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“Sorry, of course you do. It’s one of the most commonly known stories from the Bible. So, you know that after the flood, Noah waited for a sign from God that it was safe to leave the boat. Noah sent out a dove and each time it came back empty-handed, it let him know that there was no place to land. They waited and waited until finally the dove came back carrying an olive branch, indicating that it was time for them to leave the Ark and start their new lives.”

She pauses here, but when we all stay silent, including Gray, who had stopped tattooing to listen to Mina’s story as well. She continues. “The olive branch served to tell Noah that it was a time of peace and deliverance. It was a new start for all of humanity, new expectations, and new hope; all symbolized by the dove and the olive branch.” Swallowing deeply, she finishes. “I thought, for my first tattoo atthistime in my life, what better design to choose than the literal embodiment of a new beginning? I’m free.”

Chapter 36

Promises

Ethan

We’re all silent after Mina shares why she chose this tattoo as Gray finishes up.

Vincent is still kneeling in front of her, running his thumbs over the back of her hands while she sits still with her eyes closed. She’s in a sort of trance, which I’ve found happens to me a lot of times while I’m tattooed. You sort of absorb yourself into the slight pain and repetitiveness of the needles scraping across your skin.

“Gray?” I ask in a low tone, not wanting to distract Mina. Gray’s eyes flick up to mine briefly, then back to Mina’s shoulder, where she’s concentrating. I know she’s listening, so I ask, “Can I watch?”

Gray gives me an almost imperceptible nod of permission, so I move around the room to stand behind her, getting my first view of Mina’s artwork. The outline is finished and Gray is adding a touch of color to create depth. She’s using a dark forest green color, which compliments Mina’s skin tone, for the olive branch being held in the dove’s beak. It looks like a sketch with flowing swirls instead of feathers, wings spanned out like it’s readying itself to land.

“Beautiful.” Gray nods again, agreeing with me, but she doesn’t know I’m not just talking about the tattoo. Everything it represents is beautiful and I can’t think of a more perfect piece for Mina’s first.

I continue to watch as she finishes up, impressed with Mina for staying still for this long without any movement.

As Gray wipes away the excess ink with a soft cloth, Mina opens her eyes slowly and looks at her shoulder in the mirror that Gray holds up for her. A huge smile spreads across her face, her eyes shining with tears. She turns to Gray. “It’sperfect. Thank you!” Then she looks at me. “What do you think?”

Without looking away from her face, I respond the only way I can. “Exquisite.” Her shoulder muscles relax, and she grins broadly at me, happy with my praise.

The guys wait for her to turn around to show them, and when she does, they both are quick to tell her how amazing it looks. With her back to them, she drops her shirt to grab onto Gray’s hands, and I suck in a breath as her bra-covered breasts come into view. Quickly looking at the ceiling, I swallow deeply to get myself under control.Fuck me, she’s so goddamn perfect.

The brief look I got showed slightly small, but perfectly rounded, high breasts with a light smattering of freckles across them. There aren’t any on her face, so seeing them across her curves makes me want to look again and examine them more closely, but I refrain.

“Gray, I can’t even begin to tell you how happy you’ve made me. Seriously, you’re so talented and this is everything I wanted and more.” She’s getting choked up, but she forces her way through it. “You must be so incredibly proud of your skill, not only with this,” she waves at her shoulder, “but with taking the time to make your client feel heard. I know I’m just a client, but you made me feel special.”

I’ve known Gray for a long time, but one thing I’ve never seen is Gray become emotional. She’s a hardass, which she has to be in this predominately male-driven line of work. Gray doesn’t respond to Mina with words, but she does grab both of her hands and pull them against her chest. Leaning down, she presses a kiss to Mina’s cheek, then cups it.

Clearing her throat, she drops Mina’s hands and looks at us. “I’ve already told her how to take care of this at home, but any of you can call me with questions. Ethan, you’re a pro at this, so you all shouldn’t have any issues.” Looking back down at Mina, who has still forgotten to cover her chest, she says, “This was a pleasure, Mina. We’ll step out so you can get dressed.”

Mina looks down and then lets out an adorable squeak, yanking her shirt back up to cover herself. She’s always been a bit of a blusher, but the shade of red that covers her from cleavage to forehead is impressive. It’s bordering on magenta.

Vincent is laughing as he walks out, and Max stops just before he leaves. “I’m going to go look around outside before we take you to the car. You did good, Mina.”

“Thanks, Max. For everything…” Her eyes are wordlessly telling him she’s thanking him for more than driving her here today.

Knocking on the doorframe, he smiles at her and then leaves. Turning to Mina, I say, “I’ll be just outside.”

Biting her lip, she gives me a quick nod and waits for both me and Gray to exit the room. Pulling the door shut behind me, I hear Gray blow out a breath. She doesn’t wait before she slams me with questions.

“Please tell me her fucking ex is in jail. How the hell does someone hurtthat woman?She’s like the nicest fucking person I’ve ever met. Like, she’sgrossnice. Jesus. You all are keeping an eye out for her, right? Because I swear to God, Ethan. If I hear she got hurt on your watch, I’m going to fuck up every single one of your tattoos after I immobilize you with a quick jab to the nutsack.” She whisper shouts all of this, monitoring the door in case Mina walks out.

“He’s missing, but we got her. Won’t let anything happen. Promise.” It’s the best I can do without violating her privacy. Clearly, Mina shared some things with Gray, but I won’t.

She opens her mouth to argue, pointing her finger in my face, but snaps it shut when the door opens with Mina looking down as she adjusts her shirt. Gray whips her hand away just as Mina looks up with the happiest of smiles across her face. “Sorry, that took a little longer than it should have. I had to look at it again before I dressed.”

Gray forces a smile while holding her hands behind her back. “You could have taken all the time you wanted. I’m glad we were able to do this tonight. Make sure you come see me if you want more ink down the road.”

Mina is practically bouncing on her toes, absolutely elated. “Absolutely! I’d tell all my friends about you, but… well, these guys are my only friends at the moment, but if I get more, I’ll definitely tell them how amazing you are. I’ll probably need to wait a bit before I try again. Ethan told me they’re addictive, but I’m not feeling that needquiteyet. Maybe when it stops hurting, then I’ll have to come up with something totally different.” She puts her hands on her cheeks to calm herself down. “Sorry, I’m just really so stinking happy right now. I don’t mean to let my mouth run away from me.”

She waves her hand like she should be disregarded, but I don’t like that. Grabbing her flailing hand, I lower it and hold it down by our hips and don’t let go. “It’s nice to see you this excited about something. Don’t apologize for being happy, darlin’. It looks good on you.”

Her breaths pick up slightly, affected by my words but unsure how to respond. That pretty blush is back when she looks at Gray. “Umm…” Her voice trails off, probably because my compliment pushed her to forget what she was saying. Her eyes widen, then she says louder than I expect, “Oh!I need to pay you!”

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