“She’s too deep in the rabbit’s hole,” Fey says to Robin. “You were right. She won’t listen to us.”
“I’m right here!” I all but scream. “Talk to me directly!”
“Fine,” Fey turns on me. There’s fire in her eyes. “You know what I think, Lilly? I think that you’re full of shit. I think that you know what Robin found is true, deep down. But you’re unwilling to admit it to yourself. I think you’re too proud to admit to us that you’ve made a mistake. That you misread the type of man that Stonehart…” She emphasizes his last name, while glaring at me. “…really is. I think you’re tied so closely to him that there is nothing we can tell you that will make you leave.”
“So if you think that, why are you here?” I challenge, matching her intensity, her passion. “Why did you come?”
“I came,” Fey says, grabbing Robin’s arm. “We came because we care, Lilly. We care about what happens to you. We care because we heard that message you left me—yes, I let Robin listen, I don’t keep secrets from him—and were worried when you became unreachable. Or have things changed? Do the things you said on the recording no longer apply?”
The air goes out of me like a popped balloon. “Of course they apply,” I say softly. Guilt tears at my heart. I sag into an armchair.
All I want is to be left alone. I need time to think, to reflect on what’s going on around me. To disappear into some empty vacuum where time stands still, and to re-emerge only when I’m ready to face the world again.
I know I do not have that luxury.
“Then listen to what we’re saying,” Fey begs me. “Listen, and try to see things from our perspective.”
“I am listening,” I tell her. “I’ve heard every single word. But it’s just…You don’t know what it’s like, Fey. You haven’t seen, or experienced Jeremy from the inside.”
“Then let us,” Robin challenges.
I blink. “What?”
“Let us see what Jeremy is like.” Robin glances at Fey, then keeps going. “You say we have a flawed understanding of who he is. Show us otherwise. Introduce him to us. Maybe then, when we see things the way you do, we’ll stop worrying.”
I bite my inner lip. Introduce Jeremy to Robin and Fey? Well, he’s already met Fey, so that won’t be much of a problem. But with her new perspective on things, she’ll be even more scrutinizing than her mother was at our morning brunch. And Robin will have his suspicions, too.
Then again, didn’t Jeremy say he would like to meet Robin, when he heard he was hired by The Economist? Maybe those were just empty words spoken in the presence of company.
If I agree, how will Jeremy react when he finds out? I need to clear some things—a lot of things—with him before I’m ready for another meeting with the four of us.
“That…might be tricky to arrange,” I say, slowly. “You know about the IPO coming up. There are a lot of demands on his time—”
“If he really is as caring as you seem to think he is,” Fey cuts in, “he’ll find time. For you.” She looks at her husband-to-be. “I think he’s right. This is a good idea. Let us meet Jeremy together.” She turns to me. “It’s the only way I’ll believe you’re safe.”
“Fine,” I sigh. “Fine. Okay. We can do that.”
“Great,” Fey says. She grabs my arm. “Let’s go.”
“What, now?” I say, incredulous.
“Yes, now,” Fey says. “I’m not letting you out of my sight, Lilly Ryder, until you’ve convinced me that your life is not in any danger.”
“Fey, we can’t go now,” I tell her. “He’s not here.”
“Where is he?”
“Boston.”
“Hmm.” She stops short. “Well, when is he coming back?”
“Tomorrow night,” I tell her. “Or maybe Monday. It depends.”
“Why don’t we all go there?” Robin suggests. “Lilly, the flight will give us more time to talk. Fey, you know you have to be back at school by Monday. You and I have class,” Robin reminds her.
“Class can wait,” she says with absolute conviction. “When my friend’s well-being is on the line, everything else takes a back seat.”
“Fey—” I begin.
“No!” she turns on me. “Don’t try to tell me otherwise, Lilly. You’ve had your chance to convince me. You failed. There’s only one way you’ll get me to leave you alone. And that’s if we meet Jeremy Stonehart. Tonight.”
Chapter Two
A few hours later, I’m sandwiched between Robin and Fey on a commercial flight to Boston.
