Page 62 of The Prince of New York

Sneaky sister.

Fortunately for my sister, Dr. Stanton investigated my bars, whistling over the whole lot of them. “And you can get this volume from your junkyard reliably?”

I nodded. “I’ll probably order extra components and take up additional contracts once back from California, as I want to earn the money for the girls. While the kingdom budgets for royal children, I’m going to pay for everything out of my personal funds.” I counted bars, particularly pleased I had a single twenty-five pound gold bar to sell. “I always forget how much gold is used in computer parts. I mean, I had a lot of boards and chips, but I didn’t think I hadthatmuch.”

“Well, Terry had the entire room with your parts brought over; he didn’t want to leave it while you were gone in California. Honestly, I’m impressed it didn’t take you all that long to bar everything. How much is this stuff worth?”

I pointed at the gold bar. “I should get a million for that, roughly.”

Dr. Stanton raised a brow. “That’s worth a million dollars?”

“It’s pure gold, so I get top dollar for it. There are no impurities.” I pointed at the copper. “That isn’t worth all that much, but once again, it’s pure, so I will get the best price on the market for it. I’ll sell all this to computer manufacturers for a mix of cash and stocks. I’ll assign the stock portion to the girls and put it into a trust for them until they turn eighteen. The cash I’ll use for their care, education, and so on. The only reason I’ll use a trust is so they have full control over their money when they turn eighteen.”

Melody pointed at the titanium and tungsten. “Terry whistled while you were working on those bars. Why?”

“Titanium is quite difficult to melt, as is tungsten. Computer manufacturers want to be able to use recycled metals, which mine are, and they’re willing to pay a premium for it as my talent doesn’t harm the environment. I’m usually offered upwards of twenty percent over standard pricing for my metals because they can eliminate the majority of pollution generation when working with me. The machinery required to recycle both metals are not environmentally friendly, where I am.” I picked up a tungsten bar, admiring my work. “It’s not quite as valuable as gold, but I’ll get up to twelve hundred dollars for this bar.”

“The gold is where the real value is at, but the other metals make you a decent penny, too,” Dr. Stanton observed, and she eyed the gold bar. “I’ve never seen that much gold in one place before.”

I put the tungsten down, picked up the gold bar, and grunted at its weight. “It’s heavy, but you can hold it. It’s cool.”

She took it, and like me, she grunted. She didn’t keep it long before handing it back. “I logically knew gold was heavy, but seeing—and feeling—is believing. That’s fascinating. Thank you for letting us observe you work, Ian.”

“Not a problem at all. I just need to figure out where I’m stashing this stuff.”

“Let the RPS agents worry about it. You’ve tired yourself out enough for one day. Melody, go do some exercising on the mud run before bed. Getting the mud out of your hair should be enough to let you sleep without anxiety.”

“And what about you?” Maine’s heir countered.

“I’m going to help the RPS move his metal bars to work out my nerves. I need the exercise, and I’m hoping by the time I’m done helping to move all these bars, I’m too tired to wash my hair.”

Melody eyed the bars, and then she nodded. “That sounds like a plan. Ian, if you have trouble falling to sleep, find me. I’ll give you a sleeping aid. Ideally, you won’t need it, but you’re going to need rest. Once those girls figure out they can play and get into trouble, they will do so to the extremes, which means you’re going to be chasing them around a lot. They are going to test your boundaries, and they’ll test them hard.”

“Children do that,” Dr. Stanton confirmed. “Your world is going to be turned upside down on you. Theirs? They’ll be stepping into an entirely different universe, and they have no coping mechanisms yet. You’re good at being patient, but I’m sure you’ll be tested soon enough. I have no doubt you’ll figure it out, just try to have a little faith in yourself. Go visit your horse and then take a shower and go to bed. And please don’t try to light the water on fire. I’m still trying to convince your sister that her other exercises will control her talent. One day, she might even believe me.”

EIGHTEEN

Once upon a time, he’d been my preferred vet.

As I suspected,Thunder dealt with a fairly severe case of barn souring. The stallion paced, weaved, and pawed in his temporary corral. To my relief, I recognized the older man keeping the Jutland company.

Once upon a time, he’d been my preferred vet.

“It’s nice to see you again, Jacob,” I greeted, strolling over and holding out my hand. Depending on mood, I’d either get a shake or a hug.

The vet went in for a hug, and he gave my back a hearty pounding. “Your sister has hired me to serve as the royal vet, as you were always pleased with my work with Saoirse. Your new stud is gorgeous. He’s healthy, but you’re going to have your hands full with him for a while. He would very much like to be stalled.”

I went to the fence and whistled for the stallion. Thunder blew air and came my way, pressing his head against my chest. I soothed him, stroking his neck and murmuring reassurances. “He was stuck on a boat with my parents for company, so I’m not surprised he wants nothing with being out right now.”

Jacob sighed. “So I was told. I’ll send directions to California about how to handle him and work on the souring. I don’t know how you always manage to get the sour horses, Ian.”

“I’m just going to blame my parents for this and go from there. Outside of being sour, how is he?”

“He’s easily worth his weight in gold. As I have to work with your sister’s horses tomorrow, I’ll start the work on resolving the souring. You’ll have more important things to do, but I want you spending at least an hour with him a day. Go ahead and take him to his stall. We’re keeping him in one of your sister’s foaling stalls, so he’ll have plenty of space until we get him ready to enjoy pasture time. I’ve already started the paperwork for collecting semen, and if you don’t mind, I’ll haul him to a collection center tomorrow to see how easy he is to train. I’ll see if we can collect tomorrow to do an evaluation on his fertility and freeze a batch if possible.”

“I appreciate this, Jacob. Send me the bill.”

The vet chuckled. “Your sister has beat you to the chase on the bill for today and the collection, alas. You’ll get the bills for his general care, though. Take him to his stall, get him groomed, and get to bed.”

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