He frowns at my uncharacteristic behavior, but makes no comment.
***
An hour later we’re out of the hotel room. Three hours later we’re in the air.
Florida, I think. I wonder what’s waiting for me in the sunshine state.
Stonehart mostly ignores me during the flight, instead tending to business on his laptop and smartphone. With little in the way of mental stimulation available, and with me pretty much exhausted following my sleepless night, I close my eyes and try to nap.
The next thing I know, I’m being awakened by Stonehart touching my arm. “Lilly,” he says softly. “We’ve landed.”
I struggle upright. “Already?”
“You were out the entire flight,” he smiles. “I think our activities last night took their toll on you. I took the opportunity to wrap up some lingering issues at Stonehart Industries while you were asleep. For the next week, I am entirely yours.
“And you, sweet Lilly,” he says, trailing a finger along my jawline, “are entirely mine.”
His hand stops beneath my chin. He turns my head up.
Our eyes meet. He holds my gaze for a long moment. He seems to be searching my face for… something. What, I cannot tell.
“What did you get up to last night?” he muses to himself. “After you left our bed?”
My chest seizes in sudden guilt. He can’t suspect me yet. Can he?
But then I realize how stupid that worry is. Maybe I was too transparent when I greeted him this morning. But, there’s no way he can read my thoughts.
He was right: I do tend to attribute too much power to him.
“Nothing,” I say quickly, then blink and turn away.
“Hmm.” Stonehart steps back and adjusts his jacket. “In either case, we’re here. You should know that I’ve had this trip in mind from the moment I first saw you.”
When I didn’t yet know you were watching? I wonder.
“Where are we going, Jeremy?” I ask. “What do you have ready for us in Florida?”
“Ah.” He smiles again. “A bit of a red herring, that. Come now. It’ll all make sense once we’re outside.”
I follow him off the jet. As soon as the doors open, I’m struck by the sudden humidity. And the heat. After the cool, air-conditioned interior of the cabin, the shift is quite jarring.
Of course, there’s a limousine at the ready for us. This one is white. Stonehart walks me down the steps and opens the door, and then motions for me to go first. Our bags are loaded in the trunk by one of the flight attendants—Cindy, I think her name was.
Once that’s done, we’re off.
“The brooch looks lovely on you,” Stonehart comments. “But we won’t be needing it where we’re going.” He leans across and gently, almost tenderly, unclips it.
By now, the mystery is seriously getting to me. Didn’t Stonehart say I have to have the brooch on at all times in public? And unless he brought me to Florida with intentions of never leaving his property—whatever it is—I don’t see why I suddenly wouldn’t need it.
Unless that is his intention. Maybe a week spent locked up together is his idea of romance.
Then again, he can come and go as he pleases. It’s only I who have to be bound by the perimeter.
“Where are we going, Jeremy?” I ask again. “I think I deserve to know. Unless you plan on springing another Paul-esque surprise on me.”
“No. My intentions are much less devious than that. In fact, you could say that they’re quite simple. I merely want to spend an uninterrupted week with the woman who is quickly becoming the most important person in the world to me.”
I scoff. “But all for your own hidden reasons, isn’t that right?”
“My reasons are my own,” he agrees. “I don’t want concern with them spoiling our time together. For the next week, you are forbidden to make mention of them again.”
I open my mouth to protest—then clamp it shut again. It’s just that easy for you, isn’t it? I think. One word and the entire world jumps at your beck and call.
Well you just wait, Jeremy Stonehart. You wait. I’m going to strip you of your power. Somehow, some way, I will do it.
And then we’ll see what type of man you really are.
“Fine,” I say. “But you still didn’t answer me.”
He chuckles. “Are you in a position to make such demands?”
“A clear answer for once would go a long way toward establishing that ‘trust’ you so frequently mention.”
“Patience, my dear.” He smiles and looks me up and down. “You must have patience. The ride won’t take long. Look outside your window. Enjoy the view.”
