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He gave her an incredulous look, and she turned away.
“You know what? I don’t care if you believe me or not. I don’t have to prove anything to you. I get enough of that with my father, thanks.” She scowled at her phone as she punched in a number, then stared out the window. “Yes, Red Crescent, do you speak English? Great. This is Toni Williams from Williams Wishes. I’m in Jubail for the week for a distribution event, and I’d like to help in the disaster relief efforts for the village attack.”
Spencer fought the urge to groan. He wasn’t surprised that she wanted to help, but doing any volunteer work at the village would put her way too close to Arrieta. Her bleeding heart mightliterallyend up being the death of her.
It just went to show that Kyle, as usual, had been right. Getting emotionally involved was a terrible idea. It led to unnecessary complications and more danger—for yourself and for those you were trying to protect.
* * *
Back at the hotel, Toni threw herself into contacting everyone she knew in the relief community to find ways that she could help the attack victims. The way she saw it, people were hurt and scared, and she was right there, ready and willing to give whatever aid she could. To do nothing would be unforgivable.
As an added benefit, focusing on others distracted her from the guilt she felt over the way she’d lied to Spencer in the limo. Shehadgotten a message from her father—and she’d chosen to keep it to herself.
Lying to the man sworn to protect her wasn’t a great idea, but her father had asked her not to say anything to anyone. No matter what accusations Spencer might hurl in her father’s direction, she couldn’t just turn off a lifetime of loyalty. Especially when she still hadn’t seen any actual evidence against him.
“Mind telling me what the hell you’re doing?” Spencer asked from the doorway to the dining room. Since their return, she’d turned the space into a makeshift staging area, storing the many donations of bottled water, medicine, and blankets people had sent to the hotel in response to her request until the delivery truck came to take it all to the village.
“I’m having a party,” she retorted. “What do you think I’m doing? I’m helping.”
“The relief agencies have plans for these kinds of things.” He walked over and inspected a pile of first aid kits. “Pretty sure they can handle it.”
“This is the easy work—the stuff anyone can do. If I’m doing it, that frees up someone more qualified to handle other tasks. What’s wrong with that?”
“There’s nothing wrong with gathering supplies and using your name recognition to increase donations—as long as you do it from a safe place. But you’re being targeted, remember? You can’t put yourself in additional jeopardy.”
“Excuse me, ma’am,” Ayaan said from the doorway. “The delivery drivers are downstairs.”
“Thank you,” Toni said. “Please let them know I’ll be down momentarily to supervise.”
“Wrong.” Spencer walked over. “Tell the delivery drivers to wait by the freight elevator.I’llbe down to take care of things. No one comes or goes here without my express approval. Got it?”
The butler looked from Spencer to Toni, then back again. Finally, the man bowed and backed away. “As you wish, sir.”
“Perfect.” She gave Spencer an exasperated look. “I’ve volunteered after hurricanes and earthquakes. I know exactly what needs to be done and when. Do you even know anything about coordinating a disaster relief effort?”
“I’ve helped out in more than my share of war-torn areas. Now sit down and make yourself comfy, because you won’t be leaving here again until I say so. Understand? And stay away from the windows.” With that, he walked out.
Much as she hated to admit it, it was impressive—and more than a little bit of a turn-on—seeing him in full-on alpha-male guardian mode, even if his overbearing ways chafed. And yeah, maybe he was right about her safety and security. That didn’t mean she had to like being a prisoner in her own suite.
She spent the next few hours trying to stay distracted, busying herself with finalizing the inventory rosters for the disaster relief drivers. Keeping a record of the aid distributed could be important later for those who had donated, as she knew from her own foundation. Then there was the final run-through for her speech at the PR event the next day.
By the time everything was done, it was well into the evening. While Spencer took a shower, she went over her presentation several times, then ordered dinner for them before changing into her pj’s for the night. She plugged her phone in on her nightstand and jumped when the device buzzed unexpectedly in her hand. The screen displayed another text from none other than her illustrious father. Two in one day—this was a record. Her heart fluttered, then pinched at his rare show of concern.
Be careful
Nothing more. Toni blinked away the sudden sting of tears and shut off the device. She had no reason to get emotional about anything from her father. Knowing him, there was an ulterior motive to his concern. The guy never did anything without some kind of expected return on his investment.
She glanced up to see Spencer watching her from the doorway to her bedroom. Toni didn’t meet his eyes as she sidled around him and went back out into the hallway. “I ordered dinner,” she said. “Should be here soon.”
“Is everything all right?” he asked, walking beside her. He smelled of soap and clean, warm male, and she wanted nothing more than to snuggle against him and let go of her stresses and concerns for a little while. He took her arm. “I can’t protect you if you don’t tell me what’s going on, Toni.”
“I’m fine. Everything’s fine.” She pulled free and went into the sitting room, where she flopped down on the pillow-covered sofa. “Don’t worry about me.”
“It’s my job to worry about you.” His green eyes narrowed. “I don’t want things to be weird between us because of what happened earlier.”
Her mind flooded with images of them making love. She shoved the thoughts away. “No.” She focused on the throw pillow at her side and not him. Definitely not him. “Of course not. We’re good.”
“Really?” He moved closer, his warmth intoxicating as he took a seat beside her. “Toni, I—”
