Stanton Series Box Set: Stanton Series (Box Set)

by T L Swan

  “Stop it!” I scream and her attention comes back to me and she points the gun toward me and fires. It clicks—she’s out of bullets.

  My heart stops completely.

  “Oh, you idiot,” she sneers with the gun pointed at me as she walks closer.

  I keep the gun pointed at her head as I grip the trigger. Does she have another gun under her jacket? Why is she still coming toward me?

  “What are you going to do?” she screams. “What are you going to do? You haven’t got the guts!”

  I stay still as the rain comes down.

  “You make me sick, Natasha Marx.” She sneers and something inside me snaps,

  I close my eyes and pull the trigger three times. She falls to the ground as she starts to bleed.

  “My name is Natasha Stanton, bitch,” I whisper. I stand over her and gasp for breath, the gun drops from my hand to the ground with a thud and I fall to my knees next to her body. I raise my face to the rain as the dam of tears breaks.

  It’s over… it’s finally over… I did it… I did it.

  I lie in the hospital bed late at night and the last of the police officers takes his final notes. Adrian and Cameron are at the end of my bed and haven’t left my side since they found me this afternoon. Thank god they found me. I’m so grateful they were there with me when it ended. I won’t let them out of my sight because I’m worried if I take eyes off them for even a second they are going to disappear and none of this will be real.

  “Is there anything else you can think of, dear?” the officer asks.

  I shake my head. “No,” I reply and my eyes flick back up to him. “Actually yes,” I reply. “Are you sure he’s ok?” I ask.

  The officer smiles sympathetically. “Yes, like I told you the last three times. The only person who died today was Amelie Richards and she had another gun under her jacket and without a doubt was going to kill you. It was self-defence, Natasha. You did the right thing. The other offender, Carl, is under police guard in hospital but he will make a full recovery. There is another young man in police custody and we have arrested a guard that used to work for Joshua Stanton,” I frown. “What do you mean? Who?” I ask.

  “The house was leased in his name and we think that he is the person who planted the cameras inside your house and the one who rowed on a boat out to your yacht that night and took you. The other two men involved were working as waiters at the wedding and spiked your drinks.

  I hear Cameron tut to himself.

  My mind flicks back to when Joshua’s cars got stolen by the guard. That was a decoy all along. They didn’t want the cars; they wanted to put the cameras in. Shit.

  The police officer smiles warmly. “You’re very brave, Miss Marx.”

  I smile softly. “Not really,” I whisper. “I’ve never been so scared in my life.”

  “Your family are on their way. Enjoy your time with them.” He smiles and walks out the door.

  Cameron immediately stands and comes to my bedside where he picks up my hand and holds it.

  My eyes search his. “I didn’t mean to kill her, Cam,” I whisper.

  “I know,” he replies as he swipes the hair back from my forehead gently.

  I shake my head as my confusion hits crescendo. “I should have picked this up. How did I not pick up that she was so unstable?” I question. “Cameron, I’m a psychologist. I should have known.”

  He shakes his head. “Me and you both, Tash. She wasn’t even on our radar. We had no idea she was involved in any of this,” he replies.

  “Why?” Adrian sighs. “I just don’t understand why she would do this?”

  Cameron’s eyes flick to Adrian. “She wanted Joshua to feel the same loss that she felt when he went away and then she wanted him to suffer,” he replies. “Revenge at it’s worst. She spent all of the money that Joshua gave her on the ultimate revenge. The cameras were a powerplay to make Natasha pay too.”

  “She didn’t hurt me,” I whisper, mortified at what I have done.

  He nods. “She was going to, Tash. Deep down you know that. It was never going to end well,” he replies.

  My eyes drop to the bed and then back up between the two of them. “Thank you so much for finding me,” I stammer.

  Adrian smiles warmly and stands and comes over to the bed and cuddles me. “No, thank you for being alive,” he whispers into my hair. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

  Adrian

  We wait in the office at the jail as Vincenzo goes through the relevant paperwork. It is 1 am in the morning, Natasha is still in hospital and we are waiting to be led in to tell Joshua the news.

