Page 121 of The Royal Art of Revenge

Oh.

Nobody has ever been this angry on my behalf before.

I reach out and take his hand, rubbing my thumb over his hot skin. “Yes. I planned this. I can’t do anything to her, not openly. All I can do is orchestrate her downfall and hope she dances to my tune.”

Another sigh escapes his lips, and he reaches up, loosening his tie. He pulls it over his head and tosses it to the table, then sits down and undoes the top three buttons of his shirt, all without releasing my hand.

“Talk. Now. And tell me everything, or I will take back what I said about not being angry at you.”

I swallow. “The shopping trip was genuine. Valentina heard that Jasmine was asking around, saying that I was ignoring her calls, and she was trying to get hold of me. We decided to leak our plans knowing it would get back to her and she’d show up.”

“Which she did.”

“Yes. I told you this morning that Jasmine’s plan would be to discredit me in the media. We had Victoria follow us to cover that—if anything did happen that I didn’t account for, then we had her account as a trusted journalist to save my back.”

“So, you knew this was a bad idea?” He meets my gaze, annoyance flickering in his blue eyes.

“I wouldn’t go that far,” I reply. “Jasmine is a snake. She’s a stupid one, granted, but still a snake. She’s a master of twisting things to benefit her, and that’s what I needed to cover. Ultimately, I knew that if I beat her to the emotional punch, she wouldn’t be able to accuse me of anything.”

“Clearly, your plan worked.”

“Well, yes. I was hoping she’d hit me, to be honest. You better believe I hammed up the concerned big sister act both before and after. I even begged the security team to just escort her out quietly and not make a fuss.” I pat the cheek she hit earlier and sniff. “I was the picture of grace and kindness.”

“You. You’re going to fucking kill me.” He releases my hand, cups my chin, and examines my face once again. “If she’d left a single mark on you, I’d be in a jail cell right now, prince or no prince.”

“I’m a bit disappointed she didn’t,” I murmur through his hold. “I could really play on it if she had.”

“You put yourself in danger. I’m familiar with her temper, and she could have really hurt you. Even with the security team present.”

I pout. “But she didn’t.”

“That isn’t the point. You achieved your goal—she’s getting raked over hot coals online, and you look like the saintly big sister who was wronged. It seems to have split the internet. There are people who believe you did a horrible thing to your sister and deserved it, and the others are fully Team Harriet, saying the arrangement was always yours and we’re clearly in love, and nobody deserves to be hit regardless of their actions.”

I grab my sweets again as he releases my face. “Oh, really? Excellent.”

“What’s excellent about that?”

“It makes my life easier.” I shove a sweet in my mouth and chew. “Have you seen how crazy some of these online sleuths are? I need them on my side. I thought I’d have to work a bit harder for it.”

Finn blinks at me. “Then consider me pleased that you can adjust your plans?”

“You sound uncertain about that.”

“Oh, I am. I’m wondering what the fuck I’ve gotten myself into.” He shoves his hand into my packet and steals a handful of my sweets. “And I lied. I am angry. You promised me you’d tell me what you were planning, and you kept this to yourself.”

I open my mouth, ready to argue with him, then stop.

He’s right.

I did.

When we were at Alec’s manor after the whole incident with the guys that Jasmine had paid to attack me, I’d promised I’d tell him about all my plans.

“I’m sorry,” I say softly. “I just… I thought you might tell me no.”

He chews slowly, his eyes never leaving me. He swallows, then says, “I wouldn’t tell you no.”

“Huh? You wouldn’t?”