Fortitude (Heart of Stone) (11 page)

I lowered my eyes and tried to fight past the pain
engulfing me. “I can’t Kade… he…”

“He?” he prompted when I hesitated.

I smiled softly as memories surrounded me. “He loved my
breasts, Kade. He adored them, it was one of the things he fell in love with
and now…” I swallowed as the hatred once more chose to drown me. “Now they’re
gone and all that’s left is hideous scars… more fucking horrific scars. I can’t
let him see me like that. It isn’t fair, he deserves more.”

“He deserves his wife!” Kade bit back angrily. “Do you
think he cares about how you look on the outside?”

“Yes! Yes, Kade. That’s what Mason is, he’s a man, a dominant
man and looks are everything to him, especially for sexual stimulant. And now
I’m…”

“You’re frightened he’ll reject you? Oh my God, Ava.” He shook
his head with incredulity but his gaze softened. “He loves you, he could never
see you as anything but beautiful, sweetheart. You aren’t just some… some piece
of meat that he sticks his dick into occasionally.”

I blinked at his bluntness but he cupped my face and
titled my head back. “Have you even asked him?”

I shook my head and looked away. “I can’t, I’m… I’m
sacred of what he’ll see.”

Kade’s mouth hit mine with an almost painful kiss, his
tongue fought to climb inside me, his lips bruised and crushed me as he pushed
me back against the wall. “Right, now tell me that wasn’t a kiss that tells you
how much
I
fucking desire you, how hard you make
me
?” He grabbed
my hand and slammed it hard against his erection. “And I am not your husband,
the man who fucking adores you.”

“Are you still…”

He shook his head in confusion when I paused and lowered
my eyes.

“Still fucking Mason?” He bit into his lip and diverted
his eyes but I grabbed hold of his hand. “No Kade, I want you to. Don’t stop
because, well because Mason needs that. He needs… men as well and he’ll go
crazy without it.”

He sighed and shook his head as his eyes flicked over my
face sadly, “Jesus Christ. Why can’t you see what everyone else sees in you?
How amazing you are, how perfect you are, how fucking stunning you are!”

“What the fuck are you doing?” Steed asked as he flung
open the pantry door and stared at us.

“Talking about your dick,” Kade said as he walked back
out. “Remember, Ava.” He shouted before he shut the front door behind him.

I laughed at the shock on his face and leant into his
ear, “We need to be careful. The house is bugged.”

His face paled and I tapped his cheek, “Don’t worry,
Kade’s sorting it and I know a man who can disconnect everything.”

He sighed in relief as I finished texting who I needed
and pulled out food from the fridge to start dinner. “I presume, seems as
though you are now attached at the hip, that you’ll want feeding.”

His lips twisted and just before it left his mouth I
pointed to the ceiling alarm system sensor. He snapped his jaw shut and just
nodded.

It was rather a shame I had already text Marv, an old
friend of George’s who was a system expert and more importantly who Mason had
no clue of, but it could have been fun watching Steed try and hold back on the
innuendo.

“I know they were in here, I’m positive they were.”

Grace huffed and rolled her eyes as she watched me
scramble through the entire shoe cupboard looking for my red wedges. “Ava, just
wear the white ones, they’ll go.”

“No,” I pursed my lips in frustration, moving numerous
pairs out of the way. “I love the red ones. The white ones pinch.”

“Then wear the black flats.”

I stared at her with wide eyes. “I can’t wear black flats
with a flowery dress, they won’t look right.”

“Jesus Christ!” She growled as she moved me out of the
way and chose a white pair of kitten heels. “Perfect.”

I sighed, “I don’t wanna go anyway. I told Lay I wasn’t
going.”

“I know,” she said as she rearranged her hair in the
mirror. “And I’m telling you that you are. It’s your friend’s wedding
anniversary. You haven’t been out properly in an age and everyone misses you.”

I pulled a face at her, her lips quirking when she caught
me in the mirror. “And I’m driving so at least you can have a drink.”

“Well don’t let me drink too much” I warned. “My
medication doubles the effect.”

She smirked at me, “Nice to know, you’re fun when you’re
drunk.”

***

“So,” I shifted my gaze through the car window as we made
our way to the restaurant. “Have you seen much of Mason?”