Grumbling to myself about Stonehart’s incessant secrecy, I turn my attention outside. The limo has just left the private airfield and we’re heading along a narrow road winding its way by the water. The ocean sparkles even in the dying light. I find myself thinking of the freedom it represents—a freedom permanently denied to me.
But freedom isn’t what I crave any longer. Justice is. My own, personal blend of justice that will match Stonehart’s depravity.
For that, I have to stay close to him.
We go along a wide bend in the road that curls along the coast. I see very few other vehicles. Anticipation about our final destination is killing me. Will it be another hotel? A condo on the beach? Some luxurious mansion Stonehart owns but rarely frequents?
Maybe it’ll be a resort. A wild, crazy thought occurs to me: Could Stonehart have emptied an entire resort for the two of us?
I sneak a sidelong glance at him. I can’t put it past the man. He certainly has the means to do it, and the motivation. It’s the only way taking off the brooch would make sense.
A billionaire, I remind myself. You’re sharing a limo with a billionaire.
More than a limo. I’m sharing my entire life.
It’s funny—considering my upbringing—how infrequently I’ve thought of Stonehart that way. How many women would kill to be in my position? How many would eagerly sign their lives away on the dotted lines of The Contract just for the chance of even a minute of Jeremy Stonehart’s attention?
Too many, I know for sure. Like the secretary I found him fuckin—
My thoughts come to a grinding halt. A wave of nausea and disgust washes over me. One thing we’ve never discussed in earnest was what I found going on in his office that night.
Share a limo. Share a bed, share my life. Share a venereal disease.
“Are you clean?” I burst out, without thinking.
Stonehart blinks. “Excuse me?”
“You gave me your bloodwork once before,” I say. I think of the countless times he’s fucked me without a condom. Which has been every single time. How many other women has he had on the side since then? “That was a very long time ago. Are you still clean?”
His mouth forms a thin line. “This is about Angelica, isn’t it?”
“Just answer me, dammit!”
“No.” The word comes as a savage growl. “Not before you tell me why now, of all times, you bring this up.”
“Because I want to know, Jeremy!” I exclaim, exasperated.
“You should know that I want to keep you in perfect health.”
“That’s not what I asked you!” His deflections are so frustrating I could scream. “Just give me a straight answer. For once. Please. I have to know. For my own peace of mind.”
“And if I’m not clean?” he challenges. “If I’m not, what difference would that make? None!” There’s heat and ferocity in his voice of a kind I’ve never witnessed before. “You’d still be mine, Lilly. Your body would still belong to me. You would belong to me, for the length of the contract, for the subjugation of your debt. Don’t you forget that. Don’t you ever forget that.”
“How can I forget?” I spit at him. I tug on the collar around my neck. “This thing’s still here, isn’t it? And it will remain for however long you decide. It’s a constant reminder that I’m not your lover. I�
��m not your woman. I’m your prisoner.”
“A prisoner by your own hand,” he snarls. “You signed the contract, Lilly, not I. I gave you a choice. I gave you an out.”
“Starvation?” I laugh. “Dying in the dark? Is that what you call an ‘out’, Jeremy?”
“You’re jealous.” His eyes are storming. They pierce into me like jets of flame. “That’s what this is about, isn’t it? Jealousy. God! I thought we were past this, Lilly!”
“Jealous?” I scoff. “Of who? You and your whores?”
“THERE HAS ONLY BEEN ONE!” he screams.
The silence that comes next is deafening.
Jeremy’s exclamation came like a thunderclap. It filled the insides of the cabin and shattered the tremulous tendrils of peace.
It’s the first time I’ve heard Stonehart raise his voice like that. It’s the first time I’ve seen him lose control.
He seems just as surprised as I am. He’s breathing hard, clearly amped up. His hair is disarrayed. His nostrils flare with every exhale.
I suddenly feel very small, very vulnerable, and very, very alone.
I start to cry.
