Atonement (Heart of Stone)

by Sidebottom, D H

  “Yeah, I gotta run through with the program. It needs some other stuff doing once it pinpoints the IP’s so I can track the movements of the money and bring up the name of the account it eventually landed in.”

  “Did you manage to get a link on what I asked you?” I asked Kade quietly when Mason stepped into the shower.

  “Not yet but that could take weeks, Ava. I know I write brilliant programs but sometimes they’re a little slow.” He chuckled and took my hand in his, “Is Mason okay?”

  I shrugged and pursed my lips, sighing as Kade’s thumb gently rubbed my knuckles, “I’m not sure, I think he’s fighting a few new emotions.”

  He cocked his head as a small frown puckered his brow, “Emotions involving me?”

  “I dunno, he clammed up when I asked him,” I replied as I shot a look to the bathroom when the shower shut off. “The best thing to do is sit back and let him deal with them. He’ll let us know when he comes to some sort of conclusion about them.”

  He nodded then pulled in a heavy breath, pulling me back slightly as I turned to walk away, “I need to say something, Ava. I know you don’t want to hear it but I need to say it.”

  I swallowed back the worry and let him have his say as I nodded to him.

  “I love you Ava, you know that and I know you love me but this…this whatever it is, it was the right thing to do. Years Ava, for years I have wanted you and it tore me up inside but now we end it. We move on, get on with life and…”

  He ran his tongue over his teeth as his throat bobbed and my skin tightened when I knew his next words would hurt, “And I can’t see you again, Ava.”

  My heart dropped through my stomach as I shook my head urgently, “Kade, no, I…”

  “Ssshhh, sweetheart.” He pulled me against him tightly, my hip screaming in pain but that was nothing compared to the pain in my heart.

  “Last night and this morning… it made me realise how much I want you, Ava. How damn in love I am with you and I can’t…”

  His fists clenched beside him as he closed his eyes, “I can’t watch you be with someone else. I will never get over you whilst I watch you, see you every day and know that you will never be mine.”

  Tears spilled down my face and he swept his fingers over my cheeks, catching them before they dripped from my chin, “You’ll be fine Ava, Mason loves you so much. His eyes are so alive when he looks at you, his whole aura lights your shadow, sweetheart. And you, you absorb that Ava and it’s what makes your heart beat every day. I can never compete with that kind of love. I know you love me, but I know you worship Mason. I have seen the adoration and idolisation in your eyes and I can visibly see your soul reach out for him. I can feel the thud of your heart when he enters a room and fuck, I might be a bastard at times but even Hell wouldn’t forgive me for destroying that.”

  “But…”

  He shook his head firmly before he leaned and grazed his lips over mine, the salt from my tears mixing with his love and stimulating my tongue and lips as my heart stuttered against my chest. His mouth moved over mine with so much passion and I sighed into him as his tongue stroked across the underside of mine. I let it flow, let him take what he needed from me as I palmed his face and fed him as much love as I could.

  He rested his forehead on mine as his eyes held me but a smile lifted his lips, “I’ll be here when you get back, I promise.”

  I nodded against him, inhaling his deliciousness one last time as I pulled my shoulders back, halted my tears and dragged my heart back into place.

  His gaze pierced my soul before he slipped past me and went to check his equipment in the office.

  I didn’t watch him go, just stood rooted to the spot, my fingers against my lap as I closed my eyes and strived to steady myself. I knew it would come, knew last night would make it difficult but that didn’t help stop the ache that was killing me inside.

  I had always hated myself for what I did to Kade all those years ago and now, now it felt like retribution, my turn to feel the pain as I tried to let go.

  Chapter 37

  mason

  I watched Kade walk away then gazed at Ava as she struggled with her emotions in the centre of the room.

