by Leslie North
“Sis,” Sebastian said quickly. “Take a deep breath. Everything is okay.”
She had a few more choice words to say to him, but instead, she clenched her jaw and tried to hold her temper. Her brother could be sensitive. If she was too hard on him, he’d disappear and she really would be doing this on her own.
“I’m calm,” she growled. “Explain.”
“I haven’t been ignoring your calls. I’ve been busy. Those extra toys are because of press releases that I’ve made recently. I flew out last night, and I’m currently at a layover. I’ll be in Syria in a few hours, and I’ll help Tessa out. You should be happy about this.”
“Okay.” She closed her eyes and shook her head. “Although, I’ll be happier when I’m in Syria with the toys. I should be able to fly out this morning, so I should also be there tonight.”
“Excellent. See, everything is going to be great! I’ll see you then, sis!”
He disconnected the call, and she stared at the phone. Her brother was a positive person in general, but there was something odd in his voice. Feeling uneasy, she pulled up the internet on her phone and did a quick search for the press releases that Sebastian was talking about it.
As she skimmed through the articles, her stomach did a nose-dive. Sebastian was promising an expansion of the Christmas Crates deliveries to other countries, as well as in the United States. Easter. Thanksgiving. There was no way that they could manage deliveries on Thanksgiving and Christmas. While the flights wouldn’t be that difficult, he was offering not only food but medical supplies and other basic necessities.
Feeling almost queasy, she stumbled from the bed and grabbed her laptop. Pulling up the shared documents from the charity, she did a quick search to find the newest donations that had prompted Sebastian to send new toys.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars. Unless the two crates that she’d just picked up were filled with cash, there was no way that it contained hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of toys, and yet the inventory list claimed that the new donations were already spent.
“This is not happening,” she whispered. “Sebastian, what are you doing?”
The door to the bathroom opened, and Maria immediately closed the laptop. The last thing that she wanted to do was alert Jarik to her new problems. He had enough of his own, and she didn’t want him to feel like he had to help her any more.
“Wow,” Jarik whispered as he stared at her. “I was all set to get back in the air again, but seeing you naked, kneeling on the floor, is making me want to stick around a little longer.”
Forcing a laugh, she stood. “Don’t get any ideas. We need to get to Syria. Now.”
“Sure.” He ran a towel through his wet hair and studied her. “You look tense. Is everything okay?”
“Everything is fine. The snow has stopped, and today I’ll get to see the faces of all the children who are so excited for Christmas.”
And she’d be able to get her hands on Sebastian. If he kept going the way that he was, she would have to choose between the charity and her brother.
Assuming there was any charity left to protect.
11
The flight to Syria was uneventful, but there was a knot in the pit of Maria’s stomach when there were no trucks to pick up the crates. Thanks to Jarik’s money and her temper, the airport organized a few trucks to unload the crates, but it took way too long. By the time they got to the camp, it was dusk.
And Sebastian was nowhere to be found.
“You made it!” Tessa shrieked as she ran to them. “I can’t believe you made it on time.”
Maria hugged her friend and laughed when she looked around. Despite the dire circumstances of the camp, Tessa had managed to make it look like a Christmas wonderland. “Tessa, you are seriously talented!” she sighed as she smiled. “This is beautiful!”
“Thanks, but I didn’t do it on my own. The kids here adored decorating. They did most of it. I gave them the decorations, and they went to town!”
“That’s fantastic. Okay, I have to unload the crates and organize the packages. Do you have a wish list from the parents? I want to make sure that everyone gets at least one thing from their list. Then we can dole out the rest based on need. Where is Sebastian?”
“Sebastian?” A strange look crossed Tessa’s face. “I assumed that he was with you.”
“Are you kidding me? He should have been here hours ago!” Maria raked her fingers through her hair and looked frantically around. What the hell was he doing if he wasn’t here?
“You talked to your brother?” Jarik asked softly. “You didn’t tell me that.”
Damn. She’d completely forgotten that he was standing there. “Yeah, he called me this morning while you were in the shower. He should have gotten here long before I did.”
She could tell that Jarik didn’t love that she hadn’t told him, but he didn’t push the situation. “Tessa, if you get me to the people in charge, I’ll make sure the crates are unloaded before dark.”
“Please don’t throw your money around, Jarik. Not here.”
He stilled and stared at her. “What do you mean not here?”
“This is a place for people who have nothing. It would be embarrassing if we just flung money around like it was nothing,” The words were out of her mouth before she thought them through, and she saw the hurt that flashed across his face. “Jarik, I didn’t mean it like that.”
He held up his hand. “It’s fine, Maria. I’ll see if I can get things done without flinging money around,” he growled. As he turned and stalked away, Maria closed her eyes and moaned.
Tessa grabbed her arm. “Sweetheart, what’s going on?”
“The world hates me,” she muttered. “Come on. I’ll tell you tonight.”
Jarik was tense while they worked to get the crates off the truck. She wanted to reach over and touch him, but being out in the open like this stopped her. And the one time that he touched her, she pulled away.
