119

After Ava’s surprise visit by the detectives, she found herself with stricter rules than usual on where she could go and with whom. Zane usually saw it as good enough if Ryder, Tom or Marco were with her alongside one or two of their other men. But now she was back to only be allowed out in the company of Tom and Ryder. It was a throwback to her first weeks in the mansion. But she accepted it as she wanted Zane to not work himself up. He was stressed out as it was, and the long hours of work didn’t help. Gabriel was complaining that Ryder had become grumpy and closed off and Linda reported the same were true for Jax. They all three knew their men was overworking themselves, but they also knew it was necessary and the only thing they could do was to help their men to de-stress.
“Me and Gabriel will have to work a little late tonight,” Ava told Zane as they were getting ready for the day.
“No, angel. Both Tom and Ryder have things to do this afternoon,” he told her.
“I don’t care. It’s important work for the charity. It will just be Gabriel and me. The office is a safe place, and you can have some men watch it to your hearts content,” she insisted.
“No. The office is too big, there are too many things that can go wrong.” Ava sighed. She usually let Zane have his way, but not this time.
“Okay. So how about Tom drops me and Gabriel off at Gabriel’s and Ryder’s apartment? It’s close to the office so it won’t be a detour for him. We both know that place is safe, and you can place added men there if you want,” she suggested. The way Zane furrowed his brows were a clear sign that he didn’t like the idea. “Please Zane, we need to get the work done. Ryder even installed a panic room,” she told him.
“Fine. But I’m expecting you to get into that panic room if anything happens,” he caved.
“Of course,” she agreed. The day passed by uneventful. When the clock neared five in the afternoon, Ava walked into Gabriel’s office. “Ready to go?” she asked.
“I am,” he said, collecting is laptop and phone and stuffed it into his computer bag. He walked towards her, the stopped and turned back, took a laminated paper and put into his bag.
“What was that?” Ava asked as they walked out of his office to Tom that was waiting for them.
“What was what?” Gabriel tried.
“That laminated paper. Since when do you laminate things?” she asked. Gabriel sighed.
“It’s from Ryder,” he told her.
“Oh. Why is it laminated?” Ava asked, then she thought of something and blushed. “Is it something to do with sex? Is that why it’s laminated? So you can… wipe it off?” she half whispered. Gabriel groaned and Tom started coughing like a mad man.
“It’s not a sex thing,” Gabriel hissed. Then he sighed again, reached in to his bag, took the laminated paper out and handed it to Ava. Ava looked at it and started to giggle.

**House safety rules**
(Must be obeyed or severe punishment will be inflicted)
1. Before entering the apartment, make sure the alarm is active.
2. Inspect the locks on the door to detect any tampering
3. After entry and deactivation of alarm. Close the door, lock it and activate the shell alarm.
4. Make sure your mobile phone is at least 40% charged at all times.
5. Always be within three feet of your phone.
6. In case of a security breach; arm yourself and enter the panic room.
7. After locking yourself in the panic room, call Ryder.
8. If you are in the panic room, do not open it unless one of the following persons tells you to:
a) Ryder
b) Mr. Velky
c) Mrs. A
d) Tom
9. Don’t open the door to someone you don’t know.
10. If there is maintenance being done in the apartment you will not be there alone with them.
11. If something is wrong or if something feels off, call Ryder.
12. Always call Ryder
13. I mean it, you better call me, babe.