  I had heard every word from behind the door, listened to them each declare their love but what had surprised me was Kade’s words and Ava’s acceptance. She had fought with her feelings for Kade for over seven years but she had controlled them, allowing her friendship with Kade to continue and grow. Now she had even lost that and I couldn’t help but feel guilty for pushing last night’s amazing experience.

  My own emotions over Kade weren’t something I was willing to decipher at the present moment, not until this shit was over with and I stayed motionless until Ava left the room.

  I sat on the edge of the bed and stared around the bedroom, my bedroom for the last twelve years. This was where I had first taken Ava, first made love to her, first accepted that I was in love with her, first asked her to marry me and lost our first child in this very room. It was part of me, part of our family and I sighed heavily as I visualised the rapture on Kade’s face this morning when he slid into Ava’s warm wet pussy. The love that had been displayed on his face mirrored mine and then the adoration on my wife’s face not ten minutes ago when Kade gave her a final kiss.

  Would she ever move past this? I had no worries or concerns about whether she loved me but I hated to see her ache; an ache that she would carry with her for the rest of her life. An ache that was now wiggling its way inside me.

  No, I wouldn’t go there, wouldn’t accept what my heart was telling me. This was over, finished and it would stay that way.

  I climbed from the bed and dropped the towel to pull on my clothes. “Ava asks if you’re ready for breakfast.” Kade asked from the doorway.

  I turned and watched his eyes lift from my backside as a sly smirk appeared on his face. He had been checking me out and I frowned at myself when my gut pooled with heat and my stomach fluttered with satisfaction.

  “Yeah, five minutes.”

  He was about to turn when he turned back to me and held my gaze, “About this morning, I know you were listening and I wanted to apologise for what I…”

  I lifted a hand and stopped him mid-sentence, “I knew it all, Kade. I want to thank you for… I dunno, for handing me the reins I suppose. Your honesty to Ava means a lot.”

  I sighed and penetrated his eyes; his gaze grew serious when he felt the sadness in me. “We’re moving to Portugal, Kade. After we get this bastard we’re selling up and moving into George’s place.”

  He sucked a hefty intake of air through his teeth and I noticed the slight tremble in his legs but he held it back and I could see the acceptance absorb into him, “Probably a good thing then. I need complete separation, Mason, otherwise I have no chance of…” He shrugged to finish his sentence and I nodded to show I understood.

  He left again and I watched him go, my heart racing in my chest as my eyes dropped to his arse and devoured the way his backside hugged the denim nicely.

  Fuck! I did not need this right now; I needed complete concentration on finding our guy. I didn’t need my attention somewhere else until I had him.

  I shook myself off and dressed before following the smell of fried bacon and eggs. I didn’t need to follow the scent of Ava; my soul dragged me to her intuitively. It was always on the hunt for its mate and I smiled as I noticed the customary dip in her brow as I entered the kitchen.

  Her eyes lit up as I approached and slid an arm around her waist. “Smells good, you two have given me an appetite.”

  She scoffed and slapped me with the spatula until I let her go, “Mason, you’re always hungry.”

  I smirked and nibbled on the nape of her neck as I answered in a slow growl, “Always, baby.”

  “Not for me, I mean food.” She scolded and Kade laughed from his place at the table. “Sit, it’s ready.”

  “You’re always ready, Ava” Kade laughed then quietened when she narro
wed her eyes on him and glared.

  “Don’t you start” she admonished but I couldn’t miss the twinkle in her eyes and the slight twist of her lips in the corner.

  He saluted her and grinned as she placed a plate of food in front of him. He watched her, his eyes trained on every move she made and I bit my lower lip as I surveyed the easiness they portrayed together.

  Why did I feel guilty? Fuck, she was my wife and Kade meant nothing to me.

  Nothing.

  Nothing at all.

  ***

  I took the stairs up to Kade as Ava left with Brad to go to the cemetery and I frowned when Kade started to hit numerous keys rapidly on one of his four laptops.

  “Found something?” I asked as I crouched beside him and watched different images flick over the screen.

