Zane hated the thought of treating his angel like a pet. He hated it almost as much as he hated the idea of her being in the same room as that lunatic Johnson. But it was the only way. He had thought about using a girl from the brothels. But he hadn’t been lying when he had said Johnson probably would have spotted it. Then there was the fact the idea made his stomach turn. Just the notion of having another woman by his side, even if it was just acting, made him feel sick. He had noticed Ava tense up as well when he had mentioned it. He didn’t know if it was because she didn’t like to share his attention or if it was because she just didn’t like the idea of prostitutes. Either way, the idea was scrapped. He just had to keep Ava safe and remember to put in extra effort to hide his own feelings. If Johnson ever found out Zane actually cared for his angel, he would not hesitate to use it against him. They arrived at the club. It was later than they usually arrived because Zane and Jax d
Ava sat by Bain’s leg and tried to make herself invisible as she half listened to the conversation between Zane and Johnson. Johnson made her skin crawl and the two other men who were with him were not much better. Ava could feel Zane’s anger as an aura radiating from him. She appreciated it. She knew he was angry because she had to act like a pet and Johnson thought it gave him rights over her. Zane’s anger was like a reminder he wasn’t indifferent towards her and acted as a security blanket as she knew he would keep her safe. But he needed to calm down. Johnson would notice it, and Ava guessed he would use it. She leaned into him in a way she hoped looked like a pet who just felt insecure. Zane relaxed a little, and Ava relaxed with him.“Sure, I have no issue with that. So, you want to use the block at Roe and Park?” she heard Zane ask.“Yes,” Johnson answered.“For what?”“I would love to tell you, but even though we sit here all friendly, we are competitors. I’m
Zane let his hand rest on the naked skin on Ava’s back. Johnson was sitting on the couch, his eyes half closed as his pet was giving him a blowjob. Zane fought his urge to shoot the man. Johnson had been getting on his nerve since he walked into Zane’s office. He was rude, crewed, and acted like a fucking animal. It wasn’t the first time Zane had been around men like him. The underworld, his world, was filled with them. It rarely bothered him. But now his angel was in the room and he was furious she had to be a part of this. Ryder passed him his whiskey and then handed Johnson his. Johnson grunted as he came and pushed the woman away. He put himself together and turned towards Zane. Zane was still pretending to have his own moment with his pet. When he figured he had kept Johnson waiting long enough to make him irritated, he grunted.“You are doing great, angel. It will soon be over,” he whispered to Ava, making sure no one else could hear him. He motioned for her to get off his
“Should I call to a meeting da… boss?” Jacob asked. Carl Johnson sighed. “No,” he told his son. Carl had been married four times, and had nine children within those marriages, all daughters. He had countless mistresses during the years, they had given him even more daughters. The only son he had was the idiot sitting across from him in the limo. He was the result of one of Carl’s first pets. He had allowed the woman to carry his child full term, and it had been a son. But she had been the reason he made sure none of his pets would ever bear a child again. He didn’t need that. Carl had ignored the boy for most of his life, thinking one of his wives or mistresses would give him the son he wanted. When it didn’t happen, he had gone in search of his long-lost son. Only to discover he was a moron who would probably never amount to anything. Johnson was planning what to do with the business he had built on his own once he got too old to run it. One of his closest men had been blessed
Ava was reading patterns. She had finished her latest project, a huge stuffed vampire penguin, the night before. She was going to visit Tom and his family later that afternoon, and it was a gift for his daughter. Tom had finally been cleared to come back, and Ava just wanted to make sure everything was okay. “Angel, could you get my charger over there?” Zane asked her, pointing towards the bookshelf. She shook her head as she got up. Ava knew exactly why he wanted her to get it. It was so he could get a view of her back. She had on a black pencil skirt and, what from the front, looked like a modest white shirt. But the back was open, the shirt only held together by a band of fabric over her shoulder blades. “Sure,” she said and got up and took his charger, making sure he got what he wanted from it. She then got back to her crocheting patterns. She was wondering if she was brave enough to try a sweater next, or maybe a bikini. Ava wondered if Zane would allow her to wear it
Zane looked at the man sitting on the other side of his desk. Ava’s uncle had nothing in common with his niece. Not his looks, not his personality nor his manners. Zane wondered briefly how Ava had turned out the way she had when she had been raised by these people. Had her parents left such a strong imprint that not even these people could ruin it? Zane was battling his urge to kill the both of them. If he did, they wouldn’t take his angel from him. But it was too late. They had already said the words which had shattered his world to pieces. Somehow, this slime of a human being had come up with enough money to pay off his debt. Zane had hoped the transfer wouldn’t go through, that the money was just a bluff. But as he looked on his computer screen, he could clearly see the money the man had deposited. It had killed Zane to ask Ava to pack her things. He needed her out of his office in case he did something. If he lost his cool, she didn’t need to see that. Not now when she would be
Ava watched the city move outside the window of the car. Her aunt and uncle were chatting in the front seat about what they would do with the rest of the money. Her uncle must have hit the jackpot. But Ava was lost in her thoughts. She tried to push the pain away. She didn’t want her relatives to see it. Ava could cry when they got home, safely locked in the bathroom. She would let herself have one evening of self-pity and then she would rebuild her life. First step would be to call Gabriel and see if he still wanted her to live with him. She would take him up on his offer if he did. Then she needed to get a lawyer to evict her relatives and get her own place. She wasn’t as prepared for her new job as she would have liked. But she was sure she and Gabriel could work something out. But first she needed to get her feet back under her and that work would start as soon as she got back home. At the thought, she realised she didn’t recognise the area they were headed to.“Uncle Jonas,
“Where the fuck is he? Move out of the way or I will fucking end you. I don’t care if I love you!” Zane looked up from his work as the shouts boomed in the house. The voice was familiar, and it peaked Zane’s curiosity. He needed something to take his mind off his angel, so he walked out of his office and looked over the rail to the floors below. What he saw had him stunned. Ryder was trying to restrain a struggling Gabriel that did his best to slip out of his boyfriend’s grip.“Calm down, he is not in a good mood,” Ryder tried to say.“I don’t fucking care. Do I look like I’m in a good mood? Take your hands off me now, Ryder. I am not telling you again. I am going to talk to Zane if I have to walk over your dead body to do it,” Gabriel told his boyfriend. Zane could see Ryder flinch.“What the fuck is going on?” Zane asked. Gabriel’s eyes shot to Zane and Zane had to use all his willpower not to take a step back from the pure anger that shot from them. Jax came walking t
Ava woke up with a throbbing head that was spinning. Her mouth was dry, and her body ached all over. She had vague memories of waking up before, of men coming into the room to beat and kick her. She had lost all sense of time as she drifted in and out of consciousness. Ava didn’t know if she had been in the room for hours, days, or weeks. She tried to sit up and felt the room spin even more. Ava had a hard time distinguishing between the pain from laying on the hard floor and the injuries she had sustained from the beatings. She gave up on trying to stand up, her body and head would not allow it. She crawled towards the blankets. They smelled terrible and were full of holes. But they offered some protection from the cold floor. Ava took one of the blankets and gently wrapped it around herself, and leaned against the wall. She tried to diagnose the aches she felt. She could move her hands and feet, even though the muscles were sore and her joints were stiff. Her left knee was swollen