Her Indecent Proposal (The BAD BOY BILLIONAIRES Collection) (12 page)

It was a huge blow to her ego, knowing she had fumbled, but she was
the captain of this ship.  She would just have to pick up the pieces and sail
on.  But the thought of having to tell her father made her cringe.

  That night when Melanie got home Sloane was waiting for her.  As
soon as she walked in the door he came over and took her briefcase from her
grasp and, brows furrowed, looked into her eyes.  “Are you okay?”

Melanie shrugged.  “Of course I am.  Why wouldn’t I be?”  Then she frowned. 
“You’ve been acting really strange today.  What gives?” And then it dawned on
her.  Somehow, Sloane must have known about her disastrous business deal with
Rapid Films.  How he’d heard, she had no idea, but obviously he was aware, or
else why would he keep questioning her, asking how she was?

And then she tightened her lips.  If Sloane had found out then that
meant she had a leak in the company and that was not good.  She couldn’t have
corporate secrets getting out like that.  If Sloane knew about it then who else
out there did, too?

She gave him a pointed look.  “Sloane, answer me.  Why do you keep
asking how I’m doing?  What do you know that you’re not telling me?”

His answer was to take her arm and lead her into the living room where
he pressed her down onto the sofa.  “We need to talk.”

Melanie’s heart sank.  No conversation that began with ‘we need to
talk’ ever ended well.  Her heart thumping, she stared up into his face.  So
he’d found out that Parker Broadcasting had a division that was in a serious
financial crisis.  She was sure he was going to blast her about it but else was
he going to do?  Then a thought struck her, a really frightening idea.  Oh God,
what if he thought she’d demanded a baby and then married him because one of
her companies was in trouble and she wanted him to bail her out?  What if he’d
called her in here to tell her he wanted a divorce?

She opened her mouth to speak, anxious to explain herself before he
started his reprimand, but she never got the chance.

“There’s something you should know,” Sloane said, his face serious,
“something that could affect your safety.”

Her safety?  Melanie tilted her head, confused.  That was the last
thing she’d expected Sloane to say.  “What do you mean?” she asked, watching
his expression change from concern to something like anger then back to worry. 
Something was definitely not right.  “Sloane, what is it?”

He put his fist to his lips, his eyes thoughtful, then he sat down
beside her.  “Remember that woman we talked about?  Zena.  My ex.”

“Of course I remember her.  What about her?”  If Sloane was now
going to tell her he suddenly realized he had feelings for his ex, she would
kill him.

“She’s up to something.  I don’t know what it is, but she said
something that made me fear for your safety.”

“My safety?”  Melanie gave him a puzzled look.  “She doesn’t even
know me...well, outside of the time she saw me at Patrick’s, but she acted like
I didn’t even exist.”

“I know,” he said, “but she’s very much aware of your existence.”  His
look grew more serious.  “And that you’re my wife.”  He drew in a breath then
expelled it.  “She hates me and is bent on revenge but she wants to hurt me
through you.  I don’t know what she’s planning but I want you to be careful. 
Do you understand?”

Melanie’s eyes widened but she nodded.  “Yes.  Do you…think we
should go to the police?”

Slowly, he shook his head.  “I wish we could but right now it’s just
my word against hers.  She can deny everything I tell them.  And the worst part
is, I have no idea what angle she plans to come from.”  He reached out and took
her hand in his.  “I’m assigning a bodyguard to you from here on.”

“But I don’t do bodyguards-”

He put a finger to her lips, cutting her off.  “It’s
non-negotiable.  You are not leaving this house without one.”

“Okay, if you say so…”

“I say so.  Now come on,” he said, standing up and pulling her with
him, “let’s get you some dinner.  You must be starving.”

That got her attention.  “You cooked.”

He chuckled.  “I wish.  You know that’s not my thing.  But I did
order you something from Mango Bay Restaurant.”

Immediately, her mouth began to water and she gave him a huge grin. 
“Curried goat?  Escoveitched fish?”

