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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
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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
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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
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“What have you done, pet?” Johnson asked. Ava looked down at her hand and the glass she was still holding. Johnson started walking and as he still held Ava by her hair, she was yanked along. They walked to where Jacob was shouting. “Shut the fuck up. What happened?” Johnson asked. “The fucking little whore smashed my head with a glass,” Jacob screamed. Johnson looked down at Ava, then at his son. “If I would have known that all it took for you to show some fucking balls was to let a whore smash you in the head, I would have arranged it years ago,” Johnson said with a dark chuckle. “I find myself almost impressed. But just almost. She is yours to punish as you please. It’s your reward for finally showing what I have been waiting for since I found you,” he continued, pushing Ava straight into his son’s chest. Jacob grabbed her by the arm and started dragging her upstairs. Ava knew this was it. She had almost used up all her energy on trying to get away. She wouldn’t get a se
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Zane was sitting in the dark van which was parked in an alley, trying to be invisible, which was hard for a vehicle of its size. Zane had a hard time sitting still. He was bouncing his knee up and down, staring at the com system, willing it to come to life. Jax, who was sitting next to him, gave him an annoyed look. Zane glared back at him. Zane’s temper was not at its best. Three weeks. Fucking three weeks. They had made him wait. If Zane was being fair, which he wasn’t in the mood to be, it hadn’t been Jax’s, Ryder’s or Tom’s fault that it had taken three weeks. If they had known where Ava had been held, nothing could have kept him from going after her. But that had been the issue. No one could find where Johnson had been keeping her. It had taken Spenser less than three hours to find Ava’s aunt and uncle and drag them back. That had been an entertaining evening, Zane thought. Within thirty minutes of Zane stepping into the same room as Jonas Cobler, he had told Zane everything he
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Relief so powerful it almost felt like a tidal wave, flooded is system. That was until he registered the state of her. She looked so tired and why did it look like she had lost weight? But in her brilliant blue eyes he could see hope. Then his focus shifted to the man who was dragging her backwards by the arm. Johnson’s son, Zane realised. As Ava was dragged out of his view, Zane turned towards the chaos that was playing out on the ground level. Jax and his men had made progress. They were forcing most of Johnson’s men to the right while some of Zane’s men herded the guests and workers to the left. No one was foolish enough to assume the guests and workers were harmless. They all knew there could be numerous guns, knives and other things hidden amongst them. They would be searched and dealt with when this thing was over.“Found the item,” Zane shouted. Jax, Ryder and Tom looked at him and he glanced toward the stairs, they all nodded. There was an effort made to clear the way to
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Ava woke up feeling dazed. Her mind was fuzzy and it took her a minute to start to remember what had happened. She tensed up as she remembered the small room she had been in the last weeks. Then she realised she was home, no, not home. She was in Zane’s bed. Someone was holding her hand and she squeezed it as a way to relax. “Ava?” She heard Zane say and she turned her head towards the sound. Zane had pulled up one of the armchairs next to the bed and was sitting in it, holding her hand. Ava smiled at him and felt herself relax. He looked tired but he returned her smile.“Hi,” she said, her voice sounded hoarse and dry.“Hi, angel. How are you feeling?” he asked. Ava thought about it. She had a feeling she should be in a lot of pain, but she wasn’t. “Fine, a bit fuzzy, like my brain is wrapped in a soft cloud. And I’m thirsty and I think I’m a little hungry as well,” she told him. Zane reached out with his free hand and stroked her hair. “You are on some heavy
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Zane was looking at Ava and at the spot on the bed next to her, but he didn’t move. Ava looked back at him and wondered what was going on. “Come on,” she said, patting the spot again.“I’ll just sit here,” he told her, heading toward the chair he sat in when she had woken up.“Why? I would like you to sit next to me,” she asked.“I don’t want to hurt you,” he said.“Don’t be silly. Gabriel was sitting there not five minutes ago. Come on, let’s have a talk,” she told him. Slowly, with hesitant steps, Zane rounded the bed and gently got on it. He watched her to see if she was uncomfortable or in pain. Ava just smiled at him patiently. As he sat down facing her, he took her hands in his and looked intently at them. Ava just let him be. He had something he needed to talk about, and she would give him the time to think it through.“I’m sorry,” he said, looking up at her. That was not what Ava was expecting. “For what?” she asked, genuinely surprised. Zane sm
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Ava looked up at Zane with big eyes.“But…,“ she started.“No but. You need to stop doing things that put you in danger, angel. But we will save the punishment for later. Now relax,” he told her, and he savoured the feeling as she made herself comfortable in his arms. Having her back where she belonged felt amazing, like the world suddenly made sense again. Her body felt too angular and thin, and her hair had lost its shine. But he didn’t care. She was back in his arms, in his bed, and he had told her he loved her. Zane still had a hard time believing she loved him back, and she forgave him. He didn’t forgive himself and would spend the rest of his life making it up to her if she would let him. A cold hand clutched his stomach as he remembered he didn’t know what they had done to her. He knew she had been beaten from the pictures. Linda had told him she had seen all the signs of starvation and dehydration. But other than that, Zane had had plenty of time to think about what
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