The NSC Boxset: Heart of Stone

by D H Sidebottom

  “I dunno, he’s my boss not my partner.”

  He scrutinised me for a while before Sam nudged him and prompted him back to the game.

  “You ready for tomorrow?” Ava turned to me and widened her eyes, “I am so glad you’re coming with us, I mean Sandra’s okay but she’s . . . well, she’s boring. We are gonna rock France, Hun.”

  I laughed at her excitement and nodded. “To be honest, it’ll be good to get out of here for a while and relax without having to look over my shoulder all the time.”

  She nodded solemnly and frowned “I can’t believe after all this time, fucking Simon Bell is back. I so wanna get my hands on the bastard and rip him to shreds.”

  “Down, my little warrior!” Mason chuckled and I sighed heavily.

  “It just means it’s all going to shit if he’s involved” I divulged and Ava placed her hand on my arm.

  “Mason will sort it Lay, I promise.”

  I downed my drink and refused to let my life disrupt the fun for my friends so I slid behind Greg on the sofa and placed my hands over his on the Xbox controller.

  He grinned back at me and I winked when I helped him slaughter the rest of the group.

  “Whoa . . . cheats!” Sam declared after not realising I was helping for ten whole minutes.

  * * *

  By 11 O’clock I had proceeded to stampede my friends at Call of Duty and I was thoroughly legless.

  Mason saw me into the taxi and paid the driver to see me inside and as I closed my eyes in the back of the cab my phone rang in my bag.

  “Well hello, Sir” I smirked when I saw Tristan’s name pop up on screen. “Good evening, Miss Willow. You busy?”

  “Well . . .” I was suddenly wide awake and thinking of Lucas. Why the hell should it feel like I was betraying Lucas if I spent the night with Tristan?

  But it did and I knew I couldn’t.

  “Yeah, I’m kind of involved with someone at the moment.”

  “Shame, Willow. Never mind. Let me know if it goes tits up.”

  I chuckled lightly “I will, bye.”

  He disconnected and I stared at my phone in my hand, Lucas firmly on my mind and before I knew what I was doing, I was telling the cab driver the change of destination.

  * * *

  I stood outside Lucas’s apartment door for a good twenty minutes before I plucked up the courage to knock and after waiting five minutes for him to answer; I was just about to leave when he opened his door.

  He stared at me with a slight frown. “Hey” I said nervously as my eyes scanned his near naked form. He was wearing only shorts and my heart beat sped up at the sight of his stunning body.

  “Red . . .” he whispered, his eyes inspecting me as though I was an apparition.

  My thumb was twitching rapidly as he just stood immobile and mute, staring at me “I . . .”

  “Lucas, Darling? Hurry up, I’m kind of in a position here . . .” a female voice sounded from beyond the door. Lucas cringed and blushed furiously.

  My heart exploded in my chest and my stomach heaved when I realised he had company. “Oh . . . I . . . I’m so sorry . . .”

  I spun around on wobbly legs and hurried back to the elevator, my humiliation burning a hole straight through my soul.

  “RED . . .” he shouted after me but I hurtled into the lift at speed and jabbed the ground floor button rapidly.

  “Come on . . . come on . . .” I hissed out.

  The doors closed just as Lucas reached me and I flinched when I heard his fist hit the doors forcefully.

  I would not cry, I refused it and denied it.

  Why the hell was I crying?

  The tears were flowing freely and rapidly and I scrambled out of the lift, positive the snooty bastards in the exclusive apartment lobby were all laughing at me.

  I was amazed to find a few taxi’s waiting outside the building and I clambered in one. “Move!” I barked out as Lucas came barrelling through the foyer, still donning nothing but his bloody boxer shorts.

  The cab driver was luckily an experienced one and sped off at my command. “Everything okay, Darlin’?” he asked, eyeing me up through the mirror and I nodded a yes as I stared out of the window and made myself focus on the London nightlife; anything to take my visions and the sound of the woman in Lucas’s apartment out of my mind.

