Stone’s Throw to Forever (Hearts and High Stakes #8)

Chapter 1

ALEX

Alex’s finger pounded against his keyboard as he searched for more information on The Board. The organization that had robbed him of peace–and millions of dollars to fund their chaos across the world–had been causing trouble for far too long.

He cracked his knuckles as he stared at the list of high-level board members that his team had decrypted. How would they ever take down this organization?

“Hard work,” he reminded himself with a sigh as he leaned closer to his laptop. “We’ll beat them by searching for the smoking gun.”

His mind returned to their recent coup over an arm of The Board. The takedown of PharmaTech after their misdeeds in Vermont had been more than satisfying.

Alex’s lips curled on the corners as he recalled the video footage of several of the executives being led to police cruises in handcuffs.

He searched for stories on PharmaTech’s dismantling, scanning for the names of pharmaceutical executives now facing charges.

Fishing a red Sharpie from his pencil cup, he uncapped it and scanned the member list. With a satisfied smile, he drew thick red lines through each high-ranking name.

“Well, that’s a good number down.” He leaned back in his chair, rocking as he bit the end of the sharpie and stared at the remaining names on the list. “Now, for you people.”

He tossed the paper on the desk, threw his marker back into the cup, and started his search for information on the other Board Kings.

They needed to find something to take them down. And soon.

He glanced at the wedding band on his finger, his thumb rubbing the warm gold. It symbolized what mattered most—his marriage to Ava. It had finally gone from fake to real, but with the chaos of constant attacks from The Board, they hadn’t had an easy time of it.

Every moment of their real marriage had been plagued with danger, chaos, and constant threats.

And it hadn’t only been from The Board; from his kidnapping to Ava’s drugging, and everything in between, most couples wouldn’t have survived it, but they had—so far.

On top of that, there was the threat of Chris, Sebastian, and even Kyle. While Kyle had become an important member of their team, and his most trusted ally, he’d still kissed Ava way back when.

He stretched his neck, his eyes glazing over as he read the most boring profile for the first name on the list of Board Kings.

The reminder of Chris’s recent threat floated through his mind as he scanned the man’s hobbies, his interest waning by the second.

“Once Ava finally comes out of this drug-induced haze, she’s going to realize that you’re not the man for her.”

The words sent a shiver down his spine. He’d promised Ava that he’d stop second-guessing their relationship, that he’d have faith in them as a couple, but he couldn’t just turn his worry off like a light switch.

Especially with The Board still looming over them. What if it took too long to defeat them?

Would he and Ava ever have a real marriage that wasn’t plagued by difficulty and danger?

His finger flew across the keyboard as he searched for the next person on the list. As he leaned closer to his screen, a set of warm hands caressed his shoulders.

“Making any progress?” Ava asked before she kissed his cheek.

He eased back into her, glancing over his shoulder. “Sadly, not much. These guys all look…normal…respectable.”

“Yeah, that’s the point. So did the PharmaTech people. I mean, that company was above reproach, right? Heroes on the pharmaceutical front, and then it comes out that they were designing viruses to take out a massive swath of the population.”

He reached up to thread his fingers through hers as he scrolled further down on the page, finding nothing of interest on Dante DeMarco’s bio.

He puffed out his cheeks as he glanced at the next name on the list, typing one-handed so he could keep hold of her hand.

“I’m right here, Ace. I’m not leaving. You can type.”

“Yeah? Well, I’d feel better if you were a little closer.” He tugged her forward, patting his lap.

She settled on his legs, and he pulled her closer, shifting his chair to see the laptop. “You feeling a little out of sorts again, babe?”

“No,” he denied, doing his best to stop worrying about their relationship.

“You sure?” she asked.

He kissed her temple as he rubbed her shoulder. “I just want to take these people down. We need to start our marriage with a little less chaos.”

“We did start it with zero chaos, babe,” she told him as she laid her head on his shoulder. “Remember? It was just me, you, the JOP and his wife.”

“Very funny,” he said as he kissed her hair. “You know what I mean, Sparky. This is the real start of our marriage, and it’s been nothing but trouble.”

“Not between us, though.” She snuggled against him, rubbing his chest. “It’s just been trouble with The Board, and we’re slowly but surely taking them apart piece by piece.”

“Not fast enough,” he answered.

“As fast as we safely can, Ace. That’s what’s important. Safety. I want you here for the big win, babe.”

With one arm wrapped around her, he used one hand to type in the next name. “Me too, Avs. But I also want the fastest way to finish these guys off. There has to be something they have in common.”

“No ties to PharmaTech?” she asked.

He shook his head. “Not that I’ve seen so far. But I’m not done searching yet. If I have to, I’ll dig deeper into some of the less-than-legal resources.”

She chuckled as she kissed his cheek again. “I know you won’t stop until you find the connection.”

“I won’t. Not after what they did to you. Speaking of PharmaTech, how’s everything going with your treatment?”

She shifted on his lap, settling against him again. “So far, so good, I think. No more crazy blackouts, not even a hint of symptoms. Looks like Doc’s treatment is working well.”

“That’s awesome, Avs. Although, I’d really like more proof that this is completely out of your system.”

“Doc wants to do some more blood work today. It’ll give us a better idea of what’s going on with the treatment and any remnants of the Neuroprisol-X.”

“I hope there’s none.”

“Me too,” she said, squeezing his hand.

His mind drifted to what the results may be. Would the drug be clear from her system? And how long would it take before they could wean her off the treatment blocking its effects?

