Atonement (Heart of Stone) (24 page)

“I know he loves me Ava, but what I’ve done is…”

“A mistake. A mistake repairable if you both want it
enough.”

She sighed and gestured for me to sit back down so she
could start gluing twelve inch false nails over my real ones. I stared at the
length of the bright pink monsters and cringed. I would never be able to eat
again, or write, or fasten buttons or hell, even wipe my bits and pieces. “Holy
hell Courtney, how long?” I scoffed in amazement as I continued to watch my
fingers turn into claws.

“Sexy as fuck Ava, Mason will love them, I promise.”

“Uhh Courtney,” I leaned towards her with my eyebrows in
my hairline as she leaned into me so she could hear my whisper. “You know what
Mason’s fetish is, don’t you.”

She nodded then her eyes widened before a wicked smile
lifted her lips quite cruelly and I couldn’t hold back the laughter. “Ouch” she
mouthed as she winked.

We both started laughing until we were rolling with
tears, “Do you not like my husband?” I choked out as I pictured Mason’s face
when I next slid my finger in his backside.

“Well there’s one thing,” she chuckled. “You won’t miss
his prostate with those beasts.”

“No, I’ll probably stroke his tonsils as well.”

We were laughing so hard we missed the approach of the
six inch tart heels that housed a fuck whore.

“Well, well, care to share the fun?” A high pitched drone
broke the happy atmosphere.

Courtney groaned as I looked up at Rebecca and smiled
sweetly, “We were just discussing your arse, Rebecca.”

Her evil smile faltered slightly as her teeth sank
lightly into her bottom lip but she pulled it back together just as quick.
“Funny Ava, at least my arse is good enough to be discussed.”

“Good enough to be dis-gusted you mean.”

Her eyes hardened on me and I could feel the ice of her
soul freezing her heart from where I sat. “You think you’re so clever don’t you
Ava, Little Miss Mafia Queen. Well, let me tell you something… you are just a
fill in, just a fad until he realises what he’s missing in me.”

Courtney looked at me with an amused expression as I
tried to control the laughter, “A fill in? A fad? For eight years, Rebecca?
That’s one fuck of a
fad
.”

Her lips twisted with cruelty as she leaned closer, “Are
you sure it has been eight years, Ava?”

Okay, now I’d had enough. She was pissing me off big
style and my anger surged with her insinuation.

I shot upright and pointed in her face. I had completely
forgotten about the new spur attached to the end of my finger, gaining me
another two inch of coverage as I thrust the nylon sliver of a weapon into her
cold eyeball. A shrill squeal left her throat as she lifted the heel of her
hand to her eye as Courtney spat out a gust of laughter, “Oops, watch the new
nails, Ava.”

I swallowed back my own laughter as I gripped the bitch
by the hair and yanked her ear to my mouth, “You know one day Rebecca, you’re
gonna have one hell of an accident and it’s gonna be mortifying when your
shattered legs won’t open wide enough for the next dick to get between them.”

I dragged her through the shop, Courtney’s clients and
staff gawping at us as Rebecca’s heels squeaked across the polished floor
behind us.

Courtney ran in front of me and opened the shop door
before I threw Rebecca out. She stumbled onto the pavement as people bumped
into each other so they didn’t trample her.
Shame
.

“Oh and by the way, that wasn’t a threat, it was a
promise,” I hissed at her as she screwed her palm further into her bleeding
eyeball. “And I’d get that checked if I were you, looks nasty.”

I turned and entered back into the salon as Courtney
slammed the door behind me. “God, I hate that bitch” I snarled as my fists
clenched, my fury nowhere near sated as I drove my new nails into my palm and
relished at the pain, the sting taking my attention and calming my heart back
to its normal pace.

“Ava…” Courtney said with a slight grimace.

“Don’t” I said with a shake of my head. I knew what was
currently flittering around her head. It was the same thought that was bouncing
around my mind. “She’s just winding me up… Good God, when is that bitch ever
gonna be out of my life?”

Courtney scoffed as she led me back to the treatment
table, “Well Mason didn’t help when he employed her again at Allure.”

