Recklessly Royal(44)

“Agreed.” I shared a small smile with him. If there was one thing the media managed to do for our stalked group, it was to unite us against a common enemy.

“Perhaps you should say a few words,” Tabitha suggested.

“The words I want to say would not be very polite,” I mumbled.

“Just a quick bit.” Tabitha strode out of the doors, leaving me to follow in her wake.

She stopped, blocking my way to the car, and turned as if waiting for me to make a statement. I ground my teeth but flashed a smile.

“Thank you all for your concern over Selene. I’m happy to report that she is recovering and I have the utmost faith in the staff here.” I looked around at the cameras quickly. “I’m sure that she will be astounded by all of her well-wishers when she wakes in the morning.”

There were chuckles all around and I used that to my advantage. Mike’s large bulk cleared the path by sheer presence and I climbed into the car as quickly as possible.

Tabitha smiled at me as she slid into the seat next to me. “Perfect.”

“I don’t need you to tell me if I say the right or wrong thing,” I snapped.

Her head jerked back with my words. “I’m sorry, ma’am. I just meant that you gave them exactly what they needed.”

“What they need is to leave a sick woman alone.” I watched out the window as we drove away, a fake smile on my lips as I cursed my life.

“I hate to point this out, but they are here because you’re here. They want you, or your brother, not Selene. If you truly don’t want to worry about them bothering her, you could take up some more of your engagements.”

“Keep my distance?” That drew my attention back to Tabitha. “We just talked about how I was her only family.”

“Yes, but if you’re not making stops there, then the media attention will dissipate.”

“I don’t know.” I frowned. Someone needed to be there with Selene. She shouldn’t be alone at a time like this. “I’ll give it some thought. Maybe we can work out some kind of middle ground.”

“It’s definitely worth a thought.” Tabitha looked at me with direct eyes. “I just want what is best for the both of you.”

“It’s my hope that she’ll be well enough to go home soon. That will cut down on the media.”

“That’s true.” Tabitha looked back down at her phone.

I had thought Selene’s clipboard was annoying, but I was finding that Tabitha’s use of her phone was insane. I was starting to wonder if she was playing some type of Tetris-style fruit game, or planning world domination. As much as she played on the thing, she could be controlling MI6 for all I knew.

“For now let’s focus on taking care of the appointments that are in the area and reschedule the rest. I don’t want to be far if Selene needs me.”

“It’s admirable that you care so much for her. I know she cares for you a great deal.” Tabitha looked up and smiled at me.

“It’s mutual.” The thought warmed my heart. I hated that just a day before I had thought about having a younger assistant. At this point, I’d give anything to have Selene and her clipboard sitting next to me as we figured out the details for a speech or how to engage a particularly difficult audience.

“Well, if we narrow down everything to an hour driving distance, you’ll still be able to hit several of the important events.” She flipped through the clipboard. “I hope you don’t mind, but I took the liberty of putting Selene’s notes into my phone. It just makes it easier to sync my calendars together.”

“That’s fine. I’ve been trying to convince her to do that for a while.” I watched the lights going by and smiled to myself. “You’d think I was trying to get her to write stuff in blood.”

“She’s the same way in the office.” Tabitha chuckled. “Our filing system is a scary beast. So much paper and folders floating around. We have a special first-aid kit for paper cuts.”

That drew an unexpected laugh from me. “I bet you guys hate it.”

“Well, it would be nice to switch everything over, but we’d all tell you that her system works. And she always says—”

“If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it,” I finished.

“Exactly.” Tabitha set her phone down and looked at me seriously. “And that’s exactly what I came bumbling in and did. I’m sorry for overstepping boundaries. I truly did mean well.”

“No, it’s okay. This is a trying situation for all of us.” I sighed. “I should have been more patient. I’m sorry.”