57

Zane looked at the man that was walking towards them. His instinct was to wrap his arm around Ava’s waist and pull her to him. But he controlled himself and let his hand remain on her back, enjoying feeling her naked skin against the palm of his hand.

“It is you. What a pleasant surprise. You look amazing,” the man said.

“Thank you. Zane, this is Dr James Lisowski. We used to work together. I think I mentioned him to you a couple of weeks ago. James, this is Mr Velky, my new employer,” Ava introduced them.

“Amongst other things,” Zane said and held out his hand toward James. James gave him a questioning look.

“Mr Velky? Any association to the Velky family?” James asked. At least the man wasn’t spineless, Zane thought. Most people would avoid the subject of his organisation.

“I’m head of it,” Zane said. He wasn’t ashamed of what he did. He watched Ava for a reaction, but she didn’t show any sign of discomfort as he told this man she was working for the mafia. James, on the other hand, looked surprised, then there was a quick look of disgust and finally he settled down on disdain. Zane knew James looked down on him. It rubbed Zane the wrong way, especially as the man was looking at Ava like a prime piece of meat. Ava squirmed and took a half step closer to Zane, he looked down at her and saw she looked uncomfortable under the intense look from James.

“Don’t tell me you quit your job at the hospital to work for a criminal, Ava,” James said in an accusatory voice.

“I did, and I’m happy about my decision,” Ava said. Zane had never heard her sound so cold, not even the time they had the argument.

“I think we need to move on, angel.” Zane placed a kiss on her shoulder, clearly showing his claim to Ava. She looked up at him with a soft smile that could melt a glacier.

“That sounds good. We need to find our table and make sure Jax and Jennie haven’t got lost,” she agreed. Zane chuckled.

“If they have, we will send Ryder to find them.”

“It was nice meeting you again James, I hope you have a good evening,” Ava said.

“You too, Ava. I’ll find you when the dancing starts. I would love to have the honour of dancing with you.”

“Her schedule is full,” Zane said, and he led Ava away from the man. Zane wanted to punch him, but he knew he needed to push that need aside.

“Are you okay?” Ava asked after a while.

“I’m fine. Why do you ask?”

“You tensed up when we talked to James. You feel tenser than a violin string at the moment,” she told him. It made him smile, he liked that she could read him so easily, not many people could. Truth be told, Zane was struggling with the realisation that James might be first in line to take Zane’s spot by Ava’s side when Zane let her go. He knew someone would be the one to do it. Ava didn’t deserve to spend her life alone. He just hated the fact it could be a moron like fucking Dr James Lisowski.

“I’m sorry, I just got a bad vibe from that man,” Zane said.

“I know what you mean. He has always creeped me out,” Ava agreed. That made Zane feel better. He felt himself relax as he focused on the goal for the night. The unexpected appearance of the doctor had blocked their attempts at talking to Mr Cleaso, but Zane was sure they would get another opportunity after dinner.

“I think Jax and his date have found our table,” Zane told Ava as he saw his friend pulling out a chair for his date.

“Oh, good. That saves us the trouble,” she said. They walked over to them, and Zane held out Ava’s chair. They started to quietly talk about what they had accomplished. Jax had managed to convince one of the men on his list to have a business meeting with them. Zane saw it as a victory, but for some reason Jax seemed irritated. “I’m sorry to say we ran into one of my old colleagues, that ended our attempt,” Ava told them.

“We will try again after dinner,” Zane added and then they changed topic as they were joined at their table by two other couples. Halfway through dinner, Ava leaned to him.

“Why is Jax in such a bad mood? I thought he would have been happy as they bagged their first mark,” she whispered to Zane. Zane had the same thought as Ava. Jax was good at hiding his bad mood. But Zane knew him well enough to spot it, and it wasn’t the first time Ava had demonstrated her natural ability to pick up on social cues.

“I don’t know. He hasn’t said or showed anything,” he told her.

“Can he and Jennie have had an argument?” Zane chuckled at Ava’s suggestion.

“No, Angel. I don’t think Jax cares enough about her to have an argument with her.”

“Something is up between them. He is colder towards her than when we got here,” Ava pointed out. Zane frowned and watched his friend for a moment. How the fuck had Ava picked up on that? It was so subtle Zane had a hard time seeing it, but his angel was right. Jax’s behaviour towards his date was slightly standoffish.

“You are amazing. Thank you for telling me,” Zane told Ava and kissed her shoulder between the strings of diamonds. Just as he had suspected, she looked stunning in the dress he had got for her. The diamonds sparkled when she moved and drew attention to the bare back. Zane had fought his urge to drag her into a secluded part of the hotel and fuck her ever since they had arrived.

As dinner wound down, the two other couples around the table didn’t make any sign of getting up. One of the men owned a small factory which made auto parts and was a pastor in his spare time. His wife was a stay-at-home mother. The other couple were both journalists. Neither of the couples were of use to Zane, too straight and with too much morals. Ava had jumped straight into conversation with both of them and was, at the moment, engrossed in a conversation with the two journalists. She was telling them all about the contribution Zane had made to the women’s shelter, conveniently leaving out her part. The woman looked at Zane with interest.

“I have to be honest, Mr Velky, I didn’t think you to be a philanthropist,” she said.

“I get that often,” Zane said, giving her what he hoped was a sad smile.

“I had the same view before coming to work for him. But I think he just enjoys being portrayed as the bad boy,” Ava told the journalists and laughed. She was good at this, Zane thought. She didn’t lie to them, not a word she told them was untrue. But she had a way to omitting some parts and focusing on others that had him looking like a misunderstood businessman. Zane just shook his head in disbelief and looked over at Jax. His friend wasn’t watching Ava’s performance, instead he was watching the man they had convinced to take a meeting with Zane and Jax. Zane needed to talk to his friend to find out what was going on. He was more than ready when people started getting up to stretch their legs and get ready for the dance. Zane helped Ava up from her chair. He was feeling a little split if he should leave her with Jennie while he talked to Jax, or if he should bring her. He glimpsed Dr James and decided to take her with him.

“Can I talk to you?” he asked Jax. Jax nodded and the three of them walked out on the balcony. The air was chilly as fall was turning into winter and the sun had gone down a couple of hours ago. Zane took off his jacket and draped it over Ava. “What’s up with you?” Zane asked Jax, after making sure they were alone.

“What do you mean?”

“Come on man, something has crawled up your ass,” Zane told him, then, realising Ava was there, he turned towards her. “Sorry for my language.” She giggled.

“That is quite alright, it’s far from the worst I have heard from you,” she told him.

“It’s nothing, it just got under my skin. Forget it,” Jax said.

“Spit it out,” Zane told him. He wanted to make sure nothing was seriously wrong, but he was also curious about what had got into his friend.

“When we talked with Jamerson, he showed he was interested in Jennie. I get it. She is attractive. That’s one of the reasons that I asked her to come with me.” Jax sighed.

“And?”