  “It will be twelve hours,” the duty officer states flatly. “You will need to get an injunction in the courts tomorrow morning.”

  “I want him released immediately,” Vincenzo replies.

  “Get in line. Lots of prisoners want to be released but we don’t have the authority so take it up in court,” he snaps.

  “This man is in here for murder but the supposed victim is alive and in hospital. He will not be going back into his cell and will have full use of telephone and internet,” Vincenzo asserts.

  The guard’s eyes hold his. “He can wait out his time as a free man inside the prison. There is a lounge area that he may use until the paperwork is complete,” he replies.

  Vincenzo nods and continues to fill out the paperwork and my eyes flick to Cameron. He can’t get the smile off his face… we all can’t. The intense feeling of relief is immeasurable.

  The guard knocks on the door of the office. “This way,” he gestures.

  We all stand and Vincenzo immediately embraces Cameron and me.

  “You did good.” He smiles warmly.

  “Natasha did good,” Cameron replies as he slaps Vincenzo on the back. We leave the room and follow the guard through a maze of corridors and finally into an office where Joshua is seated at a desk. His face falls when he sees us. “What’s wrong? Is it Mum?” he asks, panicked.

  The guard closes the door on the way out and Joshua frowns at the back of the door. “Cameron, what is it?” he asks again.

  “Joshua, we have her,” Cameron whispers.

  Joshua frowns. “Who?”

  “Natasha, she’s alive and we have her,” Cameron stammers.

  Joshua frowns.

  “It’s true.” I nod as I smile—I still can’t believe it.

  “Can’t be,” Joshua whispers as his eyes flick to me.

  I nod as my eyes well up with tears.

  “She’s alive?” he whispers.

  Cameron laughs. “Very much so. She’s in the hospital for observation but she is unharmed. She was given a blood transfusion and survived.”

  Joshua stands. “What!” he whispers.

  Cameron grabs his brother in an embrace. “We found her, we found her,” he whispers into his hair. “It’s over, everything is over. You can come home.”

  “She’s alive,” Joshua whispers again as his eyes flick between the two of us in disbelief. “She’s ok?” he gasps. He holds out his arm for me to join them and the three of us stand in an embrace as we let our emotions overload together for the first time since this tragedy began.

  Natasha

  I sit in the back of the car with a huge smile on my face which I can’t control. I’m going to see him. For the first time in seven weeks I’m going to see my love. We are waiting in the car outside the prison exit door located at the side of the prison entrance. There are cars lined up and news reporters telecasting from everywhere and for once I don’t begrudge them being here. I want the world to see the footage of the moment he is set free. Ben and Max are in the front seat and we have brought a limousine at my request. I want to be alone with him on the hour-and-a-half drive home. This is it—I look at my watch again—1.55 pm. He is being released at 2 pm. I clasp my hands nervously on my lap as I wait. Yesterday after the police came I was transferred by ambulance to hospital but thankfully was released this morning.

  My eyes fli
ck out the window as I think of Amelie and what she went through. I feel nothing but deep pity for her. The level of grief she must have felt when Joshua pushed her aside sent her over the edge. She was hell bent on revenge and making him feel the loss that she had felt when he left. But she was good to me and I was essentially looked after. She could have just killed me on that night, but she didn’t. Instead she gave me a blood transfusion and kept me in a luxury house. I wish I could have helped her… instead I killed her. Regret twists my stomach and I close my eyes as I remember firing the three bullets. At that moment I had snapped; I had passed my point of rational thinking. She pushed me past the point of no return but I’m relieved Carl survived.

  I’m so grateful for this family that we have. A broad smile covers my face when I remember my mum, Bridget and Abbie’s tears of joy at the hospital. Adrian and Cameron were so proud of themselves for finding me that they kept cuddling each other while the police were questioning me at the house. What a bunch of cry babies we all are… even Margaret. I have never been so glad to see her in my life. I was worried that she may have ended her own life by now. Thank god she hasn’t.

