Page 62 of The Royal Art of Revenge

“What’s that look for?” I ask, pulling it closer to me.

“You’re not still looking into it, are you? You both said you’d stopped. It’s dangerous, Harriet.”

“Something came up,” I say vaguely, opening the folder. Like my marriage. “Ryan said he had some information, so I asked him to share it, that’s all.”

“Fucking hell.” He runs his hand through his hair. “If you get found out—”

“Relax. We cover our tracks for stuff like this. Besides, he’s practically the face of your father’s company now, so they can’t hurt him.”

“And what about you? You’re living under a fake name, for God’s sake. Nobody would care if Hannah Porter went missing again.”

I smile.

“What’s that smile for?” He freezes, clutching his pen tightly. “What are you planning?”

“Nothing.” I drop the smile and turn to the piece of paper inside the folder. A bit dramatic for one sheet of paper, but we’re in his office. If anyone were to walk in, they’d just think I was looking over something business-related.

“Harriet…”

“Oh, you’re such a worrywart,” I tell him, but my heart isn’t in any scolding. I know he’s only looking out for us. “I can’t tell you right now. Just know that everything will make sense later this month.”

He stares at me, then shakes his head and swaps his pen for his coffee. “As long as you won’t get hurt.”

“I won’t. I promise.” I scan the piece of paper. “Huh. How about that? We really do have information this time.”

Rafayel swipes it from my hand and looks at it. “Is this connecting the kidnappers to Askurg’s upper class?”

“Interesting, isn’t it?” I smirk and prop my chin up in my hand. “That’s why we gave up to begin with. We had nothing. Their tracks were so covered, and we didn’t have the resources to dig deeper then. This is nothing more than a flimsy link, but it’s better than no link at all.”

“It’s impressive they managed to hide it at all, given you weren’t the only high-profile child who disappeared from St Peters in the same two-year period.”

“Well, not all those disappearances were connected. Even now, not everyone has come home.” I glance down at a knot in the pattern of the wooden table and briefly trace it with my eyes.

I’m lucky.

Ryan is lucky.

The few other children Sayana took a liking to were also lucky.

That doesn’t mean I’ll ever forget how many children passed through her house while we hid in her basement.

I will never get over how many children never got a chance to return home.

“What are you going to do now?” he asks, pulling me out of my rapidly darkening thoughts.

“I’m not quite sure,” I say honestly, taking the piece of paper back. “It’s not something I can look into on my own, and truthfully, I don’t have the time right now. It might have to wait for a few weeks.”

Rafayel raises his eyebrows. “What, are you securing your future or something?”

I grin. “Something like that.”

“Harriet…”

“I told you; I can’t tell you. If I could, I would. Chances are that it’ll probably even help me figure this out.” I slide the sheet back into the folder. “There’s no trace of this, is there?”

“No. He sent it securely, and I’ve already wiped every trace of it.” He stares at the folder for a second. “You are safe, aren’t you?”

“I am. I promise.” For now.