‘It isn’t,’ he ground out, ‘but what is serious is the fact that she’s on stage next. Singing your song. You’re going to have to do it.’
It took a moment for his words to sink in. ‘But—’
‘No one else knows it and the audience expects to hear it—it’s the official song of the event. You should be pleased.’ He snapped his fingers and a sound technician hurried forward with a microphone. ‘This is the biggest opportunity of your life and we both know you never miss an opportunity.’
A few weeks ago she would have been on that stage faster than a cat after a mouse, but now the only thing in her head was that if her sister married his brother she’d be forced to see Matteo occasionally and that would be agony.
‘I’m really not sure I can—’
‘We both know you can. I’ll do that.’ Glowering, he snatched the microphone out of the hands of a hovering technician and fastened it himself. ‘Don’t even think about putting your hand down her T-shirt.’ As the backs of his fingers brushed against her skin, Izzy shivered.
Looking at his face she thought he looked the way she felt, but then decided she was probably imagining it. Today was always going to be stressful for him. It was hardly surprising that his face was showing signs of strain.
As he drew her forward it finally sank in that she was going to have to walk onto that stage in front of a global audience of millions and sing when she was feeling horrible. Her limbs went loose and a flock of butterflies escaped in her stomach.
‘I can’t do this. I’m wearing shorts.’
His glance was so swift it was as if he couldn’t stand the sight of her. ‘You look fine, rock chick.’
‘I haven’t rehearsed—’
An explosion of whoops and cheers from the crowd made her jump and the next minute she was on the stage.
Oh, God …
The lights blinded her and the roar of the crowd was deafening. In the VIP area she caught a brief glimpse of Allegra with Alex and she frowned briefly because she’d had no idea they were coming.
Great. Could her humiliation be more public?
A few weeks ago she’d stood up and sung at their engagement party, ignoring the disapproving glances. Now she had an excited audience and she wasn’t sure she could produce a single note.
Realising that her legs weren’t going to support her, she plonked herself down at the piano and put her fingers on the keys.
An expectant hush fell over the audience and Izzy saw a beam of light track towards her.
It reminded her so much of the evening she’d sat up in the top of the amphitheatre with Matteo that for a moment she couldn’t breathe. The emotion threatened to choke her.
How could you fall in love with someone in weeks?
And how could that someone not know?
The thought that he was never going to know how she felt, that for the rest of his life he was going to think she’d just used him to fast-forward her career, made her want to sob. He was going to think she was just another of the many women who wanted something from him.
At that moment she glanced into the wings and met his gaze.
Her fingers shook on the piano keys and she stumbled once but somehow managed to struggle through the introduction to The Me You Don’t See.
The crowd roared its approval but immediately settled as Izzy opened her mouth to sing the opening bars of the song.
‘Look at me—’ Her voice cracked with emotion and for a brief, horrible second she thought she wasn’t going to be able to carry on. The only sound in her throat was a sob and she couldn’t get past that because it felt wrong singing this song to a crowd of millions when it had been written for just one man.
And then she realised that this was her chance—her only chance—to tell that man how she really felt and suddenly the sob became a sound, a wonderful soaring sound as she continued. ‘I’m not what you see …’ Her voice grew stronger and she forgot about the audience. Forgot about everyone and everything except the man watching her from the wings.
The man she loved.
She knew she was singing it differently from how Callie sang it, but she didn’t care.
It was her song. This one time she was going to sing it the way she wanted to sing it—the way she’d always meant it to be sung—and she poured everything she felt into the music, and despite the huge gathering the only sound in the amphitheatre was her voice.