  “Come on, come on…” he hissed through his teeth as though he hadn’t heard me.

  “Is it the trace?” I tried again.

  He shook his head despondently without looking at me. The computer made a succession of beeps as Kade hit more keys furiously. “It’ something Ava asked me to look into.”

  “What?” I murmured as old newspaper clippings flocked the screen and I squinted as Kade scrolled through them.

  “She asked me to find a connection between your men, both personal and from Allure.”

  “She what?” I barked but Kade didn’t even blink.

  “I also ran Ava’s name through to see what came up and the fucker’s just found a hit… Fuck!”

  I leaned in, goose bumps erupting over my body as my breath lodged in my throat, “Is that…?” I stuttered as my blood cooled.

  “Katherine Tammy Davidson.”

  “Holy Fuck!”

  “Katie!” I whispered.

  “The newspaper clipping is dated thirteen years ago. This must be before she ran away. It’s something about her family winning an award for services to the community.” Kade relayed as he read the words below the photo.

  “Oh – sweet –Jesus!” I reared back, my arse hitting the floor with a heavy thud as I scrutinised the picture.

  “What?” Kade hissed as he watched my body shut down with fear, his eyes hard as he reached for me and pulled me up, “WHAT?! MASON!”

  “Katie’s brother…” I managed to choke out.

  He turned back to the screen, his face close as he squinted at the fuzzy image. “No… no, no, no…”

  I watched the horror pass over Kade’s face as I looked at the ceiling, “Stop him Katie, please” I begged to a ghost, unable to move as fear and terror ripped through every muscle in my body.

  Chapter 38

  Ava

  “Hey” I said to George as I pulled a few weeds that had already grown through the new soil. “You’re pushing up weeds already you sour bastard.”

  I chuckled as I walked over to the bin and dumped the pile of greens. Brad lifted a hand from his position at the back of the plot, his eyes scanning the area as he gave me the much needed privacy I needed as I hashed out my life with George.

  “The twins send their love, and Mason of course.” I said quietly as I settled on the ground beside the man who I loved more than I had ever loved anybody, apart from Mason of course.

  “Well, it’s a mess again; you’ll be pleased to hear. I have had all my money pinched, my husband has asked the other love of my life into our bed and I got fucking shot. When you said I had killed too many robins, I think you may have been right.”

  I scowled as I grumbled at the ringing tone in my bag. “Not now, I’m with George” I scolded as I ignored it.

  I ran my fingers along the small cross, the headstone yet to be fitted as I smiled softly, “I miss you George, so bloody much. You were always there for me to growl at, to sound things over with and just drag me up when I need it. I’ll never forget your love and care that night behind the Blades nightclub where you found me…”

  Holy Fuck!!!!

  The blades, the blades.

  The fucking message wasn’t for Mason, it was for me. Liv had got it wrong. The missing money, the warning about the blades… it was me.

  I pulled my phone from my bag, noticing the seven missed calls. A text flashed up from Mason just as I went to dial him.

  Mason:

  Ava… if you are in the cemetery, stay there, I’m coming for you. Its Katie’s brother, Ava. Brad is Katie’s brother.

  My heart stopped, literally stopped beating as I sensed him behind me. Oh Jesus, how could I not have seen this?

  I didn’t move, there was no point. He had me, he’d always had me and I stood, turning to face him as he watched me with a tilt to his head and a wild look in his eye.

  “Figured it out, Ava? Took you long enough.”

  “I don’t understand Brad, why would you want to hurt me? Katie was my friend, we looked after each other. Why the girls at Allure, they had nothing to do with me?”

