Uncovering You 11: The Lost Chapter Read online

  “Of course I want you,” I begin, but Jeremy cuts me off with a scathing look.

  “Just don’t,” he warns. He takes a deep breath. I can see him fighting the rage that tries to consume him. I see him fighting the Stonehart persona that threatens to emerge. “Don’t—test me, Lilly. Not now. it would not—“ he takes another deep breath, “—be an intelligent thing to do.”

  “Just tell me what you’re thinking!” I plead. “Just share something with me, Jeremy, please. I want to know what goes on behind those brilliant eyes of yours.”

  “Nothing!” he barks, and the single word feels like a reprimand.

  He gets up. “This is not—we should not—share the same roof tonight.” He turns away.

  “Jeremy, wait—“

  “No.” He does not look back. “Leave me be, Lilly, for your own sake.”

  And with that, he stalks out into the evening air.

  ***

  I find Jeremy sitting alone on the beach late at night, staring out into the sea.

  I come up quietly behind him and put my arms around his neck. He stiffens.

  “I’m sorry,” I whisper. I nuzzle my face into the space between his shoulder and his neck. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”

  He places his hands over mine but doesn’t speak. We stay like that, together, for a very long time. The only sound aside from our steady breathing comes from the calm waves breaking against the shore.

  Finally, Jeremy stirs.

  “Of course I miss it,” he says in a hushed, scratchy voice. “I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t. I think about Stonehart Industries every day. I read the news, I stay up to date. I see acquisitions I would make, companies I would love to take over and turn around to make a miraculous profit. I can’t just shut that part of my brain off, Lilly. Before you…” he kisses my hand, “…that’s all I knew.”

  “I’m sorry,” I say. “That you gave it up for me.”

  “Don’t say that,” he rumbles. His grip tightens over mine. “I am not. You are the most important piece of my life. I love you, Lilly. The other things…they’re all a distant second compared to you.”

  “I know,” I whisper. “And I love you for it. I just don’t want to be the cause of you becoming lost. You were—you are—so driven. I can’t imagine a man like you without a purpose.”

  “You are my purpose,” he whispers.

  I smile into him. “Thank you. But Jeremy, please—don’t make me your single one.”

  He nods, deep in thought. I unwrap my arms and let him be.

  ***

  Jeremy comes to me in the early morning and we make love.

  ***

  Another week passes. Then two. Then three.

  Life is slow here. Nothing is hurried. It’s the best type of place to recover.

  Jeremy and I have no more flare-ups. We spend time tranquilly.

  I continue painting. Every time I do, a little niggling bit of doubt tries to come to the forefront. It’s there every time I think of my father. It’s something I haven’t told Jeremy, but that has been perpetually bothering me:

  Paul’s innocence.

  Jeremy and I don’t speak of what happened when I was kidnapped by Hugh. It’s all in the past, it’s all forgotten. None of those demons can touch us. And I don’t want to hearken back to it, and yet…

  And yet I still feel uncomfortable with Jeremy believing that my father was responsible for his mother’s death.

  Does it really matter? I wish I could say “no”… but I feel a very real need to clear my father’s name.

  The reason I haven’t yet, so far? Jeremy’s guilt. I don’t want to add to it. He did all those awful things to me, when he was still Stonehart, because he thought my father was responsible. If I reveal to him now that he wasn’t…well, I doubt it would make Jeremy feel any better about our past.

  Besides. The skeletons are buried. Those things shouldn’t matter.

  Except to me, they do. And I can’t feel fully at peace until my father’s memory has justice done.

  Jeremy looks up at me from behind his laptop screen. “You’re awfully quiet,” he says. “What are you thinking about?”

  “Nothing,” I lie. I smile at him and take his hand. “Let’s go for a swim. The water’s wonderful.

  ***

  I’ve been working on the same painting for the last month. It’s coming together better than I could have expected. Still, I haven’t shown Jeremy.

  He leaves me be when I hit one of my trances. I can paint for hours without noticing time go by.

  I feel stronger and stronger with each passing day. I still have some lapses of sudden weakness, but their frequency is decreasing.

