Uncovering You: The Complete Series (Mega Box Set) (12 page)

Jeremy.

Jeremy
Stonehart
.

My hand trembles as I reach into the pocket I’d forgotten all about. I feel the edges of the card in the dark.

The one I was not supposed to be given.

My trembling thumbs slide over the slightly-raised letters of his signature. The letters imprinted in my mind are the same ones I feel under my fingers:

J.S.

Chapter Twenty-Two

(Three weeks ago)

I rush after the hostess as she leads me through a maze of tables. I’d only decided to come at the last minute—and only
after
I saw the black limousine waiting for me outside.

In fact, all day I was certain I’d blow Stonehart off.

It was not curiosity that changed my mind, but desperation. Tonight is the last night I am allowed to stay at the apartment. Tomorrow I get evicted, with only a half-baked plan for what I will do next.

Maybe Stonehart has something to offer other than stark arrogance.

I see him alone in a secluded corner. His eyes are dark and his jaw is set. He does not dignify me with a greeting as I sit down.

“Can I offer you…” the hostess starts.

“No,” Stonehart barks. His tone makes the hostess swallow and turn away.

“You’re late,” he growls at me.

“Your driver—”

“Was at your door at precisely 6:40.” Stonehart’s entire body is like a coiled spring. It makes me fidget uncomfortably. “You came to the car at 6:58.
Eighteen minutes
, Lilly. That’s how long I’ve been waiting here for you.”

I glance at my watch. It shows six minutes after eight. “Reservations were for eight…” I begin.

“Which still makes you late,” Stonehart snaps. “Precision is important to me. Do you know how many people I have waited for as long as I’ve waited for you in the last ten years?” He looks up, then, and his dark eyes burn with a rage unlike any I’ve seen contained in another human. It shocks me how little of it seeps into his voice.

The contrast of it to his manner, cold as ice, frightens me.

“I—”

“
Two
,” he answers. “Two people. Less than the fingers I have on one hand.” He holds his left hand in front of his face and rotates it back and forth.

Without warning he slams it down on the table. I jump, and he surges up.

“It seems I was mistaken about you,” he says, and starts to walk away.

Desperate, I reach out and grab his sleeve. “Wait,” I say. “Please.”

Stonehart looks down at me. He sneers. Then, he rips his arm back and walks away.

I slump down in my seat. That was such
bullshit
! He didn’t even give me a chance to explain! What type of psychotic man waits twenty—no, “
eighteen
”—minutes only to leave the second his guest arrives?

“Miss?” A waiter interrupts my thoughts. “The gentleman ordered wine?”

I am poured two glasses before I can say a word. One is set on Stonehart’s side of the table, the other, in front of me.

I sigh and pick up my glass. The aroma of the wine is soothing. I sip at the rim.

I guess I am not cut out for this world, after all.

Chapter Twenty-Three

(Present day)

Stonehart.

The bastard. It’s been him this whole time!

Who else would have the power, the influence, to organize all this? I curse myself for not thinking of him before. I’ve been starving because of him. I’ve been
dying
because of him.

My war has been all for naught. If I truly want to hurt Stonehart, holding out like this won’t help. He may not know it, but he gave me the most valuable piece of information the morning we met in his building.

He is taking his company public.

He has left his king vulnerable.

Let him think me broken. Let him think me weak. I will play his sick game. I will sign the damned contract.

Because I know, when the time comes, I
will
strike.

And I
will
destroy his empire.

Epilogue

(One day later)

An elderly woman comes in to bathe and clothe me. I do not know what she must think when she sees me, for she says nothing at all.

Once I am cleaned, fed, and dressed, I ask her casually, “When will Mr. Stonehart be presenting himself?”

The woman’s manner falters. She drops the rags she is holding and looks at me, really
at me
, as if seeing the person I am instead of the broken shell of a human she found last night. Something akin to pity shows in her eyes.

The break in composure lasts only a second. She picks up my soiled clothes and addresses me formally. “Mr. Stonehart will be informed of your request.”

As she bustles out, I try to temper the growing smile on my lips.

I am not supposed to know it’s him yet.

Score one for Lilly Ryder.

 The End,

Uncovering You 1: The Contract

Uncovering You #2

Submission

by Scarlett Edwards

EDWARDS PUBLISHING

Book Description:

I have survived the worst. I have come out of the darkness with my sanity intact.

Now, I get to meet the monster holding me here. For the first time since my captivity began, I get to meet Stonehart.

Whatever he wants, I'll be ready. The collar may be tight around my neck, but I will not be a prisoner.

A prisoner has no choice. A prisoner has no purpose.

But a concubine, on the other hand? She always has a choice.

And today, I choose to fight.

–

Uncovering You #2: Submission
continues the story begun in
Uncovering You #1: The Contract
. It contains scenes of intense emotional and physical abuse. Readers with sensitivity to such subjects are advised to proceed with caution.

