Page 80 of Iron Unicorn

“Fast food is a forbidden fruit for him. His dad only gets it on special occasions. By the time we’re done, he’ll be tired of it, but that’s fine.”

“I will never be tired of fast food,” I informed her. “And in Texas, tacosarefast food.”

She narrowed her eyes. “You make a good point.”

I considered my phone with interest. “Maybe we should see how many taco joints we can hit along the way.”

“We’re going to regret this,” she warned.

“We can mix in some barbecue along the way if we must.”

* * *

We visited Olivia’s brother,who had a room down the hall from us, to deliver the new foal and confirm that the king had processed the adoption for the toddler. The child slept with his head on the king’s shoulder, and we tiptoed around to keep from waking him. I expected Will would have a few rough days as Pieter adjusted to life outside of the orphanage.

“I’ll be attending the adoption event tomorrow,” Will whispered, taking care to rock the toddler in the hopes of keeping him asleep. “It’ll give him a chance to see his friends again before we head to Dallas for a few days. I’ll take care of his paperwork there, and then I’ll surprise the wife. The reporters and paparazzi promised to hold off on reporting about him until I’m back in Montana. Sorry, Terry. I’m throwing you under the bus to give them something to talk about. A king adopting a cute toddler is nothing compared to an RPS agent becoming a hero and giving a little girl a heart.”

I could handle the burden and the responsibility, especially knowing that I had a reporter in my pocket. “That’s fair. And I didn’t get tossed under the bus. I threw myself under it rather enthusiastically. Any word on Jane’s parents?”

“They’re on the same plane with Jane. Pat and Jessica are routed to Maine for a blitz trip to make sure there are no problems, which is more fodder for the paparazzi. I expect they’ll be back in Dallas the day after tomorrow. Pat’s having an empathy flare, and Melody thought it was for the best he just satisfy his talent—and his talent went wild over Jane’s case. I think it’ll work out, and the parents do want their daughter in their life. I verified that—and why they gave her up for adoption—personally. Albeit it was by phone, but it has been verified all the same. I know you would have taken care of her, but I thought you’d appreciate knowing you won’t have custody of her for too long, and when she’s in Maine or New York for recovery, her parents will be around to do the majority of the heavy lifting. I expect they’ll be employed by the Texan royal family. Pat got sucker punched. Her family works as janitors, just like his did before he became the king.”

Ah. I recognized a sensitive subject when I heard it. “Will it be fine to take Eddie on a ride?”

“Eddie will have a blast, and if you get into minor trouble, it’ll bring Pat home and distract him. Just keep the trouble minor. And by minor, I mean you should win the escape scenario with no risk to life or limb. I’ll text you if I feel that we need to rein everything in for safety reasons or Pat’s too strained.”

I nodded and forced myself to relax. “Thanks, Will.”

“Glad to help. Olivia, I’ll take care of your figurine. I best get this little one to bed. If you do talk to Mackenzie and the rumor mill has gotten to her, do your best.”

Olivia giggled. “Thanks. Honestly, as long as you don’t get caught out in public with him, you might be able to keep Mackenzie in the dark. If you want to surprise her, just let me take a picture and inform her that you have been charmed. She’s just going to tell you to adopt him once she sees him sleeping on your shoulder like that.”

Will eyed the boy he held, let out a low, soft chuckle, and nodded. “All right. But instead of telling her I’ve been charmed, tell her I’m going on a kidnapping spree.”

Well, that would get Montana’s queen on the move in a hurry. I grinned and decided to throw my hat into the ring. “It’d be even better if I reported to her about it.”

The siblings stared at me with wide eyes.

“Oh, yes,” Olivia breathed.

“I’m a dead man, but it seems like a fair stab for the concussion. Show no mercy.”

Olivia took her new foal from her brother and got out of the way before I had Will pose with the sleeping boy. Once I had a collection of thirty photos that all fell into the ridiculously adorable category, I nodded. “She’ll be here in time for the event, and I’ll indicate she should notify potential parents in the morning.”

“Clever,” Will complimented. “If you wouldn’t mind buying me a few minutes of life, direct her to your room. Tomorrow is going to be rough enough without waking the baby in the middle of the night.”

I agreed, waited for Will to take possession of the foal again, herded Olivia from the room, and dug out the Montana queen’s number from my contacts before connecting the call. On the third ring, she answered, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing is wrong unless you have a problem with adding another child to your herd, in which case, I’m reporting a crime. Check your phone in a second.” I swiped up on my display and began the process of texting her with the best of the pictures of her new little one. “Your husband was planning on showing up with his new acquisition in a few days. I decided that perhaps you should come here. There’s an event tomorrow.”

“An event?” The woman sighed, and I heard her phone ping. “Ah, the evidence is?—”

The silence amused me. Then, a moment later, she asked, “He didwhat?”

“His name is Pieter, and your husband is putting him to bed. I’ve been asked to route you here so you can meet him—and help draw attention to the adoption event. Most of the children have special needs.”

“I understand there was no hope of you stopping him, but why didn’t you stop him?” the queen wailed.

“I didn’t stop him because I was busy adopting a little girl who needed paperwork to get to Maine for a heart transplant,” I informed her. “As I provided the bad example, I am the one who is facing your wrath.”

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