23

"You have a secretary?” Ava asked as they were walking along the bar. She had never seen a secretary during the week she had been in his life. Zane made a gesture towards Veronica that she should met them at the other end of the bar before answering Ava.

“Of course I do. Ryder is my secretary.”

“Ryder?” Ava turned around and looked at the man that were following them.

“Yes,” Zane said with a smile. “You don’t think he can do it?”

“No, It’s not that. I just thought he was your bodyguard,” Ava said.

“He is, he is both.”

“But you have him following me around. How can he help you if he is doing that?”

“He and Tom are my best and most trusted men, of course I used them for your protection. His duties as my secretary aren’t that heavy,” Zane told her as they stopped by the end of the bar where Veronica joined them. “I tasted your drink, we enjoyedf it. I would like it to put it on the drink list. Any objections?” Zane asked Veronica. Veronica looked at him in surprise and then at Ava. Ava smiled reassuring at her.

“No, boss,” Veronica said.

“Good. We’ll add it for two weeks as a test and then Mario will assess if it should be a permanent feature, you will get 10% of the profit,” Zane told her.

“Thank you, Mr Velky,” Veronica said. Zane shrugged and started to move away, then he paused and looked back at her. “By the way, what is its name?” Veronica looked at him and then at Ava. Ava could she her brain working to come up with a name.

“Angel’s bliss” Veronica said. Zane smirked and kissed Ava on the head.

“I like it,” he said and then led Ava away from the bar.

“Where are we going?” she asked as she noticed they walked in the opposite direction of Zanes office.

“I have a meeting in my office in a moment, but I don’t want to leave you out here, I have to take Ryder with me,” he told her. Ava got nervous, that didn’t sound like a safe meeting.

“Are you going to be okay?” she asked as Zane used his keycard to open the door she knew led to the back part of the club. Ava hadn’t been here since that first evening.

“Are you worried for me, angel?” Zane teased her. She gave him a side glance. She knew she shouldn’t care, but she did. For her own sanity she decided to tell herself it was because he held her future in his hands. She had no idea what would happen with her debt if he died. Zane saw her look at him and he seemed to read her mind like he always did. His hand went from the small of her back to her nape, he gave it a firm squeeze. “Don’t worry, angel. It’s just a precaution. It came on suddenly, if I would have known about it, I would have made sure I had more men with us that I could use for the meeting,” he explained.

“Okay.”

“I’m sorry, but I need you to wait in the break room until we are done,” he said and opened a door that led into a white room with a couch, a table with some chairs and a kitchenette.

“It’s fine,” she said, happy to not be in the counting room.

“You’ll wait here until I, Jax or Ryder come and get you,” he told her.

“Okay.”

“Good girl,” he told her and kissed her. “I think you have earned a big reward,” he whispered in her ear before walking out of the door.

Ava sighed and looked around. It had been a strange day, two confrontations in one day and her nerves was on edge. She would be the first one to admit that she hadn’t got over her kidnapping and everything she had been through on that evening. The bruises were mostly gone, and her lip was healed. But she still felt raw from the experience. Ava sat down on the couch, she felt overdressed for the bare and unpersonal room. She took out her phone and sent Gabriel a message to tell him about meeting Jess. She continued playing with her phone to have something to do. Ava heard the door open and looked over her shoulder to see who it was. She dropped her phone on the floor as she jumped up from the couch and fled to the other end of the room. Instead of the bar staff that she expected to see, it was Mr Tiny and Mr Muscle. Mr Tiny’s eyes widened in surprise and then a cold grin spread across his face. Ava knew that grin, she had seen it in her nightmares the past week. Nightmares she had kept to herself. In her nightmares, Zane never came to rescue her. She was left to Mr Tiny and Mr Muscle and now her nightmares were coming true. Ava pressed herself against the counter of the kitchenette, her two enemies were standing just inside the only door.

“Well hello, poppet. I have been wondering when we would run into you again,” Mr Tiny said.

“Tobias, we should leave,” Mr Muscle told his friend, he sounded uncomfortable.

“What are you talking about? Can’t you see we have won a special prize. I’m not leaving until I have enjoyed it.”

