Uncovering You 9: Liberation by Scarlett Edwards Page A

fortune he discarded to create his own place in the world.” His eyes focus on me, full of dark, sly understanding. “If you don’t call that a success, Miss Ryder , then I don’t know what it might be.”
    “He didn’t do it because of you,” I sneer, my voice full of loathing. “He did it in spite of you. He did it to take back the part of the world that you stole from him.”
    “Ah. Are things really so simple?” Hugh settles back into his chair across the table from me. “Do those distinctions really make a difference? What does it matter what the motivations are, if the outcome is the same?”
    “It matters,” I say, but refuse to indulge him by elaborating on my stance. “What do you want, Hugh? Why did you bring me here? Is it to scare me with the collar once more?” I flash all my teeth in a vicious grin. “Because I’m afraid you’ll find me stalwartly immune.”
    “No, no.” He shakes his head and waves my suggestion away with the most dismissive of gestures. “I’m not one for such theatrics. That last unfortunate incident was all Jeremy’s idea, I fear. I warned him against it too, you know. I told him you wouldn’t like it.”
    “Whatever,” I say. “Tell me what you want so I can get back to my own work. I’m not paid to mince words with you.”
    “No, you’re paid to warm my son’s bed,” he says while rifling through his drawer, not looking my way.
    A violent spark of hatred blasts to life inside me at the accusation. I don’t rise to the bait. I just file it away as one more ugly grievance I have against the man.
    “It’s sad, really, how hard you try to get under my skin,” I say. “Why? Is it jealousy? Are you envious that I get to share in your son’s success while you’re stuck playing your little games out of this hole?” I look around the darkened office. “You really are a rat.”
    Well, so much for not rising to his bait.
    “Here,” he says, ignoring my remark and emerging from his little cavern to extend an envelope to me. “You should take this.”
    “Again?” I ask. The envelope looks identical to the one he brought to my room in Boston. “I said no the first time. Why would things be any different?”
    “Take it, Lilly ,” he says. “It’s worth more to you than you suspect.”
    I lift my chin and turn away. Jeremy doesn’t want me accepting anything from Hugh. I’m not about to go breaking the rules now.
    “Turning your back on me is a big mistake,” Hugh warns softly
    I stop. The threat in his voice is undeniable. The words are also so eerily close to what Jeremy said last night that they bring me back to that frightening moment.
    But I’m not about to cower before Hugh. He has no power over me. No influence. Whatever hold he has over Jeremy has long since expired.
    So I spin back, defiant and even angry that he would dare threaten me now. “Why?” I challenge. “I’m not afraid of you, Hugh. I despise you. I know what you did to your son. I know how you treated your wife. I know the kind of man you are. You’re despicable . You’re not worth the dirt on the soles of my feet.”
    “High and lofty words coming from one so preciously guarded,” he says. He shakes his head, unaffected by my outburst. “You don’t even know what’s going on around you. Do you? You’re truly blind to it all.”
    I square my shoulders. “And what is it I’m blind to, precisely, pray tell?”
    “Now, now, it’s not my place to do that,” he mutters. He lifts the envelope toward me once more. “You might find this a good starting point, however.”
    “I don’t want it,” I tell him again. “I’m not getting caught in your web. You can stake your life on that.”
    “Ah,” he smiles. “Don’t you see, my dear? It’s not my life that is at stake.”
    I’ve had enough. I turn away and stride to the door. These types of threats are just meant to upset me. To make me more confused.
    Well, the only one confused here is Hugh. I’ve dealt with