I don’t know what brings it out of me. I’ve never been overly emotional before—at least, not outwardly so.
“Shit,” Stonehart says softly. “Shit, Lilly, I’m sorry.”
He starts to move along the seat toward me. “I—”
“Don’t,” I say. I dab at my eyes. “Don’t apologize. I’m fine. I’m okay. Just… don’t come any closer, okay? Not now.”
Stonehart ignores my request. He shifts across to my side. His movements, however, are not predatory. And his eyes are soft.
I look away. I hate for him to see me like this. I’d hate for anyone to see me like this.
Sniffling, I try to stop the stupid little hiccups that make me sound so pathetic. I blink rapidly, trying to erase the tears.
All of a sudden I feel Stonehart’s arm come around me. He pulls me toward him, but does not force it. I resist, at first, but… little by little… he coaxes me closer.
Without really knowing how I got there, I find myself pressed up against his body. It’s hard and firm and—as much as I hate to admit it—comforting.
He lets me cry into him. He does not say a word.
He starts to stroke my hair. I feel his nose and mouth touch down atop my head.
“This is my fault,” he whispers. “I don’t enjoy seeing you like this. I’m sorry.”
“It’s just me,” I blubber. “I’m being stupid.” I start to push away. “I’ll get over it. Just give me a second.”
But he refuses to let me go. Instead, he tugs me even closer to him.
The solidity of his body serves, against all reason, as an anxiolytic. I guess some things and some reactions—the nature of being held to be comforted—are so deeply ingrained in us that in certain moments, our bodies are unable to distinguish who it really is doing the comforting.
Stonehart’s deeply male scent fills my airways. I find that comforting, as well. I cry a little more, and then the ebb stops. In place of the tears comes a peculiar kind of peace.
“I shouldn’t have yelled,” Stonehart murmurs. His free hand finds mind and he grips it tight. “My father used to yell at my mother, did you know? He did it all the time, even more so after she became deaf. I always blamed him for that. And I promised myself that I would never degrade into the type of man who has to yell at a woman to be heard.
“So I’m sorry, Lilly. Truly, I am. I wouldn’t regularly admit it, but your accusation… hurt.”
“What accusation?” I ask softly.
“That I am having sex with other women behind your back.” He grips my hand tighter. “It only happened once, and it was a mistake. I told you why I did it, but those reasons do not excuse the fault. It was wrong. And I am clean. I value my health very highly. An optimized body is key to a powerful mind.”
“Why couldn’t you just say that at the start?”
“Because.” He makes a sound halfway between a grunt and a chuckle. “Because you should know better. Because, it was a stupid fucking question.”
“Yeah,” I say, pressing my face into his body. I laugh a tiny bit. “Yeah, I guess it was.”
“You know how I detest sloppiness, my Lilly-flower,” he says. “And you know how precious you are to me. I wouldn’t do anything to put your health in harm’s way. Not like that.”
Just in all the other myriad of ways you’ve invented, a tiny, annoying voice squeaks in the back of my mind.
I shut it up.
The limo comes to a stop. I’d been so preoccupied that I hadn’t even noticed that we had left the main road.
“We’re here,” Stonehart says.
I push off him and look out the window. “We’re in a… marina?”
“Come on,” he says. He twines his fingers through mine and helps me up. “Come on, let’s forget about all this. I’ve planned quite a surprise for you, Lilly. I think—I hope—that you’re going to love it.”
We step outside. The sun is close to the horizon, casting the final minutes of the day in a glorious, magnificent red.
Stonehart looks around, orienting himself, and then smiles and points. “There,” he says.
I follow the direction of his finger. He’s pointing at the very end of the pier, where the largest, most ostentatious yacht I’ve ever seen is floating in the water.
It must be forty, fifty feet in length, at least. It’s moored away from all the other boats due to its sheer size. The dying sun reflects off its glossy, pristine hull, all in white.