  The driver dropped me off and I tipped him well for helping me escape so effectively and as I entered my flat I frowned at the silence.

  “Sare?” I shouted as I flicked on the hallway light.

  Silence.

  “Wonderful” I groaned as I realised I was thoroughly on my own tonight.

  I didn’t bother with a drink, just wanting to curl up under the duvet and I tugged at my clothes, practically ripped them off me, before I climbed in bed and fell asleep exhausted, hurt and desolate.

  * * *

  I trundled through the airport, my case bobbing about behind me as my eyes scanned the area for Lucas.

  God knows how I was going to face him today? I could feel my cheeks burn at the memory, never mind actually facing him.

  I caught sight of Nate and Ava over by private departures and Nate smiled widely as I approached. “Hey, Lucas with you?” he asked and I shook my head before I turned to Ava as she spoke to me.

  “Headache?”

  I shook my head and smirked “Nope.”

  “Bitch!”

  I winked and pulled out my trilling phone from my bag and frowned at the unknown number, “Hello?”

  “You get on that plane Kayla and I’ll personally make sure you regret it, as will your friends.” Diablo’s rough voice grated through the earpiece.

  My hands shook violently as I scanned the lounge for him, my eyes flicking from left to right, even up and bloody down as if I expected him hanging from the ceiling . . . which actually wouldn’t surprise me where he was concerned.

  “Where are you?” I whispered shakily as my heart pounded uncontrollably in my chest.

  I saw him then. He stepped out from beside a thick white concrete column not 20ft away.

  His dark eyes conquered me and he just stood and manipulated every thought that whirled around my head.

  He was the ultimate master, plain and simple and I would obey his command.

  My chest heaved so much it felt like it was going to explode and my throat closed in as he made his way towards me.

  “Kayla” he stated simply as he tipped his head sideways sinisterly.

  He stood silently observing me for a moment before he curled his lip at the corner, “Stand and bind” he ordered.

  I instantly stood before him, my chin high but my eyes lowered and my wrists crossed at the small of my back.

  “What the fuck, Lay?” I heard Nate say from behind me and I noticed Tash, Diablo’s bodyguard, walk up beside me and enclosed one of my wrists in his huge grip as I heard Ava frantically talking to Mason on her phone.

  My stomach heaved as Diablo led me through the airport whilst Nate continued to shout my name but it was too late.

  He knew it.

  I knew it.

  And Diablo definitely knew it.

  Chapter 14

  Lucas

  “SHIT LUCAS, TRUST today to be the day you actually ever run late!” Nate barked at me as I sidled up to him in departures. I scowled at him but didn’t answer.

  Ava was pacing up and down and talking rapidly on her phone, shaking her head and spitting some serious curse words at the person on the other end. “What the hell was I supposed to do, tackle him in a fucking airport? Mason, you didn’t see the size of the brick shit house chaperoning the bastard!”

  I frowned at them both when it was obvious I had missed out on something, especially when Nate cancelled our flight with an airport attendant and security came scampering up to us.

  “Mr Carter, if you’d like to follow us, we managed to get a track on them via the cameras around the airport” a thick set bloke said to Nate and I turned to Ava.

&nb
sp; “What the hell is going on?” I asked as she finished her call.

  She glared at me as she nibbled furiously on the tip of her little finger. “Where the hell were you?” she spat at me and a thought jumped into my head as I flicked my eyes over the area where we were stood.

  “Where’s Red?”

  Ava huffed angrily “If you had arrived on fucking time then you’d know. Fucking Diablo got to her.”

  Everything around me seemed to stop for a fraction of a second as her words sank into my blazing brain.

  I fought against the slight wobble in my legs and choked back the thunder that was threatening to erupt from my chest as my blood exploded into every thread of my body. “What?”

  Ava’s phone erupted again as we were ushered along with the security guards towards their little office and I grabbed hold of Ava’s forearm. “What the fuck do you mean ‘Diablo got her’?”

