Page 120 of The Royal Art of Revenge

“Of course, of course.” She quickly motions for us to follow her, muttering something about a heavy discount as a formal apology. I can’t accept it per the rules of the Royal Family, but that doesn’t mean Valentina has to do the same.

She can go wild.

While she does that, I will smile.

And brace myself for the storm that’s coming.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX – HATTIE

That storm arrives with a bang of the door against the wall.

Actually, ‘storm’ is an understatement.

Finn is more of a cyclone at this very moment.

He stalks across the room and stops in front of the TV, staring down at me, his eyes blazing with anger.

I blink at him, shoving my hand into my bag of fizzy sweets. “You’re a fantastic door. Terrible window, though.”

He steps around the coffee table and grabs my chin, tilting my face this way and that. He examines every inch of my cheek and jaw by stroking and prodding his thumbs across it, and I frown.

“What are you doing?” I ask. “You’re interrupting my show.”

“She hit you.” He releases my face and pulls back, still staring at me with that rage bubbling beneath the surface. “She fucking hit you.”

“Oh, that.” I lean to the side so I can see the TV.

“‘Oh, that?’ That’s all you have to say?” He grabs the remote control from the table and points it towards the TV. The screen folds in on itself, going blank, and my jaw drops.

“Hey! I was watching that!”

“And now you’re talking to me.” His voice is low and dark with an edge that warns me not to dismiss him any further. “She. Hit. You.”

I put the sweets on the table, lick my fingers clean, and show him my cheek. “And I’m fine, see? There isn’t a mark on me. The manager at Lammens was very helpful.”

“Hattie, for fuck’s sake!” He runs his hand through his hair. “Is that all you have to say? She hit you!”

“Yes, I know. You’ve said so four times. Also, I’m the one who got hit.” I pause. “And it was helpfully caught on camera.”

“Yes. It’s very convenient that a journalist who is very close friends with Valentina just happened to be passing by at that exact moment.”

I clear my throat as I sit up again. “Coincidences are wonderful, aren’t they?”

“Harriet. Did you plan this?”

“That depends.”

“On what, exactly?”

“On how much trouble I’ll be in if I say yes.”

Finn stills, his hand fisting his hair, and stares down at me. The anger that was clinging to him just moments ago softens slightly as our eyes meet, and the downturn of his lips becomes slightly less prevalent.

“You…” He sighs, letting his hand fall to his side. “What did you do?”

I tuck my legs beneath me and grab a cushion. I hug it to my chest as I gaze up at him. “Are you going to shout at me?”

“No. I’m not angry at you. I’m angry in general. I’m fucking raging that she dared put her scheming hands on you. I could drive over there now and break her fucking neck for that. The only reason I haven’t gone by that house and raised hell is because I know you had something to do with it.”