Atonement (Heart of Stone) Read Online Free Page A

at my lost chance of cornering her.
    “Office” I barked at the guys as Brad, one of my new guys,
and Brian joined the others, without knocking of course.
    It was something that needed to be addressed and it was
the first point of the morning as I entered my office behind them and shut the
door so Ava couldn’t pick up the topic that we needed to discuss.
    “You all need to learn to fucking knock.” I eyed each of
them and they all gave me a nod apart from Greg who barked out a chuckle again.
I slowly swung my eyes round to him as I sucked air through my teeth to stop me
from knocking his face through the wall. “You got a problem with fisting my
front door, Greg?”
    He narrowed his eyes on me and held up his hands in
submission as he shook his head, “Wow, serious mood today, eh?”
    Christ, I was gonna rip this man’s fucking head off any
minute.
     
    Sam was shrewd enough to stand and glare at Greg before
he turned to me, “We’ll start knocking Mase, sorry.”
    I nodded and sighed as I slipped into my desk chair. “We
need to sort this shit out.” Sam nodded again as I turned to Greg, “I need
Lucas in and Elijah.”
    He stared at me with a frown. “No offence, Mase but
what’s Lucas gonna do? He’s like a gay bulldog, Willow has more punch.”
    “That’s for me to worry about, Greg.” He looked affronted
at his exclusion but he was wise enough not to voice his displeasure.
    “All’s good.” Sam answered.
    “You need to get your men on 24 hour watch, Brad.” He
nodded firmly in reply; his taciturn demeanour had made me like him immediately
when we met. This man had been the best recommendation Gary’s dad, Liam, had
forwarded on.
     
    Gary Thornton and Ava had become close in the previous
few years and his parents had taken Ava in as one of their own and as a result
of their friendship I had been introduced to Gary’s dad, Liam Thornton, head of
MI5. Yes, that had been a wonderful revelation and we’d had some wonderful
discussions, sometimes quite informative for both of us, and he had proceeded
to recommend various people that wanted on my payroll, Brad being one of them
and as an ex member of the MI5 he was a great addition to my team.
     
    I turned to Brian, “You need to keep your ear down and
pick up any…”
    The door swung open and Ava walked in with a tray of
coffee and pastries. “You need to learn to fucking knock, baby.”
    Her eyes widened at my tone but I stared her out, she was
another person who didn’t know how to enter places properly.
    Everybody’s eyes rolled to gape at me but I wasn’t in the
mood to yield. I tipped my head at her and lifted a brow when she narrowed her
eyes on me but her eyes scanned the room at the others before she wisely decided
not to humiliate me in front of them.
    Her chest expanded as she drew in a heavy breath and my
gaze dropped to her large breasts, their perfectness expanding as her lungs
inflated.
    “I’m going out.” She said rigidly as she shouted at me
through her glare.
    “What happened to the headache?”
    Her tongue rolled over her top teeth in her anger but she
still fought it back, “There are these little white pills called paracetamol,
Mason. Wonderful things, you should try them.”
    Okay.
     
    She was out of the room in seconds as I circled her waist
with an arm and pulled her through the door before I slammed it shut to the
guys eavesdropping and pinned her to the wall.
    She lowered her eyes so I grasped her chin and made her
gaze meet mine. “I don’t know what the hell is wrong with you lately but not in
front of the guys, baby. That I won’t stand for, you know it.”
    She shrugged, “But it’s okay for you to demean me in
front of them? This is my God damn home!” she spat angrily.
    I narrowed my eyes and tried to read her face but she was
just too angry for me to see anything else. “Not – in – front – of – the –
guys.” I repeated.
    She squirmed under me as I planted a tender kiss to her
forehead,