Page 88 of Vengeance & Sin

“Hey Doll, come meet Mad and let's figure out what you want.” I call for Jade. She quickly pops up and hurries over to me with a wide grin on her face. Huh, who knew this would be something she wanted?

She walks up to stand next to me before offering her hand to Mad, and she doesn’t even flinch when he touches her. I doubt she would have even offered her hand to him just a week ago.

“Mad?” She says, and the question is clear in her voice as she looks up at him.

He’s not as tall as I am, maybe somewhere around five foot seven, and he’s all limbs, but again everyone seems to look huge when they stand next to Jade.

“Maddox is the name, but my friends all call me Mad, and when you spend as much time, and money as Zan and the guys do in the shop, you get the right to the nickname, no matter how stupid it might be.” He answers with a laugh.

“And what’s your name? You might be a small adorable thing, but somehow I doubt your name is Doll.” He asks, and while I know him well enough to know he’s just being friendly, hearing him say my nickname causes me to stiffen.

She drops his hand and throws me a playful side eye before she turns her attention back to him. “No, my name isn’t Doll, no matter how much Zan likes to call me that. It’s Jade; unfortunately, Doll is off the table even to friends. The only reason he gets away with it is because I can’t seem to get him to stop.” She tells him, and they both laugh. Her shooting down his use of my name for her instantly makes me feel better.

“Yeah, if that doesn’t sum up Zan to a tee, I don’t know what does.” He agrees with a chuckle, and okay now they’re just taking cheap shots for their entertainment.

I throw my arm around Jade and pull her to my side.

“So, what were you thinking?” I ask her.

She looks up at me before she responds. “Do you think I could get a piercing?” She asks me, and I shake my head at her asking my permission, her face falls before my eyes, and I realize my mistake.

“You can do whatever you want, Doll. You don’t need my permission. If you want ten piercings, we can start working on that. You decide you want to be covered in tattoos. Well, we can make that happen, too. Just let me know, and I’ll get it handled.” I tell her and watch her smile return now that I’ve clarified.

“I was thinking of getting a double nose piercing with the chain like in the picture there.” She says, pointing to a photo of someone with the same piercing on the wall. I look at Mad before he gives us a nod to let me know he can do that.

“Sounds good to me, man. You're the one who said whatever the Lil lady wanted. Just give me a second to set up the station, alright.” He says before he disappears into the back, where I know they do all their work.

“Did you have specific jewelry you wanted?” I ask while we wait, and she nods before pulling me back to the jewelry case. Her excitement is contagious. She pulls me down to the bottom of the case and points out the one she wants. Unfortunately, there are about ten variations, so I can’t tell which one.

“The one with the green studs and the black chain, do you see it?” She asks, and I find it as soon as she says it. Yeah, that’s fitting, for sure.

I open the case and pull it out while she looks at me funny.

“Um, isn't the point of the glass case to keep people out?” She asks, and she’s not wrong, but she still doesn't seem to understand that the rules don’t apply to us like they do to everyone else in this city and even more so here in this shop.

“Yeah, that's usually the case, but not for us. Don’t worry. You'll get used to it.” I tell her as I grab her hand and lead her toward the piercing room now that she has her jewelry.

“What do you mean I’ll get used to it?” She asks, and I always forget just how innocent she is. She doesn’t even realize that just being around us opens doors for her, and her being under our watch makes sure that nobody is going to go against her.

Most girls flock to us for these things, but Jade isn’t like them. She doesn’t even realize what she has, and honestly, I doubt she would care one way or the other. But, man, she's going to lose it when people start noticing how often she's out with me and when word spreads about Kratos and her. Classes are going to be interesting, that's for sure.

“Oh, don’t worry about it. You’ll see soon enough.” I tell her. I can see that she wants to push for more answers, but we are back with Mad in the little studio area before she can. I drop her jewelry in the cleaning solution and point her toward the high-back chair with everything laid out next to it.

Her smile returns as she walks over to the chair, and her excitement is clear. She hops up on the chair and smiles at me.

Mad pulls on a set of gloves before he grabs a marker to make the spots, talking as he goes. “So before we start, do you have a fear of needles, low pain tolerance, or anything like that?” He asks, and she tells him no.

He motions for her to look at the markings in the mirror. Once she’s inspected it, she gives him a nod before hopping back up in the chair.

“Awesome, I like to make sure I at least know if someone’s got a chance of passing out or puking on me before I get started.” Her face scrunches up at the thought, and Mad just laughs.

“All right, I’m going to get it lined up and count down from three. It will be a sharp poke, and your eyes will most likely water due to the placement. Once I get the first one done, I'm going to leave the first needle there and then do the other side. Don't worry. I’ll cap it off, so you don't get poked anywhere you ain’t paying me to do so. Once both sides are done, I'll get the jewelry in and get everything cleaned up. Then you’ll be all set. Sound good?”

“Yes.” She tells him with a smile and not a hint of fear.

“Did you need me to hold your hand, Doll?” I ask her, even though I know she doesn’t.

She surprises me when she nods and holds out her hand that isn’t blocked by Mad. “We both know you don’t need me, but I won’t ever say no when given a chance to touch you.” I tell her, and I’m rewarded by her cheeks taking on a nice pink color.

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