I nodded in agreement as I took a long inhalation and
worked my way up to what I had to say. She looked at me with a slight pull on
her brow as though she sensed my discomfort, “Out with it, babe.”

My lips lifted instinctively on one side as her familiarity
with my body language heartened me. “We need to talk about Kade.”

She sighed as she proceeded to buff my nails, “Why? It’s
over between me and him, Ava.”

“But it isn’t between him and me.” I gulped as her wide
bright eyes locked onto mine, the worry and unease ringing alarm bells in her
head.

“Jesus, Ava, do you never learn?”

I shuffled my chair further towards her and dropped my
voice to a whisper. I didn’t want my private life, never mind my sex life,
reverberating around the room. The women who attended Courtney’s nail parlour
were the type to spread the gossip faster than a whore spread her legs. “Mason
wants a threesome.” I revealed openly. Mine and Courtney’s relationship was
brutally open; we could tell each other anything; we shared everything… even
our sex life at times, regularly indulging in foursomes with our men.

She paused for a long moment, her eyes as wide as her
mouth whilst her fingers halted over mine, “Okayyy, and Kade? What does he
want?”

“The same” I whispered, “I wanted to tell you before it
happens. But I don’t want to hurt you Courtney, if you still have a thing for
him, I will make sure it doesn’t happen.”

Her tongue curled around the edge of her lips as she
frowned in thought, “But do you think that’s wise after what Kade revealed to
me? He still loves you, Ava.”

I nodded faintly as I lowered my eyes to my hands,
regarding my fake nails as though they were the crown jewels, “And I do him.”

She groaned and palmed her face, her head shaking
marginally as she gulped heavy breaths to ride the curse she wanted to throw at
me, “For fuck’s sake, babe. Do you thrive on it?”

“On what?” I asked with slight indignation at her tone as
I lifted my gaze back to her.

“Drama, Ava,” she shook her head and shrugged as if
defeated. “Hey, it’s not my life. As long as you all know what you’re getting
yourselves into.”

“I don’t think
they
do. Mason’s so damn hot for
Kade and Kade’s so fucking desperate to get back into me that they’re not
looking at the whole picture.”

She sucked her teeth but a small sexy smile materialised
and her eyes twinkled mischievously, “I’d love to look at the whole picture
Ava, you wanna do another DVD?”

I slapped her arm but laughed, “You dirty ho, but yeah, I
agree, it is something I’m eager to go with. Both Mason and Kade get me hotter
than hell and both together… Jesus, Courtney.”

She winked and giggled with me as we each pictured the
two stunning men, naked and hard, their impressive muscles and magnificent
bodies on display just for me; both of them attending to my every want and
desire as they brought me to a new level of ecstasy.

Christ!!

“Don’t forget it’s our anniversary party Saturday night;
make sure you’re there hun” I informed her as I rose from the chair to leave
and passed her my debit card.

She nodded but her worried eyes gave away her
nervousness. “Is Greg going?”

“Yep” I nodded to her, “But then that’s a good thing,
give you both a chance to talk.”

She snorted but didn’t respond as she ran my card through
the system. Her face tightened as she pulled a frown and removed my card from
the machine and slipped it back in. “There’s something wrong with your card,
babe. It’s declined it twice.”

“What?” I examined the card as if that would make it work
before I popped it back in the card reader and tried again. It declined it
again. “What the hell?” I grumbled as I passed her my credit card.

“This one’s fine, just your debit card that’s the
problem. You skint babe?” she joked, knowing my bank account was far from
empty.

“I’ll ring the bank when I get home” I moaned with the
idea of sat listening to Cliff bloody Richard for forty minutes whilst I was
put on hold.

Courtney followed me outside as I left the salon and
pulled me into a hug before pulling out a packet of cigarettes and lighting
one. “What? Since when have you smoked?”

“Since my life hit the gutter” she replied with regret.

I shook my head at her in disapproval but didn’t comment
further as I kissed her goodbye and walked towards where my car was parked.

I heard the pop before the white hot pain hit. The blazing
tearing sensation in my side splintered my mind at the same time as the agony
seared through my brain and took my consciousness.

