Page 4 of The Prince of New York

“Do you think that you could be ready to go to California on Monday of next week?”

“Easily.” While I appreciated that my sister thought I had anything better to do with my time, the reality of my situation continued to haunt me. “Which next Monday are we talking about? The one in a few days or the one after?”

“The one after. Terry screamed about putting together a detail for you. And he’s trying to figure out how to be the head of two details at the same time. I had to remind him that he can’t do that. I’m going to recruit Olivia to contain him. I’m hoping he can lure a few Montana agents to New York to help spread the load. He is going to be discharging RPS agents who are unwilling to do their duty to the royal family. And yes, that includes you.”

As arguing with her wouldn’t do any good, I sighed. “I’ve played a part in this problem.”

“Like hell you have. You’re living a boring, quiet life. You don’t inconvenience your agents, and you only go out when you’re trying to convince others not all us New Yorkers are a waste of breath. Really, Ian. Try to be a bit more of a pain in the ass. You do not need to be a people pleaser. Be a little more asshole, a little less accommodating.”

I raised a brow at my sister’s exasperated tone. “Anything else, Rachel?”

“I have picked a secretary and aide staff for you for the California trip. Your secretary, who counts as your primary aide for this, will be staying in a connected suite. This will be efficient, especially as the negotiations will be complicated. You’ve been working on cars for so long I’m not sure you remember how to handle contact with other people.”

“I like working on cars.” More accurately, I enjoyed taking out my frustration on the scrap metal, using my talent to form metal bars. Thanks to my magic, I could separate each type of metal based on its melting point, creating pure bars.

Those sold for the best.

I still played the stock market, and I even won at the game, but scrapping metal offered a strange sense of satisfaction. The bars I made went on to become something.

The money sat in a bank account, a way of keeping score without offering anything worth my while.

What use did I have for the money?

“Well, I’m sure the Californians can find some cars you can play with if you miss your hobby. Just don’t take a page out of my book. There is no reason for you to try to light water on fire, Ian!”

“How is that working out for you?” I teased, aware that my sister appreciated when I pulled on her chain a little.

“Ethan is aware of my ways. He won’t let me shower unattended. He keeps saying I have to do my exercises properly.”

Knowing Ethan, he was finding some nefarious way to distract my sister before making her do her exercises properly. I gave it another year or two before the pair pursued having their first child.

I’d been around enough parents to recognize the look in Ethan’s eyes—and I knew my sister well enough she’d be itching to have a baby to dote on soon enough. The real issue would be moderation.

My little niece or nephew would need a balanced upbringing to prevent history from repeating itself.

“You do need to do your exercises properly. When you do your exercises properly, you can extinguish fires without getting burned. As Ethan freaks when you get burned, you need to refine your talent usage.”

“Damn it, Ian. It was just a few burns.”

“I’m not disputing that you did something necessary, but it was more than just a few burns. Anyway, how am I getting to California? I have no problems with going commercial.”

“I know you can handle commercial, you know you can handle commercial, but Terry cannot handle you going commercial. He’s going to have an aneurysm at this rate. He was literally screaming over your detail, Ian. Terry was screaming. He fired the agent who was supposed to be working with you after finding him puttering around with the interior guys and just monitoring one of your trackers. I don’t know if Ethan is going to be able to calm him down. We really might have to involve Olivia. If we involve Olivia, all hell is going to break loose.”

I sighed. “It’s not that bad, Rachel.”

“Oh, it is that bad. Terry is furious I paid some nitwit who couldn’t handle doing his job because you’re not an interesting principal.”

I shook my head at that. “If someone is joining the RPS for action and adventure, they’re fucking idiots.”

“While I agree with you, you are literally the easiest New Yorker to work with. You don’t travel much, everyone likes you, and you try your hardest to keep from inconveniencing anyone.” Rachel made a strangled screaming sound. “Olivia came to see what was keeping Terry, heard the venting, and she’s joined in. I’m not going to have a palace if those two gang up. Hold on.” A moment later, the sound in the background changed, and I winced at the argument. “Enough!”

My sister’s bark startled me, and judging from the quiet on the other end of the line, she’d caught everyone else by surprise, too.

Nice. My little sister had decided to use the sword she had hidden in her spine.

“Terry, it’s okay. Ian isn’t mad, and he’s not going to be mad. Yes, he needs a detail. You have a little over a week to put together a team for him. Oh, for fuck’s sake. Ian, can I impose? Terry is never going to sleep if he doesn’t feel like you have someone watching you.”

“I’ll come to the palace after I have a chance to pack.” The packing wouldn’t take long; I would grab my clothing bags with all my suits, gather enough socks and underwear for a few weeks, and load my toiletry bag with the expectation of heading to California without being able to come back home. “Call it two hours. Do try to keep Terry there—and check his body temperature. He was chilled through from his mud run.”

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