  I can make love to Jeremy more than twice a day now.

  ***

  Almost two months into our stay, Jeremy makes an announcement.

  “I have a surprise coming at the end of the week, Lilly,” he tells me. “I’m quite sure you’re going to love it.”

  I press him on what it is, but he won’t say. He just smiles, his eyes sparkling, and kisses my insistence away.

  ***

  Days pass as I await my surprise. A mix of excitement and trepidation fills me. Excitement because surprises mean something new… trepidation because “something new” leads to uncertainty.

  The one thing I’ve come to depend on most throughout my recovery is certainty.

  Still, Jeremy is infuriatingly mum on what it’ll be.

  One evening, as we’re having another spectacular dinner prepared by Manuela, I hear an odd rumbling in the distance. I don’t pay much attention to it at first, but as it grows louder, I start to get alarmed.

  “Jeremy?” I ask. “Do you hear that? What is it?”

  He dabs his lips with a napkin and smiles. “I do. But I’m not going to say what it is until…” he leans back in his seat and casually points to the sky. “Look there.”

  I twist in my seat, and discover a helicopter throttling toward the island.

  My nerves kick in. Last time I was in a helicopter, I’d been rescued by Jeremy from Esteban and Hugh. I fight the instinctive urge to be afraid.

  “Who is that?” I ask. A bit of panic seeps into my voice. “Why are they coming?”

  “They’re coming at my invitation, of course,” Jeremy says. He stands up and holds out his elbow. “We should go greet them.”

  “Who’s on the helicopter, Jeremy?” I ask him, the urgency in my voice increasing. “Tell me! I thought it was just supposed to be me and you.”

  “Tell you, and ruin the surprise?” Jeremy chuckles. “I think not. Come, Lilly. There’s nothing to be frightened of.”

  I push myself up, eyeing him warily. He just smiles and nods to his arm.

  I take it. He leads me out to a clearing along the beach. The helicopter hovers overhead. Jeremy gives the signal, and slowly, it descends.

  The blades kick up sand and blows my dress against my legs. I shield my eyes and look away as my hair goes flying.

  The chopper touches down. The blades slow as the engine is turned off. The noise dies down.

  The cabin door opens, and Fey steps out.

  My eyes nearly pop from my head. Before they get the chance, Robin swings down and joins Fey on the ground.

  I’m flabbergasted. Fey and Robin…I thought I’d lost them.

  “Surprise,” Jeremy whispers behind me. I feel his hands come around my waist. “I hope you like it.”

  I stare at them, almost in a daze. Fey looks around, sees me, gives a little wave. She looks nervous, but it’s not anywhere close to how I feel.

  They’re not the only ones on the helicopter. Robin turns back and helps someone else down. My breath catches. It’s my mom. Followed by Dr. Telfair, and Charles.

  Of course, I’d seen my mother in the hospital when I awoke. She stayed for about a month, but then went back home. She and Conner had actually fallen in love and were living together, though not married. It didn’t matter that he was Jeremy’s mole
or not. That’s how they met, but it didn’t preclude true feelings from developing.

  “Lilly!” my mom calls out. Her voice breaks me from my trance. I unhook Jeremy’s arms and run toward the gathering.

  She meets me first, swallowing me whole in an enormous hug. She frames my face and beams at me. “You look so much better,” she gushes. “So much better!”

  I smile back, then see Fey from over her shoulder.

  Tears fill my eyes as I approach her. She squares herself to me and smiles, putting on a strong front. But I can feel her uneasiness. Robin stands beside her, his arm over his wife’s shoulders. His smile is genuine, and he looks back past me, at Jeremy, and nods.

  “H—how?” I manage. “How did you get here? How is this possible?”

  Fey looks at me. She bites her lip.

  And then she springs forward, the iciness vanquished, and holds me tight.

