“I’ve got killer vision,” she shrugs. Then she taps the shades over her eyes. “And polarized sunglasses don’t hurt.”
One of the dogs barks at something in the trees and surges forward, jerking Tracy his way before she gets him under control.
“Anyway,” she says, “these two are getting restless. I’d better go. It was nice to meet you, Lilly. Hope to see you around.”
“Bye,” I say after her back.
Lose one friend, gain two more?
***
Jeremy arrives in the evening.
“I heard you went on a little ride today,” he tells me after I greet him with a kiss. He smiles. “I’m glad you’re taking advantage of the luxuries available to you.”
“It was so much fun!” I gush. After saying good-bye to Tracy, I took the Porsche to the freeway. Zipping around other cars and feeling the power of the engine was a thrill unlike any I’d experienced yet. “I think I could get used to it.”
“Where’d you go?” Jeremy asks, then listens to me rattle on and on while he changes out of his suit into something more casual.
We sit down for dinner, which Charles serves himself. He sees the good mood Jeremy and I are in. From behind Jeremy’s back, he offers me a wide, gracious smile, followed by a wink. I nod at him and smile back.
“Lilly,” Jeremy says, after we’ve retired to an adjacent living room, wine glasses in hand, “I have to be in Boston tomorrow. I’ll stay the weekend. I know that’s where you grew up. I’d like for you to join me. But my schedule will be completely full. We won’t have time for each other. Still, I’d like to ask: Do you want to come?”
“When will you be back?”
“Late Sunday night.”
I consider the offer. While it might prove interesting to visit the place I was born, two more six-hour flights in the span of a few days don’t exactly appeal to me.
“And it’s all business for you?” I ask.
“That’s right,” he says. “I mean…” he looks over the rim of his glass at me, that seductive glimmer in his eye, “I might be able to make time for you, here and there…especially if you look as stunning as you do now…but, yes,” he hedges. “You’d be mostly on your own. Here or there. Your choice.”
“Then I’d prefer to just wait,” I tell him. “You know how good it is after we’ve had some time apart.”
“Yes,” Jeremy coughs. “But I’m not gone yet.”
And with that, he puts his glass down, tugs me into him, and kisses me—hard.
Chapter Twenty-Two
The next morning, I wake up to find Jeremy already gone. It seems like it’s becoming a habit with him.
I stretch out leisurely, basking in the memory of last night. Jeremy was sweet and tender. He cared for me in every way. He made me truly feel exotic.
Shit, but I forgot to ask him about the things I’d intended to. Well, I didn’t really forget. I just didn’t want to spoil what we had by bringing them up.
But when he gets back on Sunday night, it’ll be time for me to demand answers. Once and for all.
I get out of bed and wander downstairs. After a full week off work, I feel peculiarly useless.
But wasn’t the point of you working just to get closer to Jeremy Stonehart? a small voice reminds me. Isn’t that what you managed to do since getting back from Maine?
I guess that’s right. I had a fearful few days where I thought I’d blundered badly with Jeremy. Now, at least, I am assured that I have not.
That’s more important to me than any position at Stonehart Industries. I haven’t forgotten the promise I made to get back at Jeremy. But, as expected, that process will take time. Lots and lots of time.
Time that I have? Most definitely. There is no pressure to get anything done sooner rather than later. In fact, I’m quite comfortable where I currently stand.
But how long will it last? I wonder. A year? Two? More?
I don’t know. And I don’t know what comes after. I can’t deny my growing feelings of affection toward Jeremy Stonehart any longer. They’re there. If he continues to act the way he did yesterday, they will prove tricky to overcome.
But I’ll find a way. I always do. The worst is behind me. That I’m sure of. And if I’ve survived this long…started to prosper, even…then I have no doubt in my ability to continue to do so in the future.
There’s a light drizzle outside. I feel the itch to get behind the wheel again. I have nothing better to do today. Besides, why not take advantage of my situation and have a little bit of fun?
So I have breakfast, then shower, and change, and go pick up the keys. I debate trying another car—a more powerful car—but then decide against it. The Maseratis and Lamborghinis of the world still intimidate me. I’ve got to take it slow, and move my way up in the same way you would training for a marathon. You don’t dive in head-first and run 26.2 miles on your first outing. You build up to it.
That’s the sort of reasoning that finds me back behind the wheel of the Porsche.
But, only minutes later, I’m cruising down the highway at break-neck speed, pushing the edges of my comfort zone further and further.
I hear sirens behind me. My heart leaps to my throat. I panic. Was I going too fast? My breathing ratchets up a few notches. A mixture of dread, guilt, and apprehension wells up inside.
But then I look into the rear-view mirror, and see that it’s just an ambulance in the distance. I breathe a sigh of relief, merge lanes to let it pass, and promise myself to be more careful in the future.
