Ava instinctively reared back from the window. “Shit! *Please* drive,” she yelled at the cab driver.The driver looked frantically around at the shadowy figures that surrounded his car, “Do you see this?! Who are you people?”Ava took out her wadded-up cache of paper bills and tossed it on the empty front passenger seat. Hopefully, he wouldn’t count it until much, much later. “Here, that’s all the money I have. Just drive, it’s fine, they’ll move.”“Are you out of your mind?!” He spat.“I told you not to roll the window down,” Ava spat back before surging forward to wrench back the button to bring the window up. The glass pane managed to rise a few inches before Xavier clamped and hand down on it and pushed. Gears from within the door began to whir in protest as Xavier brute forced the window back down in its chassis. With a low growl, the window’s regulator snapped, and the pane slammed all the way down.Ava and the cabby both jumped in surprise. Cursing, the driver laid on the horn,

Madame Bella paused as she stepped through the door, clearly not anticipating finding one of the club’s luminaries alone with one of the maids. The statuesque female only let the surprise show on her face for a split second before a silky smile slid over her features. ​ “Mr. Michaels, a pleasure to say the least,” her generous hips swayed as she sauntered over and extended a fiercely manicured hand out for Xavier to shake. Never once did the woman spare a second to acknowledge Ava’s presence. “Please, allow me to assist you in any way I can.”​ Xavier had to be a very special guest here indeed if Madame Bella deigned to descend from her leather-clad tower to not only answer his summons, but personally offer him her services. ​ Of course, Ava didn’t have much of a frame of reference where it came to Madame Bella. She’d barely seen the woman in the three months since she’d been…recruited to work at the Green Light Club. To be fair, this was by design, since it was a well-know

Two weeks after Ava had struck her bargain with Xavier, she sat at her shiny new vanity, nestled in the corner of her own private en suite bathroom. She was still getting used to having…*things*, belongings that were completely her own.She had barely begun to scratch the surface of her debt to Xavier and the Red Moon Pack, but the few thousand dollars she had made, she’d made honestly, and that made her feel good. Accomplished.Ava was relieved to find that the court member’s escort training was thorough, but flexible. She was taught everything from how to make intriguing conversation and massage therapy, to pain play and the traditional art of Kinbaku bondage.Thankfully, Bella seemed to be particularly conscious of Ava’s handicap, and made sure to assign her to clients who sought out companionship rather than sexual gratification. So far, Ava had bantered and flattered her way into what money she’d managed to accumulate, so far, without offering anything more intimate than a should

Xavier’s mad dash to the hospital was a blur of phone calls and righteous fury. He cursed Bella for not taking better of the girl, despite her direct orders to keep an eye out for Ava.​ He queued up his contact list via the large Bluetooth enabled screen in his car. He nearly hit the button to call Lance, but quickly dismissed that option. After his showing last month, it was best if the brutish male stayed as far away from Ava as possible.​ Not to mention how handsy he’d gotten with the human waitress, who barely looked old enough to be legally serving alcohol. Xavier knew things went down in his club between consenting adults, and sometimes those things were better enjoyed when it looked as if one or more of the involved adults were less than willing.​ He drew a line at blatant assault, however. Even if Xavier felt the situation hadn’t escalated to a point that called for a public reprimand, it still needed to be addressed. ​ Besides, the idiot was showing up with co

“The both of you need to leave.” Ava stated firmly as Xavier and his friend re-entered her room. She didn’t make eye contact with either male, unwilling to give Xavier any feasible reason to pounce on her again. “I’m not interested in fucking your friend just you can spite-watch, or whatever.”​ The stranger’s eyes went wide, but he wisely kept any questions he had to himself, as Xavier glared at her. Instead, he primly cleared his throat and stepped forward.​ “I think we may have started off on the wrong foot. My name is Jack Williams,” he walked up to her and presented his hand for shaking. “I’m the Red Moon Pack’s Chief Healer. My only priority today is to make sure that you’re back to feeling good as new.”​ Ava looked at his outstretched hand and scoffed. “No thanks. I think the humans have everything under control.” ​ As far as Ava was concerned, anyone associated with the Red Moon Pack was bad news. She didn’t know whether or not Jack realized who she was, but she