MY BILLIONAIRE EX THREW $30 AT ME WHEN I WAS PREGNANT AND SAID: "TAKE IT AND DISAPPEAR!" 10 YEARS LATER, I SAW HIM ON TV TELLING MILLIONS: "MY GREATEST REGRET IS THAT I NEVER HAD CHILDREN." I LOOKED AT THE 10-YEAR-OLD TWINS SLEEPING BESIDE ME—BOTH CARRYING HIS UNMISTAKABLE FACE—AND LAUGHED. THEN I TEXTED MY LAWYER: "GET THE INVITATIONS READY. WE'RE ATTENDING HIS COMPANY GALA."

"Marcus isn't on this island, Katherine," I said, a cold, triumphant smile spreading across my face. "He’s currently on a satellite terminal five miles off the coast, connected directly to your island's localized network through the device Ethan dropped in your security intake pipe twenty minutes ago."

Katherine looked at the main monitor in horror.

Lines of glowing green code were rapidly wiping away her master files. Financial databases, off-shore account records, political blackmails, and syndicate identities were being broadcast live to Interpol, the FBI, and the European Union Financial Crime Task Force.

"DECRYPTION COMPLETE. ASSETS FROZEN GLOBAL-WIDE," the automated computer voice announced across the loudspeakers.

"You ruined us!" Katherine screamed, her composure entirely shattering as she gestured wildly to her mercenaries. "Kill them! Kill them both!"

Before the guards could pull their triggers, Ethan moved like lightning. He tackled the head guard, disarming him in a single fluid motion and throwing a smoke grenade into the center of the room.

The chamber erupted into gunfire, flashing muzzle flares, and thick grey smoke. Ethan dragged me behind a heavy steel server rack, shielding my body with his own as bullets ricocheted off the metal plating.