He laughed as he led her toward the kitchen.  “I won’t spoil the
surprise.”

And as Melanie followed him down the hallway she released a sigh of
relief.  It was obvious that Sloane knew nothing about her business disaster
with Rapid Films and she planned to keep it that way. 

***

To Sloane’s relief, the days passed without any further sign of Zena
and no indication – so far – that Melanie was in any danger.  Still, he was not
taking any chances so, despite her objections, he had the security detail
covering her day after day.  After a week he began to breath a little easier
but he knew that neither he nor Melanie could afford to relax their vigilance. 
And, in the meanwhile, he would have to find some way to regain contact with
Zena and set some sort of trap for her.  If he wanted to get the police involved
he had to come up with evidence.

Then one day, a couple of weeks after his conversation with Melanie,
he came home to find her sitting in the sofa, her feet up, arms wrapped around
her legs, her chin on her knees.  This seemed to be her favorite position when
she was deep in thought.  There was a deep crease in her brow, the worry
visibly stamped on her face.

“Melanie,” he said softly.  “What’s the matter?”

Her head jerked up and it was as if she were noticing his presence
for the first time.  “Oh, hey Sloane.  You’re home early.”

“No, actually it’s late.  How long have you been sitting here?”

She shrugged.  “I don’t know.  Since six o’clock?”

“And it’s now way past seven.  What’s on your mind?”  He went over
to sit beside her.

“Uhm, nothing important.  I was just thinking.”

“Yes, about something very important, or else you wouldn’t be
sitting here in a dark room staring off into space.”

“Yeah, but it’s not about anything you’d want to hear about.”

“Melanie, I’m your husband.”  Sloane’s voice was brutally stern. 
“If there’s something worrying you I need to know about it.  Now talk.”

“But it doesn’t have anything to do with us,” she said, obviously
determined to hold her ground.  “It has to do with business.  My business.”

“And your business is my business.  Don’t let me have to ask again.”

It was only when he said those words that Melanie began to look like
she was considering talking, and it was a good thing because he was not going
to move until she opened up to him.

“I…it’s nothing.”  She breathed in, then let it out slowly.  “Well,
actually, it’s something but it’s sort of embarrassing.”

“I’m listening.”

She looked down at her hands and when she spoke her voice was quiet
and low.  “I made a bad business move a few months ago and now it’s coming back
to bite me.  I needed an infusion of new technology so I gobbled up a film
company, hoping that would bring in some new investors.  Instead, it’s been
nothing but a big hole in my film division's already leaky bucket.”  She
sighed.  “I thought I was rescuing the company but it was the worst business
decision of my life.”

Sloane frowned.  “But you have deputies who should have been
advising you on the transaction.  I know the final decision is yours but what
about the analysis?  Didn’t your team assess the potential of this acquisition
before you put money on the table?”

She looked up at him then, her eyes cloudy with confusion.  “That’s
the really puzzling thing.  It was my COO who first identified this company as
an opportunity.  I hadn’t even heard of them.  Then my VP of finance checked it
out and they both gave me the all clear.”  Then she shook her head.  “It wasn’t
until after the deal was done that all the rotten details started coming out. 
It was the financial controller who first brought it to my attention but by
that point it was too late.”

Sloane shook his head.  “This sounds fishy to me.  You had your top
guns review this business and come back with positive feedback, and it took a
subordinate of theirs to figure out that this was a mistake?  Bull.”

She gave him a quizzical look.  “You think this was deliberate?”

“Any possibility they’re trying to sabotage your company?”

The question made her look away, obviously deep in thought. 
“I…really don’t know.”

“I suggest you look into it.  Your greatest enemy may be right there
on your team.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

“Son of a bitch.”  Sloane slammed his fist down on the desk and
scowled at the private investigator.  “She trusted him.”

Mark Danvers, looking more like a bouncer than a P.I., shrugged as
he lounged in the chair across from Sloane.  “And that was what made it so easy
for him.  He manipulated her trust.”