  “Robin did it,” she says. She starts to cry against my shoulder. “I never stopped thinking about you, Lilly. Not once! Your mother—she told us everything that’s happened. I couldn’t believe it. But look at you! You’re here, you’re alive.” She holds me by the arms. “You’re alive, Lilly, and I forgive you for everything that happened, and I’m sorry for everything I said, all the horrible things I told you, and, and, and…”

  She starts blubbering. “Fey, it’s okay,” I say. “It’s okay, and you’re here, I can’t believe it!” I glance back at Jeremy, who’s smiling at me from the distance, both hands in his pockets, and giving us space. “You don’t need to apologize. I don’t—I didn’t think I’d ever see you again!”

  I start to cry too, but they’re happy tears, tears of disbelief. This is all astounding.

  I let go of Fey. Robin comes over and holds his hand out. He looks much older than when I last saw him. Not in a bad way. Before, he always seemed like a boy. Now, he gives the impression of a man.

  “Lilly,” he says.

  I forego his outstretched hand and simply grab onto his neck to hold him close. “I never forgot your note,” I whisper, for his ear alone. “I never forgot that you said I could come to you if I needed help.”

  He smiles at me. I greet Charles, who I saw last two months ago, and then Dr. Telfair, who inquires about my progress. I tell him it’s been great.

  Jeremy comes to us then. He slides a hand around my lower back. “What do you think?” he asks, smiling.

  “Jeremy, this is amazing,” I effuse. “I can’t believe you did it. This is what you’ve been working on? How? How is it that Robin and Fey are here?”

  “It all began with the man over there,” Jeremy says acknowledging Robin with an approving glance. “He authored an editorial piece that made the cover of Forbes last month. It detailed my sudden disappearance. He didn’t believe the story of my death. And his research was quite extensive. It impressed me—as did his intimate knowledge of Stonehart Industries. It was almost like,” he adds, with a wink directly at me, “he had a vested interest in the company.”

  I look at Robin. Before, such praise would have made him blush. Now, he stands tall and proud.

  “I reached out to him,” Jeremy continues. “We spoke on the phone. I explained some things, we talked business, and I decided to invite him here.” He smiles at the circle of people around us. “I thought it would be good for your friends to see you, Lilly. To give you a chance to reconnect now that you’ve been granted a second lease on life.”

  “Thank you, Jeremy.” I murmur. I look at everyone around us with tears in my eyes. “And…everyone else? Why did you invite everyone else?”

  “Because,” Jeremy says, “I wanted all the people important to us to be present when I do this.”

  He goes down to one knee. My breath catches.

  He reaches in to his back pocket and pulls out a small black box. He holds it in front of him, to me. “Lilly Ryder,” he says. He clears his throat, glances around, and then his eyes focus exclusively on me. He sees only me. “I know I proposed to you once before. And we agreed to hold off the wedding until you fully recovered. Not that you can very well marry a dead man,” he smirks, “but Robin and I are working on my resurrection.”

  My eyes go to Robin, who gives an affirming nod. I look back at Jeremy.

  “But this time,” Jeremy continues, taking my hand, “this time, I’m proposing to you here, in view of our family and our friends, because it signals the start of a new life.” He opens the box.

  Fey and my mother give audible gasps when they see the ring. It’s my ring: the large emerald cut diamond set on a thin platinum band.

  I feel woozy, and it has nothing to do with my vertigo.

  “So. Lilly Ryder. Will you take my hand in marriage and do me the honor of becoming Mrs. Lilly Stonehart? For the second time?”

  I look at Jeremy through watery eyes. My words come in a thin, frail breath.

  “Of course,” I whisper.

  He kisses me.

  ***

  Later that night, after everyone’s settled in, I find myself walking arm-in-arm with Fey along the beach. The sky is clear, the air warm and humid.

  A full moon illuminates our path, and the stars in the sky are like hundreds of sparkling diamonds.

  We’re catching up, laughing and reminiscing about old times and adventures we’ve had while apart. Fey’s story isn’t anywhere near as complex as mine, but I still find it fascinating. She graduated and got married and found a passion for photography, of all things. With Robin earning a good salary, she’s been able to freelance without worry if her work sells, and without needing to rely on her parents for money.

  I ask if she’s considering graduate school any time soon. She giggles and confides that she and Robin have been thinking about children instead. She’d stay home, of course…

  The thought fills me with a bit of sadness. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to have children with Jeremy. The things my body’s been put through…any pregnancy would be high-risk.

