The NSC Boxset: Heart of Stone (168 page)

“Fine!” I relented as I ended the call.

I stole a quick glance at Red but she was staring out of the window, her whole body stiff and vibrating with the tension.

“Why did you go with him?” I asked her quietly.

She was silent for so long I didn’t think she was going to answer me but eventually she turned to me, her eyes bright with unshed tears and I grimaced at the bruise on her cheekbone and the split in her bottom lip.

“He’s my Master and he ordered me” she said simply and I growled out a curse, but she didn’t display any emotion as she stared back.

“Do you even know what he’ll do to you for doing this Lucas?” she said soullessly and I knew her soul was still somewhere on the floor of Diablo’s house.

“It doesn’t matter what he does to me Red, it’s what he’s done to you for running that makes me fucking . . .”

She barked out a bitter laugh and I cast her a puzzled look. “He didn’t do this to me for running. He did this because I wouldn’t tell him who you were” she divulged.

My eyebrows lifted and I slammed on the brakes so I could look at her. “What the fuck?”

She gazed at me, the pain and despair displayed vividly in her eyes as a single, solitary tear tracked her pale face “He hadn’t even begun to punish me for leaving.”

Jesus Christ. If this had been her punishment for being secretive I dread to think what he would have done to her for escaping.

“He did this because of me? Why the hell didn’t you just tell him, Red?”

She didn’t answer my question, just continued to stare at me unresponsively and I frowned at her cold manner. Surely she should be crying, screaming? Hell, she should be having a fucking break down but she just remained impassive and docile as I pulled away again.

The thought of what he had put her through because of me made my stomach ache and my heart burst in equal measures.

I was falling in love with her.

Effortlessly.

* * *

As I lay Red on the bed, a knock came at the door and I placed a kiss on her forehead as I brushed away a stray strand of hair, “I’ll just go answer the door.”

Her hand shot out and her fingers wrapped around my wrist, “Just . . . be careful” she warned and I gave her a soft smile and nodded before I quietly closed the door behind me.

I took her advice and peeked through the peephole in the door before I opened it to Ava and Sara. “Where is she?” Ava asked and I gestured to the bedroom.

She nodded and Sara followed her into the bedroom and shut the door behind her.

I swallowed the bile in my throat as I heard Red’s screams and cries as her friends took care of her. “Fuck!” I hissed as I blinked back the tears at the sound of her despair.

What the hell, Lucas?

I poured myself a large measure of whisky and downed it in one before proceeding to pour another.

I closed my eyes to the visions of Red’s broken and bruised body as I had entered that room.

The bastard that had been at her was hopefully dead by now, he deserved a slow and painful fucking death and I knew Mason would deliver it, and deliver it with relish.

I frowned at the friendship between Red and Mason. Knowing they’d had a relationship didn’t help but they genuinely seemed to be just friends now, and I was actually glad that Mason seemed to care for her deeply.

His determination to get to her had honoured me and I knew I’d never be able to thank him enough.

I was aware he’d had some problems with some dude’s that had stalked Ava, and Ava had returned the favour by just loving him; their relationship was one to be humble of, and any person would be content to experience just a portion of that love.

I thought I’d had it once but . . .

Another knock came on the door and I sighed wearily when I knew I wouldn’t get a minute alone with Red as I let Mason, Greg and Sam into my apartment.

“Where is she?” Mason demanded bluntly and I pointed to the bedroom as I walked slowly back into the living area.

I just wanted her to myself; I wanted to be the one to comfort and care for her. I wanted to be the one she blinked at before her tears fell. I wanted to be the person that wiped them away and held her until she mended.

I lifted the whisky bottle at Greg and Sam as they plonked onto my sofa and they both nodded.

I drizzled them each a measure and handed the glasses to them both. “The guy who was at her?” I asked.

Greg gave me a sinister smile and I nodded in reply to his silent answer.

That was one less thing to worry about.

I noticed Ava walk along the hallway towards me and she tilted her chin towards the liquor bottle and I poured her a dreg before she downed it in one and held it out again. “She’s a mess, not just emotionally and Mason has called his mother to come over.”

I frowned at her, not quite understanding how Mason’s mother was going to help.

