Page 82 of Reign

Daphne’s eyes darted from the tin of peppermint bark on the island to the crayon sketch on the refrigerator (had his mom kept it there since Ethan was in preschool?) to the blue tile backsplash. The space had such a cheerful, lived-in feeling, unlike the Deightons’ kitchen, which was all cold white marble and stainless steel.

Rei was already seated at the island, sipping a mug of tea. “Thanks for letting us meet here, Ethan. It’s better if my parents don’t know about my…activities.”

Ethan braced his palms on the countertop. “Did you find out who’s harassing us?”

“No, I still haven’t been able to break through that firewall. It’s a really intense one.” Rei’s gaze flicked to Daphne. “My news is that I hacked the Madisons, as you asked.”

Daphne made a strangled noise of relief, but Ethan rounded on her. “Seriously? I thought we decided against that!”

“Youdecided against it. I had to do something, okay? Gabriella was closing in on us.”

“It’s not safe to go poking at her. What if she fights back?”

“Look,” Rei cut in, “as much as I love being part of your lovers’ quarrels, I need to go. Do you want my intel or not?”

“Yes,”Daphne breathed. Ethan crossed his arms.

Rei pulled a manila folder from her tote bag and slid it across the counter. Somehow Daphne hadn’t expected an actual stack of documents.

As if guessing her thoughts, Rei added, “I never do this kind of thing digitally. Hard copies are much safer. Can’t be hacked.”

“Makes sense,” Daphne said, and turned to the first page.

It only took thirty seconds of scanning the column of numbers for Daphne to realize what was going on.

“The duke is embezzling?”

Rei nodded. “Siphoning off money from various government accounts, including his own charity initiative.”

“And this information was just…”

“Saved on his hard drive. Once I got into their home network, it was all there for the taking.” Rei sounded unmistakably smug.

The relief that flooded through Daphne was so acute, she felt almost dizzy. She didn’t have to call off the wedding after all. She would destroy Gabriella before Gabriella could return the favor.

When she’d asked Rei to hack the Madisons’ home network, she had hoped to find something on Gabriella, maybe embarrassing photos or incriminating emails—but it would be just as satisfying taking down the duke himself. Better, in some ways, because he was the one who’d started the feud between their families.

And any blow to their family’s social standing would be devastating to Gabriella, who lived on their status as if it were oxygen.

“Thank you. This is exactly what I needed,” Daphne said quietly.

“I know.” Rei went to rinse her mug in the sink with an ease that suggested she’d been there many times before. “See you two later,” she added, then let the door clatter shut behind her.

Daphne stared down at the papers. For weeks she had felt like she was navigating a tightrope, that any sudden or wrong move would send her tumbling to her downfall. And now, thanks to Rei, she’d found safe ground again. She couldbreatheagain.

She tugged her phone from her bag. Ethan watched as she pulled up this morning’s anonymous email and typed out a response:I know who you are, and I have some information about your family that you won’t want to go public. Let’s meet in person to discuss. Don’t no-show again.

“You sure about this?” Ethan murmured, but Daphne had already clicked Send.

“I can’t have her telling anyone about us! I need to put a stop to this blackmail now. I’m getting married inten days.”

Her last sentence echoed with ringing finality.

“Look, Daphne, I just want to make sure you’re okay,” Ethan persisted. “That you’re not having second thoughts…”

He waited for a long moment before adding, “About thisplan.”

That pause had been purposeful, hadn’t it? What Ethan meant to ask was whether she had second thoughts about the wedding.