accomplish in her father’s name. And all of it as part of her desperate attempts to earn her father’s approval. How pathetic was that? She snorted and shook her head. Even with all her achievements, she still had daddy issues.
Irritated, she shoved the note aside for the cops to take into evidence.
Nope. She refused to let these idiots, whoever they were, stop her.
Not now. Not when she’d come this far.
And really, it wasn’t all about her father. Not anymore. This charity mission was critical to her foundation. If she couldn’t deliver the e-readers as promised to her biggest supporter in the region, Sheik Saaed, then she’d lose her funding and the Williams Wishes foundation would cease to exist. All the years she’d put into building the charity into what it was today—a multi-national voice for children’s rights and literacy—would be for nothing.
Then there was also her reputation to consider. It was one thing to be considered a walking, talking Barbie doll by the press. It was quite another for someone at one of her father’s rival tabloids to start a nasty—and completely unfounded—rumor of misappropriation of funds within her foundation. Rumors, unfortunately, she couldn’t answer without help from her father and his private financial records. Records she wouldn’t have access to until he returned from whatever mystery location he’d disappeared to this time.
Ugh. She covered her face with her hands. Truth was, the foundation was faltering and if she couldn’t pull off this PR “win” in Jubail for Sheik Saaed and his organization, then she might be better off letting that sniper bullet hit her next time.
Toni took a deep breath and stretched out her legs in front of her, careful to avoid the shards of shattered glass that littered even the carpet in this room. Avoid the windows, Spencer had warned. His words repeated as she stared at one perfect gardenia in the hallway beyond, its green leaves almost as bright as his emerald eyes. She took a deep breath of flower-scented air and let her mind drift to the way he’d shielded her with his body, all his muscles and sinews pressed tight against her.
The remembered sensations were enough to make her cheeks heat anew. She wasn’t some blushing virgin, by any means, but she didn’t quite live up to her party-girl hype either. Honestly, her new bodyguard was the first man who’d been that close to her in months, so maybe that was why he had felt so good.
That’s the excuse she was going with, anyway.
She straightened and attempted to refocus on her upcoming presentation for the Jubail trip until another knock sounded and Paige stuck her head around the door again. “The police are at my desk and building maintenance is on their way.”
“Great, send the officers back.” Toni stood and smoothed a hand down the front of her dress, a slight tremor running through her. Probably lingering shock, she supposed, and grabbed a sweater to tug on over her arms. Not nearly as warm as Spencer’s body, but it would have to do. After all, he would be her bodyguard, not her boyfriend. In fact, number one on tomorrow’s agenda would be getting Spencer’s input to make sure they all survived the upcoming trip intact.
Chapter 2
T he next morning , Toni was working on the storyboards for her presentation when Spencer showed up at the office. She’d roughed out the general idea of things, but wanted a fresh perspective. She waved him into the room as he and Paige passed by her door on his new employee tour. “Hey, can you take a look at these for me?”
He halted and did a quick double-check to make sure she was talking to him before entering her office. “Uh, okay. Sure, boss.”
She smiled and stepped to the side to allow him to see what she’d done. She’d graduated cum laude from Stanford with a degree in law, thanks to her father footing the bill for her tuition—but she’d also earned an online certificate from their prestigious
Irritated, she shoved the note aside for the cops to take into evidence.
Nope. She refused to let these idiots, whoever they were, stop her.
Not now. Not when she’d come this far.
And really, it wasn’t all about her father. Not anymore. This charity mission was critical to her foundation. If she couldn’t deliver the e-readers as promised to her biggest supporter in the region, Sheik Saaed, then she’d lose her funding and the Williams Wishes foundation would cease to exist. All the years she’d put into building the charity into what it was today—a multi-national voice for children’s rights and literacy—would be for nothing.
Then there was also her reputation to consider. It was one thing to be considered a walking, talking Barbie doll by the press. It was quite another for someone at one of her father’s rival tabloids to start a nasty—and completely unfounded—rumor of misappropriation of funds within her foundation. Rumors, unfortunately, she couldn’t answer without help from her father and his private financial records. Records she wouldn’t have access to until he returned from whatever mystery location he’d disappeared to this time.
Ugh. She covered her face with her hands. Truth was, the foundation was faltering and if she couldn’t pull off this PR “win” in Jubail for Sheik Saaed and his organization, then she might be better off letting that sniper bullet hit her next time.
Toni took a deep breath and stretched out her legs in front of her, careful to avoid the shards of shattered glass that littered even the carpet in this room. Avoid the windows, Spencer had warned. His words repeated as she stared at one perfect gardenia in the hallway beyond, its green leaves almost as bright as his emerald eyes. She took a deep breath of flower-scented air and let her mind drift to the way he’d shielded her with his body, all his muscles and sinews pressed tight against her.
The remembered sensations were enough to make her cheeks heat anew. She wasn’t some blushing virgin, by any means, but she didn’t quite live up to her party-girl hype either. Honestly, her new bodyguard was the first man who’d been that close to her in months, so maybe that was why he had felt so good.
That’s the excuse she was going with, anyway.
She straightened and attempted to refocus on her upcoming presentation for the Jubail trip until another knock sounded and Paige stuck her head around the door again. “The police are at my desk and building maintenance is on their way.”
“Great, send the officers back.” Toni stood and smoothed a hand down the front of her dress, a slight tremor running through her. Probably lingering shock, she supposed, and grabbed a sweater to tug on over her arms. Not nearly as warm as Spencer’s body, but it would have to do. After all, he would be her bodyguard, not her boyfriend. In fact, number one on tomorrow’s agenda would be getting Spencer’s input to make sure they all survived the upcoming trip intact.
Chapter 2
T he next morning , Toni was working on the storyboards for her presentation when Spencer showed up at the office. She’d roughed out the general idea of things, but wanted a fresh perspective. She waved him into the room as he and Paige passed by her door on his new employee tour. “Hey, can you take a look at these for me?”
He halted and did a quick double-check to make sure she was talking to him before entering her office. “Uh, okay. Sure, boss.”
She smiled and stepped to the side to allow him to see what she’d done. She’d graduated cum laude from Stanford with a degree in law, thanks to her father footing the bill for her tuition—but she’d also earned an online certificate from their prestigious
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