Incineration (Heart of Stone)

Heart of Stone

Incineration

Copyright © 2013

By D H Sidebottom

This book is
a work of fiction and any resemblance to actual places, incidents and persons,
living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Copyright ©
2013 D H Sidebottom

Excerpt from
Heart of Stone Tolerance
Copyright © 2013

Sometimes, love is just that little
bit too difficult

I met George, 5 years ago, when I had been living on the
streets at the age of 17. He had found me beaten and sobbing in the corner of a
pub car park and had gently lifted me and placed me in the back of his Jag,
took me to his home and cared me back to the gentle, fun loving girl that I had
once been.

I came to look on him as a father figure and he treated me
as though I was his daughter, lovingly nicknaming me ‘Princess’.

When I reached 21 he had bought me a small, rundown cottage
that I had the strenuous but fulfilling pleasure of renovating back to its
original state, the love and attention I put into it gave me an overwhelming
sense of pride and pleasure.

Since the day George had found me I had worked for him as a
personal assistant in his house but only for his personal daily activities, his
business was kept well away from me, behind locked doors, much to George’s
specific instructions.

I knew he was involved with lots of dishonest and crooked
dealings in organised crime, a ‘gangster’ or ‘criminal overlord’ as the term is
known but he always kept me away from this side of him and I respected his
choices even though sometimes it exasperated me that he thought I couldn’t
handle that side of things, but I respected his wishes and took care of his
private and individual needs.

As he reached 60 he had decided to retire and move to the
Algarve, telling me he had had enough of the life he led and was eager to get
away from it. He begged me to go with him but I needed my own space and my own
life but I would be eternally grateful to him for all the time and patience he
had given me. He said his reward had been watching me flourish into an
independent beautiful woman who had loved him, for who he really was, not the
ruthless, hard man people thought he was.

He had took the opportunity to secure me a job with one of
his ‘associates’ for when he left, as another personal assistant. I had told
him I would find employment but he been determined that I should carry on with
this career as it paid exceptionally well and I was the most loyal, trustworthy
person capable of doing the job for the most ruthless of the underworld.

This, he told me is why Mr Mason Fox, one of Georges friends
had agreed to take me into his employment, doing the exact same job I had done
for George. George had told me that Mr Fox was one of the hardest and wealthiest
of their inner circle, a fairly new man in the criminal world but had quickly
built a name and merciless reputation for himself but he had owed George one or
two favours and would be glad of the assistance in his private chores and would
take care of me for George’s sake.

 So this is why on a drizzly Monday morning I was knocking
on the enormous, white double doors of Mr Fox’s home/business premises; my
long, curly copper hair piled on top of my head and frizzed within an inch of
its life due to the wet weather and my feet already sore in my skyscraper
heels.

I had gone with a professional look of black pencil skirt
and pinstriped white shirt, not sure what his expectations would be as I had
yet to meet him.

Mr Fox had been out of the country for the previous six
weeks so we hadn’t had the opportunity to meet, this been our first encounter.

I was terribly nervous but George had rung me as I had been
preparing breakfast to wish me luck and give me words of encouragement and to
inform me what time Mr Fox was expecting me.

The door swung open and a good looking man of about 26 stood
in a dark suit, a huge grin plastered on his face as he did a swift perusal of
me. “Hi” I smiled nervously “Ava Stone to see Mr Fox” his eyes stayed on my
chest and I already disliked this man.

He swung his arm out in gesture to enter and I could feel
his gaze on my backside as I squeezed past him “Come in Miss Stone, Mason’s
expecting you but he’s on the phone at the moment. Follow me” he said and
stalked off towards a set of dark wood double doors, opening them both and
entering the room.

Following him in I set eyes on a huge rectangular table,
also in the same dark wood that seemed to suck the life out of the room.

Six men were sat around the table talking and a man had his
back to me pacing in front of the large French doors that led to an enormous
garden, shouting abuse to someone on the phone.

He wore a pristine fitted white shirt that clung to his hard
muscled back, the material straining over his powerful physique and the sleeves
were rolled up, giving me a small view of the strength in his arms. His black
expensive trousers hung from his hips in a way that sheathed his hard buttocks,
the cloth delicately hugging his magnificent arse.

My breath caught in my throat as he turned, his gaze locked
on me before he scanned my body in a slow and easy examination and then rested
on my face as he held my gaze for a moment too long, his head tipped slightly
to the side making me squirm on the edge of my comfort zone.

His eyes were intense but there was something else that
flashed across them… hunger!  He was stunning.

I could tell without the advantage of removing his shirt
that his chest was as strong and lean as the rest of him; his dark hair was cut
short and his square chin had a dusting of stubble. He was made in heaven, no
other words to describe him.

He gestured to a seat at the table and I wobbled over to it,
all sets of eyes in the room were tracking me and most dropping to my large
chest as I sat down.

I had hated my breasts for many years, they had been the
warrant of many an unwanted attraction and leer from men, and women and had more
than once got me into bad situations.

“So Miss Stone, are you looking forward to working for
Mason? He can be quite a determined bastard” the man who opened the door said
as he smirked at me, obviously trying to put me on edge. I smiled politely and
lowered my eyes into my lap, nibbling furiously on my little finger, already
aware of the intense blush creeping up my neck.