I haven’t had a moment’s privacy to speak with Jeremy over the phone since he called. And there’s no way in hell I’m talking to him within hearing distance of my two friends.
I texted him to let him know we were coming, though. He replied with a single word:
Unacceptable.
My gut sank when I read it on the screen. But I soldiered on, feigned conviction, and said:
Too bad. We’re coming. Deal with it.
Then I turned my phone off and boarded the plane.
“Looks like you got your wish.” I say to Fey, only half-joking, as we lift off. “You said you’re not leaving California without me.”
She gives a thin smile, then takes my hand and squeezes tight.
Tension grows among the three of us during the six-hour flight. Fey is nervous. I can tell. Robin is, too. But he masks it well.
And me? I’m terrified. Not of what tonight will bring, but of what the consequences of this meeting might be. I sprung it on Jeremy in the worst possible way. At the worst possible time. He told me, when he invited me to come with him, that he’d be busy during his trip and we wouldn’t have time for each other. This definitely throws a wrench into his schedule.
Hours later, we touch down. Fey puts on a brave front. But I can see the worry and anxiety digging at her. Robin, too.
I don’t blame them. I mean, hell, look at us. What are we? Three college-aged kids about to face one of the most powerful businessmen in the country? A façade of strength is laughable. Anybody would be intimidated having to meet Jeremy.
The thing that I’m most worried about—the one thing I cannot change—is that Jeremy and I won’t have a chance to speak in private beforehand. I won’t be able to confront him about why he blocked my phone. We won’t be able to create the united front we need to present to Robin and Fey.
This’ll be both of us improvising on the fly, hoping to have enough of a read on each other to avoid any major screw-ups, any big catastrophes.
Some couples know each other so well it’s as if they can read each other’s thoughts. Jeremy and I are not like that. We are far, far apart, at opposite ends of the spectrum. His mind is as shadowed to me as mine is to him. Maybe, I can grant that he can read me better than I him. But he still knows nothing of my ultimate intentions.
Nobody knows. Nobody is allowed to know yet or things may still be ruined. Growing affection for him be damned! Jeremy has to pay for the things he did to me when he was Stonehart. He has to. It is a promise I made to myself. I am not about to back off now.
Or ever.
So do I consider myself more capable of dealing with Jeremy Stonehart tonight than Fey and Robin are? Of course. I’ve already proven it. The tricky part is, our charade will have to go on before a live and skeptical audience.
Just as we’re stepping into the lobby of Logan International Airport, a thought occurs to me. “Hey, Fey,” I ask. “How is it that you found out Jeremy’s father’s name?”
“What?” she says. “I don’t know his father’s name. Why would I? Does it matter?”
“Um, yes you do,” I say. “You texted me. Remember?”
“No,” Fey shakes her head. “I didn’t. I—”
“Excuse me.” A federal agent stops Fey, Robin, and me in our tracks. I look up, and find us surrounded by four others. All are fully armed. They ostentatiously display their guns. “Is one of you Miss Ryder?”
Dread washes over
me. The stream of passengers coming off the plane gives us all a wide berth, like a river splitting around a boulder.
“Yes,” I say. “That would be me.”
“I’ll need you to come with us, Miss,” he informs me. “Your friends can stay behind.”
“Hold on,” Fey jumps in. “What is the meaning of this? You can’t just pull her away from us for no reason!”
“I need you to remain calm,” he addresses her. “There is nothing wrong. This is just a routine security screening. Miss Ryder, if you’ll come with us?”
I step away from Fey and Robin, toward the officer. Fey grabs my arm and tries to pull me back. “Hold on,” she prompts.
“Fey, let go,” I tell her. I have no idea what’s going on. No idea what type of shit I’m in. One thing’s for sure: where there’s trouble, Jeremy’s involved.
I just don’t know how.
The officers surrounding us all take a looming step closer. The one who approached me is looking at Fey as if she’s got a ticking bomb strapped to her chest.
“Fey,” Robin says slowly, careful not to make any sudden movements. “I think it’s better if you listen to Lilly.” He glances at the men around us. “Look where we are.”
