95

Ava was sitting in a chair next to Zane as he worked in his home office. It was familiar to her, like being thrown back to the time they had met. To keep busy, she had started crocheting a baby blanket. After a while she felt Zane’s eyes on her, she looked up and smiled at him. 

“You shouldn’t be sitting on that chair,” he told her. 

“What’s wrong with this chair? I love sitting on it when you work,” Ava said. 

“It’s not soft enough,” he grumbled. Ava laughed and placed her hand on his cheek. Her husband was a real softie. 

“You can’t wrap me in bubble wrap just because I’m pregnant. I’m healthy and strong and the baby is half you so you know it has steal in it’s DNA,” she told him. Zane chuckled and shook his head. 

“If she is half as stubborn as her mother, we are all in big trouble, he said.

“She?” Ava asked. He shrugged.

“It feels right calling her a she,” he said as he texted someone. A moment later, there was a knock on the door and one of the maids walked in with a pillow and a blanket. She handed them to Ava with a smile.

“Thank you, Lisa,” Ava said. “What am I doing with this?” She asked when the maid had left. 

“You will sit on the pillow and you will wrap the blanket around you,” Zane explained as he took them from her and signed for her to stand. She did as he wanted and he placed the pillow under her and when she sat down, he tucked the blanket snuggly around her legs and stomach. 

“I admit the pillow was a nice addition, but the blanket is too much. I feel like I’m slowly being steamed,” Ava told her husband. He grumbled a little, but pulled the blanket down a little. Before he could lean back into his chair again, Ava put her hand on his cheek and kissed him. “Thank you.” She didn’t want him to think she wasn’t grateful. Hu just nodded and got back to work. An hour later, there was a knock on the door and Jax walked in.

“Hi, Ava. Looking snug,” he said with a smile. But the smile didn’t go all the way to his eyes. Ava felt something was off. 

“What is wrong?” Zane asked, putting words to her thoughts.

“Someone has been looking into or business, boss,” Jax said, now looking serious. 

“Who the fuck would be stupid enough to do something like that? The feds?” Zane asked.

“I don’t know. I don’t think it’s the feds or the FDA. It feels like another organisation,” Jax said, plopping down into a chair with a frown.

“What do we know?” 

“Not much. There was a report from South Africa where our top guy over there reports rumours that someone is paying a good sum of money for information about our business. Then there was a report from Japan that there was an attempt to hack their server. It wasn’t successful, but it was a close call. A report from Italy says men have reported getting offers to leak information and then going missing. Each one is not something I would worry about, it’s the usual stuff. But together they form a pattern,” Jax said. Zane swore and nodded. 

“Someone is trying to find a weak spot and who ever this fucker is has resources,” he said. It was Jax’s turn to nod. Ava was just listening while she continued crocheting. “I want a solid lead on this. Back trace the hack or get your hands on one of the men who is offering money for information. I don’t give a shit. I want a physical person in my hands that I can ask questions to,” Zane continued. Jax glanced at Ava.

“I’ll make it happen,” Jax said.

“Thanks. Let me know when you succeed or if you hear anything new.” 

“Will do. I’ll see you at dinner, Ava,” Jax said as he left the office. Lina and Ava had decided the four of them should eat dinner together as often as possible. It was nice to have a family meal. It would also give Ava a chance to get Linda’s help to ease some of Zane’s more erratic ideas of keeping her and the baby safe. Zane looked over at her. 

“Don’t” she said.

“What?” he grumbled.

“You are going to tell me that as long as this new thing is going on, I’m to stay inside the mansion,” she told him.

“Damed fucking right you are,” he said.

“Two weeks, Zane. I have given you two weeks of unlimited pampering and overprotectiveness. Then I’m going back to work until the baby comes,” she said. She was no longer afraid of standing up to him. She had learned he needed help to set healthy boundaries and if she didn’t speak up, he would do as he pleased. 

“It’s not safe,” he objected.

“Then you have two weeks to make it safe or to find a compromise,” she insisted. He starred at her.

“I should put you over my knee and spank you until you come to your senses,” he told her. His voice had become darker and Ava saw the heat in his eyes and her body responded like one of Pavlov’s dogs. 

“I wouldn’t mind. I have been speaking back to you. But if you think a spanking will change my mind, think a gain,” she told him. They looked at each other. The air felt heavy and full of electricity. Zane finally reached for her and a at the same time there was a knock on the door. 

“Not now,” Zane yelled. 

“Sorry, boss. But, um, I think it’s important,” came Ryder’s voice from the other side of the door. 

“Fuck, fine. Come in,” Zane told him, closing his eyes for a moment to compose himself. Ava hated Ryder for a moment. But took up her blanket and continued working on it. 

“Sorry, boss. I just got word from the team you have placed in the Caribbean and your father hasn’t been seen in a couple of weeks,” Ryder said. 

“What? Why am I only hearing about this now?” Zane demanded.

“Seams like your father has binges sometimes where he drinks and fu…” Ryder looked at Ava. “And has company over, and then he won’t be seen for a couple of days.” Ava wanted to giggle at Ryder’s effort to keep the conversation clean. 

“Fuck, that old goat is up to something,” Zane said. “I want two teams trying to locate him. I want twice daily reports on their progress,” he then said. 

“Yes, boss. I’ll get it done.” Ryder left the office in a rush and Ava reached her hand out to take Zane’s. She knew his father was a sore subject.

“Do you think it has something to do with what Jax told us?” she asked. 

“I don’t know. Maybe. My father is unpredictable, but I don’t think he would sell us out. Someone may have taken him to try to get information out of him. Then we need to get him back. Or he could be the one behind it, eighter as a way to get back control for some fucking reason or as a test. I never know what they fuck he is thinking,” Zane said. Ava got up and sat down in his lap. 

“We will figure it out,” she told him and ran her finger through his hair. He grunted as a reply and placed a hand on her belly. 

“What if I become like him?” he asked. 

“You won’t.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I know you. I know you want to be a good dad and I know you know what a not so good dad looks like. So you will do your best to not be like that and thus, you will be a good dad,” she said. She felt the smile on Zane’s lips as he kissed her temple. 

“That actually made sense,” he told her. 

“I know it did. Neither of us had perfect childhoods. We both have seen and felt the effects of bad guardians. But we both have also had the experience of good parents. And I believe that we both will choose to model ourselves after them.” 

“Promise me to be there to remind me when I need to be reminded of it,” he said. 

“Always and forever.”