Page 118 of The Prince of New York

Every stop, Chailai and her husband managed to findsomethingthey felt I absolutely had to have, delighted in haggling with the vendors, and otherwise went on a rampage through the shops, likely forgetting they were royalty.

The one thing I noticed was how they kept a close eye on their children, especially their daughter—and how their RPS agents were never more than a few steps away. In time, the vigil would likely ease, but I understood them better than I had before plucking my little girls from their parents and rescuing them from abuse.

The circumstances were different, but the results were similar.

It would be a long time before I relaxed my guard when it came to arranging for my little girls and their care, even when I adventured around another kingdom in search of the perfect gifts, horses, and knowledge.

In Lampang, on route to the premier breeders of the carriage horses, I found the perfect gift I hadn’t realized I was searching for in the form of a wedding dress in vibrant purple and crimson and embroidered and bejeweled with the flowers Madelyn adored. As part of the wedding preparations, the tailor had already secured her every last measurement, which I kept on my phone, in my wallet, and tucked in my passport in case I ever wanted to acquire her any clothing.

With tight long sleeves, an expanding skirt that opened to reveal the blooms, and a golden collar designed to cover most of the throat, it was modest even by conservative standards.

My staring drew Zach’s attention, who joined me and peered through the glass at the gown. “That’s something else,” the head of my detail commented. “Madelyn is absolutely flustered over the issue of the dress, as she looks worse than an emaciated goose in white. Her goose is rabid, suffering from distemper, and gives her every malaise on the planet.”

I sighed over the confirmation her self-esteem woes haunted her. “Am I forgiven for running away to Cambodia?”

“As you somehow coerced every agentotherthan Peter and me into working with you on it, you had three agencies helping, and you took the world’s best anti-terrorism team with you, I’m actually quite pleased with your initiative and planning. You didn’t do it to exclude us from your activities. You did it to make certain the most important people in your life were sufficiently protected. We sighed over the incident, but that’s it. Okay, Peter screamed when he saw the video of that crocodile attempting to merge with your legs. I came rather close to fainting from terror over that. How did younotrecoil in terror? That thing was huge.”

“I mean, when I’m given a gift of a dead terrorist in exchange for cuddling, I’m going to cuddle with the crocodile so I’m not eaten by the crocodile.” I snickered. “So, purchasing the pretty gown is not going to land me into hot water for the rest of my days?”

“It’s a work of art, and those colors actually look good on her, whereas white is a disaster in the making. We are all agreed that she should not wear a white wedding dress.”

I turned to the Thai monarchs, who had focused on yet another spice vendor to shower Pat with even more gifts. “Chailai?”

The queen hurried over, and her gaze fell on the dress. “Oh, now that is a thing of beauty.”

“Is it appropriate for a wedding gown? Madelyn… does not have a good relationship with the color white. In her opinion, it’s bad. I love her dearly, but even I know when it’s time to acknowledge that she does not have a good relationship with the color white.”

“Our wedding is our time to shine, and so we pick the colors of our gowns to best make us shine on our special day. If she does not shine in white, she should not wear white. This dress is fit for even a queen.” Chailai read the label beneath it, and she sighed. “It is also priced for a queen, and it is a unique offering. It is for sale, and it is one of a kind. There is the issue of measurements.”

I dug out my passport, retrieved the card, and handed it to the queen. “I have several copies, but that was current as of a week ago, and she hasn’t changed any measurements in three months.”

To my delight, she’d put on a few pounds after moving into the palace and my suite, giving her pleasant curves and gentling the harsher lines of her face. She would never be a traditional beauty, but time, good care, and love had done wonders for her.

Chailai turned to her husband, held up the card, and said something in Thai. The king laughed, waved, and returned to speaking with the vendors about the spices. “Come, come. I have told him to ask the horse breeders to bring out their best candidates while we handle this errand. It will not take long to give this to the dressmaker, handle the payment, and be on our way. And We shall offer this work of art to your bride as our thanks, for you are masterful at dodging our offerings. I am impressed with your staunch dedication to being humble!”

“It doesn’t seem right to take advantage of the situation. I would have rescued those hostages no matter where they came from. I didn’t go to Cambodia because there were elite and royal children in need of rescue. I went because there were children in need of rescue. I went because if left unchecked, my parents would find even worse ways to try to regain power.”

“Oh, Ian. Did you know we often talked about how we would have rescued you and your siblings from your parents if only we could have? We requested Rachel for our heir, although I am now glad that was not the path taken. Her Ethan suits her as much as your Madelyn suits you. I do hope you bring your family to see us soon, although I know why you have kept them safe at your home, especially your girls. The little one still heals from her trauma. But if we could have made life a little easier for you, we would have.”

Some gifts meant more than others, and the queen’s words would follow me for many a year to come. “Thank you, Chailai.” The reality that Danielle would be visiting doctors for months to come to make certain she suffered no complications from her brush with death might be what drove me and Madelyn to the brink of our sanity. One day, her organs would fully heal, but it would take more than a few sessions with the Maine royals to make it happen, sessions that needed to be spread out for the best results. I clung to the one thing Melodyhadassured me of: by the time Danielle turned six, she would no longer need special care.

May would only need two more sessions before she could live life as a normal little girl without any worry of complications.

Until Danielle turned six, I would be taking care with where she went, how exerted she became, and teaching her how to be a little girl. Her new teacher would work closely with Maine to monitor her health, yet another reason among many for why I’d made the choices I had.

Once I made it home, when I wasn’t working to give my girls and my fiancée the future they deserved, I would be aiming to make certain nobody suffered as they had. And, day by day, I accepted that I would be working to make certain nobody suffered as I had.

I regarded the bejeweled gown with a smile, wondering how Madelyn would react when she learned I only found the dress beautiful because it suited her and I wanted her to wear it.

Following Chailai into the store, I delighted in the knowledge I would find out soon enough.

Epilogue: To her, yellow was everything good in her life.

On the anniversaryof Madelyn escaping her ex and becoming an everyday part of my life, she wore the dress I had found for her in Thailand, exchanged vows with me, and became my wife. Rather than a traditional ring bearer and a flower girl, May had handled throwing petals while Danielle had carried the rings.

Like their new mother, my little girls wore dresses from Thailand, selected in the same store I’d acquired Madelyn’s gown.

They wore yellow accented with red. The golden hues represented more than just their rightful place in the New York lineage, offering hope and new beginnings for them. According to those I had asked, in Thai customs, crimson represented the sun and its warmth among other things. But the most touching of the colors, which Chailai had added with her own hand, was the subtle hints of green stitched within the hems of all our attire, the queen’s wish for their lives to be filled with harmony and blessing the next steps of their journey within our family.

---