Alex (Ghost Ops #6)

Prologue

Seven years ago…

Her life would always be composed of before and after.

Diana dragged in a choppy breath, and then another and another. It was a ridiculous thought to have at such a time, but a distant part of her imagined it was the only thing keeping her from screaming.

Before and after.

Before, when she’d been a twenty-four year old working on her master’s degree in international relations, a star student by all accounts, someone who was going places.

Oh, she’d have gone places anyway with a name like Adler. Her family was connected, powerful, a part of Washington DC political life no matter who was in office. Her cousin had married a prince. Her grandfather was a cabinet member.

So many powerful people. So much influence.

None of it had saved her.

She was in the after now, sprawled on the couch in his office, a burn between her legs where he’d shoved his way inside her body.

She forced down the tears, the utter disbelief this could happen to her.

Diana Standish Adler. Wealthy, connected, privileged.

Violated.

By the man calmly tucking his shirt into his pants. His back was to her, and she thought what if she launched herself at him? What if she wrapped her arms around his throat and squeezed as hard as she could?

She could call her father. Tell him what this man—this guest lecturer, this betrayer—had done. He would deal with it.

But of course he wouldn’t, that little voice whispered inside. The scandal, first of all.

Second, this man was someone who’d been to their house. He was liked, admired, applauded.

A supporter of humanitarian causes. A wealthy man who donated money to make things better in the world.

It was because of his ties to her family she’d thought him safe.

She’d accepted his invitation to dinner, to his suite afterward, because he was a great man who cared.

He’d been in town to give a speech at her university about supporting humanitarian causes.

He’d spoken of how he was forming his own organization so he could send teams of aid workers to disaster zones faster.

So his money would go farther and help more people.

Lives would be saved. Homes rebuilt. Families reunited.

She’d been proud of the connection she had to him. She’d sat in the front row, her chin held high, knowing that everyone was listening and admiring him. That she knew him personally—or thought she had, anyway.

She could go up to him after the speech, call him by name, thank him for taking the time.

She did those things, and he invited her to dinner at his hotel. To talk more about his new foundation and what kinds of things she could do as a student to help increase awareness and recruit others on campus to his cause.

“I have some materials in my suite you can use,” he’d said after the meal. “Would you care to come up and get them before you go?”

She’d accepted. Why wouldn’t she? It was a privilege he would consider her for such things. That he talked to her like she was an equal.

And now she lay on his couch, her skirt hiked up over her hips, her underwear torn and discarded, her body aching, her stomach rebelling. It had all been a lie.

He was a monster, not a savior.

He turned and gave her a cool look. “It’s been a lovely evening, Diana. I’m glad you came to hear me speak.”

She blinked. And then she scrambled to her feet, yanking her skirt down to cover her exposed body parts, buttoning her shirt without attempting to fasten her bra. Her panties were somewhere, but she didn’t care.

“I, um…”

“You are feeling surprised. I see this. Perhaps angry.” He reached out to touch her cheek and she jerked away. He laughed. “You should not be so beautiful. And you definitely shouldn’t go to a man’s room if you don’t mean to follow through on your promises.”

“I didn’t—”

“Ah, but you did. Looking at me with that hero worship in your eyes. Accompanying me here. If you had not wanted to fuck, why did you do it?”

She couldn’t find the words. Later, she would hate herself for the lack. In the moment, she was stunned and confused, wondering if it was her fault. If she’d given signals.

He put both hands on her shoulders. “If you think to tell anyone you did not spread your legs willingly, I will not hesitate to ruin you, my dear. You and your family. The Adlers are wealthy, but theirs is but a drop in the bucket compared to mine. Remember this, and remember that everyone saw you with me. They saw you speak to me, leave with me. And you were seen willingly entering this hotel, having dinner with me, getting into the elevator with me at your side. No one will believe you if you claim you were forced.”

“I didn’t want this,” she whispered.

He laughed. “I don’t believe you.”

He grabbed her coat from the back of the couch, tossed it at her. Diana shoved her arms into the sleeves and wrapped the coat tight, as if it were a layer of protection against him. She turned blindly for the door.

“Don’t forget the materials you came for.”

He handed her a folder. She should have thrown it in his face, but she hugged it tightly and fled. It was only when she’d emerged onto the icy sidewalk outside the hotel that she found the strength to drop the folder.

She stared at it lying on the frozen ground for a long moment, thinking of her life—before tonight and after.

It would be different now. Less hopeful. Less trusting.

Because her name hadn’t protected her. Her family’s wealth.

Nothing had. Nothing would.

The gold foil design on the front of the folder shone in the light, taunting her. There was a logo of a bear, and there was a name that would stay burned into her mind for the rest of her life.

A name that had stolen some vital piece of her soul.

His name.

The Dashevsky Group.