Page 94 of The Prince of New York

“Ask him what Texas RPS protocol is for him using the switch. The wife is glaring at me, and I think she wants the phone.”

“I can talk to Jessica if that’ll help calm her down.”

“It might, but it might not. We won’t know until we try. Here, talk to the brat from New York, babe.”

While they transferred the phone, I eyed Eddie. “What is Texas RPS protocol for you having used the switch?”

“We lock down all Texan royalty. Lock down protocols in Texas mean a whole lot of boredom for the royals for three days. I’ve basically sent my parents to their room for three days. In this case, it’s a hospital room that will be under heavy guard until Dad’s released, and after Dad’s released, they’ll go on lockdown again because he had an operation and that’s how we handle recoveries. I’m not sorry.”

Ah. No wonder Eddie wasn’t melting down over the situation. He’d pressed the one button that guaranteed his parents were safe and sound, and his beloved dad got the care he needed to make the heart attack risk disappear, hopefully to never bother anyone ever again.

Eddie was likely proud as hell of himself, as he had every right to be. In his shoes, I would have been proud, pleased, and ready to face any punishment to come my way.

It meant he still had his dad for years to come.

“Ian, baby, are you okay?” Jessica asked.

I stared at my leg, which throbbed and informed me nothing was all right. “Okay is questionable, but I’m in a survivable state. Only terrorists were killed, so honestly, I’m doing great. How’s Pat, really?”

“He’s having a heart attack. It’s mild, it was caught right as it started, and the physicians have mostly halted its progress. He’s going in for whatever operation he needs, but we already had the cardiac surgeons on call. We knew it was coming, we just didn’t know when. So, smack Eddie again for me, and then give him a hug and tell him he did it exactly right, because the alarm going off got the cardiac docs on the move. That’s our protocol, and I’m damned glad we have it right now. It won’t be an easy night, but Melody is on the way to help with the procedure, and we have a bunch of specialists on call just in case. Once His Royal Majesty of Maine reaches the palace in San Francisco, a helicopter will be dispatched to get him to Dallas. Pat will be fine. Keep Eddie with you and give him a lot to do. Having him hovering here won’t do anybody any good. Randy’s here, and these old men will play cards and complain bitterly that they’re old men.”

It occurred to me that New York might have the perfect RPS agent for Texas: Marcus.

“I actually have a proposal for you, Jessica—and not the wedding kind, sorry.”

“Aw,” the queen replied, and she laughed. “That was a good one, though. What do you have for me?”

“Ask Randy if he wants to help two traumatized children in New York get settled, and in exchange, you can have Marcus, who might quite possibly be the perfect new detail lead for Pat. Marcus is a great agent, he’s ready for the big league, and it’s not his fault he got the short end of the stick in New York. We’ve beentryingto cultivate him, but we have trust issues that are not at all his fault, and we want to love him on our details, but we flinch.”

One day, we might not flinch, but Monty had managed where Marcus had not—and Marcus would love everything about Texas and the king he would protect.

“Oh, you sweet, beautiful boy. Hold on. Randy, talk to Ian. Ian, just repeat what you told me, okay?”

“Okay.” I rolled my eyes at the thought of a singular cell phone being passed around the SUV on route to the hospital.

“If you aren’t sitting, please sit down,” Randy begged rather than greet me like a sensible man.

I laughed. “I’m sitting, I promise. You better be sitting, too.”

“As a matter of fact, I am. How can I help you?”

Unlike with the queen, I took my time detailing my idea for how Marcus could advance his career, how Randy could worry about being the king’s friend more than the king’s head of detail, and how he, once Pat recovered, might come to New York and help me settle my little girls, who needed men like Randy in their lives.

Once done, I waited, and I wondered what went through the Texan’s head, who had spent almost the entirety of his career serving his king.

“You know, Ian? I think you might be onto something with that idea. I’ll pitch it after we see what happens in the hospital.”

“He’ll be okay, won’t he?”

“He’ll be okay, but it might be sketchy for the first few hours. We’ve been preparing for this, and Maine has been on alert. The issue with your children has upset everybody, so I’m not surprised this happened when it did. That it’s so mild that we can just drive him is a relief. It’s the best case scenario for us. Keep an eye on Eddie, would you?”

“I will,” I promised. “Give Marcus a call if you feel comfortable with going ahead. It’s not like Terry can assist since I just came up with it. Just blame me when you tell my sister.”

“You got it. I’m going to let you go, but don’t be surprised if someone calls you back to check in on Eddie.”

“If you can’t reach me, call Terry.”

“Roger.”

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