“Maria,” he muttered. “Don’t do this.”
Her back ached from moving the crates. Straightening, she gave him a tight smile. “Jarik, now is not the time.”
She expected him to storm off in a huff, but instead, he buried himself in the job. Pressing a hand to her stomach, she briefly closed her eyes. This morning, when she woke up, she was happy. Now, she could barely keep anything together.
How had the world shifted so quickly?
There was a large empty tent erected for them. One-by-one, they cracked the crates opened and pulled out the toys. Dolls. Stuffed animals. Books. Toy cars and trains. Puzzles. Most of them were cheap, but to these children, they would be precious. Everything was more precious to them.
It was a shame that not everybody could appreciate the joys in life.
Finally, well after midnight, all the toys were sorted. She sat heavily at one of the tables and smiled in pride.
“One toy left,” Jarik whispered. Maria turned to see him holding the teddy bear that she had stopped to pick up from the toy store.
It was only a few days ago, but it seemed like forever. Slowly, she reached out and took the bear. “Everything is sorted. I don’t know where it goes.”
“Then hang on to it. I’m sure you’ll find the right person tomorrow.” He leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. “Come to bed?”
“Sure, but I don’t think you’ll find any privacy. We’re bunking with Tess.”
“No, we’re not.” He grabbed her hand and led her gently outside. The torches were slowly diminishing. As he led her around the tents, she looked up at the night sky and smiled.
“The stars are so beautiful.”
“Just like you.”
Snorting, Maria shook her head. “You’re lucky I’m so tired.” Leaning against him, she snuggled under his arm, walking awkwardly until they stopped. When he pulled the tent flap back, she stiffened.
“What is this?”
“I wanted some privacy with you tonight, so I got us an extra te
nt.”
“An extra tent?” Maria felt the anger wash over her. “And how much did you pay for this?”
“Maria,” Jarik said quietly.
“Why? For sex? Are you kidding me?”
“No.” He reached out and grabbed her. “Not for sex. To talk. Damn it, Maria, what is happening with you? This is why I’m here. To help you, but you’re fighting me.”
“I’m not fighting you, Jarik. I’m fighting your money. I wanted you to work at the camp so it would humble you, but you’re throwing your money around here like it’s nothing. Doesn’t that embarrass you?”
Ushering her inside, he rubbed his head in irritation as he began to pace. “What gives you the right to humble me? You know nothing about me, yet you persist in judging me based on your own misguided perceptions about money. It’s a tool, Maria, money is a tool. I use it to get things done.”
“It’s a weapon. You use it to make people do things that they wouldn’t normally do. You hold it over their heads.”
“No,” Jarik growled. “The only person who has been holding money over anyone’s head has been you. I swear, I can’t even think about reaching for my wallet without you making a big deal about it, which is completely ironic given that you run a charity designed to help others. Well that can’t happen without money, which you don’t have; so, it has to come from somewhere. Tell me this. If you despise the rich so much, why would you choose a charity that we would embrace? So you could decline the donations because it came with expectations? Life is filled with expectations and money is a means to meet them.”
Maria was tired. She was tired of trying to get him to see her point of view. She was tired of fighting about the money. And most of all, she was tired of fighting about her feelings for him. There was one way to make all the fighting stop.
“Well, you’ve upheld your end of the bargain. I got you here, and you spent your time working in the camp as promised. I’m sure you can find a flight out tonight to get you to your final destination, wherever that might be.”
Jarik narrowed his eyes. “So this is it? We’re done?”
“Done? You make it sound like we’re breaking up.” Maria tried to sound casual as she headed to the tent entrance. “We both knew what this was going to be. We had fun, but we don’t get along.”
He suddenly reached out and grabbed her arm. “You’re not serious.”
“I’m very serious. I told you that I don’t do commitments.” She jerked out of his reach and stared at him. Her chest ached, but she wouldn’t give up her ground now. “It’s not a big deal, Jarik.”
“It’s not the charity. It’s not the weather. It’s not your brother. It’s you,” he whispered.
“What’s me?”
“Your unhappiness. You’re doing such great things, but you won’t let yourself enjoy it. You’ve got a wall around you, Maria.”
“No. I’m not having this conversation. I can’t.” Turning from him, she tried to ignore the pain that washed over her. Jarik’s words hurt, and she wanted it to bloom into anger, but as she stomped from the tent, she only wanted to cry.
The next morning, he was gone.
The car ride back to the airport was miserable in more ways than one. Jarik sat in stony silence as he listened to Halil’s report. Melka and Samir had separated and Melka had yet to return to the palace. He vaguely heard him talking about Kashif but his mind was back in the camp. He knew he’d gone too far arguing with Maria but he was sick of her constantly chastising him for having money. “You need to come back,” Halil said gruffly, interrupting his thoughts.
“I will. As soon as I’m done with Kivi.”
“He is not your responsibility.”
“The hell he isn’t,” Jarik growled. He didn’t even let his security guard respond when he disconnected the call. His fight with Maria had him on edge, and he could feel the anger brewing inside him.
