The NSC Boxset: Heart of Stone

by D H Sidebottom

  We bucked, jerked and cried out violently, each of us riding out the pleasure and the pain and I clung to her forcefully, needing to get her as close as possible.

  Hell, if I could have absorbed her right then I would have done.

  “Fuck, baby” I panted as we collapsed on the floor and I keyed open her cuffs, released her blindfold and unbuckled the spreader before I lifted her and curled us both up on the bed, pulling her into me as I held her.

  “You okay?”

  She lifted her eyes to me and smirked “Was that supposed to be a punishment?”

  I couldn’t hold back the wide smile “Yeah, supposedly. I don’t know what it is with you, but I seem to have a problem when it comes to punishing you.”

  “Well, remind me to be naughty a lot more” She whispered.

  We both laughed but my mood darkened suddenly and I turned her to face me “Don’t ever do that again. Are you hell bent on giving me grief?”

  She sucked on her lips and looked away and I could sense her conflict and although it hurt me to see her so troubled, I also needed her to see what she was doing to herself as well as me.

  “Baby, listen to me. I don’t need saving, I don’t need protecting and I certainly don’t need rescuing. But what I do need is you, by my side, with me, under me, just fucking here, with me.”

  “You don’t understand, Lucas. Diablo is relentless in his missions, and especially now Mase has pissed him off. You should have just left me there.”

  I bit my lower lip, desperately trying to hold in my rage at her words. “Do you want this as much as I do, Red?” I asked her seriously.

  She turned immediately and knelt before me. “Don’t ever say I don’t want you Lucas, ever. What I did, I did for you. He killed Ry, just as a warning. Do you even understand that Lucas? A warning of what he will do to you. It was just fun for him. Ry gave his life for me twice now, do you realise how that even feels?”

  “I know it’s hard for you Red . . .”

  “HARD? Hard?” she scoffed as she shook her head at me, “Hard doesn’t even begin to cover how I feel. I’m fucking terrified, I’m angry, I’m sad, I’m intimidated, I’m breaking inside Lucas at the thought of him getting to you, I’m petrified of what he will do to you cos’ believe me, it won’t be fucking pleasant. He will make you pay for what I’ve done, not for my benefit but for his own personal fun.”

  I rubbed my face as I climbed from the bed and pulled on my jeans, not wanting to have this conversation naked, it felt wrong.

  Red didn’t seem to be having that problem though and it was really hard to focus on her face instead of those magnificent tits of hers.

  “Put some clothes on, baby.” I asked and she lifted a brow at me but then a smile lifted her lips and her beautiful face transformed from stunning to fucking epically stunning and I grinned back as I trotted across the room to her and cupped her face.

  “You are so beautiful, Red. The way you smile lights my fucking heart. Nate has rearranged the France trip for tomorrow to suck up to the contacts we didn’t get to meet at the convention. The break will do you good, it’ll give you chance to relax without having to look over your shoulder all the time, then I might get to see more of that stunning smile of yours.”

  She nodded but didn’t say anything as she pulled on some clothes “Promise me you’ll be vigilant though Lucas, just keep looking over your own shoulder until we get to France.”

  I nodded just to ease her worry and she exhaled heavily at my promise. “You promise me the same, Red?”

  She nodded but I knew if I let her out of my sight for even a minute she would do a runner, she would make her way back to Diablo, her mind made up that would be the only way to keep me safe.

  It probably was, but there was no way I would let Red give up her freedom for mine. No way in hell.

  Chapter 29

  Layla

  I TRUNDLED THROUGH the airport with my pink spotty case for the second time in a week and as soon as I reached Nate, he pulled out a child’s security wrist band and fixed it to his wrist then mine. “Oh, ha, bloody ha.”

  He grinned mischievously and winked as Ava passed me a hot chocolate. Grimacing as I took a sip of the lukewarm airport sludge, Lucas appeared beside me and wrapped his arm around my waist and kissed the top of my head. “You made it then?” he smirked when he spotted the wrist band.

