The NSC Boxset: Heart of Stone (192 page)

My mind wandered back to his scolding when I walked into his office without knocking.

“Come to think of it, he did disappear this morning without telling me and he proper shouted at me for entering his office during a meeting. He doesn’t usually bother. I know his lifestyle and business choices now so . . .” I told her as I watched her paint my toe nails a funny grey colour. I wasn’t sure I liked it but I would refrain from telling her.

It was unusual for Mason to be so secretive and he did seem quite stressed when he came back home. He’d told me he’d had a morning from hell but I hadn’t questioned it. I should have.

“Well, I’m telling you, they’re hiding something and I dunno about you, Ava, but I’m determined to find out what.”

My phone trilled inside my bag and Courtney reached over and pulled it out for me whilst I remained immobile with wet toes. “Mason” She informed me and I sighed as I took it from her and answered.

“Where the fuck are you?” he growled at me and I gasped.

“Hello to you too Mason, I’m getting pretty sick and tired of your bloody attitude towards me.”

“And I’m getting sick and fucking tired of your fucking lies, Ava, so I guess we’re even.”

I gulped and stilled, “What?”

“Where are you?”

Shit!

“Uhh, I’m out.”

He barked out a loud scoff. “Well that I do know, what I want to know is where you are” he repeated slowly.

Courtney was staring at me with wide eyes as she caught Mason’s anger through the receiver, his loud voice sifting into the quietness of the room.

“It doesn’t matter where I am but I need to tell you Kerrie is picking the kids up and I won’t be home for tea.”

He was eerily silent before he spoke slowly and levelly. “Do not fuck me off any more today, Ava. You’re already down for reprimand tonight, don’t make it worse.”

“What the hell, Mason. I’m not a child.”

“Well don’t fucking act like one then!”

“You’re barking and swearing at me down the phone, but it’s me who’s acting like a child?”

I heard his severe inhalation and I could picture him gripping something tightly in his fist as he tried to control his temper. “I’m gonna ask you one more time, baby. Where the fuck are you?”

“Out” I replied as I ended the call.

Courtney gawked at me, her eyes huge and round as she digested my bravado with Mason. “He’s gonna be knocking on my door in roughly seven minutes, babe. You wanna go hide somewhere?”

I couldn’t help but laugh at her. She chuckled slightly then full on laughed with me, “Fuck, Ava. He’s gonna shit his innards’ with you.”

I laughed even more, “It save’s me buying laxatives to teach him who’s boss.”

Her eyes widened even more before she laughed harder. “I do not envy you right now.”

“Ahh, he’ll get over it” I told her with a wave of my hand.

We both quietened when the front door flew open and Greg walked in with a boiling Mason.

“Make that four minutes and twenty six seconds” Courtney whispered humorously and I choked out a bark of laughter.

What the hell was wrong with me? I had a death wish.

He stood glaring at me as Greg cringed beside him, “Out!”

I raised my eyes to his and wobbled my head from side to side as if contemplating his command. “Nah!” I smiled with a scrunch of my nose.

I’m sure I saw steam blow out of his ears as Greg and Courtney both gasped at my rebellious denial.

His eyebrows lifted as he smirked at me, “What?”

“I said, No, baby.”

He nodded slowly. “I thought that’s what you said.”

His confident tone had my internal alarms on high alert and I watched him warily.

He took two steps towards me, placed his hands around my waist and hoisted me over his shoulder.

“Get off me!” I shouted as I thumped his back hard.

“Uhh . . .” Courtney stood swiftly, deliberating if she was brave enough to come to my assistance as Mason stomped through the front door and down the path towards his car, where he opened the door and flung me inside.

I grabbed the handle when he shut the door but he flicked the lock before I had chance to escape.

“Who the fuck do you think you are?” I stormed at him as he slid in the car beside me.

“Your fucking husband who is sick and tired of taking your shit lately, Ava.”

I swallowed heavily. He knew; I could see it in his eyes as he glowered at me.

“Whatever!” I relented as I turned my glare to the moving pavement.

He was quiet throughout the ride home and all I could think about was how I was gonna make it back to Courtney’s to collect my uniform before making it into work without my car.

