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CHAPTERFOUR
Aurelia
I watchIsaac quietly as he reads through the threatening notes. I can sense he is not a fan of theBodyguardreference, and I don’t doubt he’s had his fair share of female clients wanting that same storyline from him. But I am not one of them.
I just want to be protected by someone I can trust. Someone who is not affiliated with my stepfather for once. He’s always been strict and more business-minded than fatherly, but his refusal to let me see Ana and Billy was a step too far. I have the horrible feeling he did that out of spite and not for my protection or benefit.
“I’d like to make a change to the contract, before we begin.” I feel nervous saying this. I’ve never dealt with the money side of my business before—that has always been Chuck’s domain. But, since his refusal to let me see my friends, I’ve decided I need to carve out a little independence. Paying for my own security is priority number one.
Isaac looks up. “What kind of change?”
“To the payment. You’ll be paid directly from my personal account, not the company’s.”
His face betrays nothing. “Fine. Just email me the new details and I’ll make the adjustment.”
“Thank you. And if I may, can I ask that you don’t notify my manager of this?” I hold my breath, waiting for his reaction.
His eyes soften. “Of course.” He rests his forearms on the table, bringing his face closer to mine. He has a face that I would be happy looking at every day for the next four months, I decide. Sure, he’s a lot older than me, and has clearly lived a whole other life, but his features are sharp, his skin is that pristine shade of olive with the glow that comes with Italian blood. And his eyes… I’ve never seen such arcs of darkness that are both terrifying and reassuring all at the same time. “Aurelia,” he says, softly. “Is there anything I need to be aware of?”
I shake my head, timidly. I’ve never spoken about this with anyone. “No, it’s just that, I don’t have access to my money yet, really. Most of it, my rights and royalties, are being held in a trust until my twentieth birthday—five years from the launch of my first single. That’s when it will transfer to my company, Bird Holdings, Inc. In the meantime, Chuck manages the money I make from live performances, merchandise and the like, to pay for staff and the various agencies that work for us. He gives me an allowance so I can buy stuff for myself. I’ll pay you out of that.”
“Of course. I don’t mind how we are paid. But, surely there are tax benefits to paying us from the company accounts?”
“I guess.” I have no idea, really, but I know one thing for sure. The further away I keep Isaac from my manager, the less likely it is he’ll feel obliged to do Chuck’s dirty work. I lower my voice and my eyes. “But, I want to have full control over this contract. My security needs to be in my own interest, not anyone else’s.” I know it’s a cryptic response, but I also know Isaac isn’t stupid. He’ll know there’s more to my reasoning than I’m letting on.
My phone buzzes. “It’s Carla,” I tell Isaac. “My publicist. She’s at the gate. Where should I tell her to go?”
“Tell her to head for the main reception. We’ll go there now and we can use one of the meeting rooms.”
I type out the brief message while Isaac finishes reading the notes, then we walk out of the café. I’m grateful there is an older clientele here during the day so I’m not likely to be hassled too much. We pass Benji on the way out and I tell him to come back for me at five p.m. He nods briefly, unsmiling.
“So, have you always worked in security?” I ask Isaac as we walk across the immaculately preened grounds.
“Yeah, in some capacity for the last fifteen years. Before I came here I was with the CIA for ten years.”
I stop short. “The CIA?” For some reason, my chest just did a somersault. “That’s kinda hot,” I say, before I can stop myself.
He laughs at that while I force a blush from my cheeks. “It’s anything but hot when you’re in it.”
“I can imagine.” I chew my lip. “Actually, I can’t imagine. It’s so far removed from anything I’ve ever experienced.”
“Well, you make a living being very, very visible. I made a living trying to be the exact opposite. It’s just different.”
“Why did you leave?” I watch his face as he thinks through his reply.
“I wanted a change. It’s easy to burn out doing that kind of work. I got out before that happened.” He blinks down at me. “I’m glad I did. You get to see a lot more sun when you’re not hiding out in some basement for weeks on end.”
“I’d love to hear more about it,” I say, honestly.
“Well, you’ll have plenty of opportunities.” He arches an eyebrow as he politely holds open the door to the main building.
“I’ll hold you to that,” I wink as I pass.
Carla is already in the reception lobby when we arrive, talking to a pretty young woman with gorgeous red hair piled on top of her head. She introduces herself as Tawny, and tells us she manages events on the island. Not the big ones—concerts and the like—but smaller ones like excursions and seasonal holiday events. She tells me that someone called Alana looks after the larger scale events and will be my point of contact.
I remember Alana from our last visit. She was obliging, and handled my stepfather with a light, professional touch, but she was sharp too. She had an answer for everything and a nerve that never wavered, even when Chuck’s attitude towards her was borderline insulting. I remember him instructing her to refill his coffee after lunch. Her reply was epic.Oh, Mr. Bird, don’t tell me you’re not itching to take a look around the place? The coffee pot is just outside, sir, and I won’t tell if you happened to take a little detour around the grounds, maybe to the spa…She smiled sweetly and he was at a loss for a response. He disappeared and didn’t come back for a good hour and a half. A short window in which we were all able to relax. Mr. Starling included.
I liked Mr. Starling. His jolly laugh and strange British way with words made me giggle more than once. He was clearly well-liked among his employees. But something didn’t add up. Starling didn’t appear to have a clue what was going on across the whole resort, while, weirdly, Connor and Isaac knew everything. It seemed as though it’s not Starling who runs this place; it’s the security team.