“Tobias, remember what happened last time. Just leave it,” Mr Muscle insisted, rubbing his chest.

“Fuck that. This bitch caused me to get beaten like I haven’t been since I was a tot. And I didn’t even get to fuck the bitch,” Mr Tiny growled.

“Stay away from me or Mr Velky won’t be happy, I belong to him,” Ava told them. She had never been so happy to proclaim Zanes ownership of her.

“You think I’m afraid of that snot nosed brat? He can suck my dick. I will have what is rightfully mine,” Mr Tiny huffed.

Ava started to desperately open drawers, rummaging through them while only taking her eyes off the duo for short periods of times. What shitty kitchen didn’t have any knives or scissors? Shit, she had used shitty. Double shit, she had used shit. Ava’s mind raced as she tried to find something to use as a weapon. In the end, she settled for a fork. There was a low, rumbling laugh coming from Mr Tiny.

“The kitten has claws,” he mused and looked at Mr Muscle. Ava saw the large man wasn’t amused. In fact, he looked frightened and uncertain. Ava wanted to plead with him to go and get someone, anyone, that could protect her if he didn’t want to. But she was afraid that he would ignore her and team up with Mr Tiny. She was terrified of the small man, but deep in her gut, Ava hadn’t forgotten what the large man had told her about using knives to make her scream. She mentally prepared to fight both of them, knowing full well she would lose. Best case scenario she would fend them off long enough for someone else to come along. Worst case scenario she would at least go out inflicting pain. Mr Tiny licked his lips and then he moved, he had got so far he could reach out for Ava and he grabbed her wrist. Ava prepared to stab him when she noticed that Mr Tiny had stopped moving. She looked passed him and saw Mr Muscle had grabbed Mr Tiny’s collar.

“Let her go,” he told his friend.

“I agree, that is the wise thing to do,” a dark voice said. Ava’s heart placed an extra beat when she heard it and she felt like crying. In all the commotion she hadn’t noticed the door opening. But Zane stood in the doorway, his gaze fixed on Mr Tiny. No one moved, Ava and the other two men looked at Zane. “Take your fucking hand off her,” Zane growled. Ava saw him move fast as lightning over to her and Mr Tiny. He grabbed the man’s wrist and twisted. there was a sickening snap and a howl as Mr Tiny let go of her arm and instead cradled his own. Zane had his arm around Ava and Ava clung to him. “I thought you had been told how we do things in my organisation. Fucking scum,” Zane said in a low voice. He didn’t shout, he didn’t even raise his voice. That was scary according to Ava.

“She is just a whore, I just wanted a taste of the product,” Mr Tiny shouted. He had definitively lost his cool. Ava saw Ryder walking to through the door and something moved in her peripheral vision. Zane had drawn his gun and before Ava could registered it, he had pulled the trigger, shooting Mr Tiny twice in one knee. Ava screamed.

“You don’t fucking know when to give up. She is mine, only I get to place my hands on her,” Zane told the howling Mr Tiny that had crumpled to the floor in a pool of blood that was quickly expanding. Ava knew she should be doing something, she should be helping the bleeding man. but she just turned her face into Zane’s shoulder, feeling his free hand come up and cup the back of her head. She felt, more than saw as he moved his arm holding the gun.

“No, he tried to help me,” she pleaded as she realise Zane had taken aim toward Mr Muscle. Zane hesitated, then he grunted and put his gun away. The air smelled of blood and something that reminded Ava of the way the air smelled after you shot off fireworks. Zane cupped her face and turned it up towards him and looked her it the eyes. He studied her for a moment, before nodding.

“Angel, can you please give me the fork?” he asked. Ava hadn’t realised that she clung to the fork like her life depended on it. She nodded and tried to pry her finger away from it. It was harder than expected. “Good girl,” Zane told her and held out the fork to someone behind her. When he pulled his hand back, he held a jacket which he wrapped around her shoulders. Ava recognised Ryder’s cologne on it. Zane lifted her effortlessly in his arm and placed a kiss on the side of her head. “Close your eyes, angel,” he softly told her. Ava nodded and did as he asked, nuzzling into the crock of his neck as he carried her away.