The elevator doors slid shut behind her, and Isabella finally allowed herself to breathe.
Her heart was a storm—rapid, unforgiving. She hated that Natalie had gotten under her skin. Hated more that Alexander had let her.
As her car pulled into the street, she stared out at the glittering city, her reflection fractured in the tinted window.
She had come too far to be reduced to a scandal.
The game had changed.
And she needed to play smarter.
Back at her apartment, Isabella stripped out of the crimson dress like it was battle armor. She stood in front of the mirror, bare-faced, bare-shouldered, and asked herself the question she never wanted to face.
Had she let her heart get involved?
Her phone buzzed.
Alexander Knight.
One message.
You deserve an explanation. Please meet me tomorrow. My office. 10 a.m.
She stared at the message. Then deleted it.
No. Not yet.
He wanted to keep secrets? She had her own.
The next morning, she walked into Harper & Co. with a smile like a blade and heels that echoed confidence. Her assistant greeted her with a worried glance.
"There's a man in your office. Said he wouldn't leave without seeing you."
Her heart skipped. "Alexander?"
"No," Dana said. "He said his name is Jace Rowe."
Isabella froze.
Jace.
She hadn't heard that name in years.
Stepping into her office, she found him by the window. Tall, lean, charming as ever—Jace was the kind of man who made you smile and regret it five seconds later.
"Still wearing heels that kill, I see," he said without turning.
"What do you want, Jace?"
He turned, grin lazy. "To remind you who you were before you got tangled in billionaire boardroom politics."
Isabella crossed her arms. "You flew across the country for nostalgia?"
"No," he said, stepping closer. "I came because I know who Alexander Knight really is. And I know what he's hiding."
She blinked. "You expect me to believe that?"
Jace pulled out a flash drive. "You don't have to believe me. Just see it for yourself."
She stared at the tiny piece of plastic like it was a ticking bomb.
"What's on it?" she asked quietly.
Jace smiled.
"Everything you need to destroy him."