Marshall stood up in the moving carriage, bracing his hands on the wall behind Sam, and closed his mouth over hers.

Sam arched her back and leaned up into him, looping her hands around his neck as she pulled him down toward her. An eager hunger flared in her core. Marshall’s hands slid lower, to cradle her spine—

“Ouch!”

The carriage had hit a bump, slamming his head into the ceiling.

“Are you okay?” Sam cried out.

He slid back onto the opposite bench, rubbing at his skull. “Guess I should’ve been warned by the hat cord,” he said, grimacing.

Sam’s heartbeat was still uneven, the echo of an adrenaline rush pounding through her veins. She tucked her mussed hair behind her ears. “You know, I always figured my ancestors got up to some scandalous behavior in this carriage, but now I’m not so sure.”

Marshall made a sound that was somewhere between a snort and a wince. “It’s too cramped for scandal. Your ancestors all sat here, staring longingly and broodingly at each other.” His expression softened, grew more serious. “Which, apparently, I’m about to do.”

She bit her lip, suddenly hesitant. “Marshall, are we…”

Afternoon light slanted in through the window, dappling half his face in shadow. “Sam, I’ve liked you for ages now. Probably since the day we met,” he told her.

“Then why did you keep telling me that Kelsey was texting you?”

“I was following your lead!” he exclaimed, exasperated. “After we kissed, you laughed and said that we put on a good show.”

“I only acted like that because you were looking at the crowd!” she protested. “I assumed you’d seen everyone watching, and that the reason you kissed me was because you wanted it to get back to Kelsey!”

Marshall leaned forward, taking her hand in his. Sam wondered if he could feel the leap of her pulse through her skin. “Trust me,” he told her. “I have only ever kissed you because I wanted to.”

“But last weekend in Orange—”

“I tried to avoid Kelsey. When she cornered me, though, I knew I had to dance with her for a song or two. Otherwise she would have made a scene,” he added, sounding darkly amused.

Sam was deaf to the slow rattle of the carriage wheels, the hum of voices outside; all she could hear was the ringing echo of Marshall’s words.

“So—you and I—we’re doing this for real?”

He grinned. “Sorry, did I skip ahead again? I have a tendency to do that. Hi, I’m Marshall Davis; would you like to go out with me? I’d give you my grizzly-bear pin to mark the occasion, but it’s at home.”

Sam laughed from sheer delight. “Yes,” she declared. “I will go out with you.”

And just like generations of her ancestors had probably done, she spent the rest of the drive stealing glances at her boyfriend, wishing this stupid carriage were a little more spacious.

Daphne’s bedroom looked out over the driveway, so she was always the first to know when they had visitors. Each time she heard a car pull up, she would dart a glance outside, hoping it was a paparazzo staking out their house—or, better yet, Jefferson. But when she lifted her curtain and saw the blue sports car, Daphne blinked.

Himari had come to see her.

Ever since the palace had announced the Marikos’ new position, Daphne had been half-hopeful, half-afraid that Himari would reach out. The royal wedding was next week, and everyone knew that Daphne was going as Jefferson’s date—Daphne had leaked it to Natasha herself, as a thank-you for her earlier help.

If Himari wanted to hurt Daphne, she would do it now, while Daphne was on top of the world.

She hurtled down the stairs. Whatever threat Himari had come to deliver, whatever fight she wanted to pick, Daphne couldn’t let her parents find out.

She made it to the front door just as her friend was about to ring the bell.

“Himari. What’s going on?” Daphne slipped outside, quickly pulling the door shut behind her.

Himari lifted an eyebrow. “You aren’t going to invite me in?”

“Not when I have no idea what you’re planning,” she said bluntly.

Himari shrugged and started toward the edge of the driveway. A cherry tree—one of a vast number in Herald Oaks, planted a hundred years ago in a burst of patriotism—spread its branches overhead, casting their faces in shade. A few stray blossoms had fallen onto the pavement around them.