Fey does. For a tense, uncertain moment, that seems to last ages, it feels like her grip on my arm will never release. Danger pulses through the air like a living thing.
Then her fingers unfurl. Slowly, she lets me go. The current of hostility emanating from the officers lessens.
Somewhat.
“Okay,” I say to the man in charge. “Where to?”
“Just follow me,” he says. The rest of his gang surrounds me like iron fillings draw to a magnet.
“We’re not just going to abandon you!” Fey calls as I walk away. “We’re going to figure out what’s going on and get you out, Lilly! Don’t worry!”
That’s the thing I’m most worried about, I want to say.
I trail after the officer in the lead. We’re surrounded by a tight cluster of the others. I recognize the hallways and open space we’re walking through. Last time I was at Logan International, I thought I’d be nearly debt-free and close to graduating by now.
How naïve I had been. How young. The girl who last walked through these sparkling corridors was nothing at all like the woman I am now.
We turn away from the main flow of foot traffic and go through a set of heavy doors. After those electric, fluorescent lights, the atmosphere here is like a dungeon. The walls are close together. The lamps are dark. Our footsteps echo in the empty, metallic chamber.
The man leading me stops in front of a heavy, locked door. It looks like the entrance to one of those interrogation rooms you see in cop shows on TV. He takes out a security card and swipes it through the reader. The door unlocks.
I look behind me. The four other officers surround me in an impenetrable semicircle. There is no escape.
“Through here, if you will,” their leader says, cordially.
I nod at him, take a deep breath, and step through the doors.
Chapter Three
What I find inside is nothing what I expected.
Or rather, who I find inside.
Jeremy is there. I had a feeling he was behind this. That doesn’t surprise me as much as his companion does.
It’s Hugh.
Hugh Blackthorne, the man who stole me away and pulled out the collar. Hugh Blackthorne, the board member whom I remember as the most vocal opponent of Jeremy’s decision to take Stonehart Industries public.
Hugh Blackthorne…Jeremy’s father?
The door shuts behind me with a loud, metallic bang. The sound makes me jump and look back. The security officer is gone. I’m locked in this room with Jeremy and Hugh.
There’s a table in the middle, bolted to the floor. There are no chairs. I glance at one mirrored wall. My initial suspicions were right. This is an interrogation room.
If I thought the atmosphere between me and the guards was tense, it has nothing on the hostility I feel now. Jeremy and Hugh are both on the other side of the table. They do not look at each other. Jeremy towers over the shorter man, and yet I feel a certain…deference…he directs towards him.
It’s very, very subtle. I wouldn’t have been able to pick up on it if I were not already such an expert on Jeremy’s body language. It’s in the way he stands: not in front and in the lead, as is his usual, but half—or maybe a quarter, or even an eighth—of a step behind. It’s in the placement of his hands: both in his front pockets. I’ve never seen him do that before.
But mostly, it’s in the conflicting expressions I see darting across his face. Usually, he is an expert at keeping his emotions in check. His amazing poker face and all that invulnerability. But right now, he reminds me a bit of Robin: trying to put on a front to convince someone to believe, but not quite achieving it. Not with his usual style, panache, and confidence.
Could it be true, then? Could Hugh really be Jeremy’s father?
All those things I consider in the flicker of a second. Because that’s all the time it takes for Jeremy to reassume the lead.
“Lilly.” He steps toward me. His hands come out of his pockets. Two fists land on the table between us. His voice is raw, husky, deep…and angry. “You have twenty words to explain what the hell this is about. Go.”
I bristle. Maybe Jeremy can command me in private. However, in Hugh’s presence—and in my current state of mind—I am not about to keel over and assume deference. No way.
“I have twenty words?” I challenge. “You have twenty words, Jeremy! To tell me why the hell you’ve been blocking Fey’s calls. Why the hell you’ve assumed control of my life in ways you have no right to.”
“I have every right,” he says, “when the fate and well-being of what I care about is concerned.”
“No, you have no right,” I spit. “You had me believe I had full access to the outside world. In reality you were still in control. You lied to me, Jeremy. You made me believe I was losing my closest friend. Why? And what the hell is he doing here?”
