112

Ava and Linda had a nice and quiet dinner. As none of the boys made it down before they were finished, the two of them decided to have a game night on their own. They moved to the living room and started playing Canasta. Anna made sure they had snacks and they gossiped as they played.
“Let’s make it interesting and play for something other than just bragging rights,” Linda suggested.
“Like money?” Ava asked. She was uncomfortable at the idea of gambling; it had never worked out well for her.
“No. With the two men we live with, playing for money just doesn’t seem fun,” Linda said, and Ava agreed.
“How about we do a dare? Whoever has the lowest score by the end of the evening have to do the dare?” Linda proposed. Ava thought about it, it sounded fun. She had played quite a lot of Canasta with Anna and Linda; she was almost confident she could win. She just needed to keep a straight face.
“What kind of dare did you have in mind?” she asked Linda. “It has to be something that could get us into trouble, but not in danger,” she added. Linda nodded. They both thought about it for a while. Then Linda gave her a wicked grin. Oh no, Ava thought.
“What do you have planned for tomorrow?” Linda asked.
“Nothing really. It’s my last weekend before heading back to work. I was going to spend the time with Zane, but it looks like he’ll be busy,” Ava answered.
“I’m free as well and it doesn’t look like Jax will be any more available than Zane. How about we do a girls’ day at the pool?” Linda said.
“Oh, no. I’m not skinny dipping,” Ava objected at once.
“God no! We would have a blood bath on our hands if Jax or Zane caught one of us doing that. No, but how about the looser has to wear the skimpiest bikini they own for the entire time we are at the pool?” Ava looked at her friend. She knew it would be bad if Zane caught her in a skinny bikini at the pool. Especially if he hadn’t cleared the area of men. But it would probably be a good kind of bad. So even if she lost to night, it could turn into a win.
“I like the way you think, it’s a deal,” she told Linda and reached out her hand. They shook on the dare and agreed to start the scoring from zero as they now played for real. Their bet added a little extra excitement and soon they were both back in the game, laughing and joking. They had been at it for a couple of hours as Zane and Jax walked into the room with a man Ava hadn’t seen before. Both she and Linda put down their cards and stood up. Zane held out his arm and Ava walked right up to him, and he wrapped it around her waist and kissed her.
“Are you having a good evening, angel?” he asked.
“I am, we have had lots of fun. Have you had anything to eat?” she asked him.
“Not yet. Let me introduce you to Miguel, our manager in L.A. Miguel, this is my wife Ava and Jax woman, Linda,” Zane introduced them.
“Mrs Velky, it’s a pleasure,” Miguel told her and instead of shaking her outstretched hand, he placed a kiss on the back of it. Ava could feel his look as he took her in and the appreciative smirk. She didn’t mind. Zane would never have brought Miguel into their living space where she and Linda were if he had any hesitation about his loyalty. Ava also knew that Zane enjoyed other men admiring her, as long as they recognised his claim. Sure enough, Zane had a satisfied look on his face as he watched Miguel. When Miguel greeted Linda the same way, Jax had the complete opposite reaction. He scowled and a tick in his hand around Lindas waist told Ava he wanted to pull her behind him. It amused Ava. It was rare she got to see the two of them in a situation like this as Linda seldom took part in family business. Miguel seemed to notice the tension in Jax and turned his focus back to Ava. “Mrs. Velky, the rumours about angels on the dancefloor in the club here in town now make sense,” he told her.
“You flatter me, and please call me Mrs. A, everyone does,” she told him. He gave her a nod.
“As we are part of the same chain of clubs, we recruited some girls to dance in angel outfits. It’s a huge success,” he told them. “But if you would grace us with an appearance, it would surely be even better,” he added. “The weather is always warm, and nothing quite beats partying in L.A.”
“I will think about it,” she said with a smile. “How about you boys head to the dining room and I will ask Anna to bring you food. I’m guessing you are staying with us for the night?” she asked Miguel.
“Mr. Velky was kind enough to offer me a room.”
“I’ll make sure one is made available. Do you want us to join you?” Ava asked Zane. He looked at her and gave her the half-smile he used when he was around people he didn’t consider inner circle.
“No, you two will only be bored when we talk business. It’s better that you have some more fun and Jax and I will get you when we are ready,” he told her. His free hand was about to go to her stomach, but he changed direction of it and put it on her hip and pulled her closer. “Don’t do anything crazy, angel,” he said in a low voice and gave her a kiss.
“I’m not making any promises,” she told him, as she knew he would count her and Linda’s bet as ‘something crazy’. He chuckled and let go of her. Ava and Linda walked out into the kitchen and made sure the men got what they needed before grabbing some more snacks and heading back to their card game. As Linda filled Ava in on the latest gossip from the hospital, they were neck in neck with the scores.
“I can’t believe Jess got dumped by her sugar daddy,” Ava said. “Well, I can. I only met him once, and he didn’t seem that loyal to her,” she confessed.
“She has been in a horrible mood ever since it happened and now, she is going after every doctor in the hospital. Singel or not,” Linda told her.
“Does Jax need to worry?” Ava joked. Linda laughed.
“Not even if she paid me.” They both laughed as Jax and Zane walked into the room. Miguel was nowhere to be seen.
“It’s getting late,” Jax said.
“Time for bed, angel,” Zane agreed. Both Ava and Linda looked down on the notebook where they kept the running score, they had the exact same score.
“Let us just finish this round,” Ava said, hopeful. Zane just raised an eyebrow and Jax gave Linda a pointed look.
“Shit, just one moment,” Linda said to the men and leaned in closer to Ava. “So no one does the dare?” she whispered.
“You know what they say,” Ava told her.
“If you’re not the winner…” Linda said.
“… you’re the looser,” Ava finished one of Zane’s and Jax’s favourite expressions.
“Fuck,” Linda said.
“We both do it?” Ava suggested.
“Angel?” Zane asked.
“One moment, honey,” Ava told him.
“Yes, we need to keep our word,” Linda agreed.
“Yes, it will be worse if they find out we broke a deal,” Ava said.
“What are you two whispering about?” Jax asked and walked closer.
“Nothing!” both women called out and got a suspicious look from the men.
“I’m ready for bed,” Ava said, standing up and walking over to Zane.
“Me too, totally beat,” Linda agreed and walked up to Jax.
“Right,” Jax said. Ava could tell he didn’t believe them.
“Whatever the two of you are planning, you should think about if it’s worth the risk,” Zane whispered to Ava as they made their way up to their room.
“I don’t know what you are talking about,” she told him. He chuckled and kissed her cheek.
“I will find out, I always do. And when I do, I hope for your amazing ass’ sake it isn’t something too bad,” he told her. Ava was hoping the same. She knew there was no backing out of it now. She just had to hope that Zane and Jax would be distracted enough by Miguel that they wouldn’t have time to check in on her and Linda. And that none of the staff would rat them out. She could ask Anna to make sure only the most trusted of people would be around the pool. Ava liked that idea and made a mental note to do it in the morning.