The NSC Boxset: Heart of Stone (266 page)

“BUT I DO!” I yelled at her. “I fucking care! I fucking love you. Is it not bad enough they took Greg away? You want them to take you from me too. Then what, Ava. THEN WHAT?”

She stared at me then her eyes dropped as she watched the single tear roll down my cheek. She reached out and wiped at it softly with her thumb. “I won’t let them take me, Mason. I promise.”

I shook my head at her angrily, “Don’t you get it?”

“I get it,” she spat back. “I get the whole fucking picture. But you know what? I may be a woman. I may be small and look timid, but that just makes this easier. They have no idea who the fuck I am. Or
what
I am when I’m pissed off!”

“God damn it, Ava!” I roared as I slammed her against the wall, my large frame penning her tiny one under me in case she attempted to make a run for it. “No! That’s my final word, you wait for my say so. Is that clear?”

Her eyes swept over every inch of my face, her expression furious, her chest heaving as her rage sucked at the oxygen around us. “Crystal!”

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. The bloody woman would be the death of me. I scooped her up, her body instinctively snuggling closer even when we were at loggerheads.

“Sleep now,” I told her as I placed her gently down on the bed and climbed in beside her.

Her sad eyes rimmed with tears but she gave me a simple nod and turned over, her hands curling under her chin as she bedded down.

“I love you, my little warrior.” I whispered into her hair as her breathing turned heavy. “So god damn much.” She murmured in her sleep, a small sob mixing with her soft snores. “I’m so sorry, Ava.”

My eyes closed despite the turmoil battling my brain. I was exhausted. So exhausted that I was soon hard asleep. So hard I never felt my wife climb out from under me and disappear into the night. Guns and ‘carnage clothes’ accompanying her.

Chapter Seven

Ava

THE HOUSE WAS in darkness when I approached, yet I wasn’t naïve enough that I didn’t know it was still heavily guarded.

I stood at the gates, the huge black metal framework looming over me disturbingly, the two realistic viper heads protruding from each corner were sculpted to appear threatening and macabre. I smirked to myself at that detail.

I was surprised they’d left me there so long to say I was brandishing a gun in each hand and a face that would solidify water.

I quirked an eyebrow at the camera above one of the pillars and sighed heavily to let them know I was now bored with their game. The wind had picked up a little and I shivered as it beat against my face and swept inside my unzipped jacket. I didn’t have much time left before Mason would be on my tail so I held up my hand to the camera and started counting down from five, each finger folding inwards until there were none left remaining.

I rolled my eyes and shrugged before I turned then stepped back towards my jeep and opened the back door. The stoned teenage boy fell onto the pavement with a heavy thud. I shook my head sadly as I closed the door and gripped his hair, dragging him along the ground until I reached the gates once more.

I let him drop back down in a crumpled heap and tutted at the camera before I crouched down beside him and rested the muzzle of my gun against his temple.

As predicted, the gates swung open and I nodded a thanks, accompanying it with a self-assured wink. If these bastards sensed any kind of fear they would eat me alive. But I didn’t feel fear. The rage inside me was too potent and swallowed any dread.

I continued to drag the boy behind me, his head bouncing along the gravel on the driveway, small grunts arising from him every so often as I firmly strolled towards the dark house.

The porch lights flickered on, blinding me for a second before one of the double doors opened and a huge dark skinned guy stepped out. “Mrs Fox,” he greeted unemotionally. “Mr Steed asks if you would mind leaving your weapons at the door.”

I scoffed, “Of course I mind, but I don’t have a choice.”

“I’m afraid not,” he smirked.

“Then don’t ask, command.”

I could see him try to hide his smile as he watched me place my guns on the sideboard just inside the front door but he nodded politely when I held out my arms for him to search me.

“I do wish all our visitors were as cooperative.” A cheerful voice sounded from the end of the hallway.

I slowly lifted my eyes to see Steed slowly walking towards me. I was surprised at how young he looked, maybe in his early thirties. He was tall, way over six foot, his black hair was cut short but spiky and his body was well built but still trim. His bright blue eyes glinted in amusement when he watched my eyes slowly peruse him.

“Well, if I didn’t know you were a married woman, I’d have thought you were checking me out.”

