Read Uncovering You 9: Liberation for Free Online

rich mogul who seemingly took me captive and made me his slave just because he could. Just because, as he so aptly put it, he is a man who can, and therefore does .
    Except that wasn’t the whole truth. It wasn’t even a glimmer of the truth. It was just one of his masks. At the time, it was a damned good one.
    But now that he’s revealed the person he is underneath? My understanding of him has flourished. He is not the single-minded, cold-heartedbastard I made him out to be. He is not the person he first showed himself to be. He is not even the person he thinks he is.
    Stonehart was his adopted name. In the same way, it was his adopted persona. And yes, he is the master of flipping a switch and going from one extreme to the other. That is something he taught himself to do.
    It is not who he is at the core
    So, my understanding of him comes at the least opportune time. At the moment when I can truly strike, at the moment when he’s left his king vulnerable…I find myself looking away.
    Looking away, and searching for the man behind the mask. Desperately wanting him to show more of that side of himself to me. Not because I need it for leverage. Not because I’m collecting ammunition for my revenge.
    But for a less selfish reason. When he does that, I know we’re connecting. We’re building on what we have, strengthening our base.
    In short, we’re treating each other as a man and woman should.
    So where does that promise I made to myself so long ago fit in? Does it even have a place anymore? Or do I simply abandon it, much the same way as Jeremy abandoned the TGB’s?
    Maybe it’s too soon to make that decision. As the plane starts its descent on the familiar California airfield, I find myself tucking those thoughts away. Revenge hasn’t been abandoned—not completely. But it has been set aside, with the understanding that, if things continue the way they are now, there is nowhere on earth that I would feel…
    Happier.

Chapter Five
     
    A surprise greets me when we drive through the gates of Jeremy’s estate and approach the entrance to his home.
    There are cars surrounding the entrance. Many cars. The last rays of the sun are just fading over the horizon.
    Lights shine through the window. I catch glimpses of people moving about within. Well-dressed men and women, in lavish suits and exquisite dresses.
    “Jeremy?” I ask, turning to him and feeling anxiety rise within me. “What is this? What’s going on?”
    “Isn’t it obvious?” He smiles. “A surprise party. To celebrate your safe return.”
    “This is for me?” I say, feeling a little queasy. It seems wrong, somehow, to have to so many people inside Jeremy’s mansion. It feels like a transgression of the rules binding our lives, “I thought that you don’t entertain?”
    “You’re right. In the past, I’ve kept this place to myself,” he tells me. “Partially for privacy, but partially for reasons that are obvious only to you.” He looks at me in a way that solidifies the meaning of his words.
    He didn’t entertain here because he didn’t want anybody else to know about the plan intended to keep me captive.
    “But the tides are shifting, Lilly. Stonehart Industries is now a public company. I thought it fitting to commemorate the occasion, and your return to the land of the living, with something like this.”
    “But I don’t know anyone…”
    “Don’t worry.” He touches my knee. “I’m sure you’ll see more than a few familiar faces.”
    The minute Jeremy and I walk through the doors, we’re swarmed by an onslaught of people.
    It’s disorienting and confusing and loud. It reminds me of our night at the gala, but on a different scale. The gathering here might be smaller—only just. But it feels more significant because of where it is happening.
    The lobby of Jeremy’s mansion has been transformed into an enormous reception area. Tables are lined with food and appetizers. Three separate mini-bars are erected along the far