“But what about the VP of finance?  He was in on it, too?”

“Doesn’t look like it.  Looks like he was intimidated by the COO
who’s his superior.  The operations boss probably told him to leave the
decision to him.”

“Goddamn wimp.”  Sloane snorted in disgust.  “I should have both of
them thrown in jail.”

“Now hold on a minute.”  Danvers put up his beefy hand.  “Let’s not
jump the gun.  I want to dig into this some more.  I still haven’t figured out
how all of this would benefit the perp.  All he’s succeeded in doing is making
your wife’s life miserable.”  He tapped his fingers on the arm of the chair. 
“There’s got to be more to it than that.  What does he get out of this?”

“He probably owns shares in Rapid Films, saw it was sinking and
wanted to dump it,” Sloane snarled.  “And he dumped it on Melanie.  I’ll kill
the bastard.”

“Not until I do what you’ve paid me for,” Danvers drawled, looking
unimpressed by Sloane’s tirade.  “You can commit all the murders you want after
I’m done my job.”

“Well, get on with it then.”  Sloane's fingers itched to throttle
somebody and if the P.I. didn’t hurry up and bring the guilty party down, he
was of a mind to handle the whole situation himself.  And it would not be
pretty.

“All right,” Danvers said, pushing his hulking frame up and out of
the chair, “I’m going.  But don’t do anything or breathe a word to anybody
until I say so.”

“Got it.”  Sloane got up to walk the man to the door.

There, Danvers paused, turned, and gave him a piercing look. 
“Quest,” he said, his voice cool, “not a word.  Not even to your wife.”

Sloane knew Danvers and how he worked and he trusted him completely.
If there was one man who could get to the bottom of this, it was the one
standing right in front of him.  Without a word, he nodded.

*** 

As expected, Mark Danvers was true to his word.  Within a week of
their meeting he was back at Sloane’s office with information and, more
importantly, enough evidence to throw Trent Palmer, soon-to-be ex-COO in jail.

“Have you ever heard of a film actress called Zena Paloma?” Danvers
asked.

Sloane’s heart jerked in his chest.  “I have.  Why?”

“She was the brain behind the scam sale of that Rapid Films company.” 
Danvers leaned forward, his eyes intense.  “For some reason this woman seemed
intent on sinking Parker Broadcasting, or at least leaving a huge dent when she
was done.  She made contact with Palmer.  Told him she’d pay him two hundred
grand if he’d convince the owner to buy the company.  He folded like a leaf on a
hot pavement.”

“Greedy SOB.”  Sloane clenched his fists as the anger rose inside
him.

“And desperate,” Danvers inserted.  “Somehow she found out that he
was up to his ears in debts from a real estate investment gone bad.  He was
about to lose his house.”  The big man chuckled.  “That gal did her homework, I
tell you.  She found the perfect pigeon, high enough in the company for his
decision to be accepted with minimal questions, and desperate enough to grab
what she had to offer.”

“My God, would she go to such lengths…” Sloane’s voice trailed off
as his thoughts ran wild.  Just how long had Zena been planning this coup?

“Hey, you know her?” Danvers regarded him through narrowed eyes. 
“Is there something you’re not telling me, Quest?”

“Yeah, but I’m just realizing the connection.”  He paused again and
did a quick rewind of his conversation with Zena.  She’d said Melanie was her
target, that the deed was already done, so all that was happening at Parker
Broadcasting was her doing.

His eyes snapped back to the P.I.  “When did she first make contact
with Palmer?”

“Five months ago.  May twenty-eight, to be exact.”

Sloane sucked in his breath.  “Two weeks after news of the
engagement appeared in the papers.  She moved damn fast.”  He looked at Danvers,
who was regarding him with a puzzled expression.  “I was in a relationship with
Zena and it ended badly. But that was over ten years ago.  Looks like she’s the
kind who can hold a grudge for a very long time.”