What was I supposed to do with the rest of my life?
Chapter Nineteen
I didn’t get to spend much time with my daughter before Geoff ruthlessly escorted me to a dark SUV, herded me inside, and drove me to the airport.
“I could’ve watched her sleep for ten more minutes,” I complained, slouching in my seat.
“Having been on Her Royal Majesty’s detail before, Mackenzie, if I’d given you ten more minutes, you would’ve crawled into bed with her and taken a nap. At that point, the battle would’ve been lost, as Her Royal Majesty is a bleeding heart and wouldn’t want to disturb you. You have a congressional hearing tomorrow, one you rescheduled to come here today.”
“Can I quit?”
“No.”
I huffed. “What did I ever do to you, Geoff?”
The driver snickered. “Just be grateful the terms of the betrothal agreement are as they are; while you’ll be a person of interest to the RPS, you won’t have a personal detail. Starting as of this afternoon, your daughter does. Fortunately, as your daughter is almost always with one of the other royal children, she won’t realize the extra agents are for her.”
When she figured it out, which would probably take less than twenty-four hours, my daughter was going to murder me. “I might need a detail when she figures it out.”
“Should you need a detail, you’ll be my responsibility,” Geoff admitted. “It seems I run the fastest and have a better chance of catching you if you run.”
“Ha, ha.”
“You have a very impressive run time, and if anything, the more pregnant you got, the faster you could hightail it out of the area if your flight instinct kicked in. Should any gentleman be good enough to win you, I’ll suggest a leash.”
I scowled. “Thanks, Geoff.”
“I think it’s only fair to warn him of the challenges he’ll face.”
“Aren’t RPS agents supposed to be dour professionals?”
“The first time you bludgeoned a dour professional RPS agent with your purse during your first trimester, we learned you prefer humans keeping you company.”
I scowled at the reminder I’d taken a few swats at an agent during my pregnancy. “He startled me.”
“I’m seriously considering filing a request for you to take self-defense courses,” Geoff admitted.
“My purse technique wasn’t very effective, that’s true.”
“If I were to find you an instructor, would you consent to classes?”
“If the instructor teaches me effective purse techniques, I’m game. Just no guns, please.” Maybe it was foolish to be stuck on the reality of what I was, but I didn’t want to give an elite an excuse to pull the trigger because I was an armed null.
“Some form of defensive martial art should suffice. I’ll ask around and see if I can find a good instructor for you.”
“If you’re hoping martial arts will distract me from what’s going on, you’re wrong.”
Geoff sighed. “Couldn’t you go with it just this once?”
“The entire congress is going to laugh at me tomorrow.” I sighed and hung my head. “They’re going to stare at me until I confess my sins.”
“You’re being overdramatic, Mackenzie.”
“You’re probably right.”
“Try to get some sleep on the flight home. You’re going to have a long day tomorrow. As for congress, as long as you don’t tell them you signed the papers, they won’t know. Knowing Her Royal Majesty, she’ll insist on a joint announcement. His Royal Majesty will defer to Her Royal Majesty, because he recognizes a fight he won’t win.”
“I’ll try, Geoff.”
“Good. Now, what are you not going to do tomorrow?”
I could make a few guesses at what he meant, but I went with the most obvious choice. “I’m not going to have one of Mireya’s temper tantrums because she’s growing up and is smarter than I am.”
“That’s a good start. What else aren’t you going to do?”
“Cry during the congressional session because they passed null rights legislation?”
“That’s the one I was looking for. Don’t do that. It’s a public hearing.”
“Damn it.”
“You still have my personal number in that antique of yours?”
“I don’t need it in my antique. I have it memorized.”
“Good. If you notice anything strange going on, call me. If I’m not in the area, I’ll have an RPS agent check out the situation. That’s a direct order from Her Royal Majesty, so don’t feel like you’re imposing. If you feel like you’re being threatened at all, you call me.”
If I didn’t, he’d find some way to torture me, likely through assigning me a permanent agent. “All right. I can do that.”
