Page 23 of The Prince of New York

While I disliked discussing my sister’s sex life, especially with her husband, curiosity got the better of me. “How are you progressing on having to deal with pregnancy hormones? We’re going to have a Montana princess with pregnancy hormones under foot soon enough if she isn’t already a bundle of hormones. She might be at this stage. Anyone with a functioning brain cell understands Terry goes home to his princess and takes good care of her.”

Ethan snickered. “Rachel is working up the courage to ask Dr. Stanton if she’s healthy enough to try for our first. And heaven help me, she really wants twins, Ian. And she was mad at herself because she’s in charge of if we have twins, and twins aren’t exactly common in the New York line. I’m already off my birth control at Rachel’s request. Fortunately for my sanity, Dr. Stanton won’t approve of fertility treatments that might result in more than one child, and Melody has promised me that she can’t actually manipulate women that way.”

Of course my sister wanted to dive in and have twins right out of the gate. “I’ll ask Dr. Stanton tomorrow. I’m scheduled in for a talk tomorrow. Apparently, Rachel is healthy enough she can turn her attention to me.”

“You’ll survive.”

SIX

“My sister wasn’t even trying to kill me this time.”

My concussion derailedmy plans to go to the courthouse. While I managed to keep my dinner down with the help of Dr. Stanton’s drugs, the relentless throb in my head did a good job of containing me to bed the next day. Amisha and Endah kept me company, and at the peak of the pain, I attempted to hide underneath them.

My behavior resulted in losing a tiger for a while, although she returned with Dr. Stanton.

“I’m pretty sure he’s convinced he’s dying and is trying to bury himself under Amisha,” Madelyn said, and in a show of sympathy, she kept her voice a tolerable volume. “He’s sound sensitive, light sensitive, and generally just sensitive. I tried to convince him to have breakfast and lunch, but I wasn’t successful. I didn’t have the heart to wake him, as he’d managed to actually fall asleep in the middle of our conversation. I was going to come for you, but I guess Endah has a lower tolerance for this than I do.”

I felt weight on the bed, and a moment later, a gentle hand patted my shoulder. “Come out, Ian. I’ll have a look at you, figure out what’s causing your pain, and decide if we’re going on another field trip to the hospital. I called Melody in last night, so she’s here to help put your brain back together.”

Rather than get out of bed, I freed a hand enough to wave, assuming Maine’s heir was somewhere nearby.

Before I could retreat back into the covers, a slender hand caught mine. “There’s no need to make him sit up if he’s in that much pain. Concussions can cause migraines, and Ian has a history when it comes to getting the worst symptoms. He’s a bad luck magnet.”

No kidding. “My sister wasn’t even trying to kill me this time,” I complained.

Melody laughed and gave my hand a squeeze. “It’s just bad luck, Ian. There’s no bleeding, but you have swelling. Your choice. We can drug it into submission, or I can knock your ass out and use my talent, but in either case, you’re staying in your suite for the rest of the day. You can go to the courthouse tomorrow.”

“I’m not scheduled to work tomorrow,” Madelyn murmured.

Dr. Stanton sighed. “He can go to the courthouse the next day you’re working, and he can put together some puzzles with the tigers and read them some books until then. Ian, you can do your personal work when Melody clears you. The Californians don’t want you flying and getting sick on them, so you can’t leave until we clear you for air travel anyway. I brought Melody in solely to keep your sister from having a breakdown. She’s already on the edge because she hurt you in the first place.”

“Am I going to want to go anywhere after Melody gets her hands on me?” I asked, unable to contain my curiosity.

“I’d like you to try to use your talent some tomorrow and make sure there are no changes. Your work is ideal for the test. I’m sure you’ll be fine with a couple of RPS agents keeping an eye on you.” Melody patted my hand. “I’ll give you a checklist for what to watch out for, that way we don’t breathe down your neck. The courthouse can wait.”

“Will I need to cart him to the hospital for monitoring?” Dr. Stanton asked.

“No. The swelling is just in a bad spot for pain. The pressure is causing a severe migraine, but it’s not going to do any lasting harm. The medications will likely leave him woozy and ill for the next two or three days. My talent isn’t much better.”

“Why not do both?” asked the evil doctor responsible for my care.

Wicked woman. I groaned at the thought of the doctors teaming up against me.

“Doing both is an option, and then Madelyn won’t be worried about her days off being interrupted. He will not be going anywhere without an intervention. Leave the palace while you can, Madelyn,” Melody suggested. “I’ll take your place for the day, and you can get a head start on your rest and relaxation time, especially since you were playing guard last night. If you need a ride anywhere, ask an RPS agent. They’ll make the arrangements. And don’t fret about imposing. The fact you were able to contain Ian is remarkable enough to have earned the perks. The last time he had a migraine and I had to come down here, he actually escaped the palace and was trying to find a way to put himself out of his misery.”

“It’s true. I ran away, and Melody had to get me out of a storm drain. It was also raining.” In addition to the migraine, I’d been halfway to incoherent, fevered, and not in my right mind. “It wasn’t just a migraine. It was some form of influenza from hell that hitched a lift with a migraine.”

Melody giggled. “This time, we have tigers, and if he does lose his mind and escape the palace, I’m sure one of the tigers will go get help and the other will accompany him.”

Both tigers rumbled, and a moment later, one of the giant fuzzballs nuzzled me, pawed at the blanket, and removed the cover from over my head. Before I could protest, Amisha dragged her tongue over my face. While her rough tongue hurt, I did the only thing a sensible man did when presented with an affectionate tiger. I freed my hand from Melody’s grip, snuggled close to the animal, and used her fur to block out the light.

“All right. Everyone out. I’ll get his medication administered, make use of my talent, and get him settled. I’ll take care of his dinner in a few hours, as my talent is the only thing that’s going to wake him long enough for the basics. I’ll send for Ethan if he’s up for a soak. Have Terry pick his favorite two RPS agents to play babysitter. Until the medications wear off, I want someone in the room with him. Let’s not tempt fate.”

Everyone did as Melody asked, and once I was alone with the princess, she laughed. “Goodness. Is that the little princess you’re fawning over? That was Madelyn, right?”

“She’s not a princess,” I mumbled into Amisha’s fur.

“She will be once you’re done with her, I’m sure. Before I torture you with medications and knock your lanky ass out so you can sleep the migraine off, I come bearing a gift of information.”

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