Page 38 of The Prince of New York

I chuckled and nodded. “Really. You do not want to suffer through these meetings, and I don’t want you to suffer through these meetings. Run and be free. I’m sure Terry can handle any babysitting of my person that needs to be done.”

The wise ran when freedom was offered, and Madelyn bolted as though some terror was hot on her heels, entering the palace and gone in the time it took me to blink three times. Terry joined me, and he sighed.

“I can’t tell if she’s running to escape me, if she’s justthatexcited to be able to get access to a computer that can handle photos, or if she just hates work that much.”

“According to my empathy, Christmas has come early, and she’s about to erupt trying to cope with her good fortune. Don’t forget she is also receiving new crafting supplies.”

Crap. The art store. “I got sidetracked by the cameras and forgot we needed to go get her painting supplies.”

“I took the liberty, and I will have an empath stationed near her suite until we’re certain she doesn’t meltdown from sheer bliss. Monty located a fellow artist who knows watercolor, sent them with an unlimited budget, and asked to prepare a travel kit for her enjoyment. Accounting will ding your personal account for it.”

“Excellent.” Laughing, I shook my head and entered the building at a rather sedate pace. “Will we still be going to the junkyard?”

“We’ll go tomorrow. I will send Madelyn with the monarchs to the courthouse as planned. I’ll put my more aggressive imported agents with them.”

“What about Monty?”

“I’ll decide after we talk to him in your suite.” Terry sighed. “I’ll be sending Olivia with the monarchs just in case. The pregnancy hormones can’t be defeated, and she’s itching for a fight.”

I snickered at the despair in his tone. “I take it the war against the pregnancy hormones isn’t going well?”

“Let’s just say she has developed an inclination to do what she wants and when she wants, and if I want to deter her, I have to present the perfect argument. Right now, I’m just wisely getting out of her way when she decides she’s doing something. I’ve found providing sufficient distraction to be an efficient way to deter her. I’ve also threatened to make my new casual clothes suffer from an accident. I’m reserving that for when I trulyneedto be taken seriously. I follow up with a promise to wear the casual clothes should she happen to do what I need her to do, and that tends to solve things nicely.”

Knowing Olivia, she stood no chance against the man. “It’s nice to know that you’re equally ruthless at home. You’re not just torturing the royalty you protect.”

He chuckled. “If anything, I’m sure Olivia will endure the worst of my tendencies, as I will do everything I can to keep her safe. This is inevitably going to annoy her.”

“I am sure she will not complain about your protective ways.” We made it through the maze that was the palace to my suite, where Monty waited for us. “Did you use roller skates or something to beat us here?”

“I was attempting to keep the monarchs from destroying more of the new royal wing. So far, your sister has targeted everything in her suite. We’re going to replace the windows to appease her need to eradicate everything from the previous monarchy fromherterritory.”

I would need to pull my sister aside and have a talk with her. “I’ll try to talk to her. Unless the windows are scheduled to be replaced, that’s excessive.”

Terry sighed. “She’s at that again? Damn it. Fortunately, the bulletproofing isn’t up to quality, and we can handle replacing the frame. As of yesterday, she wants something a little more modest and elegant for the framework. I’m bringing in an architect and interior and exterior designer in the next few weeks to pick the new frames for the entire building. It’s a good initiative; we’ll need a lot of construction workers to do the changes, and that will boost the economy.” Terry bowed his head and heaved yet another sigh. “If you could restrain her a little, it would be appreciated.”

When Terry couldn’t wrangle my sister, things were worse than I thought. The RPS agent, since barreling into New York, had worked miracles with my sister.

If he couldn’t handle her, something was up—and I suspected news that our parents were still on the prowl held responsibility for the situation.

Worried that my sister skirted losing her mind over the situation, I hurried Terry along, huffing and puffing over the door situation. Fortunately for my sanity, Terry had the keys, letting us in. Before I could comment, he said, “You’ll have your own keys and full access as soon as you’re back from California. In the meantime, if someone doesn’t let you in, slag the lock and give the agents a demonstration of why they should be paying more attention and beating you to the door.”

I laughed, as did Monty.

The New Yorker winked at me and said, “I would have gone digging for the keys, but Terry’s in a mood today, and I didn’t feel like losing.”

“That’s a fair and excellent reason,” I replied before stepping inside, shucking off my suit jacket, and tossing it onto one of the armchairs. I waited for the RPS agents to enter, and Monty closed the door. Sighing, I said, “You’re expecting my parents to show up at my junkyard tomorrow.”

A statement, not a question, and from the twin expressions of resignation, the RPS agents agreed with me. Terry nodded. “I don’t think they’re foolish enough to attempt a kidnapping, not yet at least. They’re going to talk to you first and test the waters. I can’t even guess as to why they’re taking the risk of showing up back in New York. It’s one of the most dangerous things they could have done. I give it until tomorrow before news spreads that they had fled rather than suicide. We’re already receiving sighting reports from disgruntled New Yorkers. Their sloppiness doesn’t surprise me; they’re cocky, and that level of cockiness often translates to many mistakes being made. They have to have a reason for their behavior, though.”

I shrugged. “The only way we’re going to find out is if we go to my junkyard and have a chat—we’ll just need to set it up so they can leave peacefully, but if theydotry something, they won’t be making it out alive. How many loyal agents can you acquire for tomorrow?” I made a show of cracking my knuckles. “I’ll wear my good suit and my special watch.”

Terry narrowed his eyes. “Special watch?”

I smiled, went to my bedroom, and rummaged through the nightstand, where I stored my eclectic collection of watches. Unlike my regular watches, the piece had more than a few functions I failed to understand or had use for, but the complexity of the face hid more than a few secrets. I held it up for Terry and Monty to see. “The companies that make suppressors also make enhancers. I may have bought an enhancer for airweaving and waveweaving. My flameweaving does not need enhancement. When I’m wearing this, let’s just say the fire Rachel put out would be child’s play, and I wouldn’t even break a sweat. Had I been in position in California, I would have done the work instead of her, and I had my watch with me—but I wasn’t in position. I regret that.”

Ethan had become a beast after my sister had gotten burned.

Terry narrowed his eyes. “How long have you had that? Those are not legal.”

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