“Good. Don’t be surprised if people photograph you for the next while. Just ignore them and behave naturally. If it makes you uncomfortable, give me a call. It’ll die down in a few days, but it’s going to be a normal occurrence for the next few weeks.”
“Most people will be fine, but there’s always one in the crowd who hates everything I stand for,” I muttered, remembering what I’d been told the first and last time I’d had a detail. “I’ll keep an eye out.”
“Also, if a reporter bothers you, there are only two words you need to say.”
“No comment.”
“Exactly. Spare their dignity. If you unleash your tongue on them, you’ll make them feel bad.”
Geoff coaxed a laugh out of me. “All right, I’ll try to spare the poor reporters this time.”
“Perfect. Get yourself together and make sure you get some rest on the flight. I’ll be on board, so if you need an ear, you’ll be able to find me.”
“How about a blanket? Whoever designed planes needs to do something about the temperature.”
“I think we can manage something.”
I made it home in time to take a nap before heading to work, and my medications did a good job of numbing me to the presence of the photographers determined to snap shots of me. Without Geoff’s warning, I would’ve been worried. Stifling a yawn, I made the hike to the office, staggered to Louisa’s desk, and melted onto the polished wood. “Coffee, please,” I begged.
The older woman laughed, picked up her phone, and said, “Mr. Smithson, I’m taking a few minutes to get Mackenzie some coffee. If you need me, I’ll be in the kitchen or her office.”
“You’re a godsend, Louisa.”
“You look like hell. You’re going to need more than a cup of coffee to turn that wreck around. Did you bring any makeup with you? You’re going to need it for the session, else people are going to wonder who gave you a pair of black eyes.”
“Can I blame a demoness named Jessica?”
“Go ahead. I’m sure she’s woman enough to handle it.” Louisa reached up and patted my head. “Go on to your office, dearie. I’ll be around with some coffee in a moment.”
I obeyed, scowling when I spotted my boss waiting beside my door. “You’re a jerk.”
He had the decency to wince. “Would it help if I said I’m very, very sorry, and I wouldn’t have done it if Lane hadn’t been confident we could pass the measures?”
“I’m marrying my child off to a prince because of you. It’s going to take a lot more than a sorry to make up for that.”
He dared to laugh at me. “I suppose that is partially my fault. I can’t take full credit for it, however. Most of the fault is Mireya’s for charming His Royal Highness. She had him wrapped around her finger since the first day she went to Huntington. I have sources who’ve told me so.”
Unlocking my door, I considered my boss. “You may come inside and divulge information on this source. You’re safe from the stapler for the next two hours.”
“That’s very generous of you.” He took over one of my chairs, kicked off his shoes, and propped his feet up on my desk. “Deidre is the first source. She was in charge of keeping an eye on His Royal Majesty at school until she graduated.
She thought it was adorable her little brother was making a nuisance of himself. Adam’s a brat, no doubt about it, but he was trying to play spy, and he had his attention narrowed to Mireya. Since it seemed harmless, I saw no need to tell you.”
“She has a crush on him, Douglass.”
“How tragic. She’s now betrothed to someone she likes. However will she recover?”
“Your sarcasm is in top form this morning,” I complained. “What did I do to you?”
“You threw a stapler at my head.”
“I’m buying an entire box of them to throw at you. I’m going to go bankrupt anyway, so I may as well arm myself sufficiently first.”
“She’ll easily qualify for financial aid. Her education will probably be cheaper than at Huntington Academy. Who did they call in for the second witness, by the way? Lane told me you’d tore him a new one yesterday on the phone and made him witness.”
“I’m going to have to start listening to Montana politics, Douglass. His Royal Majesty has the sexiest voice I’ve ever heard. I’ve decided his mask is there to protect him, as someone with a voice that sexy has to be equally pretty beneath the mask, so therefore, he goes in public wearing the mask so he isn’t assaulted by every single female with a pair of working ovaries.”
“That is more than I wanted to know, Mackenzie.”
“What? Can’t a woman admire a man’s voice?”