“She’s a doctor” Ava explained as if she read my thoughts.

My stomach dropped at the thought of Red being so physically hurt that she needed medical help. My fist clenched so much that the glass I was holding shattered under my grip. “Shit” I cursed as the blood flowed freely and Ava grabbed my hand and pulled me over to the sink, turning on the tap as she held my hand under the flow.

“She said he . . .” she couldn’t finish her sentence, just shook her head and shuddered.

I gulped and bit my bottom lip severely at the pain on Ava’s face as Mason approached us, his hands raking through his hair in despair as he helped himself to the alcohol.

I was glad I’d had the foresight to purchase another bottle only yesterday, knowing I would need the whole bottle before the night was out.

“Don’t leave her in the dark Lucas, she doesn’t like the dark. She spent six fucking days in nothing but blackness” Mason grumbled and I gazed in bewilderment at him.

“You answered the door to Ava and Sara and left her in the dark.”

I shook my head in confusion and Ava sighed at me. “That’s why she was screaming. She couldn’t breathe until me and Sare opened the door” she divulged and my eyes widened.

“I thought she was letting loose because of what she’s been through.”

Ava shook her head. “No, that’ll take her a while but be warned, when it comes be prepared” she disclosed and I nodded in acknowledgement.

“I mean it, Lucas. She will beat the shit out of you, bite you, scream at you, and then the tears will come.”

I swallowed roughly at the first-hand knowledge that Ava was explaining and Mason wrapped his arm around her waist and kissed her head tenderly.

“You need to be there for her, Lucas. I wasn’t there for Ava and it still kills me every time I accept how I let her down” Mason divulged honestly. Ava leant up and kissed his cheek before she went to answer my door, obviously knowing it was Mason’s mother.

“Is Ava okay?” I asked Mason quietly as I watched her lead a tall woman into the bedroom.

He regarded me for a while then sighed heavily. “She went through some deep shit. Worse than Lay has and . . . well, I was so hung up on fucking heroin at the time I let her down. Don’t be that guy for Layla; otherwise you’ll have me to deal with.”

I exhaled deeply but nodded at him as Ava came back into the kitchen area. “You’re mum will fix her.” She said to Mason as she picked up my kettle and started to fill it before she turned back to me, “She’ll take a look at your hand when she’s seen to Lay.”

I nodded and approached a cupboard and pulled out a sachet of chocolate before I filled a mug with milk and made Red a hot chocolate.

Ava gazed at me, her eyes soft and warm as a small smile lifted her lips and I turned away from her.

I didn’t want her to see how I felt about Red. I didn’t want to see it, but I knew it was there, underneath the surface, just waiting for the moment I would let it free.

Chapter 17

Layla

I WOKE JUST as the sun rose, its rays streaming through Lucas’s bedroom blinds and I rubbed my eyes against the brightness.

Mentally, I checked each area on my body and groaned as I realised how sore I still felt.

Mason’s mum had been wonderful, so gentle and kind as she examined me and Sara had held my hand all the way through the invasive treatment.

The shame I had felt when she had discovered just how brutal Diablo had been was awful, but she had continued chatting about her latest holiday, as if there was nothing strange about inserting a medical tampon into someone’s lady parts whilst you gossiped casually.

I pulled myself up into a sitting position and my gaze landed on a sleeping Lucas in an armchair at the side of the bed.

He was wearing just jeans, opened at the fly and the small dusting of hair trailing up to his navel caught my attention, not in a sexual way, but just how perfect and trimmed it looked.

You are very strange Lay, I admitted to myself.

His face was relaxed as he slumbered peacefully, his long eyelashes rested on his cheekbones and it suddenly occurred to me how beautiful this man really was, in a manly way of course but his features were absolutely stunning.

His short trimmed beard finished his masculine beauty and his deep eyebrows outlined his fiery blue eyes.

His strong muscled chest lifted rhythmically with each of his dozing breaths and as though he sensed me looking at him his eyes snapped open and he shot forward in his chair, his gaze locked on me as he scanned me up and down as if checking I was still in one piece.

“Hey” I smiled softly.

He rubbed his palms over his face and blinked a couple of times before he smiled back. “Morning beautiful, how are you feeling?”

