Uncovering You 4: Retribution Read online

  “I have no secrets from Lilly,” Stonehart says with the utmost conviction. “She can hear anything I do. You were saying?”

  “Well, I was saying how…”

  I let Esteban’s voice wash over me as I sit there, stunned, at Stonehart’s declaration. He has no secrets from me? Really?

  What was up with the way his hand tightened over my shoulder when he said that? Were it coming from anyone else, I would have been sure that a gesture like that implied protectiveness.

  “…so you see,” Esteban’s words pull me back to the present, “…Dextran Technologies can provide Stonehart Industries with the experience you are looking for. In fact, nobody is better positioned to leverage our existing strategic partnerships. In the case of a merger, Stonehart Industries would gain control over—”

  “Not a merger,” Stonehart interrupts. “An acquisition.”

  Esteban clears his throat. “Yes. Ahem. I was hoping to persuade you to reconsider that part of the—”

  “No,” Stonehart cuts in. The word is not cruel or cutting. It simply is. “I will not tolerate a merger, and I will not waste my time with anything other than an acquisition. You knew the terms when I invited you here.” He raises an eyebrow. “Do you insist on trying to change them this late in the game?”

  Stonehart’s words carry more weight and power than anything I’ve ever heard.

  “No, no,” Esteban backtracks quickly. “It was just a suggestion.”

  “A poor one.”

  Esteban swallows and keeps going. “Yes.” He nods. “You’re right, of course. Yes. Anyway, in case of an acquisition, Stonehart Industries would have immediate access to the industry connections so prized by our rival firms, while Dextran—”

  “Excuse me.” Stonehart holds up one hand. “I feel awful, because I just realized that Lilly is sitting here with absolutely no context for our conversation.” He looks at me and smiles. “Esteban is the founder of a technology firm called Dextran. They produce some of the best silicon chips in the Middle East. They own the factories Intel uses to manufacture their processors in Israel.

  “Unfortunately,” Stonehart spares a glance at Esteban, “Dextran has suffered from poor management decisions in recent months. They are close to defaulting on their loans, even though they own some of the best and most prized IP in the industry. I invited Esteban here to discuss the possibility of a friendly takeover by a company with enough economic clout to negotiate favorable terms for repayment of Dextran’s debts.”

  He pauses for a moment and looks out the window at the sparkling sea. “Esteban’s position is unenviable, Lilly. He has a brilliant mind for hardware—” I see Esteban’s face light up, “—but a poor understanding of the business world. In fact, it’s fascinating that Dextran has lasted this long with him at the helm.”

  Esteban bristles, affronted. “Our business tactics have made us prosper for fifteen years—”

  “Built on the back of government loans and handouts,” Stonehart cuts in. “And now that the well’s dried up, where does that leave you? I know everything there is to know about your company, Esteban. I have already made up my mind about whether or not I am going to go through with the acquisition.”

  Esteban’s eagerness betrays him. He sits—if it were possible—even straighter. “Yes?” he asks.

  “I am,” Stonehart commits after a pause. “But surely you could have deduced that. The real reason I invited you here, Esteban, is to decide whether or not to sack you after the acquisition.”

  Esteban’s eyes widen on the spot. “You insult me—”

  “Is honesty an insult?” Stonehart counters. “The truth is, Esteban, I find you weak. I have always said that a firm’s employees should reflect the company’s own values. That reasoning applies even more so to those at the top.

  “The acquisition is going to go through. I confirmed it this morning. Even as we speak, different subsidiaries of Stonehart Industries are buying up remaining Dextran stock. By the end of, oh, say, the hour? I’ll have majority control. Then it’s just a matter of convincing your remaining shareholders to sell what they own, and the takeover will be complete.”

  Esteban surges up. “I never—”

  “Sit down, man,” Stonehart growls. He leans forward and takes his hand off my shoulder. Intensity pulses from him in waves. “You cannot change anything now. You came to America looking for a suitor—” Stonehart flashes a triumphant smile, “and you got me.”

  “The Israeli government will never ratify a hostile takeover.”

  “You think not?” Stonehart laughs. He reaches into his jeans pocket and takes out a folded sheet of paper. He passes it to Esteban. “Then tell me, please: what is that?”

  Esteban takes the paper from Stonehart. He regards it as if it were a ticking bomb. He unfolds it slowly against his leg, straightening the creases, and reads.

  It takes only a moment for his expression to change. His eyes darken. “What is this?” he asks. He sounds shaken. “When did you get this? How?”

  Stonehart leans back, puts his arm around me, and offers a casual shrug. “You see,” he says, his triumphant smile never reaching his eyes, “it helps to have friends in high places. The Israeli Minister of Finance, for example, has benefited from his relationship with my company on numerous occasions. This is just…” Stonehart motions vaguely in front of him, pretending to search for the right word, even though I know he’s just stretching out the killing blow, “…him returning the favor.”

  “You can’t do this!” Esteban protests. “You can’t—”

  “I already have,” Stonehart says softly. “Who do you think alerted me to Dextran’s troubles? The deal is as good as done. What I would worry about now, if I were you, is what type of impression you’re leaving on the man who owns your entire business.”

