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 itZane 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
The next few days were endless stretches of despair for Ava. She had no sense of time in the tiny room without windows. She based her conception of time on how often the door would open and a man came in to empty the bucket in the corner, give her half a glass of water and sometimes a piece of bread. The first time, Ava had tried to just drink a little of the water, hoping to spread it out to last longer. But when the man left the room, he took the glass and the remaining water with him. Ava learned quickly to drain the water and gulf down any food as soon as she could. Still, it wasn’t enough. Her body craved food and water. She had a constant headache and her stomach had stopped rumbling and instead set into a constant cramp. Another sign of the time passing outside the room was the changing of her bruises. They went from irritated red, to blue and yellow and then slowly fading. Ava tried to move around as soon as her legs were strong enough to carry her. The constant sitting or lyi
Ava’s hair was matted and looked lifeless; its usual golden blond was a dull dust beige. There were only faint bruises visible on her face. It didn’t look like any permanent damage had been done. But she looked like a walking dead. Her skin was dull, her eyes sunken in and she had a weary look in her eyes Ava didn’t recognise. She sighed and wondered if she should strip out of her dirty clothes and lie on top of the bed. The thought of getting naked made her skin crawl. She sighed and went back into the room and slid down to sit next to the bed, resting her back against it. Ava fell asleep like that and was awakened by the klick of the lock. She struggled to her feet as the door opened. In walked the woman Johnson had brought to Zane’s office. She looked as surprised to see Ava as Ava did to see her. “Hi,” Ava rasped. “The water has been turned on. It will be shut off in ten minutes,” the woman informed Ava, and held out a towel and small bottles with shampoo and condition
Ava sat, newly showered, in her robe on her bed and waited. The lock clicked, and the door opened. Jacob walked into her room carrying a mug and a box. “This is for you,” he told her and handed her the mug. “Thank you,” she said out of pure habit and started blowing on the hot beverage as she enjoyed the smell of coffee. “Do I need to drink it straight away?” she asked. Ava knew she would scold her tongue and probably her throat if she tried to force it down while hot. “No, you are allowed to drink it while you get ready, but don’t do anything stupid,” he told her. She nodded. “I’ll place this here. You have an hour to get ready,” he said. He placed the box on the bed next to her, took one look at her, and smiled. “You look really pretty like that.”“Eh, thank you,” Ava said. “See you later,” he told her before he left. Ava took her mug into the bathroom and placed it on the counter, taking a small sip of it. It tasted better than any other coffee she ever ha
Johnson yanked on Jasmin’s hair and she bent herself backwards until her body was like an arch, forcing her to look up at Johnson.“I will fucking show you what happens when you think you can play me for a fool. Luckily for you, I still got something I wanted out of the deal, or you would have ended up dead,” he told her in a cold voice. “Victor!” he shouted. The door opened, and a man came inside. Ava had a vague memory of him from her first evening as Zane’s pet. “Take her to the guests. Tonight, and only tonight, we have a special discount. The madame is free for all, only restriction is no permanent damage and no killing,” Johnson said, and pushed Jasmin towards Victor. Victor grabbed her arm and dragged her out of the room. Ava could hear her objections getting weaker the further away he dragged her. Fear filled her. That could be her if Johnson wasn’t happy with her. But to make him happy… She tried to swear in her mind, but as always, it just sounded strange and felt wron