Chapter 3
Reesa
“Jasper, I’m not a child.” I knew immediately when I answered my brother’s call that I was in for a lecture. For the last ten minutes I let him rant about how wrong my actions were last night. He was overreacting, and I knew it was because he was in the United States and felt helpless to protect me. What he seemed to forget was everywhere I turned, I had someone watching me. Either my security team or a reporter, but alone was rare and I didn’t fully regret going MIA for a brief time yesterday. “As I told Logan, I do not need a babysitter.”
“No. You need your security team watching you. Just because you’re not in Tabiq doesn’t mean you can pretend to be someone else. You’re the president. Everything you do, you must consider how it will affect Tabiq,” he explained.
“Trust me, I do. If for one moment I thought I could be in any danger, I wouldn’t have left the hotel.”
“I would like to say I believe that, but I have heard that you no longer employ a driver and drive yourself around Tabiq without a security detail.”
“That’s not completely accurate. They might not be in the vehicle with me, but they are still close enough,” I corrected.
Jasper grumbled. “Have you forgotten what happened to my wife? She was taken from me and held hostage. If it wasn’t for Bennett Stone and the Henderson family, I might not have gotten her back alive.”
Even now, more than a year later, I could still hear the pain in his tone, and rightly so. It was the scariest time of my life. It wasn’t just Alissa whose life had been almost snatched away, but Jasper’s as well.
And you were surrounded by security, even in your vehicle.
I could take all the precautions I wanted, but that incident had proved to me that there is no such thing as totally safe.
“I haven’t forgotten,” I said softly.
“Your actions say otherwise. You need to remember that although that particular threat has been dealt with, others may arise. I was hated for standing up for the rights of the people of Tabiq, but you’re an even bigger target because of who you are. Not only are you outspoken but you’re a woman, and there are some who resent a woman being in power.”
“Yet here I am, elected by the people of Tabiq to be the president.” And I’m going to do it my way.
Jasper exhaled heavily in frustration. “If you won’t listen to me, then listen to Logan,” he pleaded.
“I have already promised Logan that I will not leave the hotel without him,” I said.
“Good, because Tabiq isn’t the only country that has these issues,” he stated.
I needed to change the subject and since he knew I was in Ireland with Logan, I had to assume Logan had also brought Jasper up to speed with what we were doing here. I would’ve preferred to be the one to have shared that information with Jasper, but once again, things hadn’t gone as I had wanted.
“You’re right. I should’ve sent him a message as to where I was going,” I said.
“Better, but you really should’ve just waited until he returned so he could accompany you. A bar is no place for you to be going.”
“Because I’m a woman?” I challenged.
“This has nothing to do with your gender. As president, you don’t want someone snapping a picture of you gulping down a stout with the locals. Since Barry is already questioning your traveling out of the country, you don’t want to have anyone make the assumption that it’s for pleasure. It’s exactly the type of leverage your enemies would pay dearly to obtain.”
Damn. He’s right again. I didn’t like the way this was going.
“I do not gulp. And for the record, I wasn’t speaking with just any local, but a doctor. One who might just be exactly what we are looking for,” I stated. Until now, the only thought I had given Finn was what an attractive man he was.
“Are you really considering hiring someone you met in a bar? Not quite the qualifications I thought you were looking for,” he said sarcastically.
Ignoring his comment, I replied, “Dr. O’Connor voiced some views that are exactly what Tabiq needs.”
“And what is that?”
“The importance of putting the patient first,” I stated. Finn had seemed extremely focused on his patients.
“What else do you know about him?” he asked.
“Unfortunately, not as much as I would like to.” I knew how that sounded and quickly added, “I know he works at the hospital. I would like to set up with the Chief of Staff and see what I can learn about him before talking to Dr. O’Connor again.”