Chapter 39

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“I am.” Zane confirmed. Gabriel looked at Ava. She was just as surprised as he was. Zane found he was enjoying himself. Maybe it would be a bad idea to tie her best friend to his organisation when he had to let her go. But Zane was too much of a pragmatic to miss an opportunity like this.

“Why?” Gabriel finally asked.

“Yesterday you proved you were able to give me a better solution to my problem in five minutes whilst being drunk, than my accountant could give me after having hours to think about it sober. Your talent is waisted working in a hospital, Zane said.

“Right,” Gabriel nodded, trying to take everything in. “How would it work? What would I be doing?”

“We would help you set up your own accounting agency. It’s up to you if you would like to bring on other clients or not. But we will make sure you financially won’t have to, and we would expect to be your priority at all times. You would handle our bookkeeping and everything that includes. Of course you would have to sign an NDA to make sure our trade secrets stay secret.”

“Would I be expected to take part in… other activities?” Gabriel asked, and Zane had to chuckle.

“No, it would be a strictly behind the desk job. But there might be some creativity necessary from time to time. If you like, we could make sure your identity is protected. If you would like to avoid being associated with our organisation,” Zane offered. Gabriel looked as he was seriously thinking about it.

“Can I have a word with you, Gabriel?” Ava asked. Zane looked at her. He knew it would be a risk, that she wouldn’t like him trying to recruit her best friend, but it surprised him she had spoken up.

“Sure,” Gabriel said.

“Jax and I can give the two of you the room,” Zane offered. He wanted to show he didn’t mind her talking to her

friend.

“No need, we can just pop over to my bedroom,” she said, sounding like it wasn’t a big thing. Zane had to remind himself that Gabriel wasn’t interested in Ava like that. But it was painful for him to nod in agreement.

“Thank you, we will be right back,” his angel said with a smile and got up and took Gabriel’s hand and towed him out of Zane’s office.

“Do you think she will try to talk him out of taking our offer?” Jax asked, as the two of them were alone.

“I have stopped trying to figure out what she will do. Every time I think I know, she does the complete opposite,” Zane told his friend with a sigh. Jax laughed and sat down in one of the visitor’s chairs.

“I’m looking forward to see what happens when they get back,” he said.

Ava walked into her bedroom with Gabriel. It felt a little strange to be back. She had only been inside her room to

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collect some clothing since it had been destroyed. She towed Gabriel to the bed and they both sat down on it.

“What’s up?” Gabriel asked.

“I just want to make sure you think this through before you make any decision. I know how good of a salesman Zane can be, and it isn’t helping that Jax is looking all smug,” she said.

“I appreciate that, what do you think I should do?”

“I’m not going to tell you that. It’s your life and your future. But I am going to tell you some things the two charming. men in there won’t tell you. You have seen one side of Zane and of the organisation. But there is another side, one that is darker and not as pleasant. And when Zane says he will do everything he can to keep you out of that side, he will. But things happen, things even he can’t control.”

“Ava, I know they aren’t exactly walking the straight and narrow. I know they are the mafia,” he said, the last word in a whisper.

“I know you know, but there is a difference between knowing and understanding. There are some things I haven’t told you about what happened when I first met Zane. I told you I was brought to the club by two of Zane’s men and they roughed up my aunt and uncle. And that is true, but it’s not all of it.” Ava continued to tell him about what had happened, the threats, the physical violence, all of it. Except for her deal with Zane, that she still kept to herself. She found it was hard to talk about what had happened. She had survived this long on pushing it to the side and not really thinking about it. But talking about it made it come into focus again. Gabriel looked devastated and when she got to the part of them trapping her into the counting room, he had tears in his eyes. He shuffled closer to her and put his

and arm around her, giving both of them comfort. As she finished her story, she wiped the rogue tears that had fallen, Gabriel hugged her tight.

“Ava, if Zane couldn’t stop the second attack on you, are you really safe here?” he asked after letting go so he could look her in the eyes.

“That situation was out of his control. He did his best to keep me safe. I have already made my choice and I’m sticking to it. But when I made my choice, no one explained the bad parts to me. Why would they? Not that Zane was dishonest, he was very honest about who he was and what was expected of me. I just think they are so used to all these other things around them they forget it’s not normal. I want you to realise the full extent of what you get yourself into.”

“Do you regret signing the contract?” Gabriel asked. Ava had to think about it. She remembered how fearful she had been when she decided to go along with it. But since then, she had become accustomed to this life. And in her world,

the pros outnumbered the cons.

