134

Ava smiled at the stunned look on her husbands face. She had thought about it all day, what she would do to be able to let go of this anger she felt for being shoved to the side. And the answer was simple, she would just have to give Zane a punishment so he would learn not to do it again. Zane’s brain finally seemed to kick back into gear. A smile moved over his face.
“Are you sure you can handle that, angel?” he asked her. She pretended to huff.
“Don’t worry about that, dear husband. the important question is; Do you think you can take it?”
“Total submission?” he asked. She nodded. “I’m going to be honest with you. It will be difficult. But I stand by my previous promise. Anything you ask of me, angel. If you want to punish me, I will offer myself to you willingly,” he told her. Pure heat pulsed in Ava’s centre. She smiled and kissed him.
“Not tonight, neither one of us is in shape for that,” she told him. He nodded.
“After we wrap up all the loose ends and can take a night to ourselves,” he agreed.
“I like that. It gives me time to plan. Is there anything else we need to talk about?” she asked.
“I’m not letting you go back to the office anytime soon,” Zane stated. Ava felt like she should object, but truth be told, she didn’t want to go back to the office at the moment. “I know the deal was that you would work from home until my father was dealt with. And technically he has been. But I just can’t,” he told her.
“I’m okay with that. I think I will like working from home. I may need to go to the office for meetings. We still need a contractor,” she told him.
“Fine, but my men will vet any candidates,” he insisted.
“Sounds reasonable,” she agreed.
“And we are turning the room next door into an office for you. You can’t keep sitting in the library and once the baby comes it will be good for you to have the option to work from home if you want.” Ava looked at him.
“Really?” she asked.
“Really. I will call Boris tomorrow. He will send his niece to talk to you about what colours you want. You might as well start on the nursery as well,” he said.
“Will you help me pick the colours for the nursery?” she asked. He hummed as he pulled her into his lap and tucked her in close to him, resting his chin on her head.
“I think I would like something that reminds me of a fairytale,” he said. Ava hadn’t expected that answer.
“Something with castles, dragons, princes and princesses?” she asked.
“No, not necessarily. But something… magical,” he said. Ava looked up at him, would he ever stop surprising her? “I’m not good at these things, angel,” he then said.
“I think you did perfect,” she told him as ideas started to swirl around her head. “Is there any colours you think we shouldn’t use?”
“Nothing dark or gloomy. I want it to be light, soft and happy, just like you,” he said in an instant.
“And you don’t care that we don’t know the gender?” she asked.
“I don’t think the baby will mind if you paint the room pink regardless if it’s a boy or a girl,” he said.
“I agree,” she told him. They sat in silence for a while, it was nice to relax.
“I have been thinking about names,” Zane told her as he gently rubbed her belly.
“You have?” she asked.
“Micha if it’s a boy or Aniela if it’s a girl,” he told her. “What do you think?” he asked. Ava let the two names bounce around in her mind for a while.
“I like them,” she told him.
“What about you?”
“I was thinking maybe Zaid if it’s a boy or Sarah if it’s a girl. Maybe Zarah with a Z,” she said.
“After your mother,” he acknowledged. She nodded. “I like it,” he told her.
“I think I like Aniela more,” she told him. “It’s unique but easy to say, or shout if needed.” Zane chuckled. “Gabriel suggested Gabe if it’s a boy or Gabriella if it’s a girl,” she then said. Zane laughed.
“Not going to happen.”
“Agreed.”
“Are you ready to head to bed?” he asked her.
“I am. More than ready. I want a nice long shower and then I want to craw into our bed,” she told him.
“I like that plan. Do you want company in the shower?” he asked.
“Yes. I’m not letting you out of my sight until tomorrow,” she told him. He smiled and kissed her. Then he got up, with Ava still in his arms.

Ava woke up the following day with Zane’s arms holding her tight. She stayed as she was, laying half on top of him with their legs intertwined. Ava knew Zane was awake by how his hand played with her hair.
“Good morning, angel,” he told her.
“Morning,” she said, cuddling in deeper into his embrace. Zane chuckled. He put a finger under her chin to make her look up and then he kissed her.
“I love you,” she told him.
“I love you too, angel. And I love this little one,” he said, placing his hand on her stomach.
“What will happen today?” she asked.
“Tom will come over and he has both your and Gabriel’s laptops. I got a text from Spencer about fifteen minutes ago. He has my father’s woman and he is heading back here. He will arrive in about two hours. I need to deal with my father. We need to make sure all traces of what happened yesterday is gone in case the detectives are stubborn and know a judge to give them a search warrant on loose grounds. We also need to question some of the men we captured alive and make sure our own organisation knows we are stable and that no one else thinks we are weak,” he told her.
“So no staying in bed all day?” she asked as a joke. He chuckled and kissed her again.
“I would have liked that, but no. I’m sorry. Do you need to rest?” he asked.
“No, I’m okay. Let’s get moving. We have the meeting in forty minutes, we can make it a breakfast meeting,” Ava told him. They got up, got dressed and headed to Zane’s office. Ava called down to the kitchen and asked them to bring up food. When everyone was gathered in the office and had something to eat, Zane told them the reason behind the attack and the options they had going forward and lastly what they needed to do today.
“I need you all to be visible today. Usually I don’t care if you take part in the things going on with the organisation or not. But we need to show we are strong and that we are in control. I need all of you to do just that for a week or two,” Zane told them. He addressed them all, but his comments were directed at Linda and Gabriel. They all nodded.
“I can make sure the area is cleaned to our standard,” Ryder said. Zane nodded.
“I will go with you,” Gabriel offered and Zane nodded again.
“I will check out those that were wounded and make sure things go back to normal in the mansion,” Linda told them.
“I’ll make sure we get the information we need from the people we have,” Jax said.
“I’ll make sure the rest of the operation runs as it should. We don’t want anyone to notice this little squabble,” Tom offered and got approval from Zane.
“Zane and I will talk to to the incoming woman and then his father,” Ava told everyone. She could see Zane was about to object. “If the detectives comes back, let us know as soon as possible,” she continued before he had a chance to speak. They ended the meeting, but Zane took her hand as the others left the office, making her stay.
“You are not going anywhere near my father, or that woman,” he told her.
“Of course I will. Who is better to talk to a pregnant woman, than another pregnant woman? And regarding your father, you didn’t let me face my family alone and i won’t let you face yours alone,” she said.
“That was not the same, angel.”
“It was,” she insisted. “I may step out before the end, but I will be there up until that point.” Zane gave her a long look and then nodded. He pulled her into an embrace.
“You have to tell me if you need a break,” he said.
“I will,” she promised. Zane’s phone buzzed.
“Time to get to work. Spencer has dropped the woman off in the room you had set up,” he told her. Ava nodded and together the set off towards the second floor.