Angel’s bliss by Dripping Creativity

14 

Bonus 

03:39 

The grip at the base of Ava’s neck wasn’t painful. In a way, it was comforting, and to her own horror, Ava found herself liking it. She knew Zane was claiming her as his. She would rather be his than being left exposed to the two men across the table who were both drooling over her. She still wasn’t entirely comfortable in her dress; it drew far too much attention to her. But at least Zane seemed satisfied with it. And it had the desired effect on the two men. They were definitely distracted as they started talking business. Ava listened to the conversation while sipping her cocktail. It tasted okay, better than most of the ones she had tried before. She had a hard time keeping up with the discussion around the table. They seemed to use codewords. She guessed that would be wise since they were in public discussing what Ava presumed to be illegal things. 

. 

After listening for a while, Ava understood the jest of what they were saying. The two men were trying to sell something, drugs, Ava thought. Zane seemed to not be interested. But Ava knew that could just as well be a negotiation tactic. The conversation left her with an uneasy feeling. At first, she took for granted that it was the fact that she was sitting in the middle of a drug deal. But the longer the conversation went on, the more she realised that wasn’t it. It was a nagging feeling, like she had forgotten the stove on at home. When she finally remembered it, Ava wanted to tell Zane about it, which surprised her. Why would she feel loyal to the man to who she was nothing more than a sex slave to? And even if she wanted to, she couldn’t just interrupt the conversation. Zane seemed to know she had something to say. He took a firm hold on her neck and pretended to kiss it. His breath against her skin made a light shiver run through her for the third time this evening. 

“Tell me,” he demanded when his face and mouth were hidden from the other men. She had been so caught up in the feeling that she almost missed it. Trying to concentrate on why she wanted to talk to him, she mirrored him and snuggled into his neck. She saw an almost invisible shiver at the base of his neck. Was it her doing? She wondered. 

“There has been an unusually high amount of heroin overdoses in the E.R lately because of the drug being laced with fentanyl,” she whispered back. She felt Zane stiffen for a split second. He relaxed so quickly that she almost thought she had imagined it. 

“How did you know we were talking about heroin?” he asked. All amusement was gone from his voice. He had snapped 

into business mode. 

“I didn’t know, but it made sense for it to be some kind of drug. I just thought you should know in case they try to sell you a dangerous product,” she told him. Zane drew back from her and looked at her in disbelief. He then gave her one of his wicked smiles and kissed her before turning to the men opposite him. 

“I would apologise, but from the look on your faces, you wished you could do the same,” he smirked. “I think we have come to an agreement I can live with,” he said. 

“We will make arrangements for the delivery.” Victor nodded. 

“Good. Oh, and we will test the product before we pay,” Zane added. Even Ava could see the two men tense up at those words. They weren’t as good at making deals as Zane and Jax were she thought. The men in the leather jackets were giving away far too much information with their body language. 

1/3 

14 

“Test?” Victor asked. 

BBant 

003:2 

“Yes, we need to make sure you are selling quality products. We can’t have our customers dying on us. Bad for business,” Jax said, as if it had been the plan all along. 

“You have my word that it’s a top quality product,” Ben tried to say. 

“And I appreciate that, Ben. But your word won’t buy new dresses for my angel,” Zane said coldly, lifting a strand of Ava’s hair to his lips. 

“Mr Velky,” Victor started. 

“No, Victor. We will do the test before we pay. That is final,” Zane told him. Ava focused on the cocktail in her hand as the tension around the table got more noticeable. She glanced over at the two men sitting on the opposite side. They looked angry at being disrespected. But there was also fear in their eyes. The fear was keeping their anger in check. Ava realised they were afraid of Zane. That these two, obviously strong and dangerous men, feared Zane, should have made Ava fear him as well. Instead, it made her feel safe. Ava was confused by that, but decided this wasn’t the time for soul searching. She put it to the side for now. 

“Mr Johnson asked me to inquire if you had come to a decision regarding the two blocks downtown?” Victor asked. Ava didn’t know the hidden flow of the conversation, but she guessed that by moving to another topic, Victor had agreed to Zane’s demands. 

“Your boss still hasn’t told me what type of business he wants to set up,” Zane told them. His voice had gone back to being relaxed, almost uninterested. His hand was again on Ava’s naked shoulder. She didn’t even notice when he had placed it there. Ava tried hard to deny she liked it, that it had only taken an hour for her to get used to him touching her. She had always seen herself as shy and withdrawn. Gabriel was her only real friend, and that was only because he had refused to let her ignore him in the beginning. Ava wasn’t comfortable letting people into her personal sphere. Not emotionally and definitely not physically. There was a reason why she still was a virgin, she hadn’t been able to trust any of the men she had dated. But Zane had invaded it and she found she didn’t hate it. The men were still discussing the use of a neighbourhood while Ava sipped on her cocktail. She realised the glass was almost empty. Victor and his man wanted Zane to let them set up a business on his territory. Zane and Jax wanted to know what type of business it would be. Victor was deliberately vague. Ava interpreted it as that he had something to hide. Zane and Jax looked at it the same way because they refused to give their permission until Mr Johnson gave them a straightforward answer. “Is there anything else you want to discuss?” Zane asked. 

“No, I think we are satisfied for now,” Victor told him. 

“Then you are excused so we can have our meal in peace,” Zane said, dismissing the other party. Victor and Ben got up from the table. Somewhere in the restaurant, someone dropped a glass which shattered. The loud noise triggered one of the men Victor had brought as protection. 

Before Ava knew it, eight guns had been drawn, pointed at different targets. 

Angel’s bliss