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 #2: SUBMISSION

Copyright © 2014 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.

ISBN: 978-0-9937370-2-2

Chapter One

(Present day. Two weeks into stay.)

I feel his presence before he speaks.

“Well, well. Look at you.”

Stonehart’s voice is unmistakable. Raspy like the rustle of dry leaves, yet as strong as the most powerful gale on Olympus.

My back stiffens as I hear the
clap-clap
of loafers advancing on the marble floor.

“Presentable,” he muses. I keep my eyes fixed on the column straight ahead. “Cleaned up. Though…” A pause. It takes all of my willpower not to turn my head. “…Disappointingly haggard,” he concludes.

My hands curl into angry fists. That’s a low blow.

I haven’t seen myself in the mirror for weeks. But I can imagine how I must look. My entire body feels frail, stripped of the feminine curves it once possessed. I can see the sinewy muscles of my forearms move when I turn my wrist. I can feel the impression of my ribs when I slide my hand beneath my breasts. I am a walking skeleton, deprived of food, warmth, and human contact like some forgotten doll in the attic. All because of him
.

And the bastard has the gall to call me
haggard
?

I turn in a rage, prepared to unleash a thousand obscenities that have been building in my mind the entire time I’ve been kept prisoner—and stop short when I find
him
a hair’s breadth away.

Jeremy Stonehart is exactly the man I remember.

His melanite eyes regard me with a piercing intensity. Finely-trimmed stubble covering his cheeks gives prominence to his striking jaw and angular cheekbones. His wavy hair is loosely styled to casual perfection. Not a single strand is out of place.

His two-piece, silk Armani suit is tailored to his body like a second skin. The waist is trim, the shoulders wide and
high
. I’d forgotten how tall he is. The last time I saw him, I was wearing heels. Now, with him in his shoes and me barefoot, Stonehart towers above me like a malicious mountain.

“Chin up, now,” he whispers. His finger trails a line up my neck. “Shoulders back. Atta girl. You want to look strong, yes?”

He sneers. “I know all about appearances,
Lilly
.” The way he emphasizes my name makes me feel dirty, somehow. “And I know how little good they will do you.”

He breaks away. I almost fall forward, whether from impulse or instinct, I don’t know. Then, I remember the collar around my neck.

I look down at the floor and realize I’m right at the edge of my boundary. I stagger back, desperate to avoid the electric shock. My heart pounds like a drum.

Stonehart notices. He looks at me, then down at the floor, and then… smiles.

“Lilly,” he says. “You needn’t fear. The moment you signed the contract, you were afforded certain privileges.” He takes out his phone and glances at the ceiling. “Look.”

One swipe of his finger turns off all the lights. I can still see him, outlined by the light of his screen. He taps the phone, and a strange, deep purple light I’ve never seen here before fills the room.

Stonehart slips the phone back into his pocket. The ultra-violet light makes the white of his teeth and eyes the only thing visible when he speaks. It makes him look like an unearthly apparition.

“Look at the floor, Lilly. Do you see anything unusual?”

I swallow before answering. “No.”

“You don’t?” He sounds confused. Then he hits the side of his head as if just remembering. “Ah! Of course.”

A malicious smile reveals those shining white teeth as Stonehart turns his phone back on. He does something I cannot see, and suddenly a thin red circle rushes in toward me along the floor. It stops right at the edge of my boundary.

“Do you know what that is, Lilly?”

His tone makes the blood drain from my face. I do not. But, it’s not hard to guess. I shake my head, refusing to answer.

“Come now,” Stonehart probes. “I’m sure you do. Take a gander.”

I shake my head harder, making my hair swing in my eyes. I back away until my shoulder blades touch the marble beam. It might just be my imagination, but the red circle seems to be pulsing, constricting, and expanding ever-so-slightly under my watch.

My fingers clutch the collar. I pull at it in desperation, but to no effect.

Stonehart clicks his tongue. The purple light disappears, and with it the laser circle. All the overhead lights come back on.

“Lilly,” he says. “Come here.”

My eyes widen in terror as I look at him. He’s outside my boundary!

“No,” I breathe.”

“
Lilly!
” His voice snaps. “I told you once before how I hate repeating myself.” He tilts his eyes ever so slightly. “Or have you forgotten?”

Damn it! I thought these power games would end when I signed the contract! “No,” I muster. “But I can’t. You’re too far.”

A vicious smile curls his handsome lips. “Are you refusing to obey?”

I shake my head. The collar feels like it’s a live noose. “I can’t—you’re too far away!”

“Am I?” Stonehart seems amused. He holds both hands up as his eyes trail a path from his feet to mine. “It doesn’t
seem
like I’m very far, does it? There’s no physical barrier blocking your way.”