Chapter 34

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Zane and Jax had finished the talk they had had with Dave and Tobias. The talk had been rough and not all that had participated would be leaving the room alive. Zane felt a little better afterwards. He needed to go check on Ava and her friend. Just to make sure she had a good time, before he headed to his office. As they walked into the club, his eyes were drawn to the dancefloor. He was surprised that not everyone in the club was staring at the spot where Ava and her friend were dancing. They looked ethereal as they moved together to the beat of the music. Two angels in a swirl of movement. A surge of jealousy took hold of Zane. He felt a need to yank his angel away from the man dancing with her. But he got a grip of his emotions and focused on the serene look on Ava’s face. She was enjoying herself and even though she and her friend moved provocatively to the music, they never touched except for fleeting moments. The more he looked, the more he could see the absence of attraction between the two of them. They just synced together. Zane forced himself to look away and swept his eyes over the crowd. He noted several men and women drooling over the pair on the dancefloor. Zane smirked. They could look all they wanted. She was going to end up in his bed before the night was over and it would be his name on her lips as she writhed underneath him. Zane saw Ryder and Tom keeping an eye on his angel and her friend. But he also saw the crowd on the dancefloor moved in a way which made it difficult for Tom and Ryder to stay close to them.

“I’ll be right back,” Zane told Jax.

“Huh?” His friend had been just as enchanted by the show on the dance floor as the rest of the onlookers. Zane smirked and nodded towards Ava. “Oh, yeah, check up on her,” Jax said. Zane started walking towards her, never letting her out of his sight. That’s how he saw her freeze and look down as she swiped out with her hand. Zane knew exactly what had happened. Someone had touched his angel and now he needed to kill that someone. Both Ava and Gabriel had stopped dancing, and Zane saw Gabriel place himself between Ava and the man who clearly had touched her. He liked this friend of hers more and more. Zane knew he had a murderous look about him. It was easy to understand as the people melted away in front of him, he didn’t even have to slow his pace as he reached the dancefloor. He saw Tom take a hold of the offending man’s arm and yank him back as Ryder stood between him and Gabriel. It eased the knot in Zane’s stomach a little, knowing his men were with her. As he reached the group, he walked right past Ava, Gabriel, and Ryder and punched the man in the face, then in the gut.

To You

“You do not touch her,” he growled. The man tried to suck in oxygen into his lungs and look up to see who had punched him. The anger in his eyes died as he made eye contact with Zane.

“I–I’m sorry,” he stuttered.

“Zane,” he heard Ava call him, and he turned around and walked up to her.

“Are you okay, angel?” he asked.

“I’m fine. But you are hurt,” she said. Zane looked down and realised his knuckles had impacted the man’s cheekbone and it had caused his skin to tear.

“It’s nothing,” he said.

“Zane, you could have injuries to the bones in your hand. Let me look at it.”

“It’s no big deal,” he told her, keeping his hand away from her. He didn’t want her hands to be soiled with his blood.

“Zane,” Ava had a bite to her voice Zane had never heard before.

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“Mr. Velky, I understand you are used to doing the ordering, but when Ava goes into nurse mode, the best thing to do

is just to humour her,” Gabriel advised. Zane looked at him and then back at Ava. She had a stern look on her face which was also new to him. This was clearly a side of her he had missed.

“Fine,” he conceded. “Tom, get a first aid kit and bring it to the VIP–room.”

“Yes, boss.”

“And some water, ice and a clean towel.”

“Yes, Miss A,” Tom said. As Tom got the supplies, Zane guided Ava back to the VIP–room, making sure his bleeding hand stayed far away from her and her dress. Ryder was walking behind them with Gabriel.

“I’m sorry your night was ruined once again,” Bain said to Ava quietly.

“It’s not ruined, Zane. I will just have a look at your hand, and then Gabriel and I will continue gossiping and drinking champagne, and you will continue with your business. Unless your hand is broken, because then the boys will take you to the hospital,” she told him with a smile.

“No hospital,” Zane said.

“Don’t be a macho man. Broken bones need to be set.”

“We have our own doctor if we n

if we need it,” he said.

“Of course you do.” Ava giggled, and Zane looked down at her. She didn’t seem in shock, and she was handling the whole thing surprisingly good. At the foot of the stairs, Jax stood waiting for them.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Fine, I hit the bone,” Zane told him.