“You might have seen last week’s announcement,” Himari began, alert for Daphne’s reaction. “Her Majesty appointed my parents as the new ambassadors to the Imperial Court at Kyoto.”

“Congratulations. They must be really excited.”

“We’re moving to Japan in two days.”

Himari turned to face her, arms crossed. “My parents are ecstatic, obviously. Everyone thought the appointment would go to Leanna Santos. I don’t know how we managed to get it instead.” She hesitated, her dark eyes locked on Daphne’s. “I keep thinking you had something to do with it, except it makes no sense. Your specialty is hurting me, not fulfilling my parents’ wildest dreams.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Daphne said stiffly. But her heart wasn’t in the lie, and Himari clearly saw through it.

“So it was you. Color me impressed.” Himari lifted her hands and brought them together, once, twice, in a sarcastic mockery of a slow clap. “Well played, Daphne. You must really hate me, to make the queen send me thousands of miles away. How did you convince her?”

“I don’t hate you, okay? I only did it because you kept threatening me! Because you were going to blow my cover and ruin my life!”

A hint of pain, or maybe regret, flickered behind the immutable mask of Himari’s expression. “I threatened you? What are you talking about?”

“That text you sent, that I was going to get what I deserved!” Daphne drew in a shaky breath. “I thought you were planning something awful, some kind of massive revenge scheme that would destroy me forever.”

“Of course you would think that.” Himari rolled her eyes. “I guess I should be grateful that you did something nice this time, instead of pushing me down a staircase!”

“I never pushed you!”

A sharp, uncertain silence succeeded her words. Daphne glanced around the street. She heard the low hum of a lawn mower from a few blocks away, but here everything was still.

“I never pushed you,” she repeated, more quietly this time. “I did put a sleeping pill in your drink—only because I hoped you would drop your guard and do something stupid. You were threatening to tell Jefferson about me and Ethan, and I wanted some kind of leverage over you, like what you had on me. I never thought you would actually get hurt.”

“I know,” Himari said quietly. With those words, all the fight seemed to drain from her.

“I’m sorry,” Daphne said again. “I wish I had just talked to you. But, Himari, I was terrified of what you might do. You wanted to date Jefferson so desperately—”

“It was never about the prince; it was about us!”

Daphne blinked in surprise. Himari pulled her hair over one shoulder, twirling the ends of it.

“Daphne, when I saw you with Ethan, I wasn’t thinking about Jeff at all. I was just…shocked that you could betray someone you claimed to love, without a shred of remorse.” Himari sighed. “After it happened, I kept waiting for you to break up with Jeff, but you clearly had no intention of telling him. And it made me realize—your relationship wasn’t sacred to you. Nothing at all is sacred to you. The only reason you get close to people is because you can use them as stepping-stones on your upward climb!”

A strange, brittle emotion carved through Daphne like a shard of ice. “That’s not true,” she whispered. “At least, not with you.”

Light filtered through the branches overhead, casting lacelike shadows over Himari’s face.

“I didn’t have many friends before you,” Himari said softly. At Daphne’s surprised look she clarified, “I was popular, sure, but only because of my parents’ title. You were the first girl I didn’t have to pretend to like.”

Daphne nodded; she’d felt the same.

“But once you and Jeff started dating, I immediately got bumped down to second place. You were suddenly too busy for me. And whenever we did hang out, it was still about Jeff—we were going to a palace event to see Jeff, or shopping for something you would wear with Jeff, or talking about Jeff.”

Daphne’s next words were a defensive reflex. “You didn’t act like you hated it. Parties at the palace, free designer clothes—”

“I can buy my own designer clothes!” Himari burst out. “I didn’t care about the perks that came with being in your entourage; I just wanted time with you. I missed my best friend.”

Daphne wrapped her arms around herself, feeling suddenly cold. “I always thought you were jealous.”