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“And she just jumped straight into it. Started buttering him up and flirting like there was no tomorrow,” Jax said, sounding bitter.

“Are you interested in her?” Zane asked.

“Fuck no. Not as more than a onetime fuck. Sorry Ava,” Jax added.

“Don’t mind me,” she said.

“So you’re not interested in her. She used the mark’s attraction to her advantage to get you what you wanted. I don’t see the issue,” Zane told his friend.

“There is no issue.” Both Zane and Jax turned to Ava when they heard her giggle.

“What? Care to share what’s so funny, angel?” Zane asked.

“He is grumpy because Jennie isn’t falling over herself to get his attention. Another man noticed her and she rolled with it instead of focusing on Jax and he doesn’t like to be treated like he treats women,” Ava said, still giggling.

“I am not interested in her,” Jax objected.

“I know you aren’t. That’s what makes it so much fun. You are just so used to women thinking you are god’s gift to them. Then when Jennie didn’t act like that, your fragile ego got bruised and your mood plummeted.” Ava was still giggling and having fun. Zane looked at his friend and had to chuckle. It made sense. Neither of them were used to women rejecting them and Zane could see how the situation could have bruised his friend’s ego. Jax just sighed and didn’t object.

“Just get over it, Jax. You have one mark left and Ava and I have two. We need to be on our A game,” Zane reminded him.

“I know, I know,” Jax said. Zane looked at his friend. He sounded like a sulking five-year-old. When the fuck had this happened? Ava was still smiling and looked like she had the time of her life.

“It will be okay, Jax. Your ego will recover. But next time you are out with a woman, it won’t hurt you to think back on this a learn something from it,” Ava told him and patted him on the back comfortingly.

“I’ll just get this over with,” Jax said, walking away.

“What the fuck?” Zane said as he watched his friend walk away. Ava just smiled and looked at Zane. “Okay, angel. Ready to do this?” he asked her, trying to forget the entire conversation with Jax.

“Ready,” she said, handing him back his jacket. When they walked back inside, Zane kept his eyes open for Mr Cleaso. At the same time, he found himself enjoying being at this thing with Ava. He always enjoyed showing her off, watching other men coveting what was his, as long as they understood she was his and they would never lay a finger on her. Ava turned out to be a master at small talk.

“How on earth are you so good at this?” he whispered to her as they left one group of people to move around the room.

“Like seventy percent of my job is to make small talk to people, either to make them relax or to get information from them or distract them,” she told him.

“You keep finding ways to surprise me.” Ava smiled at him, and he was dazzled once again by her genuine smile.

“I don’t want you to get bored with me,” she said. That will never happen, he thought to himself. But he didn’t tell her, instead he placed a light kiss on her lips. “I think I have found Mr Cleaso,” Ava then said, looking over Zane’s shoulder. Zane forced himself to relax and feigned to dust something off his jacket as he looked back. He swore silently. It was Mr Cleaso, and he stood talking with the fucking Dr James and a woman. Zane felt Ava’s hand on his arm and he turned towards her.

“Let me go over there. I can talk to them and convince Mr. Cleaso to come back and talk to you,” she said. Zane shook his head.

“I’m not letting you walk over there on your own.”

“Trust me, Zane. I can do it. If you go over there, you and James will just but heads and Mr. Cleaso won’t be inclined to work with you after seeing something like that,” she told him. Zane knew that she was right, the best thing to do was to send her over there. But he just couldn’t.

“Don’t you trust me?” she asked. Zane felt a tug from his heart.

“Angel, I trust you with my life. But I don’t trust that fucking doctor, and I’m not letting you get in the middle of something if I’m not there to protect you.”

“But you will be here. You can stay close by without being too close. And Ryder is here. What do you think is going to happen in a room full of the city’s elite?”

“I don’t know, but things can always happen,” he insisted.

“If they do, you will be right there to fix them,” Ava said.

“Fuck, when did you become so stubborn?” he asked.

“See it as something positive. I’m relaxed around you, so I’m showing you my true colours,” she told him and gave him a smile. Zane couldn’t help himself. He drew her in for a kiss. When he let her go, he looked at her and swore.

“You will not go anywhere with them. You will stay where I can see you at all times. No kissing, or touching, or anything like that. If you feel unsafe or uncomfortable, you just look at me and I will be there,” he told her. He must be insane, Zane thought, letting her do this all by herself.

“I promise,” Ava told him in a serious voice, letting him know she took this seriously. Zane drew her in for a hot, passionate kiss. Something they probably would frown upon on these types of events, but he didn’t give a fuck. He needed Ava to walk over there with a wobble in her knees from how he affected her body. “You are mine,” he told her before giving her a small nudge to walk towards her targets. She looked like she had lost focus for a second. Then she smiled and drew back her shoulders and swayed her hips as she walked over to the doctor, the unknown woman, and Mr. Cleaso. She would be the death of him, Zane thought. He saw the look the doctor gave Ava as she joined them, and Zane got the urge to punch him in the face again. The woman looked as she was evaluating Ava. They talked, and the woman walked off. Mr Cleaso eyed Ava up. Zane hated the way the man almost drooled as he looked at her. If Zane had been by her side, he would have enjoyed it. But she was unprotected, away from him, leaving him without a means to stake his claim over her. Ava must have noticed Mr Cleaso looking as well. Zane could clearly see the change in her as her body stiffened, and she subtly shifted her stand to put a little more space between herself and both men.