Page 20 of The Prince of New York

Then again, she likely had no memories of the rooms; she’d only been allowed in as an infant in arms, the only time in her life she’d been shown even a scrap of love from our parents. The instant she’d been able to crawl, she’d been evicted to her old room, which had been the equivalent of a satin-wrapped prison.

I wondered if we would ever truly heal from our past.

Before I had a chance to get in a fight with my keys, one of the RPS agents keeping an eye on us unlocked and opened the door. “We’ll be changing the locks in the next few days, so we’ll bring you a new set of keys,” the man murmured. “The queen wants everything in this wing of the palace to be new. She does not want anything tainted by the former monarchs.”

I laughed, turned, and eyed my sister’s husband. “Even the locks, Ethan?”

“It was cheaper to replace the locks than deal with her lighting things on fire. I asked her to wait until you were actually in residence before taking a sledgehammer to your old rooms. I suggested you might want to be the one doing the actual demolition. The former royal wing is being converted into guest suites for dignitaries, the former dignitaries wing is being converted into the new royal wing, and my wife has decided we’re keeping our rooms where they are because it’s in a convenient location. We renovated it completely after arrival; she couldn’t stand the thought of using anything ‘those bastards’ had touched, resulting in chaos because she wanted to stay at the cheapest motel money can buy during the renovation process. Not even a hotel, Ian. A motel.”

While I was aware of most of what Ethan told me, I hadn’t known they were switching the palace wings around. I pointed into my suite. “Is this part of the new royal wing?”

“It is, but only because Rachel doesn’t want to displace you. This used to be the buffering space between the dignitaries and staffer quarters, serving as emergency quarters if we had more staff or dignitaries than expected. We’re going to be splitting the staff quarters into two separate wings; staff dedicated to the royal family will be on this side, and the other staffers will go on the dignitaries’ side. It’s chaos, but Rachel decided a good way to boost the local economy was to do a mass renovation project on the palace. And according to Terry, we will be replacing the electrical system or he will be forcing us to replace the electrical system.”

I sighed, aware that Terry had destroyed the Texan palace’s electricity due to wiring faults in the wall. “Rachel wants me to be moved into the palace, doesn’t she?”

“Even with a concussion surely trying to kill you, you remain a smart one.” Ethan came over, gave me a hug, and pushed me into my suite. As I had no doubt he’d propel me all the way to the bedroom, I did as he wanted. “Your primary aide will have the suite next door, and there’s going to be a connecting door that can be locked on either side. We’ll probably use two doors for added security, with the RPS having the ability to activate a steel barricade between them during emergencies. Once we have kids, and the one we decide to saddle with the kingdom is over eighteen, and you’re tired of being the heir, this suite will become theirs while you’re set loose to run wild and free.”

I raised a brow at my friend’s comment, which referenced his brother’s infamous flight across California to get to know his aide a little better. His aide was already his wife, although the Californians kept pushing off the public ceremony, partially to make certain Ethan and Rachel could attend.

Rachel was not yet ready to attend such a large ceremony.

Worse, she would need to be the star of such a ceremony soon enough.

“You know, maybe New York and California should join forces for a joint wedding,” I suggested, easing out of my suit coat and heading for my closet so Madelyn wouldn’t have to deal with me being a slob. “Rachel would then be a co-star with Cassandra, and both of them escape with only having to deal with one wedding. The RPS would love us, because it would limit the chaos.”

Ethan chuckled. “I’ll put together a proposal, and you can deal with it when you’re in California. I don’t even need to think about that idea. Rachel cried the other day because someone from the congress asked when we would be officiating our marriage in public. As it is, she’s been trying to demand a courthouse wedding.”

“New York did accept the Californian paperwork, right?”

Ethan sighed. “Technically, yes, but they want it in our system officially, which means refiling the paperwork.”

Some problems were easier to solve than others. “Dr. Stanton, am I going to be cleared to have some pesky RPS agents drive me to the courthouse in the morning to gather the paperwork and bring a clerk to the palace? I’d rather close that loophole, and that’s paperwork I can handle.”

“Madelyn?” Dr. Stanton asked.

“I have no problems escorting him to the courthouse for such an important matter. I am familiar with the paperwork, so I can go over everything for accuracy.”

Dr. Stanton turned to one of the RPS agents. “Gather the Royal birth certificates, the Californian marriage documentation, and anything else Prince Ian will need to get the paperwork established at the courthouse. Have one of your first responders accompany him in case of any issues. Contact a judge so we have the judge on hand in addition to the clerk. Prince Ian will need a pair of agents. It’ll be a good warmup for prepping him for the trip.”

I eyed my brother-in-law. “Why haven’t you had this dealt with already?”

“Every time I tried to go to the courthouse, someone complained, and I didn’t want to just make Terry go. Terry gets run around enough. Terry won’t let anyone else handle that. I can get away with having you handle it, but I wasn’t going to impose when you’ve had a rough time of it as it is. But since you’re offering, I’m accepting. Rachel will not go to the courthouse. She refuses. I don’t know why she’s so against the courthouse, but she’s afraid the place will bite her.”

I could make a few guesses. “I think she’s more afraid of the courthouse finding some reason to reject your marriage. That won’t happen, but that would frighten her more than anything. She caught a Californian, and she wants to keep her Californian. Anything that might come between her and her Californian would be worse than any devil.” I shrugged, heaved a sigh, and eyed the bathroom. “I need a shower.”

“I’ll keep an eye on you,” Ethan said, and he shooed everyone else out of my bedroom. “I’ll return your prince to you in half an hour. If dinner comes, knock. I’ll probably have him soak out some of those aches and pains, and I can keep an eye on him while he eats.”

Dr. Stanton chuckled. “That works. Come with me, Madelyn. We’ll go over Ian’s file together so you know what to expect, and I’ll answer any questions you might have. Ethan’s experienced with making sure the sickly New Yorkers are appropriately cared for.”

Once the crowd left, I heaved a relieved sigh. Ethan closed the door, and I caught him eyeing the knob. “I hate that they removed the locks from the bedrooms. I hate it. They did this shit in California, too. What if I want to lock myself in my bedroom with my wife? I was told I had to deal with it and that I should be happy that we still have locks on the exterior doors and connecting doors. Terry’s the only lot of them comfortable enough with standing in the hallway if we need some time alone.”

“He probably has a pair on guard outside of the windows to notify him if you opt to go out the window.”

“From the third floor?”

I grinned and headed to the bathroom. “It is possible to escape out the window. They’re antsy because I’ve done it.”

Ethan snorted and followed me. “I’ll help you, because if I let you try to escape and you fall, Dr. Stanton will have my ass as a trophy.”

---