Page 5 of The Royal Art of Revenge

“Harriet Sinclair, are you threatening me?” Rosalyn shrieks, shoving her chair back with an almighty screech of the legs against the tiled floor.

“Yes,” I say simply, meeting her eyes with a glacial stare of my own. “And you’re right—I am Harriet Sinclair. If I were you, Mother, I wouldn’t forget it.”

CHAPTER TWO – HATTIE

“That’s it,” I say. “Now, just tilt your head up and to the right slightly.”

The brunette woman on the stool before me does as I instruct, and the movement flatters her profile.

“Pull your shoulders back. Yes, that’s perfect. Hold that.”

The ghost of a smile appears on her face, and I snap a few pictures from several different angles.

“There we go, all done.” I smile at her and move to my laptop to show her the pictures. “Serena Christiansen, number one-eight-three-seven, right?”

“Yes, that’s correct,” she replies in a gentle, lilting voice as she leans over to peek at her headshots. “They look great.”

“Perfect. You should have a copy of the final, edited photos to select your new photo from in around a week or two.” I hand her back the little card with her information on. “Your name and number will be your login when they’re ready to view on the website, so keep this safe.”

“I will do, thank you.” She beams at me before bidding me goodbye and leaving with a little pep in her step.

Well, isn’t she just a little ball of sunshine?

I have to be honest, taking headshots for working adults beats school photos any day of the week.

Luckily for me, that’s how I’m spending the rest of the day. Photographing grown adults for a company-wide system renewal, not kids with sticky fingers and missing teeth.

All right, I admit it.

The gap-toothed ones are cute.

There’s just something about the way they smile that really tickles me.

The rest of my afternoon flies by all too quickly. The headshots go smoothly—although there’s always an awkward one in every bunch—and I see person after person, take photo after photo, and by the time I’m done, I’m unsure if my hand will ever uncurl from its slightly clawed position.

“Thank you for your hard work all day today, Miss Porter,” Rafayel, the CEO, says to me, holding out a small brown envelope. “This should be the note for the rest of your agreed-upon payment. I had it sent over earlier for you.”

“Thank you.” I take it from him and quickly look at the receipt inside and, with a nod, tuck it into my bag. I don’t need to confirm with my bank. I know Raf would never screw me over. “It was a pleasure, Mr. Rayner. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you need anything else.”

He holds his hand out. “Of course. Are you heading home for the day now?”

I shake it and smile at the way his formality drops as soon as we’re alone. “Yeah, I’m all done.”

“Do you have any plans for this evening, or would you finally consider joining me for dinner?” His lips curl up, a spark of hope igniting in his eyes as we head towards the front doors.

Well, I can’t say I haven’t seen this coming... again. The man’s been flirting with me since we first met, and that was seven years ago.

He also knows damn well that I’m not in the market for a man, this brat.

I already have one, after all.

The man in question just doesn’t know it yet.

“As always, I’m very flattered, but I’m still spoken for.” I hold up my left hand and point to the dainty silver band on my ring finger.

Raf bobs his head ruefully, then chuckles. “You know, Harriet, unless you show this mystery man to me, I’m going to start thinking you just wear that ring in the hopes I’ll finally give up on you.”

I laugh, shaking my head. “Soon. I promise. It’s a complicated situation.”