The man beside me would be the death of me. There was dominant then there was controlling and then there was Mason’s level of controlling and I sighed heavily as I rested my forehead against the window. The bumps and ridges in the road were giving me the headache I had lied about this morning but I was too despondent to lift my head so I rode each bump with the car and remained sullen and silent beside Mason.

I kept catching glances of his glances towards me but I didn’t acknowledge them or him, I was too damn mad with him to care.

I wanted a life, I
needed
a life. My parenting skills were currently the only thing I had to show for my life, especially now that I had lost my job at NSC and I wanted more. Hell, I was entitled to more.

We pulled up the driveway and Mason killed the engine but didn’t move. I could feel his eyes on me for a while and I still didn’t react to him.

I was sad; sad, upset and lonely. I knew I shouldn’t be feeling this way. I had a, fair enough controlling husband, but he was still loving, attentive and absolutely adored me. I had good friends, a wonderful surrogate-father in Portugal and I had the most amazing children. But there was just something that I couldn’t put my finger on and now, right at this moment, my emotions and uncertainties were hitting me hard.

“Baby, talk to me.” Mason said softly beside me.

His words and the way they were said were the trigger to the liberation of my tears. I turned my face further into the window as they relentlessly streamed down my face, their persistent torrent taking my breath and I was suddenly struggling to breathe with the force of them.

“Hey, hey, baby” Mason soothed as he flicked the release catch on my seatbelt and pulled me across the console and onto his knee.

His strong arms wrapped around me as I buried deeper into his comfort and wept harder. “Shush, Ava. I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to upset you.”

I shook my head into his chest. “It . . . its n. .not you, M . . . Mason” I spluttered as I fought with my sobs.

His hand soothed my hair comfortingly as I wiped my nose on his shirt. He tutted loudly and I smiled to myself.

I eventually calmed down and Mason slipped me back over into my seat as he climbed out of the car and came round to get me. He scooped me up, kicked the car door shut and carried me into the house.

His eyes flicked down at me as I smiled up at him. “You take care of me so well.”

He sighed and frowned. “I also grieve you so well.”

I rolled my lips as he gently lowered us onto the sofa with me still in his lap. “It’s not you.”

He frowned at me before he placed his lips on my forehead and sighed, “Talk to me, Ava, please. I can’t help if you won’t tell me what’s wrong.”

“You can’t help anyway; I dunno what . . . what’s wrong with me. I’m just . . .” I shrugged, feeling stupid at my emotions without being able to pinpoint a reason for them.

He was quiet for a moment and I cringed when I knew what was coming. “Why didn’t you tell me about Kade?”

I closed my eyes and tried to figure out how to say what I needed to say without him getting defensive. “Because you’re you, Mason.”

He scoffed and nodded, “Yeah.” I didn’t need to explain further and Mason knew this.

“I resigned, I won’t work with him.”

“I know” he answered quietly as he exhaled loudly. “You should have told me, Ava. We could have worked something out. It hurts that you can’t talk to me.”

“Mason,” I shuffled round on his knee so I could face him. “Whether I spoke to you or not wouldn’t have changed the outcome, so there was no point in upsetting you.”

“But it’s upset you, so it upsets me.” He swallowed and blew out a large breath as he closed his eyes, “If it’s saddening you this much then I . . . I’m okay with you working with him.”

Holy crap!

I smiled up at him with adoration before I palmed his cheek. “Thank you,” I whispered, “It means a lot for you to tell me that, Mason.”

The anguish over all this flashed through his eyes and I reached up to kiss him. He growled as was his usual reaction to my kiss whilst his hand slid in my hair to hold me in place as he devoured me.

I circled his nose with my own when he pulled away. “I’m not going to be working with Kade, Mason, but thank you.”

He smiled in relief but at least he had offered.

Here goes.

“I have a job at the Panther.”

I swallowed when after a couple of minutes he hadn’t acknowledged my words. “Mason?”

His jaw was clenched and his unique twitch in his cheek was prominent, both signs of when his temper was close, and I gulped as I went to move from his lap.

His hand shot out and wrapped around my forearm as his blazing eyes swung to mine. “Hold it.”