  But that only steals my attention for a second. I’m just overjoyed to have my best friend at my side again.

  “Jeremy mentioned something about working with Robin?” I ask. “Do you know what that’s about?”

  “A little,” she admits. “Robin’s feature piece on Jeremy got a lot of coverage. It was strange that the man whose name is behind one of the most influential companies in the world would simply disappear, with news of his death only coming out long after the fact. A lot of people appreciated Robin’s theories on how that wasn’t the whole truth. When Jeremy contacted him—you should have seen how excited he was, Lilly. I’ve heard snippets. I think Jeremy wants Robin to be the publicist for his return. Or at least to write a slam-dunk article detailing how all his theories proved true.”

  “Wow,” I mutter. “That’d be the story of the year.”

  “It’s be the story of a lifetime,” Fey answers.

  I smile. I love the idea of our men working together.

  I love the idea of Jeremy returning to the public eye even more.

  ***

  We get married the next day, right on the beach in view of the people most important to us. Manuela’s husband serves the role of Justice of the Peace. Her children precede me as flower girls and ring bearers .

  I kiss Jeremy, and he puts the ring on my finger, and then I kiss him again. It’s a ridiculous sappy, impromptu affair. But I love every single moment of it. Doing this way, so simply, knowing of Jeremy’s vast wealth…somehow makes it very, very special.

  At night, when we’re all celebrating and drinking from Jeremy’s private vintage, I decide it’s finally time to confide in Jeremy that one small thing that’s been bothering me.

  I take him aside from the festivities. “I have to tell you something,” I say.

  “Yes?” He asks, peering down at me.

  “It’s about my father.”

  Jeremy’s face turns sad. “Oh, Lilly…”

  “No,” I say. “It’s nothing bad. But it’s someth
ing you have to know. Something I was told while in captivity.”

  Jeremy’s expression hardens.

  I take a deep breath, and say it all in a rush. “Hugh told me that he knew your mother was cheating on him. He told me that he orchestrated the fire that took her life. It wasn’t Paul—Paul’s innocent. Hugh gave him drugs, early versions of the one he fed me, ruining his mind, so that you would never find out the truth. But it was Hugh who killed your mother. Not Paul. Not my father. It was yours.”

  Jeremy looks at me in silence for a long, scary moment. For a second, I’m afraid I spoke too soon, revealed the secret too early—spoken too rashly. I can see his mind working, fitting in this information with his view of me, and the world…

  Finally, he stirs, “You waited this long to tell me. Why?”

  “I didn’t want you to blame yourself for what you did to me if you found out it was without cause. I wanted to protect you. All you’ve done, with me in the collar, I’ve forgiven. Because of love.”

  “Love is what we have,” Jeremy agrees. “And our bond is strengthened by your honesty.” He squeezes my hand. “Thank you, for telling me.”

  “You’re not mad?”

  He laughs. It’s a rich deep laugh. “No, Lilly I’m not. I love you.” He tucks my hair behind my ear. “Anything outside of that is just noise.”

  I beam at him, elated. He kisses me once more.

  ***

  That night, for the first time ever, we make love as husband and wife.

  Many hours later, I’m lying against Jeremy’s chest, staring off into nothing as he slumbers beneath me. Jeremy is a heavy sleeper when he’s fully satiated.

  My husband’s a heavy sleeper when he’s satiated, I correct, then drift away on that thought…

  Until Jeremy starts to stir. He begins mumbling words I cannot understand. His body starts to jerk beneath me, back and forth, back and forth. “No,” he gasps. “No, Lilly, no, don’t look away, no, I’m coming for you, Lilly, Lilly, LILLY!”

  Immediately I’m up and alert. I shake him by the shoulders. “Jeremy. Jeremy, wake up!”

  “No, no,” he keeps gasping. “Don’t look away…”

  “Jeremy!” I scream. I slap him across the face. His eyes pop open. He jolts up in bed, nearly knocking me over in the process. He’s breathing hard, his nostrils flare, and every muscle fiber of his upper body is straining, flexing…