’ Jessica was staring at her. ‘If the doctor says my blood count is OK, Matteo is going to get some of us seats at the concert in a special roped-off VIP area or something. If my mum can alter it in time I’m going to wear this dress.’
Humbled by her bravery, Izzy reminded herself that her problems were nothing in comparison. ‘That’s great.’
‘I expect you’ll be too busy to talk to me,’ Jessica said casually, and Izzy leaned across the bed and hugged her, shocked by how thin the girl was and how tightly she hugged.
