Page 96 of Iron Unicorn

“And does Rachel know you went on a shopping spree?”

“I actually asked her if she wanted the first Standardbred, and then Ethan approved the parade angle. But I’m not innocent, and I will actually pay you back for everything. I just made use of buyouts while your sister went right for the bidding. I’ve been ordered to have four RPS horses, a parade horse, and a pet at a minimum. One of my Akhal-Tekes will be a parade horse likely, and I did quite a lot of my RPS horse shopping at that barn. My broodmare might be a bit of a demoness, but she likes me, so I don’t care.”

“Olivia’s purchases made me more than a little ill looking at the totals. Did she find horses made of gold?”

“Weanlings,” I reported. “Sinfully cute weanlings with good pedigrees. Eddie lost his mind, too. Me? I have a barn full of trauma I have to haul to New York. Your sister is currently in the clutches of the Texan evaluators, by the way. Melody threatened the shoe on them if they came anywhere near me, so I get to read books and relax while they suffer.”

“You sound like you’re in a fantastic mood.”

“I’ve figured out how I’m taking on the Texans during the scenario.”

“I’ll beg, but please tell me.”

I narrowed my eyes, as I did have a few pictures of my stint at the masquerade ball. “If I hang up on you sending this picture, I’ll call you back. This is something I did for Sabina shortly before her death, and I think it might work if I can get some intel first.”

“I’m happy to play conspirator and traitor, Terry. If I have the intel, I’ll get it for you. Pat issoexcited someone is going to be kidnapping Jessica. She’s excited about the scenario because they don’t get to do them much anymore.”

“Their age?” I asked, swiping up on the screen to access my photos. I searched for the date, scrolled through the images, and winced at Will’s silence.

“There is concern about heart attack risk. For Pat. They think his rogue empathy is putting strain on his heart. So, they have lowered the scenarios and other active duty. Enough exercise to keep him fit, but they’ve eliminated a lot of the stressful scenarios. Your run at the palace is a treat for both of them.”

“Melody’s been looking at him when she’s here?”

“She has. The prognosis is good, but he needs treatment—and that means we need to start really pushing Deidre to act. But she’s determined to make the transition as smooth as possible.”

“Risk of retaliation?” I selected and sent one of my favorites of the lot, a picture of me dancing with Sabina, both of us twirling around in our ridiculous ballgowns. “Please do not spread this picture untilafterthe scenario. I’m all right with it being spread around. We… went to a party rather below our caste, and this was the theme.”

A soft ping informed me the photo had made it to its destination. A moment later, Will giggled. “This is absolutely fabulous, Terry. I’m genuinely impressed. If you don’t mind me asking, was this one of your last happy moments with Sabina?”

It truly had been, and I regarded the picture with a smile. “Yes.”

“There’s no risk of retaliation from Prince Leonid.”

The confident statement caught me off guard. “Pardon?”

“I spoke with him late last night about the situation. I’m telling you because of your involvement with New York and California. He would like the belief that there might be retaliation to be spread to help motivate Deidre. He knows the truth—and I know the truth. The infidelity is real. He loves the mother of his unborn baby, and she’s the only woman he’s been sleeping with. He cheated for one reason, and it’s an important one.”

I narrowed my eyes and considered the situation, and a possibility rose to the surface. “He knows about Eddie.”

“He knows about Eddie, and he’s confident Deidre would refuse to allow her heart to decide unless he acted. He won’t take another man’s woman—and he realized he had cultivated a friendship with Deidre but missed the primary components of being a good husband and lover. Deidre doesn’t love him, and he doesn’t love her. And, thanks to Pat and Jessica, he refuses to marry a woman he doesn’t love. He admires Deidre’s dedication, but he feels what he is doing is best for his kingdom and his future queen. His parents are aware of the full situation, as is Sweden. However, they’re going to maintain the ruse to make certain Texas’s succession goes as planned. That doesn’t mean someone won’t take advantage of the situation. There are several known threats. By that, I mean I know there are threats. Their source is unknown. I can say it’s not New York.”

I snorted at the thought of my queen planning such a thing. “I might have a heart attack if my queen went for a ploy of that nature.”

“You and me both. In bad news, I think Deidre is in more danger than if Prince Leonidwasa threat. He is going to do an investigation of his own, and he will be helping to make certain Eddie is as protected as possible. There are a few loyalist groups in both Switzerland and Sweden that might act against Texas. Without the consent of the monarchs, of course.”

Of course. “You wouldn’t be telling me this unless you want me to do something.”

“I want New York ready to act if we need to get Eddie out of California in a hurry. Until their bond is officiated, he’s the easy target. And I think it’ll be kidnapping over murder. If he’s taken, the Texan monarchs might need to eject Deidre from the succession.”

I hated politics, especially when it was politics that put good people in harm’s way. Lowering my voice as much as I could and still be heard, I said, “And he is going to worry about the past coming back to haunt him in the form of Eddie being killed in the line of duty.”

“You would be correct.”

“All right. I’ll keep an ear out. Put Daphne on the job, and make it clear she thinks it’s terrorism.”

Will chuckled. “Good call. I’ll talk to her about it. I was worried about overly stressing her, but thinking about it, she’d stress more if shewasn’thelping out. She likes Eddie. How is Olivia doing?”

I grinned, having zero intention of informing him that I’d enjoyed my quiet evening with his sister, especially when we’d gotten tucked into bed and we could truly relax. “Auction barn therapy seems to have been successful. She caught a nap in the SUV to the barn, and she’s been pretty energetic ever since. She got upset over the sored horses, but she cooled her heels. Rachel owning them convinced her they’ll be taken care of.”

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