The NSC Boxset: Heart of Stone

by D H Sidebottom

  “I’ll . . . just . . .” he gestured to the kitchen and I nodded.

  What the hell had that been about? I couldn’t deny that my body had reacted to him, the throb in my belly was proof to that, but I didn’t understand what had happened. Was he just being friendly or caring or. . . . No! I would not go there; I didn’t need that kind of complication in my life at the moment.

  I heard George’s faint cry from up the stairs. Courtney shouted that she would get him as her voice carried from the bottom of the stairs. I popped Katie in the playpen and switched on the mobile that hung from the side of it as I went to prepare George’s bottle.

  The kitchen was a hive of activity and Elijah, Neo and Greg were all leant over the laptop pointing at co-ordinate’s on a map as Greg was filling them in on Dane’s old haunts.

  I warmed the bottle and turned to catch Elijah watching me before he quickly averted his eyes. I walked into the room to a happy smiling George. “Good morning, peanut” I grinned at him and he chuckled happily.

  My heart broke as I looked at him, he was the spitting image of his father, from his hair to the shape of his nose to the twinkle in his eye and I knew this boy would break plenty of girls’ hearts, just like his father had broken mine yesterday.

  He gurgled and babbled at me as his hand reached for my mouth. “I know George,” I stated seriously as I placed my mouth to his fingers and sucked on each one. He chuckled merrily and Katie joined in as soon as she heard her brother. “Aunty Courtney’s giving him his breakfast this morning,” Courtney said as she took the bottle from me and sat down with George.

  There was a knock on the door and Neo shouted that he was getting it. A moment later Nate and Liv entered the room.

  “Hey you,” Nate said softly as he kissed my forehead and pulled me in for a hug. “Jesus, Ava,” he whispered and I hugged him back. Nate was my boss but he had become a really good friend and right now I relished the security and affection he offered me.

  “How are you?” he asked as he pulled back and Liv embraced me. I nodded and smiled at him over Liv’s shoulder but he scowled at me slightly, knowing I was far from okay.

  “I’m glad you’ve called in,” I said to Liv, “I need a recommendation for childcare. I need to get back to work.”

  “Ava, there’s no rush,” Nate informed me.

  “No, I’m ready.”

  He grinned at me. “Well good, cos’ that secretary I’ve got now keeps hassling me for my body.” He winked and I smirked at Liv who narrowed her eyes on her husband.

  “So the call through from your office yesterday saying ‘Get that sweet ass bent over my desk’ was me hassling you?” she lifted her eyebrows at him.

  He grinned at her. “But you didn’t say no, Angel.”

  Courtney and I laughed at them. “Well if you can’t fuck your boss who can you fuck?” I winked at Liv who smiled at me ruefully.

  “Well you should know,” Nate snorted and I poked my tongue out at him. “Where is he anyway?” he asked and I sighed. He narrowed his eyes on me “Ava?”

  I looked away. Nate’s hand grasped my chin and turned me to look at him, he was very protective of me and I loved him for it, not romantically . . . mine and Nate’s relationship was purely platonic and I could never picture myself sexually involved with him as was the same for him and I think that’s why we got on so well. He was utterly and wholly in love with Liv and luckily she knew this too and had been gracious and accepted mine and Nate’s friendship for what it was.

  I diverted my eyes but he didn’t let me go. “What’s he done, Ava?”

  I sighed. “He just said some . . . some things yesterday, that’s all,” I answered but didn’t look at him.

  He tilted my head back. “Now answer the question truthfully and honestly,” he ordered. I saw Elijah enter the room and stand beside the door.

  “He . . . he kind of accused me of . . . enjoying Dane’s . . . you know . . . the sex, Mason thought I had enjoyed it with Dane.”

  I saw Nate’s face close down and I heard Liv’s sharp intake of breath. Nate released my chin but didn’t take his eyes off me. “He said what?”

  I tensed. “It doesn’t matter Nate, he was just coming down and it was just the coke talking,” I defended but I noticed his fists clenched and his eyes darken.

  Shit!

  “Nate please, I don’t need this right now,” I warned but he shook his head.

  “How many fucking times are you gonna let him fuck you up and then fucking defend him, Ava?” he snarled and I bit my lip.