“Sure, you can. I’m not saying that. But your concerns he’ll be violated without his mask are disturbing.”
“His voice, Douglass.”
“His sister has a lovely voice, too.”
I scowled. “Don’t ruin my wishful thinking. Prince Adam wants me to marry the jerk.”
“Yet here you are, praising his voice and speculating he’s so handsome he wears a mask so he won’t be violated. Why is he a jerk?”
“Because I have to plan his engagement, and that annoys the hell out of me. Where the hell am I going to find a woman suitable for an empathic leech? I’ve been given an impossible job. Add in the fact you and Senator Forester have ganged up and finished my main job for me, I’m going to be dead weight as soon as the auction is over.”
“Mackenzie, what the hell are you talking about?”
“I heard about that stunt you pulled with Senator Forester. Thank you, but you’re a jerk. So is he. Men are jerks.”
Louisa stepped into my office bearing two mugs of coffee, one of which she handed to me. “Mackenzie, darling, apply the brakes to your mouth.”
I sipped my coffee and muttered curses beneath my breath.
“Thank you, Louisa. I’ll make sure she’s a little less waspish before I send her to Congressional Hall.”
“You’re going to need a lot more than that one little mug of coffee to accomplish that. A new pot is brewing. Just give a shout when she needs more.” Louisa smiled, waved, and headed back to her desk.
Leaning back in his chair, my boss closed my door. “All right, Mackenzie. That isn’t a lack of coffee grumpiness. That’s full on one-woman army crankiness, and I haven’t seen you this surly since your third trimester. What’s going on?”
“Three inches of paperwork and a betrothal agreement.”
“You’re lonely, aren’t you?”
“You’re lucky my stomach needs this coffee more than I desire to throw my mug at you, Douglass.”
“Didn’t sleep well on the plane?”
“Geoff, bless his heart, stole every single blanket on the damned plane for me, and I was still shivering the entire flight.”
“No reactions?”
“No. Geoff thinks it’s because I’m so used to warm temperatures I’m going to suffer mild hypothermia indoors until I get used to it. Then there’s the issue with the photographers. If Dylan ever comes around, he’s not going to be happy I’ve completely snubbed him in the parenting department. According to Jessica, I’ve snubbed him when he’s trying to champion null rights, as he would’ve undermined all my efforts if he showed up and claimed custody.”
“She told you the significance of the platinum pentagram, didn’t she?”
I nodded. Spitting curses, my boss retrieved his phone and dialed a number. A few moments later, he complained, “Did you really have to tell her what the platinum pentagram meant? She was happy when she just thought he was just another elite. Now she’s in her office moping because she feels like she’s wrongly snubbed him of his chance to make parental decisions. Louisa had to tell her to apply the brakes to her mouth.”
Since I agreed with him, I kept my mouth shut and nodded.
“And now she’s nodding in agreement with me. At least she recognizes she’s being entirely unreasonable this morning. While I’m sure the medications are partially to blame, I’m pretty sure she’s just anxious her little girl flew out of the nest earlier than anticipated. What do you want me to do with her? She’s going to show up at congress and start crying, Jessica.”
I scowled because he was right.
“Judging from the way she’s scowling at me, she agrees with me.”
Douglass sighed and offered me his phone. “Here. It’s Jessica.”
I echoed his sigh and took the phone. “I don’t normally whine this much,” I declared instead of answering like a normal adult.
Her Royal Majesty chuckled. “Douglass just hates when you’re upset. Pat’s headed home to Dallas today, so he’ll make you some yams and chicken, and if you aren’t bouncing back in the morning, I’ll send the royal physician over. It wouldn’t be the first or the last time he’s had to deal with a cranky woman who had her eldest child cruelly taken from her and sent overseas. I needed a kick in the ass and a month’s worth of antidepressants to get over it. Deidre loves taunting me about it. Despite what Douglass says, it’s normal enough. I was a bit extreme, but it’s difficult being a queen some days.”
“And you love your children.”
