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“What have you done, pet?” Johnson asked. Ava looked down at her hand and the glass she was still holding. Johnson started walking and as he still held Ava by her hair, she was yanked along. They walked to where Jacob was shouting. “Shut the fuck up. What happened?” Johnson asked.

“The fucking little whore smashed my head with a glass,” Jacob screamed. Johnson looked down at Ava, then at his son.

“If I would have known that all it took for you to show some fucking balls was to let a whore smash you in the head, I would have arranged it years ago,” Johnson said with a dark chuckle. “I find myself almost impressed. But just almost. She is yours to punish as you please. It’s your reward for finally showing what I have been waiting for since I found you,” he continued, pushing Ava straight into his son’s chest. Jacob grabbed her by the arm and started dragging her upstairs. Ava knew this was it. She had almost used up all her energy on trying to get away. She wouldn’t get a second chance. They were almost at the top of the stairs when there was a sound that caught Ava’s attention. Jacob didn’t seem to hear it, but at the foot of the stairs, Ava could see Johnson looking towards the back. The sound appeared again, and this time, Ava knew what it was. It was a muffled gunshot. Someone was using a gun at the back of the property. Ava’s heart swelled a little. Could it be? She forgot she was supposed to move forward, so focused on the sound. Ava tripped as Jacob tried to make her move. She landed hard on her knees, and Ava winced. But the pain wasn’t the focus for her. She was still listening for new sounds, and they came. Faster and faster the popping came. Jacob had stopped trying to get her to stand up. He was listening as well.

“Intruders, get the guest to the front and get more men in here,” Johnson suddenly shouted. Then there was chaos. Guest tried to get away from the back of the downstairs floor, men were trying to move through the crowd to reinforce the back. Then the front door slammed opened and Jax stood there, looking like a boy caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

“Hello, me and my friends need to intrude. Would you step aside?” he asked the woman who had opened the door. Then he raised his gun and, without changing his facial expression, he shot one of Johnson’s men who tried to sprint from the door. Ava felt tears of relief run down her cheeks. If Jax was here…, she thought. She didn’t have time to finish the thought as the door to the kitchen was kicked open with such force it almost flew off its hinges. There stood Zane, looking like an ancient god of war and death. His black hair slicked back with strands hanging down, his usual suit exchanged for black tactical gear, he looked like all of Ava’s dreams wrapped into a neat package with the face that held a promise of death. Ava couldn’t help but to be turned on by what she saw. As he stepped into the room, his eyes darted around, assessing, trying to find something. Ryder and Tom stepped in behind him, followed by a steady stream of men. All dressed the same. They flipped tables and couches to crunch behind as Johnson’s men opened fire.

“Fuck,” Jacob swore and started to walk away from the fighting. He still had a firm grip on Ava’s arm. She had been so occupied with what was going on downstairs she didn’t react in time. Ava couldn’t get to her feet and was instead being dragged. She let out an involuntary sob, and she saw Zane’s eyes find her. A look of pure relief was in them for a second. It was replaced by anger and bloodlust as he instead focused on Jacob, who was dragging her backwards. Ava got new energy. She no longer needed to escape and get to safety. All she needed to do was to make sure Zane could get to her. She could do that, she thought.

“Stop, just one second. I need to take my shoes off so I can run,” she pleaded with Jacob. Jacob looked down at her.

“You want to come with me?” he asked.

“Did you see what was happening back there? If you are going the opposite direction, I am with you,” she told him. Jacob nodded. He wasn’t a brave man. Ava had known it since they talked in the small room in the basement. He could relate to her words. They made sense to him. He stopped and let her take off her shoes, without letting go of the grip he had on her arm. When Ava took the second shoe off, she left it in her hand as she stood. She waited for a moment when Jacob didn’t focus on her and then she swung the shoe, heel first, into his thigh. The force of the swing all centred into the tiny heel and it made its way through his pants and skin, into his muscles. For the second time that day, Ava had made Jacob bleed. She didn’t waste any time feeling bad about it. As he clutched his leg with both hands, she ran back the way they had come, towards the stairs. She took a minute to pause and look down. She didn’t want to walk into an active gunfight. Zane and his men had entered through the back and were pressing Johnson’s men towards the front. Jax and his men had come in from the front and pressed Johnson’s men back. It had resulted in Johnson’s men going to the left, away from the stairs. Except for a small group of his men who had barricaded themselves at the bottom of the stairs. Zane was leaving the primary force of Johnson’s men to Jax. Zane was working on killing the ones blocking the stairs. Ava hunkered down by the railing on top of the stairs and watched as Zane and his men with cold precision picked off one after another of the men below her. She kept looking behind her, expecting Johnson or Jacob to appear. When she saw the last man blocking the stairs going down, she ran down them. She didn’t think about cross fire or the danger of running towards a gunfight. She only knew she needed to get to Zane. If she got to him, she didn’t need to worry about anything. He would make sure she was safe. Ava saw Zane coming up the stairs to meet her, worry clear on his face. Then the worry became something else. Anger? That’s when she felt someone take a grip in her hair and pull her back into their chest. Why did they keep pulling her hair?

“You think you can get away?” Jacob hissed in her ear.

“Just let me go, Jacob. You don’t want to be here. Zane will kill you,” Ava told him.

“She isn’t fucking kidding. Let. Go. Of. Her,” Zane said in a low, deadly voice. The sound of it filled Ava with such relief that she couldn’t hold back a tear which ran down her face.

“She isn’t yours anymore. Get the fuck out before my dad kills you,” Jacob told him. Zane smiled a cold smile.

“Not if I kill you first,” he said, and Ava felt time stop moving as Zane fired. She felt Jacob stumble and then tumble to the ground behind her. Ava was moving forward, free from the hand who was pulling her back. She saw Zane’s focus go back to her. He moved towards her, his arms ready to catch her. Ava looked forward to feeling them around her again. She could relax and rest when she would be engulfed by him. If it was a motion or an instinct that made Ava look over Zane’s right shoulder, she didn’t know. But she saw Johnson rounding the banister at the bottom of the stairs, gun drawn. Ava saw Jax a little further back, realising what was about to happen, but unable to stop it in time. In a blink of an eye, Ava changed her direction and instead of sliding into Zane’s outstretched arms, she passed him by, taking him by surprise. She heard the gun go off. She heard Zane’s gasp and saw Jax’s eyes locked on her. It didn’t feel as bad as she thought it would. The impact had jolted her body a little, but not like you saw in movies or on TV. The only sensation she felt was an icy feeling on the right side of her waist. Ava put her hand there and felt something wet. That made sense. You bled when you got shot, she thought. As a reflex, she put pressure on her side, that is when the pain hit. Wave after wave of intense pain. Her legs gave out, and she felt the stairs rushing towards her. Or was she rushing towards it? But there was no impact. Instead, she was wrapped in the most perfect embrace as she was picked up by Zane.

“Ava?” His voice seemed frail and full of worry. She smiled up at him.

“You came.”