I fling a finger out at Hugh.
Hugh does not flinch. Instead, he steps beside Jeremy—beside his son?
“I’m here,” he says in that deceptively calm, deceptively meek way of his, “because I received an invitation to come meet you again.” He gives a cunning smile.
And immediately I’m struck by a realization: Hugh is not as weak as he pretends. There is a certain vitality to him that I was too preoccupied to notice before. Had I been sharper, I would have seen it the first time we met in the Stonehart Industries building.
“Hugh has the connections to make this work,” Jeremy growls. He gestures dismissively toward the smaller man. “He would not be here otherwise.”
“But how lucky I am that Mr. Stonehart found himself generous enough to extend the offer,” Hugh says smoothly. There’s a slight—oh-so-slight—mocking undercurrent to the old man’s words.
Jeremy picks up on it, of course. His jaw tightens. But he does not reprimand Hugh.
In fact, the two still haven’t made eye contact.
“Back to you, Lilly,” Jeremy says. “You don’t know how much time I’ve lost today because of this. Time that is essential. Time that I won’t get back.”
“Now, now,” Hugh says. “It’s not all bad. Look at the company we get to entertain.”
“Stop,” Jeremy says. He turns on the man. “Do not interrupt.”
Hugh steps away, bowing his head. “I apologize,” he says.
What the fuck is going on between the two of them?
“What are you going to do with Fey and Robin?” I ask Jeremy.
“Do with them?” He has the nerve to chuckle. “I’m not going to do anything with them, Lilly. You are the only person who concerns me.”
“You’re not having them watched?” I demand. “You’re not having them followed?”
“They flew here with you. I don’t think they’re about to just run off now. I had
to speak to you to understand what you were thinking bringing them here.”
“It’s a free country, isn’t it?” I challenge. “They can go wherever they want.”
“Lilly,” Jeremy snarls my name. “Don’t go in circles. You need to tell me what they want.”
“They want to meet you!” I spit. “They came to California looking for me. They want to get me away from you!”
Hugh smiles at us both. “This is about…” he makes a subtle, choking motion around his neck, “…the device you fitted on her, isn’t it? I told you it was a bad idea, son.”
Son? Son! Shit that means—
“Don’t test me,” Jeremy growls. “I can still have you locked away, old man. Watch your tongue!”
“He warned you it was a bad idea?” I say to Jeremy, too used to these types of revelations to be truly shocked, but still feeling like I’m being thrown for a loop. “How much does he fucking know about us?” I gesture, borderline frantic, between me and Jeremy. “Who is he, Jeremy? Is he your father? Straight up: yes or no.”
Jeremy directs an evil, animalistic glare at Hugh. It’s so full of hatred and rage, so heated and unbridled in its intensity, that at that moment, I don’t need Jeremy to verbalize an answer.
I already know what it is.
“Yes,” he says finally.
***
I need to sit. Unfortunately, there’s nowhere I can do that in the room.
“He warned you it was a bad idea,” I repeat. “He warned you. That means he was in on it from the start. The revenge plot. My kidnapping. Everything you did to me, he knew about!”
“I never claimed I acted alone,” Jeremy says. “But that is irrelevant now. We can discuss it, Lilly, when it’s just you and I. Right now, we have Fey and Robin to deal with. Why did they come?”
“Why did they come?” I laugh in his face. “They came because of what you did, Jeremy. They came because they began to worry. Whatever you were trying to achieve, blocking Fey’s calls, obviously backfired. I don’t see the logic behind it. Remember when you told me to call Fey? To assure her that everything was normal? Well, what did you think she would do when she couldn’t reach me again? What did you think would happen? You heard her on the phone when she told me how you picked me. She was frantic. What happened to common sense, Jeremy? What happened to your intelligence? As I see it, none of this is my fault. It’s your fuck up completely. This is on you, Jeremy. Not me. And now that shit’s hit the fan, you’re the one who has to mop it up.”
Uncovering You: The Complete Series (Mega Box Set) Page 74
