Uncovering You 4: Retribution by Scarlett Edwards Read Free Book Online Page B

something.”
    The girl’s protests are lost on me as I push off from the side of the house and start to sprint back to the sunroom. If Stonehart went to check on me, and finds me out of bed… well, it wouldn’t take a genius to put two and two together.
    I run straight through the bushes and over the wet grass, not bothering with the proper paths. I cry out when I stub my toe against something in the dark, nearly falling flat on my face in the process. But I catch my balance at the last moment and keep going.
    I burst through the glass door, chest heaving. I don’t wait for it to close properly before diving in my bed and ducking under the covers.
    The room is silent. My breathing is hard and fast. Adrenaline has my body wound tight as a guitar string. One pluck and I’ll snap in two.
    I strain my ears for Stonehart’s entrance while trying to calm my heart rate at the same time. I can’t pretend to be asleep if I’m gasping like a maniac.
    My breaths slow. I haven’t heard anybody enter the room. I let myself relax, thinking that the danger has passed…
    Then I hear his voice.
    “Lilly.” It’s a hushed whisper. “Lilly. Are you asleep?”
    I pretend not to hear him and regulate my breaths to be slow and deep, like in a slumber.
    He walks to me. I can hear his footsteps against the tiles. My insides clench with apprehension at his approach.
    “Lilly, Lilly, Lilly,” he chuckles. “What are you doing here?”
    I open my eyes sleepily, pretending to just be waking up. “Jeremy?” I say, going for my best confused voice. “Why are you here?”
    He looks quite impressive wearing nothing but a pair of Giorgio Armani sleeping pants. The pale moonlight illumines the hard lines of his chest.
    I don’t look at his face. If I meet his eyes, I’m terrified he’ll see my guilt. Even worse, I won’t be able to hide my reaction to what I saw going on in his office if I look at him now. All my emotions would come jumbling out.
    “I’m here to check up on my favorite girl, of course,” he says, lowering himself on the edge of the bed. He reaches out and starts stroking my hair. “I’m leaving early tomorrow morning and wanted to see you before I go.”
    I want to recoil from his touch, knowing where his hands have just been, but that would betray my act. So, instead, I lie there, not moving, and answer, “I know. I saw the note.”
    “Did you?” he muses. “And was there anything else you saw recently that was of interest to you?”
    My whole body tenses.
    He knows .
    “No,” I answer meekly.
    “Are you sure?” he asks. “Nothing at all? Nothing you would like to admit to ?” His hand tightens in my hair. I whimper as pain shoots through my skull. He pulls my head up, making my neck crane at an awkward ankle, and hisses in my ear, “What I like even less than liars, Lilly,” he tells me, “are cowards.”
    I close my eyes tight and will the pain to go away.
    “Now,” he continues. “Are you absolutely sure there’s nothing you’d like to tell me?” His voice drops to a menacing whisper. “Think very carefully before you answer. It can be the difference between a happy existence for you, and one that becomes… trying .”
    I’m too far gone to repent now. I know all Stonehart has to do to figure out I was outside is look at the cameras.
    Idiot! What was I thinking, trying to pretend I was asleep?
    The only difference, I’m sure, is that if I admit to things now, I will be subject to immediate punishment. If he finds out later, by himself… well, he’ll have probably cooled off somewhat. And anyway, it will buy me an extra two days to prepare myself for whatever he decides to do to me on his return.
    “No,” I whisper finally.
    Stonehart releases my hair. His voice turns warm. “Then I guess I was mistaken.” He leans down and kisses my cheek. “Sleep tight, Lilly.”
    He stands up. I breathe a sigh of relief. As I hear his footsteps start to echo away, some of my tense muscles relax