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“That’s reassuring.”
Her confidence is returning and her replies have picked up tempo.
“So, what, your parents think Ana is a bad influence?”
“That’s their story, and they’re sticking to it.”
“Bullshit.”
Aurelia steps back in surprise, and I realize I said that with a little more aggression than I’d intended.
“I only saw Ana once,” I say, explaining my outburst. “But it was clear she was looking out for your best interests. It was obvious she is a genuine friend. I doubt she got you into trouble on purpose.”
Aurelia dips her head and I follow her gaze to her glittering thigh high boots. The saliva disappears from my mouth for a moment. The boots are extraordinarily sexy. “She knew I was being suffocated under that roof. She figured I’d feel so much better if I got out from under everyone’s glare, if only for thirty minutes. And she was right. For a split second, I felt freer than I have since I was fourteen-years-old.”
The thigh-high boots suddenly look very different. They look like beautiful shackles. All glamour and glory on the surface, but harsh and punishing at the core.
“I need to speak to your father’s security,” I say, bringing the topic back to the reason I’m standing over her in her dressing room feeling like I want to kill whoever is behind this threat. “I’ll go do it now. Is there anyone who can stay with you? One of your dancers?”
She shakes her head. “They need to rest.”
“It doesn’t sound to me like they’re resting. More like they’re having a party next door.”
“They’re kicking back right now. The adrenaline after a concert runs very high. They need to let off steam without the boss around. Give them an hour or so, they’ll pass out.”
She says all this without humor, just pure business. I feel like I’m speaking to a thirty-year-old, not a teenager.
“Is Sherry coming back?”
“I doubt it.”
“Why not? She’s your assistant, isn’t she? Shouldn’t she be making sure you’re not alone?”
Aurelia looks up at me. Her eyes seem to get bigger each time, or something. All I know is it becomes harder to look away the more she directs them at me. “She prefers to make sure there’s someone else who isn’t alone,” she says.
“Your father?” I shouldn’t ask. This is personal, none of my business. But, knowing the answer might help me protect her better. She nods once, her eyes searching mine for a hint of judgement. I don’t betray any because that’s not who I am. It hits me. This girl is completely alone. She might have great camaraderie with her team, but they’re her employees, the bond can only stretch so far. Her family give even fewer than two shits about her, and on this night of all nights, when she’s just killed the first residency to hit the Florida Keys with an absolute knock-out performance. And they’ve banned her from seeing her only two friends. I, it seems, am the only person who cares about Aurelia Bird, and that’s only because I need to protect the reputation of the resort. I’m as bad as her parents, I think. I’m only here right now because I’m paid to be.
That thought knocks me into action. If the best I can do is protect her, then protect her I will. For the next few months, Aurelia Bird belongs to Starling Key. Her real family has failed her so she’s going to become part of ours. And we will embrace her just like we embrace everybody. No one will care that she’s rich, or that every pre-pubescent boy—and girl—likely has a poster of her in their bedroom. No one will care that she owns a soulless mansion in LA, and a closet containing every expensive label known to man. They will only care that she’s ok. Sure, they might ask her to sing occasionally, but that’s only because we like good music here on the Key. But, they’ll be more concerned she’s happy.
“Aurelia, you are not obliged to say yes to this, but I’m going to advise that you stay here on Starling Key for the duration of the residency. It’s the only way I can protect you. There are limited routes onto the island and we have security personnel based here who know the island like the back of their hands. I can arrange for you to have one of the sea villas. It may not be the Ritz Carlton but it will be safe, I guarantee it. I can be with you around the clock, and if I need to rest, one of the team—each of whom I would trust with my life—can step in.”
The tension in her face falls away like melting snow. “Starting when?”
“Now.”
I can’t help a small smile form at the corner of my mouth at the look of elation on her face, then when she leaps forward and throws her arms around my neck, I am engulfed. My face becomes damp from the sweat on her neck and hair. My hands move to her waist instinctively and my mind registers a million things at once that it will process later. Her hard body, her feather-light build, the soft elastic fabric of her stage outfit, the rub of her thigh-high boot against my right leg, the smell of her perfume mixed with dry ice and concert halls. When she slides back down to the floor, it’s a few seconds before she looks up, and her face is different. Her cheeks are delightfully pink and I notice her bottom lip is slightly larger than her top lip when she pulls it between her teeth.
“That… that’s great,” she says. “Thank you Isaac. I knew you’d be different.”
I can’t help the slight frown. “What do you mean?”
“I knew you wouldn’t be like the others, so eager to please my stepfather that he becomes the priority, not my safety.”
“I’m a security guard, not a politician.”
“That is music to my ears,” she smiles, reaching for a jacket to pull over her shoulders.
“And I guess that’s saying something coming from one of the best singers in the world right now,” I grin.
