Chapter 2

The twenty-four hours Hardin had given her to vacate the penthouse had evaporated in a blur of sheer panic. Stripped of her credit cards, her phone, and her dignity, Alaina had wandered the freezing Manhattan streets until she finally tracked down the emergency address her mother had texted her from a burner phone. Every step away from the Upper East Side had felt like a descent into an alien, terrifying world. The dead silence of her old life was violently replaced by the stench of cheap alcohol as Alaina pushed open the door to the cramped rental apartment.

The smell made her stomach churn.

Her father, Arthur Gay, sat slumped on a stained fabric sofa. His hands shook as he held a crumpled letter from the IRS.

"If I do not get a bridge loan by next week, Alaina," Arthur croaked, his voice raw. "I am going to federal prison."

The bedroom door flew open. Her mother, Eleanor, rushed out and grabbed Alaina's arms.

Eleanor's nails dug painfully into Alaina's skin. She shook her daughter violently.

"You have to go to Hardin! He is the only one on Wall Street with fifty million dollars in liquid cash!"

Alaina tried to pull away. The mere thought of standing before Hardin again sent a violent, icy shudder down her spine. He was no longer the quiet boy in the basement; he was a ruthless, predatory titan of Wall Street who had systematically annihilated her family's century-old legacy without breaking a sweat. To go to him now was to walk willingly into the jaws of a beast that wanted her completely destroyed. "I cannot. I signed the divorce papers yesterday. He left me with nothing. He hates us, Mom. He will only humiliate me more."

Arthur suddenly reached under the sofa cushion. He pulled out a heavy silver revolver and slammed it onto the coffee table.

"Then I will blow my brains out right now!" Arthur screamed, spit flying from his lips. "I will not die in a federal cell!"

Alaina's face drained of all color. Her lungs stopped working.

She lunged forward and snatched the heavy, cold metal gun off the table, her hands shaking uncontrollably.

Eleanor snatched a black garment bag from the chair and unzipped it. She pulled out a black, backless silk evening gown with a plunging neckline.

She threw the dress onto the small dining table.

"Put it on," Eleanor commanded. Her eyes were wide and frantic. "Use whatever you have left to make him give us that money."

Alaina stared at the thin, provocative fabric. A wave of nauseating shame washed over her.

She looked at her father, who was crying into his hands.

Alaina grabbed the dress. She walked into the tiny, moldy bathroom and locked the door.

Three hours later, Alaina stood in the massive, glass-walled lobby of Dyer Capital on Wall Street.

The air conditioning was freezing. The thin silk of her dress offered no warmth, and she shivered constantly.

Men and women in sharp business suits walked past her, their eyes raking over her exposed skin with obvious disgust.

"You cannot go up without an appointment," the blonde receptionist said, her tone dripping with fake pity. "You are no longer Mrs. Dyer."

Alaina swallowed the massive lump in her throat. "I will wait."

She stood in the waiting area for three solid hours. The straps of her high heels dug into her ankles, rubbing the skin raw until warm blood trickled down her heels.

Finally, the private elevator chimed. Damon Doyle, Hardin's executive assistant, stepped out.

He looked at her bleeding feet with zero emotion. "Follow me."

Alaina limped into the elevator. When the doors opened on the top floor, the massive Manhattan skyline blinded her for a second.

She walked into the corner office. Hardin was standing with his back to her, looking out the window with a phone pressed to his ear.

He hung up and turned around.

His dark eyes instantly locked onto the deep plunge of her neckline and the exposed skin of her shoulders.

A dark, heavy emotion flashed in his eyes, but it vanished in a millisecond, replaced by a thick layer of ice.

Alaina forced her bleeding feet to move forward. "I need a bridge loan. Fifty million dollars. To save my father."

Hardin walked over to the black leather sofa. He sat down, crossed his long legs, and pointed at the floor in front of him.

"Come closer."

Every step felt like walking on broken glass. Alaina stopped exactly three feet away from his knees.

Hardin leaned forward. His eyes slowly dragged up and down her body.

"Your mother dressed you up like a high-end escort," he sneered. "Did she think this would work?"

Alaina's face turned paper-white. She dug her nails into her palms until the skin broke. She wanted to turn and run, but the image of the gun on the coffee table kept her glued to the floor.

"Please," she whispered, stripping away the last piece of her pride. "Look at the past three years. Just help my family."

Hardin let out a dry, humorless laugh.

He reached into the drawer of the glass table and pulled out a thick stack of papers.

He slid the file across the table until it stopped right at the edge.

"Here is the price for your fifty million."