“Stay away, stay away from me, stay away,” she shouted, over and over. She kept shouting even though it seemed she had run out of things to throw. Zane was more than a little interested in knowing exactly what was going on. But he couldn’t focus with the woman making a ruckus.
“Will you shut the fuck up!” he roared at her. She fell silent and he saw tears start to fill her eyes, her lips trembled. Oh fuck, he thought. Like most men, a crying woman scared him shitless. He would rather have a gunfight with a hundred of his worst enemies than have to deal with one crying woman. 

“And your name is?” he asked.

“Ava,” she told him in a thin voice.

“Ava Cobler?” he wanted to know. Her name had never sounded so beautiful before, it surprised her. She almost forgot to nod. “My name is Zane Velky,” he introduced himself, holding out a hand. Ava’s eyes grew bigger as he heard the name. Oh no, not that, anything but that, she thought. 

“You have heard of me,” he smiled, he sounded satisfied. Ava nodded. Everyone who lived in the city knew the name Velky, it was the largest mafia group in the state with its centre in the city. And Zane Velky was the head of the family, the don, the big boss, the huge honcho, the Al Capone of the modern world. Ava felt her panicked brain spin out of control. 

“Calm down, angel,” Zane told her and placed his hand on her shoulder. His thumb went down in front of her throat. If he squeezed, she would be struggling to breathe, Ayya realised, but somehow his hand calmed her mind. “That’s a good girl. You and I need to have a talk,” he told her. Ava’s mind objected to being called a girl. It irritated her even though she was scared. “Who hit you?” he asked. Zane moved his hand to tilt her head to the side so he could look at her cheek and then at her lip.

******************Ava is kidnapped and is forced to realise her uncle has sold her to the Velky family to get out of his gambling debts. Zane is the head of the Velky family cartel. He is hard, brutal, dangerous and deadly. His life don't have room for love or relationships, but he has needs as any hotblooded man.  

Trigger warnings:
Talk about SA 
Body image issues
Light BDSM
Descriptive descriptions of assaults
Self harm
Harsh language