  “Nate!” I implored.

  I looked at Liv who shook her head at me. “He’s right, Ava.”

  I shook my head but Nate palmed my face. “Ava, you know how much I love you, you are like my best friend rolled into my sister but for fucks sake, I can’t sit back and watch him destroy you,” he said gently.

  I flinched at the sincerity in his voice and I nodded. “I know,” I whispered, “He’s gone now anyway. He’ll be high by now so . . .” I finished with a shrug.

  “So he’ll be fucking any unknown tart,” Nate finished and I cringed harshly.

  “Nate!” Liv scolded but he flung his hands into the air and stormed out. “He just cares about you, Ava,” she expressed softly. I smiled at her and nodded.

  “I know, and I appreciate his honesty. That’s one thing I can always bank on from him,” I admitted and she scoffed.

  “Oh yeah, he’s too honest at times.” She winked and kissed my cheek. “Better get to work. I’ll e-mail you the company I use for Helena, they’re brilliant,” she told me regarding the nursery details I’d asked for.

  “Thanks.”

  She smiled at Courtney who disappeared up the stairs to change George’s nappy and left.

  I sighed and sagged into the chair, drawing up my knees. Propping my feet on the edge of the chair, I rested my face in my hands and sighed heavily.

  “He seems to care about you,” Elijah said. I jumped a mile and held my hand to my pounding chest, “Sorry,” he chuckled.

  I nodded to him. “Yeah Nate’s my boss and one of my best friends.”

  “He seems to have his head screwed on.” He shrugged when I frowned at him.

  “Sorry?” I asked with puzzlement.

  “About your Fiancé, how much you let him hurt you.”

  I sighed and bit my lip, “Mr Denman, I know you are only trying to help but I don’t think the state of mine and Mason’s relationship has anything to do with your duties.”

  He narrowed his eyes on me then nodded once. “Please accept my apologies, Miss Stone,” he offered with a tip of his head. I shrugged and nodded as I picked Katie up out of the playpen and walked past him towards the stairs.

  He grabbed my arm and I spun round. “Ava, I’m really sorry. It was really unprofessional of me and I’m sorry,” he said quietly and I regarded him.

  “Are you sorry professionally or personally?” I asked as I narrowed my eyes on him.

  He paused and his eyes locked with mine. “Professionally,” he stated as he watched me closely for my reaction. I bit my lip but turned and left.

  CHAPTER 7

  THE NEXT FOUR days went by, nobody had heard from Mason and I was really starting to worry about him, I was frantic with fear that Dane had got to him. Elijah had backed off but I still noticed him glancing or staring at me every now and again.

  I had managed to get hold of the nursery where Liv took Helena and I was due to start work the following Monday. I was nervous about leaving the babies but I was also desperate to get back to work.

  The babies were now nearly six months and I was starting to think of myself as a mother only. I needed to have another side of my life, one where I was Ava Stone instead of Mummy.

  Elijah was on duty downstairs as I bathed and put Katie and George to bed. I went to join him at the kitchen table where he was drinking coffee and eating a cinnamon swirl I had baked in the afternoon.

  “I need you to put a trace on him,�
� I murmured.

  His eyes swept up to mine and he nodded then pulled out his laptop from his bag and geared it up. “I’m sure he’s fine Ava,” he encouraged softly.

  “I can’t stop thinking about him been overdosed and dead in some fucking shithole squat somewhere.”

  Elijah frowned softly and reached for the hand I had rested on the table. “Ava, I don’t think that’s Mason’s scene.”

  I scoffed. “Who knows what Mason’s scene is when he’s drugged up?” I sighed. He smiled sadly and started typing away on his laptop. I left him to it. “I’m going to have a bath.” I stood and climbed the stairs slowly. I was desperately anxious for Mason. I knew it wasn’t like him to stay away from his children for so long and I knew the guilt he would be feeling over what he had said to me.

  I stepped into the bath when it was full and sunk down, my muscles instantly screaming in delight at the relaxing feeling. My sores weren’t as sore now, they had started to heal and weren’t open and raw anymore but I knew I was going to have some major scarring.