Ava looked at a scarlet red Gabriel as her giggles turned into laughter. Tom was obviously reading the instructions over her shoulder and was trying his best not to laugh.
“He laminated it?” Ava finally managed to ask.
“He wanted to make sure it didn’t get destroyed,” Gabriel said. That was the last straw for Tom. He burst out laughing, having to braise himself on the elevator wall for support.
“That is really sweet,” Ava said.
“Idiotic, overprotective, boyfriend,” Gabriel huffed. He took the lamination from Ava and put it back into his bag. But Ava could see he was happy about it. As they reached the ground floor, both Ava and Tom had collected themselves.
“So… Have you called him today?” Ava asked Gabriel. Tom snorted and started laughing again, earning them side glances from people around them. Gabriel shot daggers at both Ava and Tom.
“I have,” he told her. “I really hate you, you know,” he added.
“Oh, please. You love me and we both know it,” Ava told him and hooked her arm in his. He sighed.
“I do,” he agreed. “There is probably something deeply wrong with me.” Tom drove them to Gabriel’s and Ryder’s apartment and followed them upstairs.
“There are ten men stationed in the apartment building and a couple of more outside,” he told them as Gabriel unlocked the door, after checking both the alarm and the lock.
“Thank you, Tom. We will be fine. We will just do some boring calculations, eat pizza and then gossip until Zane comes to pick me up,” Ava said.
“And you will send one of the men to get the pizza,” Tom reminded her.
“We will,” she agreed.
“Good. Have a nice evening Mrs. A, Gabriel,” Tom said and let them go inside and lock the door.
“I don’t know who is worse,” Gabriel said as they made themself comfortable on the couch with their laptops. Ava smiled.
“It feels nice to be taken care of for a change, doesn’t it?” she said. He smiled back at her.
“It does.” They started working and was soon engulfed in the work. Even budget calculations could be fun if it was for something you cared about.
“I think we need a break, and I know I need to feed you,” Gabriel said after a while. He stood up and stretched out the muscles in his neck. “Peperoni pizza?” he asked.
“Yes please, and garlic bread. Lots and lots of garlic bread,” she told him.
“Sure, we can make that happen. Who are we sending?” he asked.
“Julia is on door duty, we can send her,” Ava told him. He nodded and called in the order to the pizza place and then called Julia.
“It will be here in fifteen minutes,” he told Ava. They went into the kitchen to grab napkins, plates and soda while gossiping about the new intern they had hired and her obvious crush on one of Zane’s men that used to be in the office to keep Ava and Gabriel safe. As they walked into the living-room they both froze and looked out of the window. The windows displayed a stunning view of the city. But it wasn’t the view that had caught their eyes, it was the black clad man hanging in a harness. He seemed to feel around the edge of the window frame. The sight was so unexpected, it had both Ava and Gabriel frozen in place.
“The glass is bullet proof,” Gabriel finally said, still standing with napkins and plates in his hands.
“Oh, good. We should tell someone,” Ava said, just as unmoving. Before they could do something, they both watched in fascination as the man pushed off from the window with his feet. It made him swing out, away from the window. As he did there was a faint sizzling sound and then quiet pops as light grey smoke rose up from around the window. The window stayed as it was.
“Well that did nothing,” Gabriel said, sounding relieved. Ava was about to agree with him when the black-clad man reached the apex of his pendulum and started swinging back, towards the window. As he hit it with his booths flat against it, there was a soft thud and then the window started falling inwards, in slow motion. As it hit the floor with a loud whack, Gabriel woke up. He grabbed Ava’s arm and yanked her towards the bed room, dropping the things he had in his hands. Ava could hear the plates hit the floor and shatter.
“Ava, the bed room. Now!” he shouted as Ava felt the warm air from outside find its way into the climate controlled apartment. It was then it hit her, the man was now inside the apartment. She dropped the soda in her hands and ran alongside Gabriel. She heard someone hurrying behind them. “Panic room,” Gabriel said as he slammed the bedroom door closed behind them and stabbed his finger on something under a nightstand. A wall panel swung open and revealed the cold interior of a panic room. Ava had never been as happy to see a room in her life. She hurried inside, followed by Gabriel. He was about to close the door when he froze.
“What?” Ava asked.
“I forgot rule number six,” he moaned.
“Number six?” she asked. Ava had no clue what rule number six was.
“I should have armed myself,” he explained.
“I think it’s okay. We are inside the panic room,” she pointed out.
“What if he can open it? The windows are supposed to be safe, impossible to get through and you saw what happened with them. I need to be able to protect you and the baby,” Gabriel said. “Wait here. Close the door and wait. The cameras will let you see what happens. If you see me coming back, you can open the door by hitting the big green button,” he told her.
“Gabriel, no!” Ava tried to grab his arm, but it was too late. He was already out of the room and had pushed the door halfway shut. Ava hesitated, should she go after him? He was alone with an unknown man. But she could stay, she should stay and call Zane. She looked at the row of screens showing different parts of the apartment. And her breath caught in her throat.