Emily Parker had imagined killing Alexander Black a hundred different ways.

A bullet to the chest.

Poison in his whiskey.

A knife between his ribs while he slept.

She had spent five years thinking about it.

Five years remembering her father's blood on the marble floor.

Her mother's scream.

Her little brother's body being carried out of their house.

Five years knowing exactly who had destroyed her family.

Alexander Black.

The man everyone called untouchable.

The man who owned half the city.

The man who had walked away from her family's murder without spending a single night in prison.

Tonight, Emily was finally going to get close enough to him.

She stood in front of the mirror inside the small hotel room, staring at the woman looking back at her.

She barely recognized herself.

Her long brown hair was pinned into a neat bun. Her makeup was simple. Her black dress was expensive enough to make people think she belonged in Alexander Black's world.

That was the point.

She wasn't Emily Parker tonight.

Emily Parker was dead.

At least, that was what everyone believed.

She picked up the new identification card lying on the table.

Emma Hayes.

Twenty-six.

Marketing consultant.

No criminal record.

No family.

No history worth investigating.

A perfect lie.

Emily slipped the card into her purse and stared at herself one last time.

“Don't mess this up.”

Her voice sounded steadier than she felt.

She grabbed her coat and left.

---

Black Enterprises was brighter than she'd expected.

The building stood in the middle of downtown like it owned the entire city.

Maybe it practically did.

Emily stepped through the revolving doors, trying not to look impressed.

She had spent weeks studying Alexander's schedule.

Tonight, he was hosting a private charity event on the thirty-second floor.

Important people would be there.

Politicians.

Businessmen.

Socialites.

And Alexander Black.

She showed her invitation to security and walked inside.

Her heart started beating faster.

Not because she was scared.

Because she was finally close.

The elevator doors opened.

Music drifted toward her as she entered the ballroom.

Crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling. Waiters moved between guests carrying champagne. Everyone looked beautiful, rich, and completely unaware that the woman standing among them had come with one purpose.

Revenge.

Emily took a glass from a passing waiter.

She didn't drink it.

She didn't trust anything in this building.

Then she saw him.

Alexander Black.

Across the room.

He wasn't smiling.

He stood beside a group of businessmen in a perfectly fitted black suit, one hand in his pocket, the other holding a glass of whiskey.

He looked exactly like the photographs.

No.

Photographs didn't do him justice.

He was taller than she'd expected, with dark hair, sharp features, and eyes that seemed to notice everything.

Emily hated him immediately.

Or at least, she told herself she did.

Alexander turned his head.

Their eyes met.

For one strange second, the entire room disappeared.

Emily's fingers tightened around her glass.

Don't look away.

She had practiced this.

She smiled.

Alexander's expression barely changed.

Then one of the men beside him said something, and Alexander looked away.

Emily breathed again.

That was too close.

She forced herself to relax.

She hadn't come here to stare at him.

She had come to destroy him.

---

An hour later, she was standing near the balcony when someone approached her.

“Emma Hayes?”

Emily turned.

A woman in a silver dress smiled at her.

“Yes.”

“You're the marketing consultant, right?”

Emily nodded.

“I've heard about you.”

Emily smiled politely.

“Hopefully nothing bad.”

The woman laughed.

“Quite the opposite. Alexander was impressed with your proposal.”

Emily's stomach dropped.

Alexander.

“He wants to meet you.”

Emily looked across the room.

Alexander was already watching them.

Her first thought was simple.

Perfect.

Her second was much less calm.

Damn it.

She followed the woman across the room.

Alexander waited until she was standing in front of him before speaking.

“Emma Hayes.”

His voice was deeper than she expected.

“Mr. Black.”

“Alexander.”

Emily smiled.

“Alexander.”

His eyes stayed on hers.

“Your proposal was interesting.”

“Interesting?”

“That's usually what I say when I'm not sure whether something is brilliant or ridiculous.”

She almost laughed.

Almost.

Instead, she said, “Which one am I?”

“I haven't decided.”

There was something annoyingly calm about him.

Emily had imagined him as a monster.

But monsters weren't supposed to have warm eyes.

They weren't supposed to look at you like they were actually interested in what you had to say.

She reminded herself who he was.

“You should decide quickly,” she said.

One corner of his mouth lifted.

“I like confidence.”

“I've been told it's one of my worst qualities.”

“I doubt that.”

His eyes moved briefly over her face.

Then back to her eyes.

Emily felt something she absolutely didn't want to feel.

Attraction.

She hated it.

She hated herself for it.

Because this man had destroyed her family.

And yet, standing this close to him, her body didn't care about revenge.

Her heart didn't care about five years of hatred.

That scared her more than anything.

Alexander leaned slightly closer.

“Have dinner with me tomorrow.”

Emily froze.

She hadn't expected that.

She had expected a business meeting.

An opportunity to get closer.

But not this.

“Why?”

“Because I want to know more about you.”

She swallowed.

That was dangerous.

Very dangerous.

But getting close to him was exactly what she needed.

So she smiled.

“Tomorrow, then.”

Alexander held her gaze for another second.

“Good.”

He walked away.

Emily watched him disappear into the crowd.

Her smile vanished.

She reached into her purse and touched the small photograph hidden inside.

Her family.

Her father.

Her mother.

Her brother.

She closed her eyes.

“This is for you.”

Her voice was barely a whisper.

“I'll make him pay.”

But somewhere beneath the anger, another thought had already begun to form.

A thought she refused to acknowledge.

What if Alexander Black wasn't the man she thought he was?

Emily immediately pushed it away.

No.

There was no room for doubt.

She had come into his life under a false identity.

She would make him trust her.

She would make him love her.

And when the time came, she would put a bullet through his heart.

That was the plan.

A perfect plan.

At least...

that's what she believed.