  Esteban looks at Stonehart, suddenly defiant. “I am the best there is. Nobody else comes close. You would be a fool to fire me.”

  “A fool from your perspective, perhaps,” Stonehart intones lazily.

  “Dextran’s employees have loyalty. We are like a family. They won’t take to a usurper.”

  Stonehart laughs. “Is that what you think? That I will take control of Dextran’s day-to-day operations, personally? If so, you’re a bigger idiot than I thought.”

  “Who else?” Esteban challenges.

  Stonehart looks at me. “Lilly.”

  Chapter Three

  A shocked silence falls upon the room. I don’t know who is more taken aback: me, or Esteban.

  He recovers first. After sputtering a few nonsensicals, he sneers. “The girl?” he says.

  “Yes,” Stonehart answers. “And it would do you good to address her with more respect. From what I gather, all six of your family members are Dextran employees. Trust me when I say that you do not want to see Lilly vengeful.”

  “This is an outrage,” Esteban proclaims. “A mockery!” He surges up. “I came here because you invited me to discuss a business proposition. Instead, I find… I find… this!” he spits, glaring at me.

  Stonehart stands, too. He steps in front of me, shielding me from Esteban’s baleful stare. “Then I suggest you leave.”

  Esteban’s jaw works furiously. But he is still the meek man I first met. He’s not a fighter.

  So, true to his nature, he turns and stamps out of the room. Alone.

  After the front door slams shut, Stonehart turns to me. He has an easy, relaxed smile on his face as he rubs his hands together.

  “So,” he says. “That went well, I think.”

  My mind is still reeling as I try to understand what Stonehart could have possibly meant when he suggested I take Esteban’s position.

  “You were joking,” I say in a small voice.

  Stonehart looks mildly amused at my incredulity. He shakes his head as if it were on a swivel. “No, Lilly. I’ve told you many times that I am a man of my word.”

  “But…” I sputter. “I mean… me?”

  “Yes
, you,” he smiles. There is no cruelty in his eyes or voice.

  It’s like yesterday never happened.

  That concerns me.

  “You’ve proven yourself more than capable of standing up for yourself,” he continues, sitting down in Esteban’s unoccupied seat across from me. He chuckles. “I know. Do you remember what I told my board after we first met?”

  “Yes,” I whisper, still full of disbelief.

  “I said that you have more courage than all of them put together.” He pauses to smile at me again. “I meant that.”

  I force my lips to move up in a strange facsimile of a smile that I do not feel.

  “Of course, you’d be taking direction from me. But you will have some autonomy over operations. More, as you earn them and prove yourself capable.”

  “You’re actually serious,” I say.

  His left cheek twitches up in an irritated tick. “Yes. I told you already. Don’t make me repeat myself.”

  “But… why?”

  “Remember the first time we spoke? It was on the phone. I told you I would offer reparations for the way you were dismissed.”

  “Yes,” I manage, “but I never thought…”

  “That I would make good on that promise?” He laughs. “You thought that was just a trick to lure you in, so that I could bring you here?” He spreads his arms to take in the entire room.

  “Well…” I blink, amazed that we’re having this conversation despite his rules. “…Yes,” I finally answer.

  He exhales and puts a hand over his heart. “Lilly, you wound me. Do you really think of me as such a monster?”

  Before I can stop it, my hand starts moving toward the collar. Stonehart notices.

  “Ah,” he says. “That. Yes, I can see how that little device might warp your perception of me. But you have to understand, Lilly, that I have to retain some control over you. We both know that you can be quite… willful.”

  I just stare.

  “The takeover’s not going to go smoothly, of course,” he continues. “There is going to be backlash. From within the government. From the employees. The United States and Israel pretend to be great friends, but it is an uneasy alliance that both countries wish they could forego. The Israeli people will not take well to a foreign conglomerate taking over one of their most treasured technology firms.”

  “And you want me….” I swallow. “You actually want me to…”

  “To take Esteban’s position as CEO, yes,” Stonehart sighs. “Really, Lilly, is that such a difficult concept to understand?”

  He stands up. “It will be a year or more before the company is ready to have you at the helm. That gives us plenty of time to work out any lingering kinks that might make my proposition difficult. Issues of trust, perhaps.” His eyes harden as he looks at me. “Remember, Lilly, that the contract you signed can be amended at any moment by myself. Do not make me force you to take the position at Dextran by adding a new clause. I would rather have you come into it of your own free will.”

  I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.

  This has to be a joke. Right?

  Stonehart looks outside. “My,” he says. “It’s a marvelous day out there. How would you like to go for a picnic? It seems like such a shame to waste the weekend indoors.”

  I swallow as I remember the last time Stonehart tried to lead me outside.

  He turns back to me. “No?” he asks. “I think the gift of proper employment should count as more than a single TGB, don’t you? In fact, I’d say it’s worth about… four.”

  My eyes widen. I do a quick sum in my head. The dove head was TGB number six. That means I have ten. Ten means… a brand new freedom.

  The freedom to go outside.

  “Really?”

  “Yes, really,” he says, smiling. He walks back to me and offers his hand.