  She glowered at me then huffed in resignation. “I dunno what happened, Lucas. One minute she was talking to us, the next that bastard turned up and barked some sort of command at her and she just . . . slackened and followed him.”

  “What command?” I asked quietly and clenched my fist in preparation for her answer.

  “Something, uhh . . . Stand and . . . bind. That was it, stand and bind.”

  I groaned loudly and closed my eyes in desolation “Fuck!!”

  “Is that bad?” Ava asked as we entered the small observation cubicle which housed the many monitors displaying the airport scenery.

  “Huh, oh yeah. It overrules all other master’s commands and it means she is now bound to him completely, and knowing how deep Red’s submissive proficiency lies, then she will obey every single fucking thing he orders her to do.”

  Shit, this was fucking bad. This was the worst thing that could have happened and Red was now in deep danger, he would punish her severely and I knew we had to get her out of his charge as quick as possible.

  “There” Nate exclaimed as he pointed towards one of the screens and the security guy, whose nametag read Doug, poked at a couple of buttons and Red’s face became larger.

  The terror and pain in her expression made my gut clench tightly and I grit my teeth against the fear that enveloped me.

  Doug pressed a few more buttons and a sequence of images appeared on the largest screen. There were a total of nine split images and it relayed the route that Red and Diablo had taken, right through to where he ushered her into a black BMW.

  Ava was already relaying the registration number to Mason on her phone and she handed what looked like an e-mail address to Doug, who then proceeded to e-mail the images through to Mason.

  Ava smiled widely at him and then pulled a wad of notes out of her bag and passed them to Doug with a wink and a thank you.

  Money actually did seem to buy everything, even confidential images from the airport surveillance.

  As we exited the office and made our way across the airport I caught sight of someone who I had seen before but couldn’t place.

  It was still bugging me as I climbed into my car.

  We had arranged to meet back at Mason’s and develop some sort of plan to find Red, but I already knew she’d be halfway to Sheffield by now. But I would go and join the mob to figure out a strategy before I went gung ho and stormed every square inch of the Yorkshire city.

  I fired up the engine and frowned as the man’s face swarmed my mind again. “Think Lucas, damn it!”

  I sat silent with my eyes closed for a while, demanding myself to rack through every single memory to find the face.

  My eyes snapped open when it came to me “Fuck me! Andrew.”

  I shot back out of the car and raced back into the building, my eyes skimming every section of the huge open space.

  “Come on . . .”

  I moved rapidly through the throng of people, my eyes alert and searching as I combed every corner, every group of people and every piece of that damn airport but he was gone.

  “Shit” I hissed out as I slammed my fist into a nearby information board, much to the disgust of an elderly woman who looked at me like I had just stolen her weekly pension.

  I growled at her, my mood severely shameless as I pictured a bound and bleeding Red. She growled back, her large white dentures rattling with force against the rumble and I actually took a step away from her and held up a hand. “Sorry.”

  She continued to glare at me as I backed up and then I turned and walked solemnly back to my car.

  * * *

  “His name is Dante Accosi, age 36, originally born in Messina, Sicily to a local whore Gia Accosi, who was brutally killed by one of her punters when Dante was 11. He currently has 3 estates in Italy, 2 in America; 1 in Dallas and 1 in San Diego and 2 in Britain; Sheffield and London” Sam informed us as Mason paced the room on the phone to a private security firm he used.

  “I’m gonna take Sheffield. Just got a feeling about it, give me the address and I’ll make my way up now” I told Sam who frowned and tipped his chin to Mason.

  “Better wait for the word, Lucas.”

  “God damn it! Do you even realise what he’ll be doing to her while we sit here like a bunch of pussy’s and talk?” I growled.

  Mason approached my side and placed his hand on my shoulder “You gonna fill me in what’s going off between you and little Willow?”

  I sighed heavily and bit my lower lip, trying to control my temper about all the bloody time wasting.