“Just as much as you love yours. If you need help, ask for it. If you need a child around to keep you busy, you can borrow one of mine. I have extras.”
I laughed. “How many of them are there, anyway?”
“There are nine of the brats, and the youngest is entering school next year. Deidre’s the eldest, and she very firmly told me when she was twelve she had no interest in ruling Texas, so Adam got saddled with the job. You can blame her for your current situation. She’s woman enough to handle it.”
“I’d threaten to make her babysit, but it seems I won’t need a babysitter if things keep going well. I don’t want them to keep going well,” I confessed.
“I have bad news for you. They’re going well. But I have good news, for you. You’re going to get a very nice scholarship proposal for her. I recommend you take it. If she makes the Dean’s list for her section, her tuition will be cheaper than it is now. I can’t promise how much cheaper, but it’ll be affordable. I already asked on your behalf, and I may have abused my queenly powers to pull your taxes for additional scholarship applications. I’m not sorry.”
I closed my eyes and breathed a relieved sigh. “Thank you.”
“I figured you were stressed out enough without adding a few extra inches of paperwork to your day yesterday. While I abused my queenly powers, Pat filled out the documentation, so you can rest assured it’s error free. What did you think of that little scamp from Montana?”
“Little scamp?” I blurted.
“I’ll give you a piece of advice, Mackenzie. He’s younger than you are, though not by much. Compared to us old farts, he’s a little scamp. I enjoy reminding him of that fact every now and again. All right, to be fair, Pat and I are in our fifties, so we’re not that old, but he’s not nearly as old as he often makes himself out to be.”
“Are you continuing Adam’s campaign to marry me off and ship me to Montana?”
“It’s my campaign. I thought of it first. He’s just a miserable little copycat with a big mouth,” Jessica grumped.
“I’m not purchasing a gentleman from a man-meat market
to become my daughter’s father, and I don’t care if he’s a king.”
“Please tell that to His Royal Majesty the next time you speak to him. It’ll drive him insane.”
I arched a brow. “And you want to drive him insane?”
“Every chance I get. He needs knocked down a few pegs.”
“My life has somehow become insane.” I mourned the loss of my old life, where I took Mireya to school, picked her up, and worked my ass off making certain she’d still be mine the next day.
“You’re handling it remarkably well. You should’ve seen Pat the first few times he got dragged into high society. The one time, he fainted.”
“He didn’t!” My eyes widened. “He fainted?”
My boss laughed. “She’s telling you about Pat, isn’t she?”
“And my boss just verified this actually happened. That’s crazy. What did you do to the poor man?”
“Remember how I told you my husband’s a leech?”
“Yes.”
“Well, I’d been avoiding him because my parents definitely didn’t approve of me spending time with a low-talent freak—their words. They thought he was a freak because one of their horses fell hopelessly in love with him. They were jealous over the horse. He’s got a minor animal affinity talent with equines, which was his first identified talent.”
“That explains the herd of horses thing, I suppose.”
“Adam’ll probably develop the same affinity with equines; that’s a common talent to pass on from parent to child. Adam’s unusual in that he’s getting the full range of talents, and he’s developing mine fast enough he’ll probably get it at full strength.”
“Good for Texas, because he’ll be able to mitigate the storms?”
“Bingo. So, a mutual friend in the elite caste invited him to a party and brought one of her horses to try to make him feel better. He came from a low caste, not much better than yours, so Pat hadn’t gotten to be around horses much. That’s tough on someone with an affinity. So, he’s meeting this horse, who loves him from first whinny. He wasn’t expecting me to be there, and since I was happy to see him, he picked up on it. Between me and that damned horse, we short circuited him, and down he went. I about had a heart attack. My friend almost died laughing. He took a two-day nap, which set me off, and by the end of that fiasco, my parents decided to back off. The problem with storm callers like me? Well, when stressed or upset, we call storms. My talent is stronger than my mother’s, so I flooded their farm and caused a localized disaster before they decided maybe they should just accept the low-talent freak because he made me happy.”
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