He wanted to hit something. Barring that, he wanted to make sure that Kivi never saw the light of day again. Halil may not understand his desire to seek vengeance on his old friend, but Jarik didn’t care.
His relationship with Maria may be over, but that didn’t mean he was going to turn around and head home. Kivi was going to get what he deserved and he intended to be the man to do it.
12
“Morning, sunshine.”
Maria looked up warily from her table at the familiar voice. Sebastian, dressed in a gorgeous silk shirt and black pants, lifted his designer sunglasses and winked at her. “Look alive. You have company.”
She opened her mouth to yell at him when she noticed the twenty people, armed with cameras and microphones, standing behind him.
The press. Oh, God, he didn’t.
“Sebastian!” she gasped. “What the hell are you doing?”
He flashed her a cocky grin and turned to the press. “This is my sister, Maria Walken. She’s an integral part of the charity,.”
Integral part? The charity was hers! As she stood to refute him, the reporters were already throwing out questions.
“Have you already doled out the gifts?”
“Did you do all of this?”
“Can you comment on the discrepancy in your funds?”
Sebastian put up his hands. “One question at a time. Maria only arrived yesterday, so I’ve done most of the setting up. We’ll be giving out the gifts tonight, and you’re welcome to join us and watch the joy on all the children’s faces.”
Maria’s mouth dropped open when she watched the press practically melt at his words. Grabbing his sleeve, she yanked him down to her level. “Get rid of them. Now.”
Nonplussed, Sebastian eased from her grasp. “Why don’t we take a walk around and get some footage of the camp. I’m going to talk with my sister about tonight, and we’ll get back to you.”
As they dispersed, Sebastian started walking away. Jumping up quickly, she scurried after him. “Where the hell do you think you’re going? Where have you been? What are you doing?”
“Maria,” he said as he slung an arm around her. “You worry too much. I’m late because I thought that rather than provide a press release this year, we’d invite the press to join us. It’s what you want, right? To do whatever possible to help these poor people?”
“So you thought that you’d walk in at the last minute and take credit for everything Tessa did? Everything that I did? Are you out of your mind?”
“Maria, you’ve been the face of Christmas Crates since its inception, but you don’t know the first thing about handling our donors or the press. Since you’ve been gone, I’ve been trying to shake things up, and I think we need to rebrand our image. I’m more approachable than you are, and I think I need to handle the press from here on out. Don’t take offense.”
“Don’t take offense?” Filled with fury and still hurting from her fight with Jarik, she was more than ready for Sebastian. “Are you out of your mind? This is a charity. It’s not a business. We don’t have a brand. There’s nothing wrong with how I handle donors and press. We’ve had some great cash donations this year, and that’s something else that we need to talk about. Where did that cash go?”
Sebastian whirled around and narrowed his eyes. Normally, her brother was such a fun-loving guy, but right now, he looked cold and hard. “Are you accusing me of stealing funds?”
“I don’t want to, but I know that something is going on. You didn’t ignore me for days because you were talking to the press. There is something very wrong, and you need to tell me what it is, right now.”
She pushed him into the nearest tent and closed the flap behind them. “I need you to come clean, Sebastian. What are you not telling me?”
“You’re reading too much into things. I spent the cash on toys. You should know that. You went and picked up the crates!”
“Yes, I did. I picked up two crates, and I know there’s no way in hell that those two crates were filled with enough toys to cover the donations! Where is the rest of the money?” She knew she was g
etting louder and louder, but she couldn’t help herself. Maria wasn’t letting her brother go until she found out what was going on.
Sebastian crossed his arms. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Maria. Everything is fine.”
“Then show me the receipts.”
For the first time, uncertainty wavered in Sebastian’s eyes, and she felt her heart plummet. Despite knowing that something was wrong, she was still holding out hope that there was a good explanation for everything.
“I didn’t keep the receipts,” he said dully.
“You didn’t keep the receipts? We’ve been doing this for five years, and you didn’t keep the receipts? I swear to God, Sebastian, if you don’t come clean right now, I’m going to have to murder you.”
“Keep your voice down,” he hissed. “Everything is going to be fine, Maria. I’m your brother. You have to trust me.”
There was only one other time he’d ever said that to her. Staring at him, she put a hand over her stomach. She honestly thought that she was going to be sick. “You’re gambling again,” she whispered. The confirmation was written all over his face, and she lost it. Balling her fists, she started to yell. “Are you fucking kidding me? You’re using the funds from the charity to cover your ass? And you thought that if you smoozed the press they wouldn’t dig deep enough to realize what’s going on?”
“Maria! Keep your voice down” He reached over to grab her. “It’s going to be fine. It’s only a few thousand. I needed something to cover me while I tried to win the money back.”
“How much?” When he didn’t answer right away, she reached up and slapped him. The movement stung her palm, and that pissed her off even more. “How much?” she screamed.
Sunlight spilled into the tent as the flap opened, and Tessa ducked in. Her face was filled with panic. “Maria? Sebastian? What are you doing? Why are you yelling at each other?”