In fact, I’ve had enough of the highway. I haven’t even simply driven around San Jose and explored the city on my own. I know I still can’t get out of the car—not unless I want to risk having my picture taken. But I sure as hell can drive and look.
And even if something catches my eye—and I do decide to step out—is chancing a few more photographs really that bad? How incriminating will they really be? There’s nothing I’m doing that I shouldn’t be doing. So it’s not like I’m going to cause a scandal by stepping outside.
It’s just the feeling of surveillance, the constant uncertainty whether I’m being watched or not, that makes me reluctant to leave the car.
I take the exit and follow the signs to the city center. The sun has started to peek out from behind the clouds when I arrive. Breaks in the cover make patches of light dot the street.
I turn left, aiming to find that high-end, quaint, little area that Simon took me to. There’s no point fighting traffic in the core of downtown when all I want to do is explore.
After a few misguided turns, and more than a few moments of feeling utterly lost, I see familiar buildings slowly start to surround me, like the creeping rays of a rising sun. This is the one place I don’t dare get out, after last time. But nobody has to know it’s me behind the wheel of the car.
I drive around, taking it slow, enjoying the lower speed limits. Suddenly, I do a double take. There, across for me, on the other side of the road is…
No, it couldn’t be.
Could it?
In a single rash maneuver, I do a very illegal U-turn, cutting through three lanes of traffic and earning myself a barrage of horn blasts. It doesn’t matter. None of that even registers.
I pull up on the other side and open the passenger window. “Robin?” I yell.
He starts when he hears his name, looking around to see who called him. Then he spots me, and his eyes widen. He rushes over.
“Lilly!” he says.
“Robin, what the hell are you doing here?” I ask. Another horn sounds from behind me. I curse.
“Looking for you,” he says simply.
I shake my head. “What?” another belligerent honk. “Is Fey with you?”
“No. She’s at the hotel.”
“Hey asshole!” An angry male voice screams from some other car “Get a move on, will ya?”
And then another cascade of horns rains down on me.
“Get in,” I tell Robin. “Qu
ickly.”
He nods, opens the door, and slides inside. I drive without doing a shoulder check, nearly collide with another vehicle, curse once more, and then re-enter the flow of traffic.
My hands are trembling. I’m very much on edge. Adrenaline pulses through me with every heartbeat.
“Explain,” I say to him. “Now.” I look at him quickly, then back at the road. “What do you mean, you’re looking for me? Why?”
“Fey got your voicemail,” Robin says. “And she’s been trying to reach you ever since. But you haven’t responded to any of her texts, her emails. Every time she tries to call you, you don’t pick up.”
“What?” I say, flabbergasted. “She hasn’t called me once!”
“Not true,” Robin says. “She’s been trying to reach you almost every hour of every day. And as she couldn’t…as more and more time passed from when she last heard from you…she started to get worried. Really worried.” Robin looks at me. “You’re in some deep shit, Lilly. I was worried, too.”
I want to laugh hysterically. Thank God the steering wheel beneath my hands gives me something else to focus on.
“Where are you staying?” I ask. “Far from here?”
“Not far,” Robin says.
“Guide me.”
He gives directions. A minute or so later, I pull into the parking lot of an expensive hotel. Shit. The only way they could afford this is if Fey’s parents sprang for the trip. Which means they know, and they are worried, too.
Shit, shit, shit!
I turn the engine off and look at Robin. “Explain again,” I tell him. “From the start.”
He nods, and begins. It’s the same story as before, though with the benefit of added details. Fey got my message at the start of the week. She’s been trying to contact me ever since. But all her communications have been blocked. As the days passed, she got more and more worried, until, finally, last night, she and Robin booked a trip here for the weekend to try to find me.
“And that’s all,” Robin says. He looks at me, gravely serious. “Lilly, you don’t know the type of man that you’re with. I did some more investigating. And Lilly, the things his company has done, in secret…” he blows out his cheeks and runs a hand through his hair, “well, if word of any of it leaked, Jeremy Stonehart would be sitting in a jail cell for the rest of his life.”
“So why hasn’t it?” I demand. “If your information is so good, why don’t other people know? Why haven’t you gone to your precious Economist and had them run the story?”
“Because Lilly, none of it can be proven. They’re just hints and tidbits I’ve picked up, here and there. But I have a sense for these things. When enough of them point one way…well, very often they tell the truth.”
“The truth?” I laugh. “How much do you know about the truth, Robin?” I think of all the things Jeremy has done to me while he was still Stonehart. Things that no other human alive will ever know. “You know nothing.”
“I know you’re in danger,” he says. “Fey does, too. This is his car, isn’t it? How do you know it’s not tapped? How do you know he’s not listening in on our every word?”
Trust me, that possibility has entered my head many times, I want to say. Instead: “We can go outside if you prefer.”
“Yes,” he says. “I do.”
We exit the car and walk into the lobby. I adjust the sunglasses to make sure they cover my eyes. “Come upstairs,” Robin says. “Fey will be so relieved to see you.”