Had he just called me beautiful? I didn’t feel bloody beautiful, in fact I felt smelly and dirty but I nodded a little in reply.

He stood and then came to settle on the edge of the bed and reached out to me, I flinched a little but he smiled gently and brushed a stray strand of hair off my face. “I won’t ever hurt you Red, ever. You’re too exquisite and precious to spoil.”

My eyes widened as he leaned in and placed a delicate kiss on my forehead then pushed himself upwards and walked into his bathroom and I heard him start to run a bath.

I was too stunned by his words to move and I was still sat immobile as he exited the bathroom and walked into the living area of his apartment.

He came back in a while later with a tray donned with juice, tea, toast and sliced fruit. I stared at him as he smiled and placed it on the bed beside me before he went back to the bathroom and turned off the taps.

I timidly took a sip of the tea as he strolled over to his wardrobe and pulled out a pair of joggers and a t-shirt. He held it up and inspected it for sizing as he glanced over my body and then back to the t-shirt. Shrugging, he pursed his lips before folding it back up and exchanged it with another.

He seemed happier with this one as he nodded to himself and placed it on top of the sports trousers before he opened a drawer inside his closet and pulled out a pair of boxer shorts.

I lifted an eyebrow at him as he regarded me silently, his features soft and affectionate as he held up the briefs to me.

I shrugged but nodded in agreement, continuing with our silent theme, and he returned my shrug with one of his own before he placed them atop the pile of fill-in clothes for me.

He disappeared back into the wardrobe and pulled out a sweatshirt, a plain grey number with a hood and he squinted at it before conceding and joined it with the rest.

He walked back over to me, picked up a blackberry from the bowl and popped it into my mouth as he kissed my head and then left me to it.

“Hmmm” I murmured as I gobbled down a piece of apple and went to enjoy the bath Lucas had so lovingly prepared for me.

I was still smiling at his actions as I sank into the depths of his huge colossal ancient tub and a grin lit my face when the mirror steamed up and a finger drawing of a heart with a smiley face in the middle appeared in the midst of the condensation
.

I did not acknowledge the little flutter in my own heart, but I was still grinning like a Cheshire cat as I pulled on his clothes and took a deep pull of their scent, as my mind still held the vision of the sketched heart.

* * *

I was rolling up the sleeves of the sweatshirt as I entered his living space and I found Lucas sat at the large dining table, reading a morning paper and I plonked my ass into one of the chairs opposite him.

He folded up his paper and placed it on the table as he cocked his head at me and grinned. “Okay?”

I nodded and smiled nervously as a deep blush covered my face, my embarrassment at the previous day’s events finally catching up with me.

“I’ll just . . .” I stuttered, gesturing to the coffee pot as I swallowed harshly “ . . . and then I’ll get out of your hair.”

Lucas scowled at me and then shook his head slowly “Not a chance, Red.”

My hand shook as I poured the coffee into a cup and I lifted my eyes to his to detect his meaning.

“You’re not leaving my side until that bastard is dealt with” he snarled and I squinted before I realised the coffee was now pouring over the brim of my cup and all over the table.

“Oh shit, I’m so sorry” I stammered as I grabbed a cloth napkin and dabbed at the mess but it seemed to just puddle all over the table and my anger surfaced at the stupid chaos. “God damn it” I yelled as I frantically mopped at the brown disaster.

It wasn’t until Lucas pulled me against his chest that I realised the long drawn out whine I could hear was coming out of my mouth.

“Ssshhh Red, it’s okay. You’re safe” he whispered in my ear and I pulled back and shook my head rapidly.

“I’ll never be fucking safe until I’m dead” I hissed at him.

He nibbled furiously on his lips and his eyes darkened fractionally “Don’t Red . . . just, don’t even . . .”

He swallowed harshly and turned away from me as I glared at him, “You know fuck all, Lucas!” I spat at him.

I needed to distance our relationship to keep him protected. He would never be safe as long as he was near me and I knew I had to break my own heart to keep this man’s still beating.

I could see the clench of his fists at his sides as he stopped the response he so wanted to bark at me, and I frenziedly searched his room for a phone.