I ran my tongue along my teeth and pursed my lips, “Just because I’m married doesn’t mean I can’t admire the male form, Mr Steed.”

“Oh please, call me Dane.”

“I’m sorry?”

He frowned as my whole body stiffened. “My name, Mrs Fox. I’d much prefer you to call me Dane, after all, all my other
friends
do.”

“Then don’t feel insulted when I call you arsehole.”

He clicked his tongue then tutted, “Aww, now that is a shame. I was hoping we could get to know each other a little better, maybe fuck, you know how it goes, Ava.”

His face twisted into a cruel smile as his eyes trickled over every inch of me. “But where are my manners? I should at least offer you a drink before we get naked, huh?”

I laughed at his front. “But Mr Steed, if you are aware of who I am, then you must also be aware that I don’t fuck anyone except my husband.”

He shrugged before turning to the guy who opened the door. “Phillip, could you fetch our guest something to drink. Maybe slip a little something into it just to loosen her up a bit.”

“I think maybe we should talk before I have the chance to
loosen up.
”

“As you wish,” he gestured his arm towards a door below the huge staircase. “Oh and Phillip,” he looked down at his son slumped against the front door, “Do something about that stupid piece of shit will you.”

“Please, Ava. Take a seat.” Steed offered as we entered his office.

I was shocked to see he had such perfect manners as he pulled out a chair for me and tucked it under me when I sat. “So,” he continued. “Forgive me if I’m a little suspicious Ava, but your entrance was not what I’d call civil.”

“No, Mr Steed, But then again I didn’t come here to be civil.”

He frowned at me before he stood and walked over to his drinks cabinet. He held up a bottle of expensive whisky, “It’s a sealed bottle, Ava.” He laughed as he made a show of unscrewing the new lid then pouring us both a glass.

“And what did you come here for?” He eventually asked when he sat in a plush chair behind his desk after handing me my drink.

I shook my head and laughed at him, “I think you know what happened today.”

He nodded once and lowered his eyes to the floor, “Yes, and believe me, no one is more sorry than I, Ava. Greg was a great guy, one of the good ones.”

I smiled gratefully and nodded, “He was, but he was also my family, Mr Steed.”

“Ava,” he sighed as he leaned forward and rested his elbows on the desk. “I’m really not sure what you want?”

I leant back in my seat and crossed my legs, brushing at a piece of dirt across my knee. “What I want is simple. I want an army, Mr Steed.” He quirked an eyebrow at me when I smirked. “And you’re going to provide me with one.”

Chapter Eight

Mason

“FUCKING FIND HER!” I roared at Elijah through the phone. “I don’t care what it takes.”

“Mason, I’m doing all I can. I’m trying to track the signal on her mobile but it’s currently switched off. I have two men going through the city traffic circuit trying to locate her route and car. I have personally rang all my contacts but so far . . .”

“Don’t,” I ran my hand through my hair and clenched my teeth in frustration. “I don’t want to hear you say nothing. Just keep . . . please, Elijah, just find her.”

“Mason?”

I turned to find Layla and Katie watching me from the open front doorway.

Fuck!

“Take her home, Lay. I don’t want her here.”

Katie blinked at me but I couldn’t deal with it now, I couldn’t allow her to see this part of me, the rage and fury I’d hidden from her for so long.

I glanced at Sam as he re-entered the room after trying all his connections but he shook his head, “Nothing.”

“FUCK!”

Concentrating on my breathing, I attempted to calm down the storm inside me. The tornado that was ripping at my skin and burning to get out was becoming uncontrollable and I begged with everything inside me that I was able to contain it.

“Mase, calm down.”

“Layla, not now. Please, take Katie home.” I turned to look at her, trying to get her to see what I was morphing into but she just stared at me sadly. “Lay, please. I’m not doing a great job of holding on and believe me, Katie does not need to see her dad like that. Understand?”

She nodded as her small pink lips pursed. “But right now, she needs her dad. She’s also lost someone, Mase. Her brother’s in hospital attached to numerous fucking monitors, her mother has disappeared and right now,
right—fucking—now,
she needs her
dad.”

She lifted an eyebrow at me when I glared at her but she stood her ground, her face as stiff as her posture. Layla was many things, but scared of me wasn’t one of them.