  “Where are you Mason?” I whispered to myself as I closed my eyes and his bright sexy grin flitted across my eyelids. “I love you so much baby, I need you.” A tear slipped free, then another before I wept uncontrollably, great big heaves taking my breath and aching my chest. “Where the hell are you?” I sat up and hugged my knees, resting my head on my knees. “GOD DAMN IT!” I screamed in frustration as I cried to myself.

  The door swung open and Elijah’s eyes swept the room, landing swiftly on me. His eyes widened and he quickly turned around. “I’m sorry Ava, I thought, well I thought someone was in here with you,” he apologised quickly.

  I sniffed and hiccupped. “No, sorry. I have a tendency to scream and shout at myself . . . sorry.” I hiccupped again.

  He was silent for a moment, his back still turned to me as I still hugged my knees. “Are you okay? You’ve been crying.”

  “Yeah, I have a tendency to do that as well.” I sucked on my lips and as I turned my head I caught Elijah watching me through the mirror on the vanity. He held my gaze as his eyes became hooded and dark. His lips parted as his eyes slipped down the mirror and swept the reflection of my body. He couldn’t see much apart from the contours of my breast and my back but I saw the flinch in his eyes as he spotted the welts and scorches adorning the skin over my back. He bit his lip, his face angry and anxious.

  His gaze lifted to my eyes again, his expression softened and the corner of his lips curled wickedly. “Stunning,” he whispered darkly.

  I gasped as blood flooded into the bottom of my belly and heat erupted between my thighs. Quickly looking away, I heard the door close behind him. I exhaled noisily and closed my eyes to the feeling coursing through me; arousal, pleasure and fear.

  I nervously entered the kitchen a while later, wearing my shorts and vest with the protection of a robe and smiled timidly as Elijah’s head snapped up. His eyes scanned me and I wondered if he had expected me to come down naked, just for him.

  He smiled and winked. “We got a hit,” he divulged.

  My eyebrows hit my hairline. “Mason or Dane?”

  “Dane.” I wasn’t sure if I was excited or disappointed.

  “Where?”

  He was typing and hitting numerous keys on his phone. “Cashpoint near La Roche.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “That reminds me,” I said and Elijah looked at me. “Greg had said that when Sam had got a hit on Dane’s whereabouts and he had gone to look for him, it was just a cashpoint like now but Dane was waiting for Greg. I just wondered how . . . well how Dane would know Greg would be there?”

  Elijah frowned. “Well he couldn’t really, unless he spotted him while he was at the cashpoint.”

  “But surely Dane would have gone by the time Greg got there?” I deliberated causing Elijah to frown again.

  “Well I suppose.” He typed something in to his laptop. “Why was Greg sent there?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t know, they were all given the co-ordinate when the hit came through but Greg went on his own without waiting for a partner.”

  “And who knew Greg had gone?” he asked and I shrugged again.

  “Well all Mason’s employees, I would presume, they were all given the command.”

  He sighed in thought. “Strange,” he whispered more to himself than me.

  I nodded. “It’s like Dane knew he would be there but I don’t see how he would have known. I presume he would have used the cashpoint then moved on knowing he was being hunted. He definitely wouldn’t have dined in La Roche when he knew Mason would have been out looking for him, it’s one of Mason’s haunts and the owner is good friends with him.” I nibbled on my little finger. “I just can’t understand why he hung about for the fifteen minutes it took Greg to get there.”

  Elijah frowned in thought. “Ava, I’m gonna do a search of all Mason’s employees, we keep this between ourselves okay?” I nodded gratefully. It was something that I had been turning over in my head for a while and I felt lighter for sharing my suspicions.

  I retrieved a bottle of wine from the fridge and a glass from the cupboard. “You want one?” I asked but he shook his head.

  “Not while I’m on duty,” he responded distractedly as he worked on his laptop.

  I had just placed the bottle and glass on the table when the back door opened and Mason stood there. I gasped and Elijah shot up. “How the hell?” he asked him astounded that he had got past the security.

  Mason’s eyes never left mine. “They know me, they both used to work for me,” he told Elijah while he held my gaze.

