“I’m okay” I whispered.
Lucas’s fingers continued on their mission of relaxation and I sighed deeply as they now wisped on the inside of my wrist.
“He told me to take out a contract on Diablo.” I revealed and I heard Lucas’s breath pause. “Last Sunday. He told me to end him to make the path clear for me and you.” I gave out a bitter laugh “He even told me he’d sign the divorce papers so I could… so we could have a free relationship.”
Lucas was watching me intently, listening and offering his silent support when I lifted my eyes to his “I guess I don’t need that now, eh?”
He sighed and frowned at me, probably thought I was losing it, but it was suddenly very clear and I turned and sat on my knees to face Lucas.
My eyes skimmed over his beautiful face and I palmed both cheeks in my hands and slid my thumbs over his chiselled cheekbones. “Make love to me, Lucas. Right here, by the window, in front of the world. Let humanity see how much you love me and how much I love you.”
His own hands came up and cupped my own face as he leaned in and whispered his mouth over mine, “I need you to see how much I love you right now, Red, not humanity. You.”
He took me under him, his kiss soft and gentle but still very much passionate and I let him lead. Let him take me to the realms of oblivion, where everything else but us was forgotten and ignored.
He worshipped every inch of me with his mouth, nibbled, sucked and licked every part of my hot skin and I explored every inch of him with my fingers. Traced each of his fine contours and lines until he slid inside me and took me in front of the world, in front of whoever was watching and in front of God and now Ry.
“Look at me, Red. Open your eyes and look at me. Watch my face as I come inside you, watch me whilst I take all of you under and around me” he whispered as he moved so deliciously inside me and I did, I opened my eyes and watched him and showed him how much I loved him as he silently told me.
His orgasm erupted just as mine hit me sideways, its intensity had me screaming Lucas’s name loud and feral as I exploded around him and under him.
He shouted out my name as his palm hit the glass of the window and his forehead rested on mine as I clutched him tight, relishing every second I had with him. With the man that had stolen my heart away from Ryan.
The man who I would never risk. The man who owned my soul so utterly it would forever be with him now instead of me. He owned every single piece of me and I told him right then, as we lay in front of the world.
“I love you Lucas, always. You’ll always have me because you own my soul.”
Chapter 26
Lucas
I rolled over as the sun filtered through the blinds and reached out for Red. The bed was cold and empty and my eyes shot open.
“Red?”
Nothing but silence greeted me and I knew. I knew right then what she had done. I knew where she had gone and I flung my body out of bed and rapidly pulled on some clothes as I went to search the apartment for her.
I knew it was a waste of my time but a small part of me was arguing with the other larger part and telling it not to be so stupid, Red wouldn’t go back, not now, not after Ryan. But I knew she would, I knew she already had, just to keep me safe.
I sank down the window where we had made love last night and the cry that left my throat was raw and primal, its intensity shocked me and I gasped for air as I clutched at the carpet that still held her imprint.
Red had left me; gone back to the bastard that terrified her and abused her, just to keep me from harm.
The knowledge tore through me, ripped straight through the centre of my heart and I bled from every pore as I cried out her name.
I would get her back; it was the first and last thing I promised her. I would get her back and I would take that bastard under my hands and squeeze every inch of life from him. Crush him with my bare hands and make him pay for what he had done to Red and to Ryan. I would destroy him.
Even if I destroyed myself in the process.
***
Mason eyed me strangely when he opened his door and we stood silently regarding each other, as he read me and I begged him silently for help.
“We have a problem” I told him.
He narrowed his eyes, sighed and gestured for me to enter.
Ava came from the kitchen carrying a plate of some sort of cake and it slid straight off and onto the floor when she caught sight of my face.
“Lucas?”
I stared at them both and sighed. “She’s gone back.”
Mason’s eyes widened as Ava gasped and I proceeded to fill them in on the last 48 hours.
Within two hours Mason’s house was full of people; his men, his friends, a few security guys’, Sara and Nate and his wife Liv.
Give this man credit, he worked fast and within the next hour he had the address and whereabouts of Red.
“Good job I had the sense to place a tracker in her phone last time she disappeared on us” Mason grinned slyly when one of the security blokes, Elijah, brought up a map image of where Red was.
We all loomed in to look at the image and my heart stuttered when it revealed Red in a plush lounge of some sorts. For the moment she looked okay though and that settled my stomach a little but it still pulled on my heart to see her there.
“This technology is amazing” I said to Elijah who smirked at me as the screen now showed Red stand and prowl the room. “Highly illegal but oh well. It taps into one of NASA’s satellites and its software, I wrote myself.”
My brows lifted and I grinned “We all have bugs to bear.”
Mason suddenly spat orders at everyone when the address kicked out a street name in London and I knew it wouldn’t be long before she was taken back to Sheffield and we had to move fast.
“Me?” I asked him and he shook his head at me. “What?” I asked warily and Mason shook his head again.
