64

“For taking care of James.” She was too smart for her own good sometimes, Zane thought. He adjusted himself so he was lying on his back and could look up at her.

“You don’t have to thank me for that. I know you didn’t approve,” he told her. Ava kept running one of her hands through his hair, the other she placed on his chest.

“Would I have done the same thing? Probably not, but it might have to do with me not knowing how,” she said, looking down at him. “But I am grateful you took care of it, and I don’t mind your methods. Besides, when someone does something nice for you, you are supposed to say thank you. You did something nice for me.” Zane had to smile. She had always been polite, even the first evening when she must have been scared to death.

“I’m happy you aren’t too upset with me,” he told her, raising his hand and running his fingertips over her cheek. She gave him a smile.

“Not at all. I know you take protecting women seriously and I always feel safe with you,” she told him.

Zane had a hard time believing Ava felt safe with him. From his point of view, he was the one who introduced danger into her life. She should be terrified around him, even if she wasn’t afraid of him as a person.

“It’s because of my mother,” Zane told her. He froze, he hadn’t meant to say it. He didn’t talk about his mother, not even with Jax. This was the second time he had mentioned her to Ava.

“Because of how she died?” Ava asked. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t poke at old wounds,” she then said.

“It’s okay, angel,” he told her. He picked up her hand which was laying on his chest and kissed it. He found himself wanting to talk to her about his mother. “She was so different from everyone else in my life when I grew up. My mother was sweet and kind, and she would almost always laugh. She always had time for me and Jax when we were grooving up, and she would take us on picnics in the garden and treasure hunts,” he told Ava. Then he needed to pause as he was flooded by memories of his mother.

“You loved her,” Ava said and intertwined their fingers.

“Everyone did. My father more than anyone. I have always had a distant relationship with my father. I felt like he saw me as a byproduct of my parents’ love, a convenient heir to all of this. But to him, my mother always came first, then the family and last me. My mother always tried to get him to do things with me which weren’t related to the business. But it never worked out.” Zane sent a thought to his father. He was retired, living on a private island somewhere, drinking himself into a stupor, and fucking everything he could get his hands on. “When I was fourteen, my father was in a war with a rivalling family. We had been in a stalemate for months, they won some battles, we won others. Then they realised the best way to break my father was through my mother. They took her when she was shopping. My father had put too much faith on his reputation. He thought no one would dare touch her as she belonged to him.”

“I’m sorry, Zane. That must have been frightening for you,” Ava said. It had been, Zane thought. He had been old enough to understand what was happening, but too young to do something about it.

“They underestimated my father, he didn’t break. My father turned the city upside down trying to find her. In the evening, there was a package delivered to one of our businesses. It contained a video which showed what they had done to her. The first day, they were satisfied with beating her. Each day we didn’t find her brought a new package to a new one of our businesses. There was never a demand for ransom or for a trade, only a video showing what they did to her. After the first day, they started using tools and then knives, and then they raped her.” Zane stopped and let the rage settle down. He still felt it all these years later. “For a week they kept coming. For a week I watched my father get a little more desperate in his search. On the eighth day, the package was delivered alongside her body. She had managed to slit her wrists when she couldn’t take it any longer,” he finished. When Ava didn’t move or say anything, he looked at her. She was looking down at him, her eyes filled with sorrow and compassion, with tears running down her cheeks. Their eyes met and Zane couldn’t look away, even though he knew he was showing parts of himself he never wanted anyone to see. She bent down and kissed him. He could taste the salt from her tears. It was a soft kiss, none of the usual fire or passion, but filled with emotions Zane had a hard time grasping. He just knew as Ava’s hair fell all around him and closed the two of them off from the world, he felt closer to her than he had ever felt to another living being.

“I’m so sorry, Zane,” Ava said when they finally broke apart.

“Thank you,” he told her and used his thumb to wipe away her tears.

“So, your father put the rules in place to protect other women from the same faith,” she concluded, and continued to run her fingers through his hair. Zane let out a chuckle which was cold and empty of humour.

“No. My mother’s death broke my father in some ways. The love and tenderness he held for her turned into hate and cruelty. He took on the war with new vigour and he didn’t hold back. When he couldn’t get to the head of the family, he tortured and killed anyone he could find who they had ever talked to. There was madness in his ways. Even our own men were afraid of him. When the other family thought he would break and crumble, he broke and emerged a demon. Two weeks after my mother’s death, my father had the head of the warring family, his closest men and his family in his hands. Their men offered them up as a way to protect themselves and their families. My father took me with him to the warehouse they were kept in. He said it was family business. We killed them all, just him and me.”

“He made you kill? You were only a child!” Ava exclaimed.

“I was old enough, and part of me felt it was the right thing to do. After that, my father owned the city. He ruled it and the family with no mercy and taught me to do the same. When he retired a couple of years ago, I took over and instated the rules about not harming women and children. I don’t know why, maybe as a last tribute to my mother, maybe because I had seen what madness could grow from it. It seems foolish to evoke a wrath like that in an enemy,” he said.

“Or maybe because you’re a good man,” she told him as he brushed away some stray tears from her cheek.

“Ava,” he said with a warning in his voice.

“Zane, I know you do bad things, and I know what you do for a living. But no one is only one thing. I have told you this before and I’m going to tell you again. There is good in you, just like there is bad in me.” Zane had to smile at her.

“Angel, there is nothing bad in you.”

“Of course there is. Do you think I would be okay with what you did tonight if I was all good and pure? Do you think I would enjoy the things we do if I didn’t have a streak of bad in me?” she asked. She had a smile on her face which told Zane she enjoyed the idea of being a little bad.

“You might be right, angel,” he told her and pulled her down so he could kiss her. He rolled over on his back to the side of Ava, not letting go of her. It made her fall down on top of him and she settled down with her elbows on each side of his head, holding her upper body up, while her knees were on each side of him. Zane enjoyed the skin to skin contact and started moving his hands over Ava’s skin. They traced slow patterns as they kept kissing. It was soft and comfortable. Zane had memorised every inch of his angel. Even so, every time he let his hand trace her curves, he felt like it was the first time. He was overtaken by the wonder and pleasure it brought him. Zane put his hands on Ava’s naked ass and pressed her down closer. A soft moan escaped from Ava into his mouth, and she understood the command and started moving against him on her own. Zane’s body reacted to her, and he enjoyed the slow and tender way they moved together. He had told her their first night together he didn’t do gentle sex. But this was something he had never experienced. He had no need to take control or to up the pace. As Ava moved on top of him, he could feel her wetness and he took a hold of her hips and lifted her so his cock head could find its way between her wet folds. He felt Ava reach down to hold him in position at her entrance and he lowered her down, slowly penetrating her as she kissed him. Ava continued to move on top of him, riding his cock at the same pace as before. Zane let go of her hips and continued to trace patterns on every available surface of her body he could reach. They made love for what seemed like an hour before Zane noticed Ava picking up speed and her noises had become more desperate.

“Zane,” she panted as she tilted her head so her forehead rested on his shoulder.

“I’m right here with you, Ava. Just let go,” he told her and wrapped his arms around her to let her feel his presence. She kissed him again and as she locked eyes with him, he could feel her pussy contracting around his cock and she held her breath. Zane felt himself following her into the climax and together they reached the peak and then came down. Ava sighed and made herself comfortable, halfway on top of him, halfway down on the bed. Zane didn’t mind, he enjoyed having her close.

“Go back to sleep now, angel. You have a couple of hours before you need to see Gabriel,” he told her, and kissed her forehead.

“Okay, Zane,” she said, already half asleep.