  I poked my tongue out at him and then shivered intensely as my whole body erupted in goose bumps. I stilled but nobody noticed as they were all immersed in a conversation about puppies of all things.

  I turned slowly; my breath trapped in my lungs and my legs trembled as I scanned the area rigorously.

  Nothing.

  Absolutely-no-one.

  I knew this was a private departure lounge as we were using Nate’s private jet but there should still be people around. Hostess’s, security, hell, even maybe a bloody cleaner, but there was no-one. Not one single person.

  “He’s here . . .” I choked out but all three of my escorts carried on with their mundane conversation.

  My breathing was becoming heavy as my eyes frantically swept every inch of the room for my bodyguard, Neo and Lucas’s, Gerry.

  Where the hell were they?

  “Lucas” I tried to get the words out but they were stuck in my throat, my terror holding them hostage inside me and I closed my eyes and forced them through. “Lucas!”

  He turned to me with a confused expression then his eyes narrowed and he scanned the space with me. He knew without me having to utter a word that he was here.

  “Fuck!” he hissed as he grabbed my arm and pulled me behind him.

  Nate took stance behind Ava . . . what the hell? If our situation wasn’t so dire I would have laughed at him.

  “Where the fuck is Neo and Gerry?” Nate growled and I shrugged.

  Ava moved forward and took position in front of me and beside Lucas, and they both backed up, moving me slowly backwards until I was sited at the wall. “You both need to get behind me, you’re sitting fucking ducks.” I cautioned.

  Ava shook her head and pulled out her phone and pressed an icon on it. It rang back immediately and she put it on speaker. “Where the fuck are your guy’s, Elijah?”

  A voice barked through the speaker and I jumped at the volume in my frazzled state. “I dunno, Ava. Neo and Gerry have lost connection but I see Accosi. He’s accompanied by four men, two through the door to your left and two with Accosi outside the main door to your room. I can’t understand why they’re waiting, doesn’t make sense.”

  “Fuck!” Lucas barked.

  We all swung our eyes to the main door and a shudder racked my body. “Shit, you all need to get out of here . . . now! He’ll come for me first.”

  Ava turned to me slowly and glared. “If I have to lay you out again, Lay, then I fucking will.” I just nodded at her fury and decided to shut my mouth. Nobody should ever cross Ava; she was the only person that had ever knocked Mason out, and out cold she knocked him.

  “Mason’s on his way, Ava. I’ve got men en route to you but listen to me carefully. Look to your right and up.”

  We all did as he asked and each head in that room swung right and up. “You see it?”

  “Yep.” Ava answered and without waiting for further instructions she was making her way across the room and Nate was pulling a chair quietly behind her.

  She climbed on it and pushed at the heavy grid but it wouldn’t shift. Lucas gestured for her to climb down and he had a go but squinted at it then sighed heavily.

  “Not a chance. It needs leverage. No way is that moving.”

  We all cast an eye over the room and Nate smiled and approached a table before yanking off a leg then bounced his feet on one end of the metal pole to squash it. “Cheap airport furniture!” he tutted.

  He passed the makeshift tool to Lucas who stabbed it into on side of the grid and pried the metal grating open.

  It squealed loudly and we all flinched and looked at the d
oor but Elijah told us we were safe. Diablo was still stood. What the hell was he waiting for? It didn’t make sense. He knew I was in here so why didn’t he just come in and get me?

  Lucas popped his head through the hole in the ceiling and then grabbed my waist and pushed me up and through.

  It was a metal passageway and I shuffled forward on my hands and knees to make room for the next person to climb in.

  Ava clambered in behind me and I kept moving forward. Nate was next and my heart didn’t beat until I saw Lucas scramble in lastly.

  “Go right at the junction.” Elijah’s voice came through Ava’s phone so I took a right and my heart stopped when we had to pass over another grid. It was directly above Diablo and I took a calming breath when Ava slapped my arse quietly.

  “Don’t look, Hun, just keep going forward” She whispered.

  I lifted my face so I couldn’t see him and made my way to the end of the corridor, “Left.”