  My body was screaming out for him, my man. Relief and delight coursed through me but the main emotion was anger and rage that he had put me through this nightmare for the last four days. I walked round the table and punched him in the face. His head shot sideways and Elijah gasped.

  Mason closed his eyes, took a deep breath and opened them again. “I guess I deserved that,” he said quietly.

  “You deserve another one, don’t you ever do that to me again!” I shouted at him. He gulped but nodded then narrowed his eyes.

  “I went home and you were gone,” he uttered sternly.

  I scoffed. “What the fuck did you expect? That I would wait for you after what you said to me?” I saw Mason’s eyes shift to Elijah and he glared at him. Elijah nodded slightly and disappeared. Mason took a step towards me but I stepped back. “Ava . . .” he warned and my eyes widened on him.

  “What the hell do you expect Mason . . . open arms?”

  He bit his bottom lip. “I fucked up Ava, I know,” he confessed quietly.

  “Well guess what Mason, this time you fucked up by gigantic proportions and we are now officially finished.” I could not believe he expected things to just carry on where they were left.

  His face dropped and he stared at me. “Ava, no.” He shook his head and stepped towards me.

  “Don’t Mason, don’t fucking touch me,” I hissed but he ignored me and grabbed my arm. I recoiled, flinching harshly at the hurt that flashed across his eyes. “Where the fuck have you been anyway and how many women have you screwed this time?”

  He flinched, guilt exploded on his face and my heart clenched. “Oh no, no, no Mason. Not again,” I choked out, “Please, no!”

  “Ava . . . I . . . I don’t think I did but I was high and . . . and I . . . well I need to tell you before she does,” he muttered, the pain behind his eyes telling me what he really didn’t need to voice.

  I narrowed my eyes on him. “Tell me before who does?” I asked slowly as my stomach tightened in anticipation to what I knew was coming.

  “My head was fucked Ava . . . I . . . well, I woke up and she . . . she was there . . . in my bed.”

  My blood froze. “Who was?” I asked oh so slowly.

  He swallowed heavily. “I need to tell you before she does because I know she will.”

  “WHO?” I yelled.

  “Rebecca,” he whispered.


  A sob tore from my throat and he shook his head rapidly. “I don’t think I did though Ava. I mean I know I was high but I’m positive I didn’t sleep with her baby, in fact I know I didn’t. I think I would know the next morning.”

  “DON’T YOU FUCKING CALL ME THAT EVER AGAIN, NOW GET THE FUCK OUT!” I screamed at him.

  “Ava no, I’m sorry,” he declared.

  I picked up my glass and threw it against the wall. “GET FUCKING OUT YOU BASTARD!” I roared as I shook my head at him.

  He closed his eyes in pain but turned and left. I slid down the cupboard and collapsed on the floor. Why did he keep doing this to me? I thought he loved me!

  I wept and sobbed as I curled up within myself. I felt myself being dragged onto someone’s lap and arms tightened around me. I looked up to see Elijahs’ pained expression. “Shush Ava, he doesn’t deserve your tears,” he whispered into my hair.

  “Why does he keep doing this to me?” I sobbed. “He’s fucking destroying me.”

  He stroked his thumb across my cheek, wiping away the tears that fell. “Shush, Ava” he repeated.

  My screams turned to sobs then to weeps and then sniffles as Elijah rocked me steadily and rhythmically. My head was rested against his chest and the rhythm of his heart lulled me into relaxation. I sighed deeply.

  “Your hair smells amazing,” Elijah said softly. I tilted my head back slightly and looked at him.

  “Thank you,” I smirked and his lips lifted on one side.

  “Sorry,” he chuckled, “very random.”

  I grinned at him and his eyes softened as he gazed at me, his breathing deepened as did my own. I parted my lips and licked them as his eyes dropped to them. He leaned in and brushed over my lips with his as he hovered over me. His warm breath breezed over my mouth whilst he waited for my refusal but he didn’t get one.

  My hand slipped into his hair and I pulled his mouth to mine and kissed him, needy and demandingly. He returned it with as much need and passion, slipping his tongue into my mouth and tracing along my teeth with it. A moan rumbled from my throat and he returned it with a long heavy groan as both his hands slid around the side of my face and into my hair.