Page 76 of The Royal Art of Revenge

I long for it.

Every dark, damaged, deranged piece of her.

“Let’s go,” she says. “I’ve got what I need.”

She walks past me without breaking her stride, and Alec briefly meets my gaze before nodding towards Preston.

“Handle this,” he orders. “Let me know when you’ve cleaned up. At least one of these fuckers must have a warrant out for him. You know the deal.”

“Yes, boss,” Preston replies. He hesitates, glancing after Hattie who’s already disappeared. “She’s, uh… She’s quite something, Your Royal Highness.”

“That’s one way of putting it,” I say dryly. “It goes without saying, but what happened here, stays here.”

He nods, then leaves his head in bowed position before turning around and ushering the other guys in the shadows to work.

“Let’s go,” Alec says. “Before she pulls that fucking blade on us, too. Where’d she even hide that thing?”

“No idea,” I mutter, following him out into the passageway.

Where, indeed?

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN – HATTIE

“Took you long enough,” I say when Finn and Alec join me and Marina in one of Alec’s opulent reception rooms.

Alec eyes me as he drops onto the sofa opposite me. “I was just telling him that I’ve changed my mind about convincing you to marry me.”

“Oh?” I raise my eyebrows. “Did I scare you off?”

“No, but I’ve got enough enemies without worrying if my wife will pull a blade on me out of nowhere, so I’ll leave you to your sorry fate with him.” He nods towards Finn. “Where did you hide it?”

Finn sits next to me, and I whip it out from my sleeve, drawing the blade with a ‘click.’ He jumps and lets out a, “Jesus Christ,” and I smirk at him.

“Sorry,” I say. “Just a little party trick.”

“Most people juggle,” Finn mutters.

Alec gazes at me with something between awe and wariness. “Where’d you learn that?”

“Like I said…” I withdraw the blade and tuck it back up into my sleeve. “Some little girls are raised on blades and bastards. Let’s leave it at that, shall we?”

Finn runs his hand through his hair. “What did you say to that guy at the end?”

I pause. “I asked him to say hi to Jasmine Sinclair for me.”

“And that scared him?”

“Of course, it did. If he truly didn’t know who’d hired them, it wouldn’t make a difference if I said it or not,” I explain. “But I had a hunch, and he confirmed it. He knew it was Jasmine.”

“Why?” Alec asks. “As far as she’s concerned, she’s still marrying Finn. Why would she hire people to harm you?”

“Because my sister is an idiot,” I say dryly. “She’s been told a thousand times to just sit tight, behave, and let things play out, but she can’t help herself. My presence is a threat to everything she thinks she possesses. She’s just unfortunate that she’s not as smart as she thinks she is.”

“To actually do you harm, though…” Alec shakes his head.

“I get it,” Finn says, running his hand through his hair. “You said yourself that Harriet is the legitimate daughter while she’s just adopted. We know how vindictive Jasmine can be. We’ve seen how she’s manipulated people around her before to hurt others.”

Adopted?