  We took a left and I noticed we were now directly above the main departure lounge.

  “Right.”

  We carried on until Elijah told us to hang on.

  “You okay, baby?” Lucas’s voice came from the back of the line and I whispered back a confirmation.

  The grid in front of me suddenly opened and a bloke I’d never seen before popped his head through and gestured silently for me to follow him.

  I slipped my legs through the hole and he caught me as I dropped through, then grasped Ava and helped her down.

  We seemed to be in a caretaker’s room of some sorts. Mason entered through a small door, flanked my Greg and Sam and another man I didn’t know.

  “Oh fuck!” I heard Elijah say through Ava’s phone and I frowned and turned towards Ava who was also frowning.

  “I’ve found out why he was waiting.” Elijah declared and I closed my eyes in preparation.

  “Why?” Ava asked apprehensively.

  The line was silent for a while before he took a deep breath, “You there, Mason?”

  “Yeah” Mason answered.

  “Keep hold of her.”

  I frowned deeply now as Mason stood beside me and grabbed both my arms and held them behind me. “What the hell? Get off, Mase!”

  Lucas appeared at the other side of me and now I started to panic. “What is going on?” I spat.

  Elijah pulled in another breath and I was beginning to get irate.

  “He has Sara.”

  The words didn’t register at first, and then they did; with force, like a wrecking ball through a glass house and I shattered around myself.

  My breath came out in short sharp gusts and I struggled to breathe. My whole body was shutting down and my lungs were squealing for oxygen as a sob wedged in my throat.

  It suddenly erupted with vigour and I sagged in Mason’s arms as my knees gave way. He scooped me up and lifted me in his arms. “It’s okay Lay, we’ll get her. I promise, I promise.”

  “You have to let me go Mason, please,” I begged him “Let me go to him and he’ll let Sara go.”

  He gave me a pained look but shook his head “Can’t do that, little Willow. I need you safe. I promise I’ll get her out.”

  My rage surfaced and I punched him in the chest “Mason. Let me go. She’ll be terrified.”

  He shook his head again as he passed me to Lucas who cradled me to his chest. “Lucas, please . . .”

  He also shook his head and the feeling of utter defeat surged through me.

  I could take whatever Diablo threw at me but Sara, she wouldn’t cope with it. I knew she wouldn’t, he would massacre her spirit and her gentleness. He would take it all from her. He would demand everything from her, even her soul would be lost to him and I had to get her out of his hold.

  Mason nodded to each of his men and then he cradled Ava’s face. “Stay with Willow baby, she needs you with her.”

  “Mason, I think right now, you need me more.” She narrowed her eyes on him.

  “Not this time, my little warrior. You stay and protect Lay.”

  She relented and nodded before he kissed her forehead then disappeared back through the door he came in by, dialling someone on his phone as he went.

  “Stay in there until my men come for you, Ava.” Elijah told us and she nodded even though he couldn’t hear her.

  I had to do something; I couldn’t just sit her with these. I had to help Sara; I had to get her out fast.

  “I need the loo.” I said, adding a false grimace to my lie.

  Lucas rolled his eyes and looked around the small room. “If you think I’m pissing in a bucket in front of you lot, you can think again.”

  “I’ll take her” Ava, as I’d hoped, said.

  Lucas looked conflicted but eventually nodded.

  He poked his head around the door and scanned our vicinity then turned and nodded.

  We emerged in a small corridor that was full of doors. Mop buckets and ladders and tool kits spanned the length of one wall and I smiled when we scuttled up the corridor and Ava tried each door to see if one held a toilet.

  She smiled and nodded as she opened a door to reveal a staff restroom. “I’ll stay here and keep a look out” she whispered.

  Good Girl.

  I nodded as I headed inside the room and locked the door behind me.

  I took a quick scope of the small room and relief coursed through me when I spotted a small window.

  Prising it open as quietly as I could, I shimmied my small body through the tiny gap. It was times like this I was glad my pole dancing kept me trim and in shape.

