Chapter 23 Zander #3
“Hey, Doll, come meet Mad and let's figure out what you want.” Jade pops up and hurries over with a wide grin on her face. Huh, who knew this would be something she wanted?
She stops beside me, offering her hand to Mad, and she doesn’t flinch when he touches her. I doubt she would have even offered her hand to him just a week ago.
“Mad?” she says, her question clear 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 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 for her makes me stiffen.
She drops his hand and throws me a playful side-eye before turning her attention back to him.
“No, my name isn’t Doll, no matter how much Zan likes to call me that.
I'm Jade. Unfortunately, Doll is off the table, even with friends. He gets away with it 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's shoulder 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?” I shake my head at her and her silly need to ask my permission. Her face falls, 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, watching 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 to see if he can do it, and he nods.
“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,” he says before disappearing into the back, where I know they do all their work.
“Did you have specific jewelry you wanted?” I ask while we wait.
Reaching out, she takes my hand, 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 yeah, it’s fucking perfect for her.
Opening the case, I pull it out, earning me a funny look.
“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.
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 lead her back to the piercing room now that she has her jewelry.
“What do you mean, I’ll get used to it?” she asks, and I almost laugh.
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 ensures that nobody will 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.
Dropping her jewelry in the cleaning solution, I 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 hops up on it. Her excitement is clear as she meets my gaze, and I can’t help but be excited for her, too.
Mad pulls on a set of gloves before he grabs a marker to mark 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 shakes her head no.
It’s almost funny. I know they’re just basic questions they ask everyone, but they're still amusing.
I can’t picture a damn thing Jade would be afraid of, especially not a needle.
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.” Jade's face scrunches up at the thought, and Mad 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 stabbed anywhere you aren't asking to be stabbed. 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 gives a sharp nod, her lips pulled in a huge smile, 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 holds out her hand, which 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.
Mad counts down the first one, and just as I thought, she hardly even reacts. He moves around her to do the second, and I take a step back to get out of his way.
As quickly as it started, it’s done, and Jade’s new jewelry shines in the light. This piercing really suits her.
As soon as he gives the all-clear, she hops off the chair and goes back to the mirror to inspect Mad’s handy work. The smile on her face lights up the whole damn room, and I can’t help but smile back, knowing this is just another thing I got to show her.
We all head up to the front, and Jade looks at the artist's designs displayed on the walls as we go.
“Did you want a tattoo as well?” I ask her.
“Can I?” she asks, sounding confused. I can’t help but shake my head. She's really not getting it, but that’s okay; I’m happy to keep telling her until it sinks in.
“I said anything, didn’t I, Doll?” The moment the words leave my mouth she all but races to the art, no doubt excited to look over it with the thought of having it on her skin.
“Hey, Mad, when will the boss be in next?” I ask.
“The Boss is out for the week. I can set you up an appointment, but unfortunately, he’s pretty booked out for the next few weeks,” he says with a knowing smirk.
Yeah, he knows that’s not how this works, but it's not something we broadcast. He might know, but Jade doesn't, and while I hate to see her disappointed, I refrain from telling her. It will be better as a surprise.
“It’s all good, man,” I tell him before I head toward the door.
“Come on, Jade,” I call back, nodding to the door to let her know we're heading out.
“Thank you, Mad!” she shouts back before we walk out. He gives her a wave and a smile.
We make it about halfway back to the car before Jade stops dead in the middle of the sidewalk.
“What?”
“You didn't pay for this, did you?” she asks, pointing to her nose.
I laugh but shake my head at her and continue walking. It takes her a minute, but she catches up easily enough.
“Don’t worry about it. The shop has a running tab, so we don’t pay them, but I promise they aren’t losing out,” I explain, and she nods. Even though I’m pretty sure she has no idea what I mean by that, she will soon enough.
We walk back to the car, and instead of returning to the house, I take her farther into the city. She shoots me a look but doesn’t say anything as she picks a song from my phone to play.
When we pull up to Hoppers, I see the question in her eyes before she opens her mouth.
“Just trust me,” I tell her, pulling up into one of our spots. She looks at me for a moment before following me out of the car without question, but I swear it’s like I can hear her mind racing.
We head in through the staff doors. It’s early in the day, but it’s still a Friday, so the place isn’t packed. However, it's much busier than the last few times Jade has been here.
We hit the stairs, and instead of going down, we head all the way to the top floor, where I know Kratos will most likely be in his office. I probably should have called and given him a heads-up, but it's too late now.
When we get to the top floor, Jade stops and looks out the floor-to-ceiling glass that runs along the hallway. This floor is only for Vengeance business. Froggie and Kratos both have offices here, and there is a bathroom and a meeting room at the end of the hall.