Elysia frowned.

    "I really underestimated that bastard Zane. Using the Bradford family name, heworked his way to the top-it''s like he built his own little empire!"

    "Tarquin told me he even owns Central Pharmaceuticals now," she added.

    Winona''s eyebrows knit together. Sure, she''d had some small winstely, but when it came to business, the thought of it still made her blood boil.

    The Bradford family was hollowed out now-her family''s fortune, even the money she earned from acting, was all but gone. Zane had siphoned it off until there was barely anything left.

    When they divorced, Zane walked away with nothing on paper, but it hadn''t slowed him down one bit.

    Tarquin jumped in,

    "If Zane embezzled Bradford family money, we can help you get it back. And if you want to keep him locked up a bit longer, we can arrange that, too."

    Winona was grateful. Zane had stolen her father''s life''s work-if she could get any of it back, it would be a miracle.

    "Thanks, Mr. Bradford, but don''t worry about it. Keeping him locked up forever isn''t a real solution."

    Tarquin warned,

    "Zane''smitted enough crimes that when he gets out, every agency in the country will be watching him. It''s not safe for you to go after him personally."

    Winona scoffed, "The sooner the state takes him down the better. Every day he''s free, he''s just a gue on everyone around him!"

    Tarquin didn''t say any more.

    The reason they hadn''t acted sooner was partly to help Winona vent her anger, and partly because they needed Central Pharmaceuticals as leverage against some mysterious adversary. But now, Winona had gotten her revenge, and the antidote was in hand. It was time to really deal with Zane.

    He''d heard Zane was willing to trade the lives of a hundred thousand people for his own. Human life meant nothing to him. People like that didn''t deserve to walk this earth.

    And he was curious-who would take that job anyway?

    ***

    Because of all the Zane drama, Winona didn''t go back to the Bradford estate with the others. Instead, she headed home alone.

    Tarquin and Elysia dropped her off

    at her ce. Elysia knew Tarquin

    had arranged bodyguards for

    Winona, but she still fussed over her,

    insisting she call if anything

    happened.

    "I know, I know! Zane''s in my hands now-he''s the one in danger, not me. Rx, I''ll call youter. Bye!"

    Winona stood by her car, shing a bright, carefree smile as she waved goodbye. Elysia''s heart ached for her; she wanted to say more, but held back. Marriage, for

    a woman, was always a gamble. And Winona had lost it all.

    But heartbreak was a wound only time could heal.

    "Well, I''m off then."

    "Yeah, see you. Bye."

    Once they left, Winona''s whole demeanor changed. She licked her crimson lips-

    a dangerous, seductive red rose in full bloom.

    Inside, she didn''t bother changing her shoes or clothes. She went straight to the wine cab, grabbed a bottle of vintage red from the top shelf, two crystal sses, and still in her sky-high heels-headed down to the basement.

    There, in a big iron cage she''d had built especially for Zane, he sat slumped in the corner, looking more like @beggar than the sharp O businessman he used to be.

    The moment he saw her, his face twisted with rage.

    "You bitch, I''m going to kill you! I''ll-water...water....."

    One second, pure hatred. The next, desperation.

    He hadn''t eaten or drunk anything in days. When he saw the wine in her hand, his

    eyes went wild with hunger and thirst.

    "Please, water...give me water..."

    Winona''s voice was cool and calm.

    "This isn''t water. It''s wine. A very special, very meaningful bottle. Do you

    remember it?"