He couldn’t wait for her to be back to normal so the threat that her personality may shift–leading her to fall for Chris again–vanished.

“So, you’re feeling fine? No weird side effects from Doc’s treatment?”

“None so far,” she said with a shrug. “Really, Ace, I’m fine.”

“And…all the behavior-modifying stuff is just…gone?” Alex posed the question hesitantly, hoping she wasn’t going to be offended.

He craned his neck to look at her, catching a slight furrow of her brow as she tilted her head. “I hope so, although…”

“Yeah?” His heart skipped a beat as she hesitated.

“There is this one weird thing that’s been happening to me since Doc started the treatments.”

“What is it?” Alex asked, struggling to keep his voice steady. Was it some physical side effects like headaches or nausea, or something else?

“I have this weird attraction to Chris again…even after everything he did, I just can’t help but be drawn to him.”

Alex’s jaw dropped open as his worst nightmare came true. Were Ava’s feelings only a result of the Neuroprisol-X? Now that she’d been receiving treatment to block that, he had worried that this would happen.

She twisted to glance up at him, puckering her lips as she squeezed his open jaw between her thumb and forefinger. “Joking, babe.”

His features twisted. “What?”

“I’m joking. But I totally knew you were still upset about this. You think I’m going to fall for Chris.”

“I do not,” Alex said with a shake of his head. “I just…”

“Think I’m going to fall for Chris because I only love you because of the Neuroprisol-X and that’s so far from the truth, Ace. I need you to know that, okay?”

He heaved a sigh, staring at the engagement and wedding rings on her finger for a moment before he raised his eyes to her. “I do know that. I just–”

“Always think you’re not enough for me, but babe, you’re everything to me.”

“Aww,” he said with a soft smile as he slid a lock of hair behind her ear. “That’s so sweet, Sparky.”

She grinned at him before she kissed him. “I love you, Alex. And now I need to head to the hospital with Doc for that blood test. Then you’ll see I’m free and clear of the drugs, and that I just love you. You’re stuck with me.”

“Good,” he answered as he kissed her a second time. “I love you, too. Let me know as soon as you’re back.”

She climbed from his lap and patted his shoulder. “Will do, Ace. And take a break from that, okay? Don’t get too upset about it.”

“I won’t,” he called as she blew him a kiss from the door.

As she disappeared, he turned back toward his screen, his smile fading. No matter what she said, he really wanted this to be over.

He bit into his lower lip, frustration roiling inside him as footsteps sounded behind him.

“If you don’t leave soon, I’m going to come kiss you again,” he said with a chuckle.

“I’d really rather you didn’t,” Sebastian answered as he shuffled inside.

Alex wrinkled his nose as he twisted to face the man. “Uh, sorry, I thought you were Ava.”

“Sorry to disappoint,” Sebastian said as he slid the list of Board Kings from the desk and stared at them.

“You’d be less of a disappointment if you helped me find something to tie those names together so we can take these people down once and for all.”

Sebastian scanned the list, his eyebrow arching. “They share some things in common, although, I’m not certain we can get them all in one fell swoop.”

Alex clicked his tongue, letting a hand slap against the desk.

“I mean, I know they all have ties to Vanguard Dynamics, but so does my dad, and I’d really rather we didn’t put him behind bars.”

Alex bit his tongue, holding back the urge to say maybe that’s right where the man belonged.

Sebastian’s forehead creased. “A few of them have ties to the Ascendrix Group.”

Alex opened a new note on his laptop and typed the name of the company into it.

“And VoltTech is another one to look into. Also, Meridian Holdings.”

Alex bobbed his head as he noted them all. “All right, Chief. I’ll get on those and see what I can find.”

“Let me know what you find. I’ll make some calls on my end and see what I can dig up.” Sebastian tossed the list onto the desk before he strode from the room.

Alex stared after him with a frown before he returned to his computer, opening a new window to create a custom piece of code that would search for the names of the people left on the list in conjunction with one of the company names Sebastian had mentioned.

He set it running, flicking his eyes to the sea as he waited for the results to return. His mind spun in a thousand directions as he wondered how they could ever defeat these people.

His computer chimed, drawing his attention back to the screen. One result glowed back at him. VoltTech Energy.

He opened a new window, navigating to the company’s website before he hacked into it, perusing the company files.

A quick search for high-level projects found several, one of them catching his attention. “What is Project Eclipse?”

He opened the folder, finding several files listing project coordinators and coders.

He scanned the list of the projects they had worked on, finding the name Vanessa McGee listed on several key components.

Curious, he opened her profile, seeing a photo of a woman with striking green eyes and auburn hair, a confident smirk on her lips.

Something about her look seemed both inviting and dangerous, and he found himself intrigued despite himself.

“Hmm,” he murmured before he tried to access a few of the other files.

His eyebrow arched as he found them protected by another level of protection. He scoffed, fighting through the security measures easily to get the files open.

He scanned the project briefs, his breath catching as he read its purpose—his stomach clenched as he whispered, “To take out the entire Eastern Seaboard.”

His eyes darted down to the timeline. The word “Operational” stared back at him, glowing on the screen. His stomach twisted with dread—whatever VoltTech was planning, it wasn’t a distant possibility. It was imminent.

His lips parted as he read on, the words suggesting a massive attack that could cripple a massive part of the US. What was Project Eclipse? And could they stop it before it exploded?