I drove my hands through my hair in distress for the
hundredth time in the last three hours. This was fucking torture; listening to
Courtney’s distraught sobs as my heart shattered and my world disintegrated. Greg
crouched beside her, his hand in hers as he held his wife tight in the worst
three hours of her life.

Watching the terror on Nate’s face as his best friend and
my wife lay on a fucking soiled tin table in a grubby theatre in a dingy
fucking hospital was as torturous as listening to Courtney fall apart.

The only consolation was that Mary Thornton, Gary’s
mother, was operating on Ava and my mother was keeping me up to date; her
consultancy in this hospital allowing her access to information quickly.

Whoever drove that bullet through my wife was going to
die so horrifically and so excruciatingly that they would be begging me to
finish them as they watched their own blood trickle drop by drop from their
mangled body until the very last drop stained my hands.

“Where the hell were you?” I roared at Wes as he came
through the hospital waiting room door out of breath.

My fingers curled around his neck severely as I pinned
him to the wall, his feet elevated inches off the floor as I fought to restrain
myself from killing the bastard.

He tried to speak but all that came forth was a strangled
choke. “Mase let him go” Greg urged as he wrapped his fingers over mine and
tried to prise them open.

“Where were you?” I asked again as Greg continued his
efforts to disengage my hands from Wes’s throat.

I relented slightly and loosened my death grip but
retained my hold on him. “She told me to go, she visited Courtney and said she
would be okay” Wes exposed as his eyes bulged and his body struggled under me.

“And what, you just left her?” I barked in incredulity.
Jesus Fucking Christ!

He shrugged under me as he continued to wriggle and Greg
carried on his attempts to remove my crush from the idiot’s neck.

“I’m sorry, Fox, I thought she would be okay, she was
with her friend.”

“You fucking fool. I told you Wes, I fucking told you to
stay by her side twenty four seven. I pay you to watch her twenty four seven!”

His eyes shadowed before he nodded, “I know, I’m so
sorry.”

I roared out a growl as I let him drop. His hands
instantly gripped his own neck as he rubbed at the bruise that would be
appearing any second.

I barked out a laugh when Nate’s fist connected with
Wes’s cheekbone and he hit the floor with a heavy thud. “Nice” I said to Nate
as I turned back to Wes. “Get out, you’re fucking fired.”

He sighed and pulled himself upright before he hauled his
arse back through the door as my mother walked in.

“She’s out. She’s lucky Mason, just a flesh wound. The
bullet missed anything of importance and just seared the edge of her hip bone.
She’s had a few stitches and she’ll be allowed home in a couple of days.”

My legs wobbled and Nate caught me before I crumpled in a
heap on the dirty floor, “Thank fuck!” he murmured with a long breath.

I nodded, unable to speak as my brain punched my heart to
restart the beat. “Can I see her?”

She nodded and smiled before she led me through the
hospital to my wife, my beautiful tortured wife who was paying the price for my
fucked up life once again.

I took my first full breath when I saw her, the first since
I had been informed by my mother that Ava had been shot. Her sheer beauty
fisted my heart, her soul surrounded me and sought its mate and the sight of
the tubes running into her body clenched my gut.

Closing my eyes and pulling myself together I strode over
to her swiftly and took her tiny hand in mine, threading her fingers through my
own as my mother placed a chair beside the bed for me.

“Hey baby” I whispered as I brushed a strand of hair from
her forehead so I could kiss it. “You’ve done it again. You are in so much
trouble my little warrior, I’m gonna spank that bloody arse of yours for this.”

My mother kissed the crown of my head and squeezed my
shoulder before she left the room, leaving me alone with Ava.

I stared at her, watching the slow rise and fall of her
chest as I savoured each of her intakes of breath and appreciated the flow of
blood through her system.

“Christ baby, I love you so much. I can’t keep doing
this; I’m putting an end to it, Ava. Finishing this fucking screwed up life
once and for all.”

I stroked the ridges and bumps of her knuckles, amazed at
the softness of her skin after all the fights she got into. Hell, her knuckles
should be rough and calloused, and I chuckled to myself with the thought.

She groaned and I cupped her cheek, giving her the
sensation of touch in case she couldn’t hear me, “Ava?”

She swallowed and her eyes flickered as she fought to
open them, “I’m here, baby.”