She was silent for a moment and I turned to look at her.
Her eyes were flicking between her rear view mirror and her side one, “What,
sorry?” she blinked and glanced at me.

“Mason?” I asked again as I studied the black car behind
us. “Do we have a tail?”

“Not sure yet,” she murmured as she shifted gears. “But
there’s one way to find out.”

I kept my eyes trained on the car as Grace cruised along
the street, at the very last minute turning the car into a side street. The
other car flew past, braked then reversed.

“Shit,” she hissed as she hit her Bluetooth and sped up,
rounding the next corner so sharp I fell into the window, my head bouncing off
the glass harshly.

“Hang on, Ava,” she snapped angrily, her concentration
making her sharp with me.

“Beaumont?” Liam’s voice filled the small interior of the
car.

“Black Lexus LS, Reg TH14 YEW, currently pursuing us east
on Raymond Street, roughly 89Mph.”

“Turn right at the end,” Liam spoke proficiently, “Then
sharp left into Larth view Drive, there’s a gap leading to a dirt track between
houses numbered five and seven.”

“Got it.”

We ploughed around each corner, Grace controlling the car
expertly as I clung to the seat with both hands. My phone was bouncing in my
bag and I bent to retrieve it, rolling my eyes when Steed’s number popped up. “Not
now,” I told him as I answered.

“Tell Grace we have a duplicate car waiting for you on
the dirt track.” He barked at me. “Turn into the garage left of the dirt track
as soon as you turn on to it.”

I repeated everything to Grace as she manoeuvred the car
between the two houses. Gravel spun up behind us as our speed caused the car to
drift. Another silver Mercedes shot out from the right hand side of the track
as we pulled into the garage on the left.

The doors clanged shut behind us making me jump. “You
okay?” Grace asked immediately as she poked the bump surfacing on my temple.

I nodded to her, “Any idea?”

“Nope,” she huffed but narrowed her eyes.

“Don’t lie to me Grace.”

She sighed and turned to me. “Steed was followed a few
weeks ago. We intercepted a… parcel that was due for delivery to you and…”

“And?” I urged when she sighed and paused.

“And Mason received some rather… intimate pictures of you
and…”

“Oh God,” my eyes widened on her as panic cramped my
stomach.

“Yeah, of you and Steed kissing in the Panther’s
corridor.”

I breathed out silently, the pit of my stomach loosening
slightly. “And that’s all?”

She nodded as she climbed from the car then turned to me
and tilted her head questioningly. “Should there be more that I need to know?”

“No,” I defended a little too quickly. “It was just a
kiss for god’s sake.”

Her eyes flicked over every inch of my face before she
sighed. “You do know that I used to interrogate for the bureau, Ava?”

I gave her a nod as I climbed as casually as possible
from the car.

“And I can tell a lie from a truth.”

“Don’t be silly,” I scoffed. “Why would I lie?”

Her brow quirked, “Because of your husband by any
chance?”

“Why the hell won’t people realise that Mason and I are
separated and free to do as we please? It was just a kiss,” I reiterated. “No
big deal.”

“Okay,” she smirked as she held her hands up and opened
the replacement car door, snatching the keys from the sun visor before pulling
out of the rear doors in the garage and holding a hand up to our assistant as
he shut the doors behind us.

She circled round and brought us back on our original
course. “What the hell is it with people stalking me?”

She laughed and shook her head. “Ava, you’re married to
London’s most notorious. Expect it.”

“I do, that’s the problem. But now I’m not sure if it
frightens me more than ever.”

She turned and smiled at me. “We’ll find whoever it is.”

“It’s not that,” I sighed. “It scares me because now it
just seems normal to me. It doesn’t frighten me any longer, and that in itself
scares the fucking shit out of me.”

***

My worst nightmare greeted me as I walked into the huge room.
Masses of my friends swooped in at once, fiddling with my wig, prodding my fake
breasts and commenting on how good I looked. Fucking hypocrites.

Courtney rolled her eyes and thrust a large glass of
vodka and cranberry in my hand. “Drink it!” she snarled as she nudged people
aside to grant me a breather.

“Fucking hell,” I scoffed after downing my drink and
people got quickly bored with me. “Anyone would think I’d been cloned?”

She spat out her drink and held her throat, “Shit, I
bloody hope not.”