“For one, you’re not used to this kind of thing and two, you’re too involved.”
I just glared at him. “What the hell, Mason? You’re too involved, she’s your friend” I argued but he smirked at me.
“You ever killed anyone, Hunt?”
My brow rose but I continued to stare at him “Well, no but…”
“Well even Ava has and your inexperience could cost Lay her life. No way, and no way again.”
“Bollocks, Mason. I’m going in with you. By the looks of those images there’s roughly eight guys’ in there. You need all the help you can get.”
Mason smirked again. “But we have a secret weapon.”
I frowned and his smirk turned into a sly grin “Ava.”
I turned my gaze to Ava who grinned and smiled at me. “Afternoon, guvnor’. Ya’ aint got a bog I could borra hav ya’?” she said with a wink as she wiggled her large breasts at me.
I couldn’t help but smile at her but I still turned to Mason “But I need to do this Mason, please don’t…”
He shook his head again but placed his hand on my shoulder “I know how you feel about her Lucas, but I need you to trust me. Layla won’t want you there for one and I know her, she gave herself to him, she won’t be happy we’re going in to bring her back. I’m gonna have to do the whole club and caveman routine to get her out of there.”
“Fine” I relented, “But you need to promise me Mason…”
Ava placed her hand on my arm “I’ll get her out Lucas, I promise.”
I looked at them both before I inhaled deeply then nodded “Okay, but when she’s out I’m tying her to my fucking side.”
Mason smiled sadly “She loved Ryan, Lucas. She’s just doing what she thinks is gonna help you. To her, she can’t bear to lose any more people. And I know she’ll blame herself for what’s happened.”
I nodded my agreement but it still hurt like fuck that she had left me and not trusted me to protect her.
An hour later Ava descended the stairs and every jaw in the room hit the floor.
She wore a tight bl
ack leather skirt, a red halter neck top that barely contained her large breasts and knee high leather kinky boots.
She smirked at everyone “I look like a fucking tart!”
“You are a fucking tart!” Nate retorted and she glowered at him.
Mason came to stand behind her and placed both hands over her breasts and growled in her ear “You look like I could fucking bend you over in front of every fucker in this room and bang the life out of you.”
“Shit, Mason,” Nate growled “she’s my best friend and practically my sister. Don’t talk like that in front of me.”
Liv rolled her eyes and cupped Nate’s crotch. “So you don’t want me doing this in front of Ava” she said as she massaged his private parts.
I could see his adam’s apple bob and he swallowed heavily “Angel, carry on and I’ll be doing what Mason just promised.”
Everybody laughed and I frowned at how relaxed everybody was whilst my girl was holed up in some nutter’s house.
Ava caught my distress and took a large breath “Okay, let’s do this.”
Mason gripped her chin and tilted her head back so she was facing him “You know what I said, baby. DO NOT take him on by yourself. You wait for me, okay?”
She rolled her eyes at him “Mason, I’ll be fine but I’m warning you, he touches Lay or me, he’s going down.”
Mason glowered at her but sighed and nodded.
“Okay guys, let’s fetch little Willow home.”
Chapter 27
Layla
He was slowly torturing me. He had opened the door to me eight hours ago, never said a word but smiled smugly at me and led me up to my room.
It had been prepared ready for me. He had known that I would relent and give in to his demands. It had angered me at first, his self-assured smugness, but then I thought of Lucas and how safe he would now be and I had swallowed back my temper.
Because I was back under my own steam, I had the whole of the house to my discretion but he still hadn’t faced me.
I knew it was coming but he was making me wait, the slow torture of apprehension was worse than the delivery of his punishment and I had so far watched numerous amounts of television, made endless cups of hot chocolate and just pottered, desperate for any kind of distraction.
Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t free, far from it. His minions watched every move I made and I currently counted about seven of them, Diablo making eight.
I don’t know why I had scoped the place out. It must be Mason’s training kicking in but there was only one of the men here who worried me… Diablo.
I walked through the huge foyer, its shiny marbled floor reflected back at me and my eyes widened at how gaunt and empty I looked but I told myself that was a good thing. An empty person was unbreakable, incapable of anymore heartache, so I smiled back at the unrecognisable person staring up at me from the mirrored floor tiles and saluted her before I continued towards the kitchen.
“Kayla” Henry greeted from the kitchen table and I gave him a small smile. Henry had been Diablo’s right hand man for well over ten years now and his loyalty to Diablo would see me safe from Diablo’s other randy devotees.
“You want a drink Henry?” he shook his head and held up a mug to show me he already had one.
I nodded and walked across the huge kitchen and opened the house size fridge and removed some milk and filled my cup.
“Miss Kayla, please let me do that” Jan, Diablo’s housemaid said behind me and I shook my head, “Need something to do Jan, I’m going mad.”
She gave me a sad smile but took the cup from my hand “I insist. Please, sit.”
I sighed before plonking down in a chair beside Henry.