I nod, casting furtive glances around us for anybody who may be following.
In the elevator, I speak again.
“Call me,” I say.
Robin looks my way. “Huh?”
“Call me. Prove what you’re saying is true.”
He nods, and takes out his cell phone. He looks at the status bar. “As soon as we get off.”
I bite my lip, growing more and more anxious as the elevator takes us higher. I start to tap my foot—fast.
The doors open. We get off.
Robin starts to walk down the hall.
“What are you doing?” I ask. “You’re supposed to call me.”
“Our room’s only a few doors down,” he begins, pointing behind him.
“No,” I say. “I’m not taking one more step until you prove it. Call me. Now.”
He sighs. “Okay, Lilly,” he says. “What’s your number?”
I give it to him. He punches it in and hits call. I take out my cell phone and wait.
Nothing happens.
“See?” he sighs.
“I don’t believe it,” I shake my head. “Give me your cell phone. You probably dialed it wrong.”
He gives me an exasperating, disbelieving look, but hands his cell phone over.
I check the signal. Five bars. Reception is perfect. I check the signal on my phone. Same thing.
I type my number in. Carefully. Slowly. Then I hit send.
I wait. Robin’s phone plays the dial tone.
But mine doesn’t ring.
Holy shit.
“Satisfied?” Robin asks.
“No,” I say. “No. Not at all.”
I feel an anger building inside me. An anger directed entirely at Jeremy, for continuing to trick me, for continuing to deceive me. He had me believe I had full access to the world, and yet he was still screening my cell phone? And he was blocking calls from Fey, from Robin.
Why?
He’s the only one who can give me answers. I think I have a right to know.
I pull up Jeremy’s number on my screen and angrily jab the call button. I rip it to my ear.
Robin looks at me. I lift one finger and mouth, ‘Wait’.
Jeremy’s phone rings. And rings. And rings.
He does not pick up.
Argh! I’m ready to scream from frustration.
I pull up the messaging app.
You fucking asshole! I type. You’ve been blocking my phone!
I hit send, and jab the phone back into my purse. “Okay,” I tell Robin. “Okay, let’s go see Fey.”
Halfway down the hall, my phone buzzes with a text. Robin stops in front of a door and takes his access card out. I pull out my phone.
There’s a message with one word, sent from Jeremy Stonehart:
Yes.
The wind feels like it’s been knocked out of me.
Robin swipes his card. The door slides open. I see Fey inside.
My phone starts to ring. I look at it.
It’s Jeremy.
The End.
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Uncovering You 8:
Redemption
by Scarlett Edwards
January 20th, 2015
Edwards Publishing
Reader Warning:
Uncovering You contains scenes of intense emotional and physical abuse. Readers with sensitivity to such subjects are advised to proceed with caution.
Book Description:
I've wormed my way into Jeremy's heart, just as I promised myself I would.
But whereas before, I wanted to be there to strike at him... now, I'm not so sure.
My life is still defined by secrets. Secrets that I can never tell another living soul.
Fey and Robin want to be let in. They want to know what is happening to me.
I have to say no. I have to say push them away because only Jeremy can come on this journey with me. He is always there. He is my only constant. Our lives are irrevocably intertwined.
He won't let go.
I crave peace. But I want it to be real, not just the calm before the storm.
Can I get there with Jeremy Stonehart?
It's a long shot, but right now... I'm willing to try.
Dedication
Uncovering You 8 is dedicated
to my blue watermelon bestie.
This book is a work of fiction. All names, characters, locations, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination, or have been use fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, locales, or events is entirely coincidental.
UNCOVERING YOU #8: REDEMPTION
Copyright © 2015 Edwards Publishing, Ltd.
All rights reserved.
Edited by Gail Lennon.
Cover design by Scarlett Edwards.
Interior design by Scarlett Edwards.
Published by Edwards Publishing, Ltd.
Edwards Publishing
477 Peace Portal Drive
Suite 107-154
Blaine, WA 98230
The uploading, scanning, and distribution of this book in any form or by any means---including but not limited to electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise---without the permission of the copyright holder is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized editions of this work, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s work is appreciated.
Chapter One
“Lilly?”
Fey’s mouth drops open when she sees me.
My attention is drawn to the still-ringing phone in my hand. Jeremy’s number flashes on the screen.
I hit ‘ignore’. I can talk to him later. I need to talk to Fey now.
The cessation of ringing breaks Fey from her trance. She rushes over and jumps against me so hard she nearly knocks me over.
When she lets me go, she looks from me to Robin, to me, and back to Robin again. She seems tongue-tied. Maybe from shock? I don’t know.
“How did you find her?” she finally manages, looking at her fiancé.
“The thing is,” Robin shrugs, closing the door. “She found me.”
Fey blinks. “What?”
Uncovering You: The Complete Series (Mega Box Set) Page 72