  I landed on the other side to find myself in an alleyway behind the airport. It was full of industrial bins, massive air vents and a few large drums of something and I rapidly scanned for another way in.

  Everyone was going to hate me for doing this but I couldn’t risk Sara. I needed to make sure I got to her before Diablo figured out we had gone. He would hurt her greatly when he found out I wasn’t any longer behind the door he guarded.

  I spotted a metal door further down and cursed when it was locked but I wouldn’t give up. There must be a way out if bin men had to get access to the alley and I scurried up the passage until I found another door.

  “Thank God” I breathed in relief as I let myself in.

  I rolled my eyes and shook my head when I found myself in yet another bloody corridor but my eyes narrowed on a door at the end.

  I hesitated and readied my mind to what I was about to do and rested my hand on the handle.

  Deep breath, Lay.

  I pushed open the door and walked straight into the centre of Hell.

  Chapter 30

  Lucas

  “WHAT’S TAKING THEM so long?” I grumbled to Nate who had now flopped down onto the floor and I grimaced at the dirt that would now be affixing itself to his arse.

  He shrugged and pursed his lips, jumping a mile when the door flew opened and a breathless Ava stormed back in “She’s fucking gone!”

  I rolled my eyes and growled at her. “For God’s sake woman, couldn’t you keep your eye on her for two minutes?”

  Her face contorted in rage and she glared at me “If it wasn’t for you, we wouldn’t be in this fucking mess!”

  I reared back and stared at her “What the hell did I do?”

  “She’s doing all this to protect you, arsehole.”

  I scoffed but didn’t answer her. She was right, well half right; at the moment Red’s determination was on Sara not me, but I knew I was in there somewhere so I left it alone, admitting defeat.

  Nate shot up and glanced around the room before he picked up a mop and studied it. “What the hell are you gonna do with that, wash them to death?”

  He glared at me then broke the handle over his knee and I really had trouble holding back the laughter at his actions. “We’re not filming a new Bond movie, Nate.”

  He rose both brows at me “Fine Hunt, you go in empty handed then. Won’t be my problem when you have a chance to swipe at the bastards b
ut then find out you didn’t go in equipped.”

  I contemplated his words then looked around for my own weapon and settled on a can of industrial oven cleaner. “And I suppose you’re gonna polish them after I’ve washed them!”

  I shook my head and curled my lip at him. “For God’s sake, come on.” Ava huffed out and departed the room in front of us, as if to guard us both.

  I was so chivalrous, I let her.

  We shuffled along the corridor quietly as Ava connected with Elijah on her phone. “Can you get a trace on Layla?” She asked him as soon as he answered.

  “Oh Shit. She gone?” he said and Ava mumbled a shamed reply.

  “Hang on. I need to alert Mason” he said and I noticed Ava stiffen. Yes, he would go ballistic at her.

  I shrugged to myself; her problem, not mine.

  “Oh holy Fuck” Elijah stuttered and I tensed immediately.

  “What?”

  I heard him groan again and my blood was just about ready to project through my ears if he didn’t answer me shortly.

  “She’s just about to walk into the lions den.”

  “Fuck, fuck, fuck!!” I hissed and started to speed up.

  “They’re all in the main departure lounge, near to the room you were all in before. I don’t think the public is aware of the situ at the mo cos’ it’s all quiet in there, but by the looks of things it won’t be long. It’s like a western showdown in there.”

  My heart faltered and my hands started to sweat as we sped through the corridor and exited through a door into a huge warehouse sized room. Our footsteps echoed loudly in the mighty room and Ava proceeded to walk on her toes to stop the clip of her heels on the floor. She reached into her bag and pulled out a small pistol, holding it in both hands at her lap as she ran silently.

  She was like a bloody MI5 agent and I was silently in awe of her. Mason had trained her well, but I had the feeling this sassy woman had trained herself before Mason had even come along.

  She drew near another door and tilted her head as if to listen then shrugged and tipped the handle with her elbow before she nudged it an inch and peeked through.