Sloane’s jaw almost dropped. He caught himself just in time. “My wife? You don’t even know her.”
“Oh, but I do.” Zena came farther into the office, her movements as seductive as a cat, as she came to stand just a few feet away from Sloane. “Everybody knows Melanie Parker of Parker Broadcasting, heiress to a billion-dollar empire.”
Sloane looked at her askance. “And what’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means, my dear sweet Sloane, that I have you by the you know what.” She was even closer now, so close that Sloane could see a fleck of gold in her eyes. “You hurt me. You walked out on me when I needed you most, and I never forgot that.”
“I walked out on you?” Sloane stared back at her, incredulous. “You were the one who defiled our relationship by cheating.” The woman was obviously deranged, living in a totally warped reality.
“You could have forgiven me,” she said, her voice rising with her anger. “I was searching, trying to find myself. That was all it was. He meant nothing to me, but you did.”
“Yeah, right.” He regarded her with disgust. “Not even a fool without a brain would believe that.”
“Well, it’s true.” Her nostrils flared and her chest rose and fell with her agitated breathing. “I had to talk to you, to explain, but you refused all my calls. You even had me thrown out of your office building. Well, after that, I was left with no other option but to hate you. It was either that or go mad.”
Sloane stared at her in disbelief. “You left and went to Europe, Zena. You started a new life, a damn successful one at that. Are you telling me that you’ve held on to your hatred of me all these years?”
“Yes,” she spat, “and all these years I’ve wanted to find a way to get my revenge. Touching you would be too easy. Now you have someone in your life who you loved enough to marry. She’s my target.”
At her words a flash of panic went through him but, just as fast, it turned to anger. Fingers itching to reach out and grab her, he clenched his hands at his sides. “You are literally mad,” he said through gritted teeth. “You’ve been bearing a grudge for ten years for something you did, not me. I asked you to marry me, you fool.”
“Yes, and then you dumped me.”
“For good reason.”
“For something we could have worked out.”
Sloane raised his eyebrows at that and then he shook his head. He’d been one hundred percent right. The woman was off her rocker. How could she have stayed silent all these years, living a grand life as a movie star in Europe, and then, as soon as he got married…
And then it dawned on him. That was what had triggered this. She must have seen the announcement of the engagement and then the photos of the wedding. The paparazzi were everywhere. The tabloids had had a field day with both stories. He wasn’t surprised at all that she’d found out.
The media attention on him must have brought the old grudge to the fore and so she’d come back to torture him. And he wasn’t going to believe that cock-and-bull story about shooting a scene in Montreal. Too much of a coincidence. No, she’d orchestrated the whole thing so that she could come back and create havoc in his life.
“If you so much as harm one hair on-”
“Too late, honey,” Zena smirked. “The deed is already done.”
“What the hell’s that supposed to mean?” Sloane’s hands shot out. He grasped Zena by the upper arms and dragged her to within inches of his face. He wasn’t in the habit of manhandling women but this was not the time for self control. “What have you done to Melanie?”
Zena did not seem the least bit perturbed. In fact, she curved toward him, almost touching him, coming a whole lot closer than he wanted. “Don’t you worry,” she whispered as she leaned into him. “You’ll find out soon enough.”
With a growl of frustration Sloane pushed her away and walked back around his desk to grab his cell phone. When he looked up Zena was still standing there. “Get out of my face, Zena,” he said, his voice a chilling whisper. “You’ve said enough for today. Now leave.”
The woman threw him a bitter laugh and then she backed away. “Throwing me out again, are you? Well, this time I’ve got you where it hurts.” With that, she whirled around and flung the door open then marched out, leaving it wide open behind her.
And Sloane could only stand there, holding the phone and staring after her.
Now he knew first-hand what the saying meant – ‘Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned’.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Melanie was in the middle of her finance meeting when her cell phone rang. Annoyed at the interruption, she frowned then glanced at the screen. Sloane. Immediately, her face cleared.
She put up a hand. “Excuse me a minute, guys,” she said, giving her team an apologetic smile. “I have to take this call.” They all nodded and Melanie slipped out of the conference room and went to stand at the end of the hall where she had a little more privacy.
“Hi, Sloane,” she said, keeping her voice low. “Is everything all right?” It was unusual for him to call her in the middle of the day and the fact that he had, caused her a twinge of worry.
“All’s good,” he said, his voice strangely wary, “but what about you? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” she said, feeling slightly confused. “Why?” And then she knew. Her face broke into a smile. “Oh, you. Naughty, naughty. Come on, it’s only eleven o’clock in the morning. Couldn’t you at least wait until the afternoon?”
There was a pause then Sloane let his breath out in a whoosh. “Thank God you’re all right.”
Melanie frowned. “Of course I’m all right. Why wouldn’t I be? Sloane, what’s going on?”
“I’m not sure. I’ll talk to you when you get home tonight. Just be careful today, okay?"
“Okay,” she said, stretching out the word. Sloane was acting really weird. She would have loved to question him further but she had a room full of executives waiting for her. “Uh, Sloane, I’ve got to go. Talk to you later, okay?”