e office, watching the storm lash against the glass. The lights of Los

h Alaina had ended

ll holding

ugh her tablet. She had followed him back from Eclipse, claiming she wanted late-n

g," she said wit

trateg

a look that was far too perceptive for someone her age. "You'

tightened. "S

y spoke to her before tonight." Jasmine's sm

wenty-two, a decade younger than him, but she had inherited the Rho

said finally, as if th

, until tonight." Jasmine studied him with open cur

did h

a Spencer at a family function three years ago. She had been nineteen then, a sophomore a

ian had

. The way she flinched when Cori spoke to her. The way she held

elligence that flashed in her eyes when she thought no o

n watching

g herself on people who do

rick Harmon's ward from under his nose will humiliate him in front of

old. "I didn't say I

roken merger. A stolen patent. A divorce that had ended in scandal and litigation. Th

he business world. This engagement to Ashley Vance-the daughter of a medi

Alai

he game. She was the queen Der

d, moving to his desk. "She'll be

r everything tonight?" She let out a low whistle. "M

plete with academic records, research publications, and photographs. He'd had it compiled two years ago. He updated

her expression turning serious. "Julian. I'm going

ooke

nst Derrick?" she asked qui

ilent for a

and discarded when they were no longer useful. His father, Julian Rhodes III, had taught him that

ted to question that d

e one or the other

her head with a soft laugh. "You know, for a geniu

s phone buzzed. A new email

pene

*Footage from Harmon

video file. Jul

ick's foyer, soaked to the bone, clutching a paper bag. Ashley Vance descending the stai

atched i

e server, filed it under a folder labeled

that?" Jas

uran

rld, information was the most valuable currency o

out there, Alaina Spencer was sitting in her small apartment, wearing his jack

e was escaping

walking straight into

Vance's secrets were numerous, and Julian had documentation on every single one. The Harmon empire would

aked glass, Julian felt something unexpected. Somet

il

who claimed to care about her. And now, she was about to trust a

* he told himself.

hought it, he kn

t the path he was setting her on would put her directly in t

discovered the full extent of his m

People had hated Julian Rhodes IV before

Alaina's hatred felt like

e and typed a message

everything. Where she goes. Who she talks to. If she so mu

ials. I want to know who she owes money to. Everyone she

instantly. **Un

s phone and turned

her to him for the next five years. In seventy-two hours, the engagement between Derrick Harmon and Ashley Vance would be i

Al

would

he knew i

he wanted

years. He could wa

ot fo

raged on, and Julia

as finally