Page 44 of The Royal Art of Revenge

“Three. Three lives.” I hold up the corresponding number of fingers.

“Not imploding three entire lives,” he corrects himself. “Now, look. And I’m not saying I’m not tempted by your offer,” he says, raising a hand. “But I fail to see what I gain out of this arrangement. As far as I’m concerned, if I take away my personal feelings, Jasmine is a perfectly good candidate to be my wife. Right now, you benefit the most from this. You claim back an engagement, husband, and the future that was promised to you, piss off your family, and can carry out your plans to ruin them all while you’re protected by the Royal Family. And I… What do I get out of this?”

“Isn’t it obvious?”

“Isn’t what obvious?”

“Out of all this…” I smile, holding out my hands. “Me. You get me.”

He runs his tongue over his lower lip, and his cheek twitches as he fights a smile. Amusement twinkles in his blue eyes, and he raises his brows in question. “You seem to think of yourself as quite the prize, Hattie.”

“I don’t think it. I know I am. I know my own worth, and you should be grateful that I’m sitting here offering to make you my husband.” I glance at my wristwatch and smooth down my blouse as I stand. “We both know who the queen would rather you marry,” I say, looking down and across at him. “And as I said, I’ll get what I want, with or without you, and I won’t be responsible if you get dragged down with them. So, think about it.”

I walk around the coffee table towards him and lean down, reaching into my back pocket. He gazes up at me, his brow slightly furrowed. His lips are pressed together and he’s studying me like I’m some kind of riddle, a puzzle to be pieced together.

“Here.” Bending down, I tuck my personal card into his shirt pocket and give his chest a gentle pat. “Contact me on this number when you’ve thought this through. I’ll give you a week before I assume you’re going to make the wrong decision.”

“A week?” He clasps my wrist before I can pull away, and he tugs me down towards him.

I lose my footing and grab the back of the sofa with my free hand before I topple onto his lap.

Not a bad place to sit, but all things considered, not a place I should be trapped right now.

“You’ll give me a week?” His voice has a tetchy edge to it, somewhere between a dark laugh and a dangerous threat. My pulse thunders against his fingertips on my inner wrist, and he tightens his hold just a fraction. “Well, aren’t you generous for someone whose ideal revenge plot starts with me?”

“I think so.” I curl my lips into a sardonic smile, holding his gaze, my face barely inches from him. “Because I’m going to reveal who I really am no matter what, so we can either do it quietly, or I can do it my way. In the most chaotic, disruptive way possible.”

“What are you going to do?” he asks in a low voice. “Barge into my birthday banquet in the middle of the engagement announcement holding onto your birth certificate?”

“Ah, I didn’t think of the birth certificate. Nice touch.” I flick my wrist out of his grip and step out of his reach. “Either way, I’ll die before I see you marry my sister.”

“Because I belong to you, right?”

“That’s right. You’re mine.” I smile, then grab my things and head for the door. “You know where to find me if you decide to make me yours, Your Royal Highness.”

CHAPTER TEN – FINN

“She’s got balls,” Oscar chuckles when I’m done recounting my conversation with Harriet.

“Big balls,” I agree. “God only know where she’s hiding them, because they definitely don’t fit in her bag.”

He laughs properly, leaning forwards and resting his elbows on his knees, steepling his fingers in front of his face. “So? What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to marry her.”

“You what?”

“I’m going to marry her,” I repeat.

He frowns. “Are you fucking mad? This woman just walked in here, claimed ownership of you and your crown, threatened to ruin you if you choose her adoptive sister over her, and you’re going to give her what she wants?”

I tilt my head to the side, pressing my lips together. “I wouldn’t say it was a threat. It was more of a warning.”

“Wow.”

“And, for what it’s worth, it was pretty fucking hot when she told me I belonged to her.”

“Great. She made your dick hard for thirty seconds, and now you’re going to marry her. I can’t believe you’re the next head of state in this country.”