I smiled at her when her eyes found mine and tears pooled
in her eyes, “Mason?”

“Ssshhh, it’s okay. It’s okay.”

“I can’t keep doing this Mason, I’m sick of being
terrified at leaving you and my babies behind” she choked out with a rasp and I
gripped her head in both my hands and drove my face into her hair.

“I know Ava. I finish this, then we’re done, baby. I
can’t keep doing this either. Fucking terrified constantly in case I lose you,
petrified that you’ll finally realise what destruction I bring to your life and
leave me. Always scared to fucking death that this life will finish either one
of us.”

 I placed gentle kisses down her cheek and ran my nose
under the dip behind her ear, my whole body sighing in serenity with the
contact and the familiar scent, “I love you more than fucking life Ava, my
heart aches with love for you. I idolise you my little warrior and I can’t
breathe when you aren’t near, my heart refuses to keep beating without you and I’m
not prepared to do this anymore. We end it. We find this bastard, we finish him
then we go Ava. We go to Portugal and do what George wanted you to do all those
years ago. We start again in his cottage, beside the sea baby, with our babies.
We live again, Ava.”

Her eyes widened but she nodded briskly as tears streamed
her face in her relief and happiness, “God, yes, yes….”

Her choked sobs ripped through my very core, making me
hate every minute of the past eight years of hell I had put her through. She
deserved so much more than this shit. She should be worshipped endlessly,
adored and treasured constantly and I would make damn sure the rest of her days
were spent in peace and shelter, no more running, no more pushing through this
life just to survive.

My wife and children were my life, not his fucked up
shit.

It was time to give my family the freedom they deserved.

It was time to end this once and for all.

It was time to concede.

***

     She stepped out of the en-suite Saturday night, our
anniversary night, and took my breath straight from my lungs. She was the most
utterly beautiful creature I had ever seen.

Her deep green dress hugged every inch of her delicious
body, her eyes reflecting the same shade of jade as they shined brightly. The
sheer material embraced her glorious breasts and skimmed over the curve of her
hips, hugging her supple thighs and then resting just above her sexy little
knees. Her hair was hung, long and free down the curve of her back and slightly
touching the arc of her tight bum.

Her smoky eyes twinkled as she limped towards me, her
stunning face alight with love and adoration for me as her eyes perused the
length of my body.

“Mr Fox, you are just so beautiful” She whispered as she
reached me and tilted her head back for me to kiss her.

   I obliged, feeding on her tiny tongue as I feasted on
her mouth, taking the kiss she offered with no holds barred as I braced her
tightly to me. Her arms wrapped around my back, her palms sliding over the thin
cotton of my shirt and warming me with each touch of her fingers.

“That’s because you make me beautiful, my little warrior”
I told her when I pulled back so I could touch the softness of her lips with my
fingers, needing to feel the smoothness with not just my lips.

She tilted her head in thought then her eyes dulled and
the hairs on the back of my neck stood to attention with the expression held on
her face. “I need to tell you something” she said quietly and I nodded in
encouragement for her to continue.

“Someone…” she chewed her lower lip and I pulled the
plumpness from behind her teeth and cocked an eyebrow, “Someone’s emptied my
bank account.”

I stared at her in confusion, “What do you mean someone
has emptied your bank account?”

She shrugged and swallowed harshly, “I’m so sorry Mason,
I don’t understand it either. I tried to pay for my nails with my debit card
and it declined. Then with the shooting I forgot about it and when I remembered
this morning and rang the bank they said someone had drained it, all £987,000.
I’m sorry… I….”

“Hey,” I pulled her into me; the worry on her face was
haunting as she faced the nervousness of telling me. “This isn’t your fault.
What did the bank say?”

“They’re looking into it and because it was an
unauthorised transaction I will probably get it refunded but…”

She paused abruptly and her eyes widened as her mouth
dropped open, “Mason! The money… ‘Find the money and you’ll find who is doing
this’. Do you think Mickey meant
my
money, not the money from years
ago?”

“Holy Fuck!”

I pulled my phone from my pocket and dialled the one
person who could find Ava’s money, his expertise at hacking and Technology
Intel was superb, “Kade.”