Page 150 of The Royal Art of Revenge

“Mm. Maybe you have.” She shifts, angling her hips slightly differently, taking me in slightly deeper. “Can we stay like this for a while? Don’t you have work to finish?”

“As long as you need. Nothing is more important than you.” I kiss her head again, and as if my words are the key to her finally letting go, I feel the moment she finally gives in and relaxes fully against me.

And neither of us say another word.

We merely lie here together. The only parts of our skin that’s touching is my cock inside her pussy, the most intimate possible parts of us.

Hattie’s breathing evens out, and a particularly deep exhale makes me smile as I work through a small knot in her hair with my fingers.

She’s asleep.

I peek down at her face. Her eyes are closed, and her dark eyelashes are fanning across her face. I’ll never tell anyone they aren’t naturally dark and that I caught her tinting them last week—apparently, having blonde eyelashes makes them invisible.

Not that I care.

She could have a mushroom growing out of her forehead and I would still think Harriet Sinclair is the most beautiful woman in the world.

There isn’t a second that I haven’t been captivated by her since I laid eyes on her in the park.

How could anyone hurt her the way her family does? Especially her father. She’s his blood—his eldest daughter—yet the way he treats her is vile. As if she’s nothing more than an inconvenience.

As if she should have stayed missing. As if he wouldn’t care if she disappeared tomorrow.

The thought makes me grit my teeth together.

If she ever disappeared again, I would burn this country to ashes just to find her. I would throw away everything—my position, my wealth, the crown that will one day be mine—just to get her back by my side.

She’s the most precious thing in my life.

Even her dark, vindictive side is utterly enthralling to me. I have no doubt that it wasn’t all one-sided from Rosalyn and Jasmine tonight. I know she’ll have bitten back, probably even started it all, and that the way she’s feeling now is compounded by an adrenaline crash from whatever she threw at them.

She doesn’t give in that easily. If she can provoke Jasmine so openly in a public place, then God only knows what bear she’s poked in private tonight.

Not that I care.

I will stop at nothing until she’s satisfied with her revenge.

And if she never feels that, I’ll keep going until she is.

Her happiness is all that matters to me.

Tap.

Tap tap tap.

Tap, tap.

I look towards my office door tiredly. What the fuck does he want? I lean over and grab my phone from the desk, then send a quick message to Alec.

ME: What do you want?

ALEC: It’s important.

ME: My wife is asleep.

ALEC: She’s not your wife yet.

ME: I don’t care.