  After a second’s hesitation, I take it. His strong, warm fingers wrap around my palm, cradling me and making me feel safe.

  That is the last feeling I should be having around Stonehart.

  But I can’t fight it. I can’t. I can’t change the way my body reacts to him.

  I may not like it, sure. I may know, logically, that it’s all types of wrong.

  But I still can’t do anything about it.

  He pulls me up. Without warning, he raises our linked hands overhead. “Do a spin,” he breathes.

  I do. A giggle bubbles up as I twirl around once.

  Stonehart smiles at me with warm, gentle eyes. He pulls me into him, so that our hips are touching. I’m thrown so off-balance by his radical shift in behavior that I decide it’s better to simply not think about it.

  Just go with the flow.

  He kisses the crown of my head, then says, “Come on. Let’s see if Charles can’t pack us some lunch. I’ve waited a long time to show you the grounds. Today feels like a day for celebration.”

  Chapter Four

  I let go of Stonehart’s hand as he steps over the threshold at the front door. I can hardly believe this is happening.

  He looks back at me. “It’s perfectly safe, Lilly. Come on.”

  I touch the black, smooth collar. “This is off?”

  “No,” Stonehart sighs. “You know that. But the range is extended. As long as you stay on my property, you’ll be fine.”

  He comes back and takes both my hands in his. He tugs me forward in a gentle pull. “Come on.”

  I nod, and take a step through the open door. As soon as I’m across, my entire body tenses in anticipation…

  But, nothing happens.

  Stonehart graces me with an indulgent smile. “I told you you’d be safe.”

  I look down at the ground. I see my feet, spread on the concrete steps leading out the front door. I take another step forward, then look back over my shoulder at the house now two feet away from me.

  Two whole feet. Twenty-four inches.

  It feels like a light year away.

  Stonehart watches it all with a proud smile.

  I touch the collar again. It’s still dead.

  Then, in a sudden rush of exhilaration, I run forward. I feel the wind in my hair, the warm, early morning sun on my skin. I feel freer than I have in ages. Nothing can take this moment away from me—

  I’m jerked to a stop by Stonehart’s hand tightening around my upper arm.

  I look at him. In an instant, my happiness is gone. Cold Stonehart is back, and he looks furious.

  “Trying to run?” he growls.

  “No, Jeremy,” I say, panicking, “I was just—”

  And then his mask breaks. The fury flies away, replaced by pure mirth as he starts to laugh.

  “I’m kidding,” he says, grinning at me like a school boy. “After all, if you run, where would you go?”

  “Ha, ha, very funny,” I say dryly. Still, something about Stonehart—Jeremy Stonehart, CEO and President of Stonehart Industries—cracking a joke makes all the panic I felt shrivel up and die.

  “Would you like a tour of the estate?” he asks, offering me his arm. “I have a feeling you’ll be spending quite a bit of time outside from now on. Unless I miss my mark…?”

  I smile up at him. “You’re very right,” I say, taking his arm. “And I would love a proper tour.”

  Chapter Five

  My life is so screwed up. It’s impossible for me to tell what part of it is reality, and what part is an act.

  Stonehart’s estate is vast. Massive. As he leads me around, I can’t help but wonder how much he must have paid to own this much acreage in California. The house is so far away from the property entry gates that it takes us twenty minutes just to walk there. We follow a winding road that curves through the trees.

  It feels wonderful to walk. Just to walk. With no worries about being shocked or harmed. Under cover of all the trees, I can forget where I am.

  Even having Stonehart beside me does nothing to hamper my spirits. In fact, I can probably say that, right now, I would rather be with him than withou
t him.

  It’s such a strange and bizarre sentiment. But Stonehart is a strange and bizarre man. One moment, he can be cruel and angry; the next, sweet, kind, and compassionate.

  I’ve said this before, but being with him right now almost makes it feel like everything that happened last night was just a bad dream. There is no lingering animosity between us.

  He teases me for the way I leap out of the way when I hear a bee approaching. Every once in a while, with absolutely no warning, he pulls me into him and kisses me with a passion that leaves my head woozy.

  Stonehart’s good mood is infectious. I’m laughing and joking with him as easily as if we were old friends. For those precious moments, I don’t feel like a prisoner, but an equal. Or, at least, like his actual lover, and not just a… whore.

  Stonehart’s dual personalities concern me. Who is he? Is he the man beside me right now? Or, is he the one who cut my clothes off and fucked me raw?

  Could he be both? I mean, he obviously is—it’s not like he has an evil twin who carries out all the horrible things he’s done to me—but I mean it in a different sort of way. The two personalities do not remind me of someone who is bipolar. I would know. I studied this stuff.

  No, the two personalities seem more secure than that. More tightly bound to who Stonehart is as a person.

  He’s always in control. I know that. It’s not like he loses control when he becomes domineering. He always knows exactly what he is doing.

  It must be a conscious shift, then. He must decide that he wants to treat me a certain way, and then do it.

  That means he is scarily in control of his emotions. That type of restraint has to be a burden.

  Again, I come back to the same question as always: Why? Why is he doing this to me? Why, if it’s in his nature to be both cruel and kind, doesn’t he forgo the cruelty?