“Well, you might just be in luck. When you grab your stuff, bring any pictures or sketches of your work you have, and we’ll show them to our resident tattoo artist when he gets back and see what he thinks. See if he thinks you'll be a fit at Devil's Ink.”I tell her while wondering how I can actually fulfill that promise with no clue when Wreck will even return from his search. Maybe I'll have to let someone else at the shop judge her work if he’s not home by the time we've dealt with Claire.
“Oh my gosh. Thank you so much.”She says as she jumps up and runs around the desk to hug me, even though I'm still sitting down. I can't help but laugh and hug her back.
“You're very welcome. Now go on, go with Blade, and when you get back, I'll grab Cam for you to see and talk to,”I tell her.
They leave, and I can't believe how different she seems from her sister. Hopefully, she fits in around here. I really do hope she can hold her own against the bunnies, because I know for a fact that they're going to try and start shit with her at some point. It's just what they do when new women come around.
I can’t believe Jasmine's own fucking sister had her raped; it's fucking disgusting and just another reason to add to why she needs wiping off the face of this earth. Who the fuck would ever want to put their own flesh and blood through what she did? I send another quick text to Flame updating him that Jasmine is going to be staying here, and I'll tell him what she disclosed to me when I see him. Now to go order someone around to get her a room set up.
Leaving my office and locking it behind me, I walk into The Common Room, and see a couple of Prospects doing nothing. Pete is sitting there talking to Jake.
“Hey, can you two do me a favor?”I ask as I approach.
They both nod yes but stay silent, waiting for more instructions.
“Can you go set up a room with an en-suite for Jasmine? She’s Cam's aunt. She's going to be staying with us for a while for protection.”
“Sure thing, Prez, we'll get on it now and text you which room we've gone with so you know where you're sending her,”Pete says as they both stand.
They quickly leave the room, and I make my way behind the bar to check how the stock looks before I put the orders in. I trust my members, but it never does any harm to check things yourself sometimes, and I need to do something totally different fromwhat I’ve been dealing with to just reset my mind. Everything seems in order, so I grab a bottle of water, and make my way back to my office.
Walking down the corridor, I see Tech and Cam heading towards me.
“Hey Dad!"Cam shouts happily.
“Hey, son. Where are you two going?”.
“To grab a snack. I'm hungry.”Cam replies with a cheeky grin.
I internally chuckle; I swear he's always hungry. He's definitely at that age where all he does is eat. Poor Flame's having to get us twice as much food when he orders groceries just to keep up with how much Cam's consuming. Neither of us are complaining; we're happy to see him eating and putting on much needed weight.
“Okay, go grab your snack and then come to my office, please. I need to talk to you about something; don't worry, it's nothing bad.”I tell him lightheartedly, hoping he won't end up worried.
He nods his head and skips off ahead of Tech, who's following behind, keeping an eye on him. I do find their relationship sweet. Tech’s very protective of Cam. Letting myself into my office after they’ve left, I wait for Cam to come back. I know he won't be long; he'll be too intrigued by what I want to talk about.
Less than two minutes later, he's in my office, sitting opposite me, shoveling a sandwich in his mouth. I wait for him to finish; there’s no point in talking until he can reply.
“Do you remember your Aunt Jasmine?”I ask softly and pray that Jasmine doesn't bring up bad memories for him.
He nods his head vigorously.
"Well, she's going to be staying here for a while to keep her safe, and she'd like to see you; is that okay with you?”
I want to give him the choice. If he doesn't want to see her, she'll have to deal with it because I'd never force him to do something he isn't comfortable with.
"Yeah, Dad, I remember her trying to protect me when I was little, and then she disappeared. Mom would never tell me where she went. I'd love to see her again.”He tells me with a small smile.
I can't help but smile at his willingness to see her.
"Okay, then, you can go back to Tech for a bit if you want; Jasmine's just gone with Blade to pick up her stuff. I'll come find you when she's here.”
“Thanks, Dad. Tech was teaching me more cool stuff about coding. I really do want to go back and carry on.”He says as he gets up and leaves my office.
Honestly, that child of mine, who would've thought he'd only been here a week and been beaten by his mother for over half his life? He's settled in beautifully; it's like he's always been here.
The meeting between Cam and Jasmine went as well as could be expected. Cam's still very wary around women after everything his mother has done to him. I think he was even more cautious with Jasmine because of her being Claire's sister. Jasmine seemed to realize all this and let Cam set the pace, which went over well with Cam. He only stayed and spoke with her for about ten minutes; that seemed like his limit before he got agitated. He asked if they could talk more another day, and she was fine with that. If she hadn't been, we would've been having words; this is Cam's safe space now, his home, and I won't have him feeling uncomfortable. I'm just glad he knew his limits and didn't try to force himself to do something that he wasn't ready for just to keep others happy; that's certainly something I don't want for my son.
I know he's adjusting to being here, but I'm starting to think he might need to talk to a professional about his wariness around women; he's not going to be just surrounded by men forever. He's got to go to school as soon as it's safe for him to doso, and he won't have a choice about being around women and girls then.