“Where’s Diablo?” I asked Henry.
He eyed me warily at first but answered me eventually “He’s out somewhere. I’m sure he’ll come and find you when he gets back.”
“I’m sure he will” I answered as the front doorbell ping ponged and Jan frowned but went to answer it.
I took over her job and finished my chocolate before I made my way back to the lounge.
“Oh, gawd. Ta’ so much, treasure. Dunno what I’da done if ya’d said nah.”
I frowned at the voice coming from the front door; it was kind of familiar but unfamiliar at the same time.
“Come in and I’ll show you to the restroom” Jan said as she opened the door fully.
I gripped the handle on my mug tightly as Ava entered the foyer dressed as a prostitute and my heart suddenly settled in my mouth.
Her eyes flicked to me but other than that she didn’t acknowledge me as Jan walked her through the hallway towards the bathroom at the bottom of the stairs.
“Cheers, sugar. Be right out.”
I had to do something to get rid of her. If Diablo’s men saw her dressed like that, she wouldn’t be getting out of here alive.
“Oh crikey Jan, this chocolate’s shit, dunno what I’ve done to it. You couldn’t be a love and make me one of your special ones could you?”
Jan’s eyes flicked from me to the bathroom where she waited for Ava to exit from. “It’s okay; I’ll see the girl out.”
She pursed her lips but nodded. “Make sure she gets out though, Miss Kayla. If Gary sees her dressed like… that, well…”
I lifted my eyebrows and rolled my eyes “Yeah, I know what you mean.” She took my mug from me and looked at the contents and frowned but shrugged and went back into the kitchen.
I waited until she had disappeared and tapped on the door. It opened slightly and Ava’s hand shot out and dragged me in with her.
“What the hell….”
I didn’t finish that sentence as Ava’s fist shot out and everything went black.
***
I groaned as my head throbbed and I forced open my eyes. I blinked at an angry glowering Mason who was staring at me from across the room.
I shot up and sagged in despair when I realised where I was “What the hell, Mason?”
He lifted a brow at me and pursed his lips before he stood slowly from the chair and stalked across the room to me.
His hands rested on the edge of the bed and his face came within an inch from mine. “Do you fucking realise what you have done?”
I gulped at the rage coming off him but my own anger flared “I didn’t ask you to come in, all white knight hero, gun wielding conqueror, Mason. Do you even realise what you have done?”
His eyes narrowed and he clamped my jaw between his thumb and finger and turned me to look at him.
His wrath hit me full on and my blood froze at the sheer rage he radiated. “I risked my wife for you Willow. My wife risked her life for you. Do you even comprehend that?”
I stared at him and chose my words carefully “Mase, I went off my own back. I went because I wanted to. I went because it was my choice to go back; not yours, not Ava’s, mine. I did not need fucking saving!”
He was about to say something when Ava walked in and my heart stopped at her huge black eye “What the hell happened?”
She smiled at me. “Don’t worry, Hun. The guy came out worse than me. Gave him a bit of a surprise” she chuckled and I knew if the punch she gave me was anything to go by then the bloke behind her full on strength would yes, be very surprised.
Mason continued to glare at me and I glared back “Well? Are you gonna fill me in on what went down?”
His lips curved into a malevolent grin and I shivered at the wickedness in it “Let’s just say Diablo doesn’t have as many pupils to teach his vile lessons to.”
I closed my eyes in distress and groaned “Fuck, Mase. Thanks and all that but you have just signed my death warrant… and Lucas’s. Diablo won’t take this lying down.”
His eyes fired and the growl that left his throat had me slithering backwards on the bed to get away from him.
“He just signed his own death warrant, Lay cos’ I aint giving up till the man goes down. It’s a shame he wasn’t there when we pulled you out.”
&
nbsp; He pulled back and left without saying anything else and I knew he was trying to rein in his anger with me.
Ava plonked down beside me on the bed and sighed heavily “Sorry about the hit, Lay, but I knew you wouldn’t come out if you were conscious.”
I shook my head at her and stroked my finger across her bruised cheek bone “Who did this?”
She shrugged “Tall grey haired fella.”
“Henry.” I said simply.
She winked at me “He didn’t think I could lay him out, the shock registered on his face before he went down. Was quite funny really.”
“Did you hurt Jan?” I asked hoping they hadn’t.
Ava shook her head “No, she ended up tied up but she wasn’t hurt. Mason and the guys took the rest out though so… sorry if any were your friends but they wouldn’t have let us walk out of there with you otherwise.”
I shook my head but shivered when I thought of Diablo’s fury when he returned, especially if Henry was dead.
“You have to be careful now, Ava. He has surveillance camera’s everywhere. He’ll recognise all of you and hunt you down.”
She smiled wryly. “That’s where your boyfriend came in handy, Lay. He hacked into Diablo’s security cameras and accidently deleted all the previous 48 hours recordings” she smirked.
The Hunt for Summer (NSC Industries) Page 16