  “We . . . we got involved for a while but, it’s complicated, that’s all.”

  “Like fuck complicated. You feel more than complicated over her; you’re chomping at the fucking bit over her!” Mason glowered at me and I clenched my fist in anger.

  “Do you even know what that piece of fucking shit will do to her?” I retorted angrily.

  Mason scoffed and widened his eyes on me. “If anybody has any sort of clue what he will do, then I have fucking witnessed it first-hand. Believe me Lucas, going in all guns blazing will not work with him. His security is tighter than a Vegas slot machine.”

  “Do you think I’ll be able to get in?” Ava asked from where she sat on the floor with one of her kids.

  Mason snorted at her and shook his head slowly. She shrugged “Worth a try.”

  “I know you’d wipe the floor with him baby, but no . . . just not a fucking hope in hell.”

  “Well we’ve gotta do fucking something!” I demanded and then a thought occurred to me, “Are you still good friends with William at the Panther?”

  Mason nodded in reply and I proceeded to tell him about my hunch concerning Andrew, “I don’t think it’s a coincidence he was in that airport. If anything I think he was staking us out, watching what we did when Red went.”

  Mason nodded then picked up his phone and phoned William and before long we had an address of the sly bastard and we we’re on our way to obtain Red’s location, and I knew with Mason present, we would acquire the information from Andrew.

  Whether he would be breathing when we left was unknown as yet, but to be honest, as long as he gave us Red’s whereabouts, I didn’t give a shit what happened to him.

  Chapter 15

  Layla

  I SAT SILENT on the bed already naked and full of shame.

  The area he had brought me to was unfamiliar but I knew we were still in London. We hadn’t travelled long enough to be anywhere else.

  I sighed deeply as I shivered, remembering his silent fury as he led me into the room that was now my holding cell.

  His reticence had frightened me more than his rage and I knew he had something nasty in mind for my punishment.

  I cast another glance over the suite I was situated in. It was plush, comfortable and modern and was complete with a walk-in wardrobe and en-suite bathroom and I timidly took a look in the wardrobe.

  My heart sank when I realised he had filled it with clothes ready for me.

  He had obviously been planning my suppression for a while and had prepared things
beforehand.

  I used the toilet and washed my face before settling back on the bed and just waited, waited for my punishment, waited for my Master’s calm wrath and waited for the pain that I knew would come.

  As soon as I heard the door open, I slid off the bed and took position on my knees as I rested my forehead on the floor and placed my hands beside my head, palms down flat to the carpet.

  He silently circled me and I physically felt the rage he emitted.

  I groaned faintly as I felt the whip slash my back, its sear slicing through my delicate skin; skin that hadn’t been torn for six years and now unused to the harsh thrash.

  “Why do you continue to plague me, Kayla?”

  I didn’t answer him, I wasn’t expected to.

  I closed my eyes as the crop hit again; knowing any outburst of sound would encourage further, harder beats.

  “Do you even begin to comprehend what I have done to locate you?”

  Another slash and this time I whimpered against the pain as he positioned it over the exact same position of the previous one.

  He sighed heavily before he gripped my hair and pulled my head up. He crouched before me, his face close to mine as he stared straight into my soul.

  “Who is he? You may speak” he merely asked and I felt the pull in my stomach when I knew what would happen when I refused to answer his question.

  I didn’t speak, just looked at him and gulped. “Do not fucking challenge me, Kayla. I am so near to losing my self-restraint with you.”

  “Just someone who goes into the club where I work, Master” I tried, praying with everything I had that he would take it as an honest answer.

  I sighed in relief as he nodded and released his grip on my hair.

  His heavy booted foot stamped on my head, forcing it flat on the floor as he kept its position atop my head, my face pushed into the pile of the plush carpet.

  The room titled as my vision blurred at the force he had trampled me with and I closed my eyes as he ground his foot deeper against me.

  “You have one more chance to pacify me before I really decide to hurt you” he hissed out as he pushed his foot further into me.