I narrowed my eyes on her before she pulled me over to
one of the main tables. The room had been set out rather like a wedding, each
white individual table adorned with petals and numerous layers of cutlery,
humungous vases of flowers decorated the centre of each as numerous bottles of
champagne sat in silver buckets of ice. “Good God,” I whispered to Courtney.
“It’s a bit OTT.”

She nodded, “It is a little, never thought Layla would be
into this.”

We both found our seats, me squashing between her and
Greg, Sam and Marcy with Liv and Nate opposite me. “What’s going on?” I asked
Liv as we all peered at the table.

“I’ve no idea, I was about to ask you.” She answered casually.
“It’s a bit much for an anniversary.”

I nodded, confirming her thoughts as all our group switched
around until the men were on one side and the women on the other.

“Much better,” Marcy smiled as she tucked her chair under
the table beside me. “Can’t be doing with Sam’s drawl about how fucking hot the
Amish girl in
Banshee
is all bloody night.” She rolled her eyes and
huffed, “No tits, Ava, no bloody tits at all. What the hell is wrong with the
man?”

I laughed at her, god bless her openness and unfiltered
conversation as everyone at our table nudged her and tipped their heads in my
direction. I had missed them all and it wasn’t long before we were all quite
drunk and laughing loudly.

I noticed Steed watching me from across the room where he
sat at his table with a few people I didn’t know. I could see the desire in his
gaze, the need and want flashing through his eyes as his tongue rolled
frequently across his lips.

“Hungry?” I mouthed to him.

He smirked at me, “You have no idea.”

“Can I have your attention please,” Kade shouted as he
rapped his champagne glass with a fork.

I leant back in my seat and admired him. His lean body
was handsome in his tux, his black sleek hair complimented perfectly with his
choice of attire. It wasn’t until I ran my eyes back over him that I noticed
the small carnation in his jacket pocket. “Why does he have a flower in his
pocket?” I asked Courtney quietly as I leaned into her.

She shrugged then turned her attention back to him.

“Now as you know, we’ve all come here to celebrate Layla
and Lucas’s wedding anniversary.”

We all turned and cheered Lay and Lucas as he reached in
and kissed her passionately, but then he dropped back into his chair and
focussed on Kade again. I frowned at the strange formality, it was usual custom
for the hosts to actually say something now.

“However,” Kade continued. “We’ve all brought you here
for something else tonight.”

Everyone on my table turned to look at me. Each wore a
huge smile and I started to blush. God damn it, they were gonna celebrate my
survival.

Shit, fuck, damn.

“I’m gonna kill you” I hissed at Courtney as Kade carried
on with his smarmy speech.

He sighed and tipped his head. “I’ll hand you over to the
man of the hour.” He said as he held out his hand to the rear doors.

We all turned to see who it was.

My heart stopped when Mason slipped through the doors,
his fine body in an identical suit to Kade. His eyes snapped to mine
immediately, he knew exactly where I was sat.

I knew what was happening before anyone had murmured
another word. “No,” I choked out as Mason walked across the room to me, his expression
as nervous as his stance. He was chewing on his lower lip as he wrung his hands
together, his mouth as tight as his jaw.

I couldn’t move, shock and horror rendered me immobile.
But I needed to move – quickly.

I fell out of my chair, shaking my head at him, trying to
stop him doing this but he reached me before my legs could carry me out of
there.

“Ava,” he whispered with a pained expression. He grabbed
hold of my hands, his own clammy with sweat as his nerves battered him.

“Mason, don’t…”

I whimpered when he dropped to one knee before me, his
eyes glassy as he looked at me.

Everything stilled, even my breath as I squinted and
studied him. “My god,” I scoffed, “You’re fucking high.”

“What?” His brows twisted as his throat bobbed.

“You – are – fucking – high! Jesus Christ, Mason. You
need to be high to do this?”

“What? No...” He tried, his head shaking rapidly.

“You know what?” I hissed as fury overwhelmed me. “I was
actually going to say no, but there was a small part of me that hated myself
for doing it, for hurting you. My soul needs you, my fucking heart pines for
you and I haven’t caught a full breath for over six months. But here you are,
once again relying on the white stuff to help you through. You don’t need me,
you don’t need our marriage. After all…” I raged loudly, making sure each and
every single person in the room could hear me. “Why would you need me when you
have your fuck whore and coke? I’m a no-one compared to them.”