Stonehart links arms with me and leads me forward. It only takes a few steps before the sun is hidden beyond the massive yacht, making it seem to glow like an incandescent pearl.
“That’s yours?” I ask. Of course, I know by now to expect only the grandest expressions of wealth from Stonehart.
“For the next week, it’s ours,” he corrects.
We climb aboard. The limousine driver ferries our luggage after us. I’ve never been on a boat before, much less a yacht, much less one as spectacular as this. Everything is shiny and new. The gold metal of the railing feels cool under my hand.
Stonehart shows me inside. It’s all lacquered wood and whiter leather. The overhead lights, embedded in the ceiling, come on as soon as we enter.
“So?” he asks. “You’re quiet. What do you think?”
“I’ve never been a fan of the open water,” I hedge. Stonehart’s eyes narrow. “But,” I continue, breaking out in a smile, “I think this yacht might be enough to make me change my mind.”
Stonehart laughs. “Come,” he says. “I want to show you the bedroom. I have a feeling we’ll be spending plenty of time in there.”
***
I sleep late the next morning, and wake up alone.
Stonehart wined and dined me last night. The entire time, he was a perfect gentleman. There were no surprises, no unpleasantness. In fact, I can legitimately say that I enjoyed the hours I spent with him last night.
It felt a little like a continuation of the time we had together before his two-week trip. Before my massive blunder. Before the ensuing punishment.
Of course, things can never go back to that. I was naïve back then. I was breaking, though not in the way that was clear to me. It was more subtle, more insidious than that. I was starting to believe, deep down, that maybe Stonehart could change. That maybe his behavior in the past could be forgiven.
I was seduced by the illusion of the man. By the illusion of the life he granted me. A giant mansion, a limitless estate, unlimited wealth… and him. At the heart of it, always him.
But he is not capable of change. A man who built himself up from nothing, who discarded his name before overthrowing his father, to whom vengeance and revenge mean so much…
No, I cannot expect Stonehart to change. Not in the way I thought he might, before.
But that doesn’t matter now. I don’t need him to change. I need him to
remain exactly the same. I need to lure him into a false sense of security. And then, at the point he’s most vulnerable… I will strike.
I yawn and stretch. Having sentiments like that doesn’t mean I can’t be comfortable in the present moment. It doesn’t even mean that I can’t enjoy moments, like last night, with Stonehart. Yet, seeing Paul… coupled with the revelation that he’s my father… that will anchor me against Stonehart forever.
There’s the collar, too. But as long as I watch my behavior, it’s not going to hurt me.
One final thought occurs to me just as I’m about to get up: Paul might not even be my real father.
His story was certainly convincing. But his sanity is questionable. I saw the episode with the tea set. Who’s to tell if the elaborate tale wasn’t something that Stonehart implanted in his head to fuck with me?
But that’s not the important bit. It doesn’t matter if Paul is truly my father of not. He’s a human being who once played a part in my life. And he is being manipulated, just as I am, by Stonehart.
That’s what I will always remember. Seeing Paul thrashing on the floor was worse than when Stonehart showed me tapes of my own few days of captivity. Because it happened to someone else. Because I felt responsible for Stonehart’s actions.
He doesn’t know what the trip to Cedar Woods did to me. It changed things, irrevocably, between us. Whereas before, a tiny, nonsensical, and very emotional part of me might have held out hope that there really could be some sort of acceptable future between myself and Stonehart… one based on a relationship not defined by the contract… that part has been obliterated.
All for the better, for me. And for the worse, for Stonehart. I don’t know what his intentions are or how they might have changed since I first arrived in his home. All I know is that I am more steadfast and resolute than I’ve ever been in my life. Thanks to Cedar Woods.
The only thing that comes close to the sense of purpose I feel now was in high school, when the drive to succeed, to not end up like my mother, propelled me to bury myself in my books and aim for the Ivy League. I made it. The acceptance letter from Yale was the final vindication of all my effort.
Uncovering You: The Complete Series (Mega Box Set) Page 39