His chest was heaving as the tic got wilder and I tried to pull my arm free. “Mason, you’re hurting me.”

He relaxed his hold a little but it was still firm and I was starting to worry slightly over his calmness.

“Just repeat what you just told me, Ava, cos’ for an insane moment I could’ve sworn you said you had a job at the Panther.”

I slipped my free hand up to my mouth and started to nibble furiously on my fingertip. “Mason, calm down. I’m only working behind the bar and waiting tables, I’m not gonna be stripping or entertaining.”

I was suddenly pinned beneath him on the sofa, his hard body pressing against me as my arms were held over my head. “Damn, fucking right you won’t be entertaining, baby. You–are—mine!”

I gazed at him, my eyes boring into him as I tried to read his thoughts. “Mason, what’s wrong with you? You’re never this level of possessive or aggressive.”

His eyes flashed with uncertainty before he threw himself off me and stalked towards the cupboard.

He held up the whisky bottle to me in question. “No, it’s only 2 o’clock, Mason.”

He shrugged before he proceeded to pour a hefty amount for himself and a horrible thought sizzled in the recesses of my mind. “Mason.”

He turned to me, his dark eyes hiding many secrets; I could see them all floating about like wisps of dandelion seeds in the autumn breeze and my stomach flipped at the familiarity before I had the truth.

I stood from the sofa and walked across the room towards him. His eyes flicked when I grasped his chin and tipped his head forward to scrutinise his eyes. I shook my head at him, “No, Mason, no.”

He squeezed his eyes tightly and I slapped my hands on his chest, pushing him back slightly so he stumbled with the force of my rage. “NO!”

His crystal tumbler launched across the room, shattering across the other cupboard and propelling our wedding photo across the floor and under the sofa. I placed my face in my hands and fought the urge to tear this man before me to pieces. “How long?” I asked him without removing my hands from my face.

“It doesn’t matter, Ava!”

“Like fuck, Mason. It does fucking matter, it matters a fucking lot. Now, how long?”

He turned his back to me, bounded the stairs and slammed our bedroom door shut.

My legs finally gave way and I sank to the floor. Dizziness enveloped me as I fought against each of my heavy inhalations and my throat hurt as I refused to give access to the tears that were fighting with my emotions.

Fuck!

Just . . . Fuck!

Chapter 5

Mason

“FUCK!!”

I palmed the mattress as I bent over the bed and clashed with the fight my lungs were giving me. “Fuck!”

In, out, in, out, in, out.

Why the hell was I doing this again? It didn’t help, it made everything fucking worse. Especially for Ava, she didn’t deserve this again, and then there was Katie and George.

“Fuck!”

In, out, in, out, in, out.

I managed to slip round and plant my arse on the edge of the bed. My fingers slid along the softness of the cover, the bed cover I had bought for Ava when I had left her after. . . .

It was in memory of our France trip, the soft blue orchids adorning it, a remembrance to the time we had made love in the sand with the scent of the orchids over us as I asked her to marry me.

She refused to throw the damn thing away but the thought brought a small smile.

A tap sounded on the door and I spun round to face the window as she walked in. I didn’t need or want her to see my desolation and guilt.

Her soft but strong arms slid around my shoulders as she kneeled behind me and I closed my eyes as her fingers entwined with mine.

She was silent, her presence being all the comfort I needed, her soft wisps of breath keeping my soul alive but I hurt for the pain I was constantly causing her.

“What’s happening to us, baby?” I asked her quietly.

It felt like we were constantly being pulled apart, an invisible field pushing us in opposite directions and I was frightened we would soon be living on different planets.

She nuzzled my neck, her mouth dampening small spots on my skin as she planted tender kisses across the scarce flesh between the edge of my hair and the collar of my shirt. “I don’t know, Mason but we’ll get through it, I’m sure.”

Her fingers lifted to my shirt buttons and I inhaled lengthily as my cock hardened when she slid a hand inside and stroked her fingers through my chest hair. Her lips continued their idolisation on my neck and I clenched my teeth together as I fought to breathe when hunger poured through my tight veins.

I tilted my head to the side to give her more access to my neck as her teeth joined her worship and a deep groan rumbled through my chest as she opened more buttons and opened my shirt wide.