  The gates open. “Here he comes,” Ben says. “Just stay in the car.”

  My heart jumps through my chest as I see him come through the gates and I can’t stop myself. I fling open the car door and run through the carpark toward him. He sees me, drops his bag and I jump into his waiting arms.

  And he holds me, and finally my tears break the dam and I sob into his neck.

  I feel like I am having an out-of-body experience as I hear the reporter’s cameras click in the distance from every angle.

  “I’m here, baby,” I whisper into his neck and he pulls me tighter into him. “I’m here.”

  For some reason the beautiful memory returns to my mind of that very first night when we danced to ‘Diamonds’ and started this journey, and I smile into his strong neck.

  We stand still… lost in the moment… A moment I have waited so long for and he’s here, he’s here with me. He feels it too.

  He kisses me gently on the lips and pulls out of the embrace and smiles and the reporters all clap and cheer. In a very spontaneous un-Joshua moment he raises our linked hands in the air, much to their delight, and the cameras go wild. I laugh and he smiles warmly at me. We walk hand in hand to the car where Ben and Max are standing. Joshua embraces Ben and then Max and the cameras go wild again as I get into the backseat.

  I have him back, my man is here and all is well in the world.

  The security screen is up and Joshua gets in behind me and closes the door. He grabs my face between his hands and stares at me as if not believing this is true.

  “I’m here, babe,” I whisper.

  His eyes fill with tears and he pulls me onto his lap and buries his head in my shoulder with his arms so tightly around me that I can hardly breathe and without a word he breaks into full-blown sobs.

  Joshua

  My heart hammers in my chest as I hold her. Is this really happening? I pull back to look at her face, unable to hide my emotion.

  Natasha smiles at me through her tears. “I’m here, baby. We made it. We made it,” she whispers. “It’s ok. Everything is going to be ok.”

  My heart rips open and I sob loudly as I grab her face with both hands and kiss her lips with my eyes closed. I bury my head in her chest again to try and pull myself together enough to speak. She starts to cover my face in gentle kisses and I smile into her breast at the familiarity of the gesture.

  “Are you ok?” I whisper.

  She nods and smiles as she brings her leg over to straddle me in my seat.

  “I am, are you? Oh Joshua, you have been through so much,” she whispers as she wipes her hand tenderly down my face.

  I smile broadly through my tears. “I am ok now that you’re here,” I reply.

  She bends and kisses me as she holds my face, her tongue gently swipes through my open lips and my hands run up and down her bare thighs under her skirt.

  My girl is back. I’m saved.

  Unable to help ourselves, we keep kissing… and kissing… and kissing. I can’t believe this is happening—it’s like we have never been apart.

  “Oh Joshua, I love you. I love you.” She smiles into my lips and I laugh out loud. “I love you too.” I smile.

  As our kisses deepen I try to hold off the raging hard-on in my pants. Fuck, this isn’t the time. Natasha, who is straddled over me, starts to slowly rock herself backwards and forwards over my cock and I close my eyes to hold off my arousal. She starts to really ride me as her kiss continues.

  I shake my head. “Tash, you have just been through so much. I’m not taking you like this in the back of a car,” I whisper as I kiss her again.

  “This is our car. This is our life. And I need you inside me more than I need air,” she whispers defiantly as she rolls her hips again onto my cock. Her eyes darken as her eyes watch my lips.

  “I need this, Josh. I need you,” she whispers into my mouth and my eyes close in reverence. I lean back and undo my fly and release myself and she smiles broadly as her eyes glaze over again. She starts to really kiss me as she rises to her knees. I pull her underpants to the side and swipe the back of my fingers through her flesh. Fuck. Dripping wet. Oh, I’ve missed this woman. My eyes close with need and as I hold her pants to the side, bring her body down onto mine and slide home in one movement, we both groan in pleasure. We don’t move, we stay perfectly still and the only thing that can be heard is the sound of our hearts reconnecting. I love this woman so much and once again my tears start to fall.

