Page 86 of The Prince of New York

“As such, I’m evicting him and his leopards and his parrot and his woman and her cats and his children and their cats from the kingdom tomorrow.”

Alfred raised a brow. “Are you all right?”

“No. We have black footed ferrets, Amur leopards, and whatever kind of parrot that is. And I’m concerned the parrot is never going to leave my brother’s side.”

I checked on Isla to discover she appeared to be falling asleep on my shoulder. “Alfred, can you call in Jacob or Dr. Paulseno for tomorrow and inquire if we need to hire someone else? I brought in alotof animals tonight. I don’t know if Jacob can care for endangered animals.”

“I’m aware. I was notified of the acquisitions as they were made. Please try to resist any more adoptions of any species for a while. You have reached your quota for adoptions for this year. Please seek permission from a responsible adult the next time you wish to make an acquisition. The only acquisition you can make without permission is a wife, but you need to get her permission. I wish you the best of luck with that.”

I sighed. “That was New York mean, Alfred.”

“I have been attempting to teach your sister how to be appropriately New York mean. I am hopeful she will grasp the concept without much of a fuss.”

“And here I thought I was doing good deeds.”

The RPS agent chuckled. “Terry will be accompanying you to California along with Zach as Rachel is banned from going. Zach will be resuming his position as the head of your detail. Peter will be here working on establishing your new detail.”

I sucked in a breath. “Both are staying?”

“After hearing the employment offer, both have opted to be a core part of your detail without pursuing retirement paths. Peter’s wife has encouraged this, as has Zach’s. Apparently, you are liked by the wives. Do pursue acquiring a wife of your own.”

Fortunately for my self-esteem and sanity, the woman I wanted wasn’t around to overhear the discussion. “You are a wicked man, Alfred.”

He smiled and dipped into a bow. “At your service, Your Highness. Peter and Zach are making preparations, and they will have their first shift in the morning. Please take yourself to the mud run and get some exercise. You will want to take one of the larger cages for your sister’s rats to keep your parrot from wandering off while you are exercising. And yes, I was briefed on the parrot’s current issues. I sent someone to get an appropriate cage, and it will be set up in your suite while you are exercising on the mud run. I will send Madelyn to help keep an eye on the leopards and the parrot.”

As Madelyn enjoyed watching me on the mud run, I decided I would play the game his way. “I do not know what I did to deserve being sent onto the mud run, but I will do as you demand.”

“I’ll even send Peter or Zach along so you can relax a little. I know you’ve been struggling with the shifting details, and having familiar agents around should do you a world of good. Amisha, Endah, do accompany your new brother and sister. Like you, they have lost their solitary tendencies, and it is good for them to visit with you. I’ll keep an eye on Rachel.”

Both tigers swarmed the RPS agent, rubbed against his legs, and chuffed at him, and he obeyed their wishes, petting both of them and assuring them they were good girls.

“It seems I have to go get muddy, Rachel. Perhaps send Madelyn to the mud run with some of the non-alcoholic wine?”

My sister smiled. “I can do that for you, Ian. Just work out your nerves, and make sure you test that your talent is easily reined in.”

“Melting metal did the trick. I won’t have to worry about that for a few days,” I promised.

“Good. I’ll wrangle your woman, you go work out your nerves. And Ian?”

“What?”

“Do not let me find out who smuggled the parrot or the ferrets. I willdestroythem. Am I clear?”

I realized my fate: dealing with the smugglers would be my problem. “You got it. I’ll start doing the footwork while in California. Just make certain Jacob or Dr. Paulseno clear the ferrets before you handle them. We don’t want your babies to get sick.” I checked her sitting room and spotted Snookums and Flamingo asleep in their cage. “Where are the kangaroo rats?”

“They went to the clinic, where my girls are engaging in shenanigans with a little boy California acquired for me. I am going to have baby rats!”

The pregnancy hormones would truly take over New York. “Congratulations. If you get a spare pair of females from your lab rat experiment from the non-cancerous lines, I have room on my dresser for a cage. If I’m going to have cats and a parrot in my suite, I may as well have some rats, too.”

My sister giggled. “I’ll pick you out a pair from the next breeding. And when you’re back, it’syourturn to get tested for animal empathy properly, Ian.”

I regarded her with my coolest expression. “Your Royal Majesty, don’t you know that New York is where empathy talents go to die?”

She snorted and waved her fist at me. “Out of my office, you. You’re just lucky I, for reasons I do not understand, actually like you.”

* * *

Unlike my previousruns at the course, I approached the challenge as something I needed to defeat if I wanted a chance in hell of having the endurance needed to keep up with two children, two leopards, a parrot, and more cats than I could shake a stick at. If I added in Madelyn to the mix, I doubted I had any hope of survival.

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