by Wendy Leigh
And then . . .
“Darling, darling Robert, I’m back!” Georgiana sits bolt upright and says.
Robert gives a start, then turns away from her and kisses and hugs me as if his life depended on it, as if we were the only two people in the world and nothing else existed—not this dungeon and certainly not Georgiana.
“Replace me with her? With little Miss Liar here? She knew I was alive all along, but she didn’t tell you, did she?” Georgiana hisses, as they carry her out on the stretcher.
Robert stands there, impassive.
Then he turns to me.
“Miranda?”
“I’m sorry, Robert. I did know. I just didn’t tell you because I was petrified that you’d want her back.” I say.
I hold my breath, but he says nothing. Composing myself, I lift my head to meet his eyes without flinching.
His eyes are the eyes of a stranger.
I open my mouth to say something, anything, but he turns his back on me and strides out of the dungeon.
After Georgiana?
I don’t know, and all of a sudden, I don’t really care.
All I know is that I’ve lost him.
Not because of Georgiana, not because of her glamour, her spirit, her splendor, but because of my insecurity, my duplicity, my lack of faith in him.
I lost the love of my life all on my own, and now it’s over and he’ll never love me again.
I stand there, alone in the dungeon, surrounded by walls of whips and chains, pulleys, crosses, spanking horses, and suspensions, and for a second it seems as if they are all closing in on me, about to trample me to the ground.
But I don’t care.
I’ve lost Robert, and it’s over.
Let the dungeon and its sinister equipment do their worst to me. Nothing could hurt more, nothing could punish me harder than the way I’ve hurt and punished myself.
I leave the dungeon, careful to slam the door after me.
Outside on the pavement, I look neither to the left nor to the right.
Robert is long gone now, but even if he were waiting in his limousine, watching for me to emerge from Le Château or waiting for me outside on the pavement, I would rather die than approach him.
I would rather die than chase after him.
I would rather die than beg him to take me back.
Because even though I am, at the heart of me, his slave, his submissive, his property, to me that very fact means my pride is more important than anything.
And I will not sacrifice it by running after him, by crying or by begging.
For while I have never hesitated a second about demeaning myself to him sexually, letting him dominate me in every aspect, use me, humiliate me, take me in any way that gratifies him, my capacity to do all that, to be so submissive, so servile, means that my pride is paramount—and always will be.
That and my breaking heart.
Like a sleepwalker, I cross the road to the East River, drawn there like a moth to a flame. I stand there and stare at the dark water for what seems an eternity.
So close, so simple, so all-encompassing. And the answer to everything.
Because without Robert, I don’t want to live anymore.
I hold my breath, about to jump, to end it all, to obliterate my pain, myself, everything.
And then I hear the voices, the words, whispering at me from all directions, loud, insistent, impossible to ignore.
“It’s better not to do something than to regret doing it.”
“He loves you to distraction.”
“Only an act of God will stop me from getting what I want.”
And finally, Robert: “I shall love her until the end of time.”
I hear them all, I understand them all, and suddenly, I know what I must do.
I look back at my past, my past as a daughter, my past as a writer, my past as a lover, I look back at it all, then up at the sky that, like a big, pale blue blanket, reflects back at me, bright, light, full of hope, and with it, I see the vast horizons in front of me, the dream, the possibility, the certainty, and at that moment I know, as sure as I know that the stars will shine tonight and dawn will break tomorrow, I know that no matter what, no matter how, I will get Robert back, and he will love me once more, now and forever.
Don't miss the rest of the Unraveled Series by Wendy Leigh!
When Miranda, a free-spirited celebrity ghost writer, meets notorious billionaire Robert Hartwell, will she get swept up into a dark world of passion and glamour?
Unraveled by Him
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Unraveled Together
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About the Author
WENDY LEIGH is the four-time New York Times bestselling author of sixteen books, including Prince Charming, The J.F.K. Jr. Story, The SecretLetters of Marilyn Monroe and Jacqueline Kennedy, and the coauthor of Life with My Sister Madonna, Jeannie Out of the Bottle, Shirley Jones: A Memoir, and Bowie.
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2015 by Wendy Leigh
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First Pocket Star Books ebook edition June 2015
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