  He took a step towards me and I scanned the area around me, hunting for something anything to use as a weapon. My gun was in my bag, Mason made me carry it everywhere, but my bag was currently on the floor beside George’s grave and I knew I had to run the other way if I was to get away from him. “You left her to die, Ava. YOU LEFT HER TO FUCKING DIE!! The girls were just pawns. You were supposed to find Ginny hanging from your balcony, not Mason. I needed you to find out about Allure to hurt you with your husband’s years of deceit, like the years of betrayal I felt when I found out you abandoned Katie when she needed you… you fucking failed her, Ava. You watched and laughed as they burnt her to death.”

  I shook my head furiously, “No, NO! I couldn’t get to her. They held me back Brad, I tried, I tried so hard…”

  His fist connected with my cheekbone and damn, I actually heard the crack as it shattered. The pain was excruciating and tears flooded my eyes. “You cry! Well, well, not so tough after all, are you!”

  He slid a knife from behind him as an evil smile curled his lips, “Katie needs retribution, Ava. It time for atonement.”

  Chapter 39

  mason

  Kade and I burst from the car and floored it across the graveyard. I could make out Greg and Sam at the rear, their frantic search alerting me that Ava was no longer here.

  Fuck!

  I roared in anger as I spotted her bag beside George’s grave, the contents overturned all over the soil.

  “Find her, now!” I screamed at Greg and Sam as I urged them to carry on searching, “Find anything, anything that gives us a fucking hint!”

  Elijah appeared with Neo and a couple of others. “I can’t get a hit off the tap cos’ the damn thing is in her fucking bag, which is in your fucking hand” he snarled in anger, “I told you to place it in a pendant or some other shit she would wear on her at all times.”

  I hit him level on the jaw, the sensation of releasing some anger satisfying my growing rage as he hit the floor.

  “Whoa!” Kade grabbed my arms and held me back before I punched the arrogant bastard again, “Mason, stop!”

  I heaved in a breath as my chest hurt with a terror I had only ever felt once before. “I need her found, Kade.”

  He nodded as he relaxed his hold on me, “We all need her found Mason, but punching your friend’s isn’t gonna get her found. Now pull yourself together and feed me as much information you can about this guy. I need everything, and then I can run it through. If he has any secrets I’ll find them. Any safety deposits, any warehouses and fucking whore’s belonging to him, it will find them. You listening?”

  I stared at him and nodded. “I need her Kade, if anything…”

  “Shush, we’ll find her…”

  “Please…” I whispered; my voice no more than a croak as I shivered with the realisation that she could already be dead. “Kade, please…”

  His arms slipped round my shoulders and he pulled me in as my whole body shuddered in pain. I felt the eyes of the others on me but right now I didn’t give a fucking toss, I needed Kade’s closeness, the smell of Ava still in h
is hair.

  My throat constricted as I embraced him just as tightly, refusing the tears that wanted to torment me, rejecting the way my mind denied Kade’s tenderness as I devoured everything he served me.

  I needed this; I needed to feel something other than pain and fear.

  If anything happened to Ava, I knew this man holding me tight would be just as destroyed as I would. I knew he held as much terror as I did at this point.

  I knew he was becoming more than a friend to me. I knew he also saw me as something more.

  Chapter 40

  Ava

  I sat on Katie’s bed, looking around her childhood bedroom as Brad never removed his eyes from me.

  It was weird, taking a peek into Katie’s youth. The boy band posters still hung on the wall, her Garfield bedding still covered her bed and her dressing table still held the masses of make-up collected as a teenager.

  A soft smile lifted my lips as I saw her fun filled face smiling at me from an old photo pinned to her mirror. She was so beautiful and happy.

  “She was happy here once.” Brad declared suddenly as though he had read my mind.

  “I know” I answered quietly, “She told me.”

  He sucked in an angry breath, “Did she ever tell you why she ran?”

  My eyes flicked over his face. Now that I knew who he was I could see the resemblance; the slightly long nose, the bow of his lips and the faint slant of his eyes, all of which Katie modelled.

  “Yes.” I answered hesitantly, wondering what his reaction would be when I told him.

  “Well?” he snapped with an eagerness to know why his sister had abandoned him.