“It’s fine.” Katie sighed before she turned and slammed the front door.

“For Fuck’s sake. I can’t deal with this now!”

“When do you ever deal with things?” Lay shook her head angrily but her cheerless eyes showed all of her disappointment. “One day Mase, maybe your family will come first.”

My fist blew through Courtney’s living room wall when Layla closed the front door behind her. “Jesus Christ. What the hell does everyone want from me?”

I stared around the room and frowned, “Where the fuck is Liam?”

Sam sighed then sank into one of the chairs by the fire. His age had seemed to sneak up on him since the last time I’d seen him. Although we all visited regularly, Sam had always seemed unchanged, his shortly shaven head never appeared to display any greyness, his rough face was always covered with stubble but now his eyes bore laughter lines and his straight forehead carried a few creases.

He smiled as he picked up a pair of glasses from the small side table. “You remember when he had first started to wear these,” he said as he ran his thumb over the arms then across the lenses. “We had all taken the piss out of him, called him Harry Potter.”

“I remember” I chuckled as I sat in the opposite chair.

“I want these bastards to pay, Mase.” He lifted his face until he was staring almost through me, his mind focusing on his heartache rather than me.

“They will.”

He nodded. “When did it all become so hard?” I rolled my lips as pain seared me when Sam’s eyes filled up. “I can’t even begin to imagine what Courtney’s going through, or Harry. If it was me, it kills me to think what Marcy would do.”

I nodded in acknowledgement. There was nothing I could do to alleviate everyone’s pain and it crippled me. They, each member of my circle, had always looked to me to lead and make sure things were dealt with appropriately but this time I was powerless to take away their misery.

“Is it stupid that I already miss him?” He asked as his face screwed up and a tear slid free.

“Sam . . .”

“Ahh, damn.” He laughed to disguise his embarrassment as he stood up. He didn’t say anymore, just squeezed my shoulder then disappeared through the front door.

I rubbed at my temples, my brain was banging against my skull with all the tension. I checked my phone for the hundredth time. Where the hell was she?

My wife was in so much fucking shit when she got home. No way would I tolerate this from her. I knew she was grieving but fuck, the woman needed to learn some fucking discipline.

Chapter Nine

Ava

THIS ONE WOULDN’T be so easy. My heart was beating furiously against my chest. “Chill out love,” Steed whispered in my ear as we stood in the dark hallway.

The whole house had a sinister feel to it, much like something from a horror movie. Scantily clad girls were staring at us as they moved from room to room. Men pumped on crack leered at me, their eyes roaming over me as their tongues ran across their lips hungrily. Yet strangely, there was not a thing out of place or even a speck of dust to be seen.

“Like I said, keep that lovely mouth of yours closed. You have a funny way of saying things that are on your mind.” He smirked at me as he lifted a brow, “And Barlow won’t be as relaxed about it as I am.”

“Okay,” I hissed at him. “I get it, shut the fuck up Ava.”

“I rest my case.”

I shuddered when a large man, as tall as he was wide, slid out of a door beside us. His eyes were almost white, reminding me of an albino. His pale face was weirdly unblemished, giving him a plastic appearance. His lips curled at me, revealing yellow teeth and blackened fillings but it was the coldness in his expression that made the blood freeze in my veins.

“Well, well. Ava fucking Fox.” He stepped in front of me, his face half an inch from mine. I sank my teeth into my bottom lip to stop the cringe as his rancid breath disintegrated the hairs in my nostrils.

“Mr Barlow. Thank you for seeing me.”

He squinted as he stepped even closer, his lips hovering over mine as he ran a finger along my bare arm. The line of disgusted goose bumps he left behind screamed almost painfully when my skin shrank away from his touch. “Mmm,” he murmured as he dipped the tip of his nose into the soft flesh behind my ear. “You smell edible.”

Oh fuck.

Steed shook his head stealthily at me, warning me to keep cool when my fingers curled inwards preparing my fists for a fight.

“So” Barlow asked, his voice a flat tone, no emotion at all radiating from him. “What can you do for me, Ms Fox?”

“We . . .” Steed started but I cut in quickly.

“Mr Barlow, I would like to negotiate a . . . sale.”