Page 60 of The Prince of New York

My brother-in-law laughed. “That’s my cue to have dinner. Thanks for your help, and please don’t point your cameras in Ian’s face. I’ll send over good pictures as soon as we get back to the palace.”

In what I counted to be a miracle, the paparazzi limited their interactions with me to nods before leaving, most of them heading away from the hospital. “What did you tell them?”

“The truth. They’re sufficiently offended that they’re willing to play the game my way. I also mentioned we have a Montana princess on hand along with a reminder she’s pregnant. They’re smart, and the last thing they want is to face off against a Montana princess cruising on pregnancy hormones. Olivia would destroy them all emotionally, and they know it.” Ethan herded me into the restaurant and headed for the counter. “In good news, I’ve learned what tames the ravenous beast, so ordering is easy.”

“An extra milkshake might save us.”

“I was already planning on it. What are you having?”

“Another milkshake and the biggest burger money can buy, made to be as unhealthy as possible.”

“I know exactly what you need, and I’m going to be having the same thing. This is the only sort of rebellion I want to deal with this week.”

No kidding. “Is it rebellion when the doctor dragged us all here?”

“I’m pretending it is. It makes the food taste better.”

SEVENTEEN

“I feel like I grew up fairly normal and unspoiled, especially for a handsome prince.”

Three hoursafter arriving at the hospital, Melody emerged from the restricted area, joined us in the waiting room, and stretched out with a low groan. “My father has taken over the work. He arrived twenty minutes ago, and after we had a talk about the needed treatment plans, he kicked me out. Apparently, this is his hospital now, and anyone who gets in his way is going to have a bad night.”

Under those circumstances, I would run, too. “I’m assuming we will be going home and picking the girls up in the morning?”

“That’s the current plan, although you won’t be picking them up. Dad and his RPS agents will handle bringing them to the palace, and once they’re settled in their suites, we’ll reverse sedation. It’s better for the hospital and the girls if we just quietly move them before anyone realizes they’re being discharged.”

I nodded. “That works. How bad is it?”

“The toddler is a mess from the shoulders down. Danielle, according to her medical file?”

I nodded. “She thinks her name is Baby, though.”

“Good luck with that. You’re going to need it. Anyway, she was downgraded to critical condition after we got the MRI scans done and reviewed. The only organwithoutsome evidence of trauma is her heart, and frankly, I don’t know how her heart escaped injury. She had a mild concussion, but I already handled the work resolving that. Dr. Stanton likely only picked up the three largest contusions due to the surface bruising being severe enough to hide the markers. Her concussion was deep and the least severe of her injuries. Dad will have his hands full pulling her back to stable, but your case against the parents is solid. We were able to photograph handprints that likely match both parents. May is better off, and her condition was maintained as serious, but she also had numerous organ contusions and sufficient evidence of abuse that no kingdom in the world would allow those parents to retain custody.” Melody scowled. “I want to hit something.”

“How about you take a shot at the mud run? That should tire you out.”

“I just might.” Maine’s heir heaved a sigh. “Dad stole Jack, and he’s going to be learning about pediatric care. We will likely accompany you to California for the first two weeks, as Dad says he has some matters he wants handled anyway. I like this, because we were testing separation, which is not my favorite thing in the world.”

I could understand why she wouldn’t want to be separated from her husband—and why they needed the experience. “He made up those matters,” I muttered.

“I know that, you know that, but the Californians are going to side with my father, and we’ll be going to California for two weeks of your trip, crashing your party. And honestly, with your concussion as much trouble as it was? I want to be on hand. Dad is going to handle the Montana pregnancy hormones once a week, but I think the twins should be fine. I can’t detect any evidence of problems with either baby, and Montana women have a good reputation for bringing little ones to term. I suspect it’s part of their bloodline magic. The men end up exceptionally fertile, and the women end up having almost no problems with pregnancy. What I don’t understand is why Mackenzie is behaving more like a Montana woman when she’s a New Yorker. There’s probably a hidden talent at work making sure her and the little ones have easy pregnancies. And yes, compared to many women, her pregnancies are easy.”

“I now question why my mother dealt with so many pregnancies,” I said, allowing myself a frown.

Melody sighed, leaned my way, and gave my knee a pat. “We may never know, and that’s not a bad thing. There are some people I just don’t want to understand, and your parents are two of those people. My advice? Try not to worry about it. You have more important things to handle, including caring for two little girls. You’re going to have issues. Some of those issues might be a need for utter perfection, because perfection was likely the only way they dodged being beaten. Discipline is going to be difficult, because any disapproval from you will likely terrify them. They’ll learn you’re gentle in time, so try not to let their reactions hurt your feelings. Both girls are malnourished, so your first battle will be with their diet. With a little luck, they’ll be hungry enough to eat whatever you give them. However, eating disorders are a possibility, and you’ll have to watch for the signs. For the moment, I want you to figure out what they were eating and when. We’ll start on a schedule they’re familiar with. I’m concerned the mother wasn’t providing meals and the older girl may have been attempting to feed them both.”

I frowned, regarding her with a raised brow. “Why do you think that?”

“May has scars on her hands and forearms consistent with burns from trying to operate a stove—and some of those scars are fairly fresh. I’d guess a gas stove. I recommend that the palace kitchen maintain having a chef on duty around the clock until we figure out their eating habits. If I were a clever little girl with a starving little sister, I would be sneaking into the kitchen after Mom went to bed to cook something for her. And if that’s the level of subterfuge May has had to do, at her age, you’re going to have your hands full.”

“Well, I need to learn how to cook, too, so I’ll have the RPS drag me out of bed if that happens, and we can learn how to cook together. Then we can transition them to daytime cooking. That’s not a problem.” The real problem would be if I got my hands on her parents. “I’m going to invoke my right as royalty to do my portion of the questioning for the trials in private with Montana overseeing the truth portion. If I enter the same room as those bastards right now—or anytime soon—I will reduce them both to ash.” I turned my stare onto my sister, who held her hands up in surrender. “You will do the same, because you’re even more likely to reduce them to ash than I am.”

“You’re right. All right. Ethan, do you want to handle the paperwork? I will add creative language inappropriate for court at this stage.”

My brother-in-law nodded. “That’s not a problem. Honestly, I’m in the same boat, but my parents wouldn’t know how to give us a beating even if you smacked them around with an instruction manual and gave them a demonstration. Ian, I’ll call my mom and have her give you advice once you get there. I feel like I grew up fairly normal and unspoiled, especially for a handsome prince.”

“I appreciate that, Ethan. Is riding a good activity for the girls, Melody?”

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