Chapter 3

The morning after Adrian King's announcement, Scarlett woke to the sound of her phone exploding.

Not literally. But the notifications were relentless. Texts from board members. Emails from investors. Calls from journalists who had somehow gotten wind of the acquisition offer before she had managed to contain it.

She sat in her kitchen, wearing a silk robe the color of cream, her hair still tangled from sleep, and read the messages with a growing sense of dread.

Richard Sunad, board member: We need to discuss the offer. Twenty million is above market value.

Maya: Three investors called me this morning. They're nervous. They want a meeting.

Unknown number: Your empire is built on sand, Scarlett. Adrian King is just the wind.

Scarlett deleted the last one. She poured coffee into a mug with hands that only shook slightly, and she made a list.

She was good at lists. Lists were control. Lists were order. Lists were the difference between chaos and survival.

One: Call every board member individually. Secure their loyalty.

Two: Issue a press release rejecting the offer.

Three: Find out who leaked the story to the press.

Four: Destroy Adrian King before he destroyed her.

She was on item three when her phone rang. It was Maya.

"You need to turn on the news."

"Which channel?"

"All of them."

Scarlett grabbed the remote. The flatscreen mounted on her kitchen wall flickered to life, and she felt her stomach drop.

Every business news channel was running the same story.

KING INDUSTRIES TARGETS HAYES COLLECTIVE: HOSTILE TAKEOVER LOOMS.

Beneath the headline, a photo of Adrian King leaving her building the night before, his hand still raised from where he had touched her cheek. The angle made it look like she had leaned into him. Like she had welcomed him. Like they were lovers, not enemies.

"Scarlett?" Maya's voice was tinny through the phone. "Are you there?"

"I'm here."

"The European investors are pulling out. They say the instability makes the expansion too risky. We're going to lose the Milan deal. And the Berlin office lease. And possibly the London contract."

Scarlett closed her eyes. She counted to ten. Then she opened them and looked at the screen, at Adrian King's face, at the smile that had haunted her dreams for five years.

"He did this," she said quietly. "He leaked it. He wanted the press to panic. He wanted the investors to flee."

"What do we do?"

"We fight." Scarlett stood. The silk robe fell open slightly, revealing the curve of her breast, the line of her hip, but she didn't care. She was alone. She was angry. And she was done being polite. "Call the board. Emergency meeting. Today. No excuses. And Maya?"

"Yes?"

"Find out everything there is to know about Adrian King. Not the public profile. The real man. Where he came from. Who he trusts. What he fears. I want to know what keeps him awake at night."

"That's going to take time."

"Then start now."

She hung up. She walked to the window of her apartment, forty floors above the city, and looked out at the skyline that had once felt like victory.

Adrian King was out there somewhere. Planning. Watching. Waiting for her to crumble.

She would not crumble.

She would ruin him first.