“No,” she said honestly. “But I wish someone had told me everything so I could have been better prepared. I don’t care what you choose to do. You will be my best friend either way. The only thing I will say is if you are thinking of accepting, don’t sell yourself cheap. They have more money than they know what to do with, and you are brilliant. Make them pay for your time,” she said with a grin.

“I think the gangsters are rubbing off on you, honey,” Gabriel said and laughed.

“Do you have any questions?”

“One, do you think Ryder was checking me out during lunch?”

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“Oh god, Gabriel. Priorities. But yes, he was practically drooling. You should talk to him,” Ava said, giving nudge with her shoulder. He grinned at her.

“Maybe I will.”

“Okay, so since you apparently don’t have any other questions, come along.” Ava said and they walked out of her room and after knocking on Zane’s office, walked in to the two waiting men.

Zane looked at her and frowned a little as she walked to take a seat in the chair next to him. He leaned closed to her and kissed her check.

“Why have you been crying?” he whispered.

“It’s nothing, just girl talk,” she whispered back and smiled. She could see him watching her, then turning towards Gabriel.

“So?” he asked.

“I accept, Gabriel said.

“You do?” Both Zane and Jax asked, sounding equally surprised.

“I do.” Gabriel nodded. “But I have some demands.”

“Of course, let’s hear them.”

“I want an office in one of the central office buildings. I get to decide who I hire. You will of course get to approve if they will work on your account or not. I also want your help to find a new apartment. I will pay for it myself, but getting an apartment in the better parts of the city takes an extraordinary amount of time, or good connections. You have the right connections, I guess. Then we will have to negotiate my payment,” Gabriel told him.

“Angel, is this your doing?” Zane asked.

“Me? Never. I don’t drive such hard bargains, you know that,” Ava told him with a smile. Zane chuckled.

“Your terms are agreeable. We will help you with all of it. Now, let’s get down to money,” Zane told Gabriel. Ava sat and listened as Zane and Gabriel negotiated. Gabriel had taken Ava’s advice to heart and was pushing hard for his goal. Zane seemed to enjoy himself as they went back and forth.

“What do you say, Ava? Should you and I go down and get a cup of coffee while these two sort it out?” Jax asked after a while. Ava was about to say yes, but Zane intertwined their fingers and took a firm grip on her hand. She got the

message.

“No, thank you. I’m fine,” Ava said. Jak looked at their joint hands and grinned.

“No problem, I’ll just head down all alone, by myself, like always,” he then told her, acting overly dramatic and ending with a heavy sigh. Ava just smiled and shook her head. “You are a heartless woman, Ava,” Jax told her, and winked at her. He then got up and walked out of the office..

Half an hour later, Zane and Gabriel had finally reached an agreement. They both looked pleased. They agreed Gabriel

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would officially start after he had finished his resignation time at the hospital.

“Do you want us to keep your association with us a secret?” Zane asked. Gabriel looked at Ava before looking at Zane.

“No, it would do more harm than good if I keep it a secret, and then it comes out later. I would rather be open about it and enjoy the benefits of it.”

“There are risks as well,” Zane pointed out.

“I’m aware,” Gabriel said and nodded,

“Then we can shake on it and I’ll have my lawyer draw up the contract. If you want, you can spend the afternoon here, and we can sign it once it’s ready,” Zane told Gabriel.

“I think that is a good idea,” Gabriel agreed.

“Let’s start off with a walk in the garden and then I think Anna can magic up some swim shorts for you and we can spend the afternoon by the indoor pool,” Ava said.

“I like the sound of that.”

“Take Ryder or Tom with you when you go out in the garden, just to be safe,” Zane told her and kissed her cheek.

“Good idea,” she said with a bright smile. “Come along Gabriel, we need to see Anna and then find Ryder.”

“Or Tom,” Zane added, badly hiding a smile.

“Yeah, or Tom,” Ava agreed. Zane laughed.

“What are you planning, babe?” Gabriel asked as they were walking toward the kitchen.

“I’m giving you the chance to actually speak with your potential new boyfriend.”

“Should I be scared?”

“Never. I won’t force you two to do something you aren’t comfortable with. I’m just going to make sure you are in close enough proximity to each other for something to happen if you want it to,” she assured him. To her delight, they found Ryder in the kitchen, hovering to see if he could steal some cookies when they came out of the oven. “Ryder, just the man I was looking for,” Ava said with a smile.