CHAPTER ELEVEN – HATTIE #2
The distinct sound of the door opening makes me pause the show I’ve been watching and turn my head to look back at the entryway. There’s another clunking noise and a groan, followed by the kind of language that is most certainly not routinely heard from royalty.
“Ooh, do your people know you swear like that, Your Royal Highness?”
Crown Prince Finley finally appears in the main living area, lugging a leather overnight bag with him.
He unceremoniously dumps it on the floor by the kitchen and meets my gaze.
His eyes are duller than the last time I saw him, and he looks nothing short of absolutely exhausted as he runs his fingers through his dark hair.
“No, but I’m sure they will when you’re done regaling them with tales of our steamy, sordid night together,” he replies dryly. “You are still selling that story, aren’t you?”
“That depends on what you’re here to say to me.” I fight back a smile.
“I’m half-surprised that you’re still here.” He kicks off his shoes, hangs up his jacket, and walks into the kitchen. “I thought you might have gotten fed up with waiting for me.”
“Hm? No. I’ve been waiting a week for your answer. A few extra hours is nothing, especially in this fancy room. Besides,” I say, checking my phone screen. “It’s not midnight yet.”
He checks his watch while pouring a drink with the other hand. “Made it with an hour to spare. Impressive.”
“Yet not as impressive as the ‘couple more hours’ you claimed.”
“Yes, well, I was plotting and scheming with my mother.” He looks back over at me and holds up the whiskey bottle. “Drink?”
I reach for my wine glass and hold it up. “I ordered the most expensive bottle on the list.”
“Is it worth the price?” He raises his eyebrows, lifting his glass to his lip and sipping.
“Not really.” I shrug and put the glass back down. “I just wanted to make sure you paid for my time.”
His lips pull up on one side into a smirk that makes my heart skip a little.
Oh.
That’s unwelcome.
“Don’t worry,” he says, leaning on the countertop, never taking his eyes from me. “I’m not here to waste your time, Hattie.”
“Even if you choose my sister over me, it’s not a waste of time.
I get a free night in the fanciest suite I’ve ever set foot in and a rich sugar daddy is paying for all the food and drink I’ve consumed.
Doesn’t sound too bad to me.” I pause, resting my elbow on the back of the sofa, and set my chin in my hand with a smile.
“I’ve also been plotting and scheming, so it sounds like we’ve both had a productive evening. ”
“Ah, yes. Your plan to set your family on fire. How’s that coming along?”
“Hit a snag. See, I asked this guy I know to marry me, but he hasn’t given me an answer yet. I need to know if I’m going with plan A or plan B, and I can’t decide until he tells me.”
“What’s the difference?”
“I get a rich, powerful husband in plan A. In plan B, I don’t, but I get to ruin his life as compensation.”
He stares at me for a moment before a rumble of laughter bursts out of him. The deep sound fills the room, almost reverberating off the walls where it tickles against my skin and sends goosebumps up and down my bare legs.
“Do you want to know what I’ve been up to this evening?” He’s still laughing as he speaks.
“Figuring out how to solve world hunger? Maybe the homeless crisis in Orville? How to turn water into wine?”
“The homelessness thing was this morning. Not really made much progress on the world hunger issue, but don’t worry; I’ve got a team on the water to wine situation,” he answers, his bright blue eyes glittering with his now quiet laughter.
“I’ve been figuring out how to deal with the Sinclair family. ”
“Aw, look at that. We even have the same hobbies.”
He pauses with his glass raised to his lips, but I can see his smile, as warped as it is through the crystalline pattern. “Why do you want to marry me, Harriet?”
“I told you this last week. This agreement was always mine, and being the Crown Princess would offer me protection if I fuck something up when tearing my family’s life apart.
You have power and resources I can’t access unless I’m your wife.
” I shrug. “I’m sorry if you were expecting me to say I’m madly in love with you or anything like that, but I won’t lie.
The first step to ruining their lives is taking the one thing Jasmine wants more than anything, and unfortunately for you, that is you. ”
“What if I told you I could cancel the agreement with the Sinclairs and not marry Jasmine? Would you still want to marry me?”
I pause. I’ve never considered that. “Under what circumstances could you cancel it?”
“You,” he says simply. “I don’t want to marry her, and you are the get out of jail card I’ve been looking for.
As I told you at the palace, my parents and I will do everything we can to make sure everything in your life is righted.
We can hire legal counsel to void that agreement you signed with your father and get you full, unrestricted access to your trust fund, including removing him as trustee and installing an impartial third party.
We can even help you move and get a new identity somewhere else if that’s what you want.
With that all considered, their deceit in keeping your return quiet would be enough to show them untrustworthy. ”
Huh.
How about that?
“And, if you decline the childhood marriage arrangements, the deal itself would be considered settled,” he continues. “That’s it. In the eyes of the Royal Family, the agreement was always for a marriage between the crown prince and Harriet Sinclair. If you refuse…” He shrugs. “It’s over.”
“It’s over? So, all I have to do is stand up, say I refuse to marry you, accept your offer of help to rebuild my life, and then none of it matters? I can leave and do whatever I want?”
“Pretty much, yes.”
“Then, no.”
“No, what?”
“No. My request that you marry me still stands.” I lower my hand, sitting up straighter. “I’m not changing my mind.”