“I’ll just check him over. Why don’t you join us?” Ava said.

“I would be happy to. It looks like a fun party,” Jax said, heading up the stairs with a smile. Zane shook his head. Sometimes even he was fooled by his friend’s easy–going attitude. When they walked into the VIP–room, Ava sat down. on the couch.

“Take off your jacket, Zane. Do you need help?” she asked.

“I can take my jacket off, “he said. She just shook her head. Zane took off his jacket and ignored the pain in his hand. He had had worse injuries before. Zane would just have run some cold water over the cuts. But if Ava wanted to make sure he was okay, he wouldn’t object. Not if it put her mind at ease. He had half an hour to spare her. So, he sat down on the couch next to her. Gabriel sat down on her other side and poured two glasses of champagne and gave her one.

“I don’t think we have met. I’m Jax, business partner to Zane.” Jax introduced himself to Gabriel.

“Gabriel, Ava’s best friend,” Gabriel said, shaking Jax’s hand. Zane sighed in his head. Jax never could stay away from a pretty face. Ryder was watching the two men chit chat and did a good impression of a storm cloud. Just as Zane was going to intervene before things got more complicated, Ava took his hand and was about to put it in her lap. Zane

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yanked it away.

“Did I hurt you?” she asked, sounding worried.

No, I just don’t want you to get blood on you.”

“Zane, I worked in the A.R, I’m a nurse. I’m not afraid of some blood,” she told him. 2

“You will ruin your dress,” he pointed out.

“I can have it dry cleaned, well technically, you can have it dry cleaned, and it’s black, it won’t show. I don’t think Gabriel and me will do any more dancing for tonight, anyway. We will just have fun up here.” She smiled at him. Fuck this, Zane thought. She had a stubborn streak in her which he found both irritating and fascinating. He took his jacket and placed it on her knees, and then put his hand on top of it.

“Zane, your jacket is blue. The stain will show,” she complained. He shrugged.

“I’ll just dry clean it,” he said. Jax laughed, and Gabriel smiled. Tom walked in, carrying a first aid kit, a towel and a bucket with ice, with some water bottles stuck into it.

“Thank you, Tom,” Ava said as she took the first aid kit.

“You’re welcome, Miss A,” he said and put the bucket on the table.

“This will sting a little,” Ava told Zane as she took one of the water bottles. He just snorted.

“Here,” Gabriel said, taking the champagne bottle out of its ice bucket and handing the bucket to Ava.

“Great, thanks.” She held Zane’s hand over the bucket and poured water over it. Zane ignored the sensation. He instead focused on Ava’s gentle fingers as she held his hand and dabbed it dry with the towel. She unbuttoned his cuff, that had been stained pink at the edge, and her fingers tapped over his skin, examining the bones underneath it. “Can you flex your wrist?” she asked.

“I’m fine, angel,” he told her. She shot him a disapproving look. Zane flexed his wrist. Her fingers moved over his hand, becoming gentler as she got closer to the wounds. She checked each finger

“Can you wiggle them?” Zane wiggled his fingers and then closed his fist to show her he was fine. That opened the “wounds which had almost stopped bleeding,

“Zane,” she sighed as she put the towel on his hand and applied some pressure.

“Sorry,” he said, feeling a little foolish, it didn’t help seeing Jax’s grin.

“You should have the wounds glued at the hospital, but I know you won’t, so I’ll just put some bandage on it and give you some ice to put on to keep it from swelling,” she told him.

“Thank you.” Zane was moved by her caring. She started bandaging up using supplies from the first aid kit. In the meantime, Ryder had taken out his handkerchief and was filling it with ice. As Ava tied off the bandage, he handed the filled cloth to her.

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“Thank you, Ryder,” she said, gently placing it on Zane’s hand. “Keep it there and exchange it with fresh ice when needed. Leave it on for at least twenty minutes,” she told Zane.

‘Sure, thank you Ava,” he said. Picking up her hand with his uninjured one and placing a kiss on it.

“My pleasure. Now do whatever you and Jax do, so Gabriel and I can continue our gossiping.”

“With pleasure, have fun and call me if you need anything,” he told her as he stood up. Jax came with him as he ‘walked out of the room and Ryder and Tom took up post on the outside of the room to give the two friends some

privacy.

Chapter Comments

Martha Hurley

I worked in the E.R.,

Morgan

who’s Bain again?

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