Seduced By A Steele (Forged of Steele #12) - Brenda Jackson Page 0,44

care and protection? What’s that supposed to mean?”

Mercury didn’t answer; instead he glanced over at Sloan. She immediately recalled the conversation they’d had in his mother’s office. Harold was her problem and she needed to fix it.

Suddenly, an idea for a temporary fix came into her head. As long as Harold and her parents assumed there was a chance for the marriage to go on, they would keep hounding her. That was what this was about anyway. That was what had driven her away from Ohio. Her parents’ insistence that she and Harold marry to expand their families’ wealth.

Drawing in a deep breath, Sloan moved to stand beside Mercury. She hoped he recognized what she was about to do as a temporary fix and that he wouldn’t fall flat on his face from shock. From the look on his face earlier, finding out she understood Russian had been shocking enough.

She met her ex-fiancé’s gaze. “Harold, what it means,” she said in a clear voice, “is that...” She paused and gave Mercury a quick please-forgive-me-for-this smile before turning back to Harold. “Mercury is my fiancé and we’re getting married. In fact, we were planning our wedding when you showed up. So now will you please leave?”

Fourteen

Sloan had just told a whopper of a lie and for the longest time the entire room got quiet. She hadn’t known what to expect, especially from the man standing by her side whom she refused to look at. Instead her attention was trained on Harold.

She watched the expression on his face show shock and then outrage. Outrage? Honestly? The man who’d told her his mistress would become a permanent part of their lives?

Then Harold spoke. “Don’t be ridiculous, Sloan. How can you be engaged to him when you are engaged to me?”

“I was engaged to you, but if you recall, I broke off our engagement weeks ago.”

“And now you’re going to marry a man you barely know?”

“Why not? I thought I knew you and found out I truly didn’t.” She hated that the Steeles were privy to this conversation, but she wouldn’t let that stop her.

“Your parents won’t approve of you marrying anyone but me,” Harold had the nerve to boast.

She lifted her chin and stiffened her spine. “Then it’s a good thing I’m not seeking their approval.”

Harold rubbed his hand down his face. “Do you know what will happen to the Donahues and Cunninghams without your...?”

His voice trailed off and she wasn’t sure if it was because he suddenly realized they had an audience or if perhaps there was something else. “My what?”

Harold quickly shoved his hands into his pockets. “Nothing.”

Yes, there was something and she was determined to find out what it was. “Let’s be honest, Harold. You don’t love me and I don’t love you. In fact, you told me that you want the woman you do love to be a part of our marriage and I refused that.”

Sloan’s last statement caused a gasp from the back, she wasn’t sure from whom, but she didn’t care that all the Steeles knew why she’d ended her engagement. “What you do is your business,” she continued. “But I won’t allow myself to be manipulated by my parents any longer. I will have the freedom to choose the man I want in my life and not the one they want for me. I suggest you do like I’m doing and be your own person and marry who you want. Money isn’t everything.”

Harold was quiet for a minute and then he said in a somewhat subdued tone, “I need to speak with you privately. There’s something you need to know.”

A part of Sloan wanted to tell him that there was no room for further discussion, but a pleading look in his eyes stopped her. She would listen to whatever he said, and then she would tell him to leave and stay out of her life. “Fine. We’ll talk privately.” She then turned to Eden and Drew. “May I use your office?”

Eden nodded. “Certainly.”

“And as your fiancé, I intend to be a part of this private discussion,” Mercury