  Natasha

  We sit at the dinner table after the meal with our family. Everyone is here and the atmosphere in the house is electric with celebrations, and laughter is floating throughout the space. My eyes stay locked on Joshua. If I didn’t know it before, I definitely know it now.

  We have both recovered from our combined meltdown in the car this afternoon on the way home from the prison, although somehow I think our trauma is far from over. I’m not sure it ever will be.

  Wearing dark denim jeans and a white T-shirt that is stretched over his broad shoulders, Joshua is the epitome of male perfection. My oasis in the desert of life. His dark eyes and beautiful large red lips call to me, and I think it’s the only thing on this Earth that I do understand. One is not supposed to look this orgasmic when they have been in prison, but it’s as if every one of his senses has blossomed today. He has hit his peak and is alive with electricity and it is coming loud and clear my way. If I touched him with my finger I would feel the zap of the electric current running through him.

  I want this party over—I want to be naked with my man.

  “So what are the plans for the next week?” my mother asks.

  Joshua’s eyes lock on mine. “Tomorrow we are flying to Kamala and Natasha and I are getting married,” he replies.

  “But I need to get my hair done,” shrieks Abbie. “Can’t we leave the day after tomorrow?” she asks as everyone breaks into excited chatter.

  He shakes his head as he gives me that look. Fuck me, it screams, and god it’s smoking hot.

  “Nope, the plane leaves at ten. And I don’t care who’s on it except for my bride,” he replies as his gaze burns a hole in my underwear.

  I smile broadly as my cheeks heat. God, he makes me feel like a giddy schoolgirl.

  Everyone groans at his soppiness. “Yeah, thanks a lot,” the chorus of sighs sings. “Good to know we are needed,” Adrian groans.

  “Now if you don’t mind us being rude, Natasha is tired, I’m sure. We’re going to go to bed.” He stands and puts his hand out for me and I take it as my nerves start to pulse through me.

  “Yeah, because you are going to let her get so much sleep.” Cameron smirks and everyone giggles.

  Mum blows me a kiss and Bridget smiles through teary eyes as she gives me a little wave.

  “See you in the morning.” I smile, slightly embarrassed. Oh jeez, it
’s so obvious what we are going upstairs for.

  I follow silently as Joshua leads me up the stairs by the hand. My heart has picked up speed and I feel nervous. Why do I feel so nervous? As if sensing my inner turmoil Joshua turns and looks at me as we hit the top step.

  “You ok, presh?” he whispers.

  I nod and smile softly. I’m much more than ok. I’m perfect. I have never been better. He leads me into the bedroom and straight into the bathroom and turns the hot water on in the shower. I stand like a nervous child waiting for my next instruction.

  He turns and takes my jaw in his hands and runs his tongue through my lips. “What’s wrong, baby?” he whispers as he pulls back to look at my face.

  My eyes well up and I shake my head as I try to stop myself from having a full-on breakdown and sobbing like a baby.

  His eyes hold mine as he grabs the bottom of my shirt and lifts it over my head and slides my jeans down. His lips drop to kiss me gently on the neck and my arms go around his neck. He’s being so gentle with me as if I might break and the tenderness between us has never been stronger. His eyes go to the marks on me, the faded bruising on my body from Carl’s beatings, and I look down at them shamefully. Very slowly he places his hand tenderly on my stomach and his eyes meet mine in a silent question. I shake my head as tears fill my eyes. “There’s no baby,” I whisper and he kisses me gently, sensing that I desperately need him to tell me it’s ok.

  His eyes meet mine again and he picks up my hand and turns it over and looks at the deep dark purple scar on my wrist.

  “I’m so sorry,” he whispers. “I’m so, so sorry that you have had to go through this nightmare.”

  I shake my head. “Don’t,” I murmur. “I don’t want you to remind me of what has happened, Joshua.” I brush my lips over his.

  “You don’t,” he breathes as his tongue gently swipes through my lips.

  I shake my head and bring my hands up to his face. “I want you to make me forget,” I whisper.