An older, grey haired man elbowed him and smiled softly to
me “Ignore this twat love, he can be an arse” he winked at me with a twinkle in
his eye and reached out his hand to me “Brian Cox, please to meet you Darling”
I smiled and shook his hand as he gipped me softly “Ava Stone, very pleased to
meet you Sir” he regarded me, still with a sparkle in his eye “So you’re the
lovely lady that George is so smitten with”

I grinned at the mention of George, the mere reference to
him lifting my spirits “As smitten as I am with him Sir. George saved my life”
I said simply and meant every word. He cocked his head and his eyes glowed with
warmth as he simply gave me a small nod “Anyway, meet the rest of the guys” he
chuckled and gestured to each man as he told me their names.

“The prick that opened the door is Dane Winters, Masons best
friend and right hand man” Dane leant forward and took my hand, lifting it to
his lips and placing a kiss on my knuckles “Hello again Ava, It’s about time we
had something good to look at in this dismal place” he sneered and wiggled his
eyebrows.

A shiver slithered up my spine and I gulped, much to his
amusement. Brian elbowed him again “Leave the poor girl alone Dane” he then
turned to the next person; a burly heavy set man with bright blue eyes and his
hair shaved to within a millimetre on his large round head “This here is Masons
Muscle as we like to call him, Sam Taylor” Brian informed me and Sam nodded and
smiled “Pleasure Miss Stone. I hope you can make good coffee cause Masons is
fucking shit” he grinned and I laughed “I’m sure I can manage a decent coffee”
Brain then indicated to the next man.

He was roughly 40 and his long thin face was covered in
scars, the meanest being one that ran from the side of his right eye to the
corner of his lip “This handsome fellow is Mark Scott” Marks eyes shifted
towards me and then back to the paper he was reading on the table “Miss Stone”
was all he said and another blush crept into my cheeks as the other men laughed
at Marks reception to me.

 Brian shook his head and pointed to the dark skinned man
sitting nearer the top of the table “This is Simon Bell, he’s the baby of us
all” Simon grinned perfect white teeth that gleamed extra bright against his
brown skin, as soon as I saw the man I grinned “Miss Stone, it’s a pleasure to
meet you again. Have you heard how George is settling in?” he smiled  “George
told me that you would be here Mr Bell and he told me to tell you that the
ladies are very very pretty, his words not mine” I chuckled as his smile turned
into a grin “Good old George”.

Simon had done a few jobs for George and I had met him on
several occasions and to be honest his familiar face was comforting in the
presence of so many strangers. Brian then turned to the last of the men “This
is Greg Chambers, Mason’s accountant” Greg’s eyes flitted down to my chest and
then swiftly back up to eye level “Miss Stone, I’m glad there is finally
someone to clean up after that hunk of shit” he whispered in my ear as he was
the closest to me “Do you know he can’t even make himself a bloody sandwich
without trashing the kitchen. Last week he put the bloody laundry into the
fucking dishwasher, he’s useless” he winked and I laughed “I’m sure I can sort
it out” I told him.

 “You can sort me out anytime Ava” Dane said from across the
table, his eyes boring into mine and I shifted uncomfortably in my seat.

“Dane” came a deep growl from the man stood by the doors
“Enough” he snarled at Dane “Oh for fucks sake Mason chill out, I’m just
ribbing her” Dane protested but Mason continued to glare at him then turned to
me, his eyes piercing mine as he observed me “Miss Stone, welcome aboard. I
have business to discuss with these gentlemen so Sam will show you to the
kitchen. If you could manage to work the coffee machine I would be grateful if
you could bring us all some coffee” he said with no hint of emotion or
expression, his cool eyes fixed on mine as I stood “No problem Mr Fox, I’m sure
I’ll figure it out” I smiled and turned to Sam as he rose from his chair and
escorted me to the kitchen.

“You think you can manage the machine Miss Stone?” Sam
asked, giving the machine an inquisitive stare “Call me Ava please, and I’ll
give it a go” he nodded and left me alone to brew some coffee.

Luckily it was a pretty basic device and I had soon placed a
full coffee pot, cups, sugar and milk on a tray with a plate of biscuits I had
found in the cupboard and found my way back to the room.

 Tapping the door with my foot as to not intrude at an
awkward moment, the door swung open and Mason frowned at me then down at the
tray “I Erm, didn’t want to walk in on any private discussions Mr Fox” I
explained and his eyes narrowed on me “I Erm, I never entered the room when
George was discussing business Sir and I wasn’t sure what…” I trailed off as
his eyes bore into mine.

He shook his head slightly and took the tray from me, turned
and kicked the door shut with his foot.

 “Okay Ava, next time don’t bloody knock” I grumbled to
myself as I ventured back to the kitchen to start on the mountain of pots “A
simple thank you would have done” I muttered to myself as I was quietly
wondering if this job was going to be harder than it looked.

I filled in a couple of hours by cleaning the kitchen and
checking the fridge for any items needed to refill it, making notes of basic foods
and reminding myself to ask Mason what he liked to eat.

I was bent over the large chest freezer, checking dates and
clearing away any old items when I heard a slight cough behind me. Jumping in
surprise I banged my head on the lid of the freezer “
Shit
” I hissed and
shot up.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to make you jump Miss Stone” his deep
voice said from behind me making me spin round and observe Mason leant lazily
against the doorframe, his ankles and arms folded in front of him “No no it’s
my fault sorry, and please call me Ava, Mr Fox” his gaze dropped to my mouth
where I was chewing on the fingertip of my little finger, a habit that I did
when I was nervous and one that had proved difficult to break my entire life.