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“He’s sleeping. The doc was happy with his progress though and said to give it another twenty-four hours before attempting to get out of bed.” I leave out the bit where Jason got out of bed regardless to prove that he could, nearly ripping out one line of stitches in the process. If there is one thing none of us is good at, it’s doing as we are told by anyone other than Christian. I guess that’s one of the reasons Jasmine is perfect for us as she is just as stubborn when she wants to be. She likes to push it with me a little more than the others. I think she just likes when I call her a brat.
Christian comes to stand next to us and places a hand on Jasmines back.
“Where are we going?” she asks as he guides her out of the sparring room. Sean and I follow behind, neither of us in the know of what Christian has planned.
“There is something I want you to learn to do. Even though I hope you never have to use this particular skill, it could save your life one day.”
I turn to Sean and frown. Christian has always been against teaching Jasmine any form of self-defence but now he wants her to learn this? From the look on Sean’s face, he is just as confused by Christians one eighty as I am.
We follow them out of the gym and down to the soundproof basement. It is the same place Sean and Christian killed Flint the other day, not that you would know if you saw the place. It’s been cleaned up and looks like your regular basement with one added condition.
“A shooting range? You want me to learn to shoot?” from the look on Jasmines face it was the last thing she ever expected. Christian looks at her and nods whilst letting out a deep breath.
“Like I said I hope you never have to do it, and I never want you to shoot to kill. It’s just a precaution. But if you ever find yourself in a situation where there is no other way out but to shoot your opponent, I want you to be able to handle the gun safely and effectively to put them down so you have time to run.”
“I don’t want to kill anyone,” Jasmine whispers.
“Good, then you never will. You just have to make sure they can’t chase after you, to give yourself enough time to get away. We will be the ones to kill them if it has to be done.” Christian takes her shoulders and turns her to look at him properly. “This was the last place I ever wanted to bring you. The thought of you having to yield a gun makes me sick to my stomach.” He reaches up and cups her cheek lovingly. “But the last couple of days have proven that you are a target whether we like it or not and I need to know you are prepared for all situations. Sean will teach you how to disarm a person and I will teach you to use their own gun against them.”
Jasmine looks from him to Sean and then to the wall of guns, we have. She takes a deep breath and looks back to Christian. I can see the determination in her eyes, and my god if it doesn’t make me proud. She’s been helpless before, not only when Hudson attacked her, and she never wants to feel that way again. I know she will do all that she can to make sure that is the case.
“Okay, Daddy.”
???
I sit back and watch Christian correct Jasmine’s stance and show her how to hold the gun correctly. He’s spent the last hour and a half teaching her about assembling guns and how to reload them. He has shown her three different types of handguns we know our competitors like to use to ensure she would recognise anyone that was used against her.
I’m not going to lie, the whole time we have been down here, my heart has been racing and I feel sick to my stomach. If Jasmine ever has to use a gun, then I know we have failed her. She should never have to protect herself from anything or anyone, she has two of her bodyguards as well as the four of us. But if the last few days have taught us anything it’s that she is never going to be one hundred per cent safe. It is something that we are having to come to terms with and quickly.
I lean forward in my chair and watch as Christian steps back from her. She aims at the target sheet on the other side of the room and for the shortest moment freezes, before letting out a slow and steady breath and pulling the trigger. She jumps as the sound of the shot echoes around the room and I realise the mistake Christian made. I walk over to the gun cabinet and grab what she needs.
“Hey shorty, put these on.” Christian turns to me and nods taking the sound defenders from my hand. Being inside a soundproof room makes the noise from the gun louder than if we were outside. We have grown accustomed to it, whereas Jasmine hasn’t. Christian places them over her ears and nods before stepping back and letting Jasmine position herself again and steady her shaking hands. This time when the gun sounds she doesn’t flinch and the shot hits the target. I stand up and look at the target sheet.
“Well, that will work,” Sean chuckles next to me. There on the sheet is a perfect hole right in the middle of the bullseye.
“Beginners luck, try again sweetheart,” Christian orders as we step back. Jasmine positions herself again and takes another shot.
“Shit, she shoots better than you Christian,” I laugh as Jasmine hits the bullseye again. I turn expecting to see Jasmine smiling smugly, but instead she looks pale and close to tears.
I reach down and take the gun from her hand and pass it to Christian before taking off her ear defenders and pulling her shaking body into my arms.
“You okay shorty?”
“I hated that,” she whispers as she clings to my top. I look at my brothers and see the pain in their eyes. Some people hate everything about guns; from the way, they feel in their hands, to the way they feel pulling the trigger knowing that they could be ending someone’s life by doing so. We should have known our girl would feel that way.
“You know the basics now, we will call it a day,” Christian says softly as he unloads the gun and places it on the table beside us.
“Come on shorty let’s get out of here.” I keep an arm wrapped around her and start to lead her away from the room. “Do you want a bath?” I ask as we head back towards the gym. She shakes her head and looks up at me.
“I want to see Daddy Jason,” she whispers. Placing a kiss on the top of her head I guide her up to Jasons room.
Since Jason was injured, she’s slept in there every night. She’s even using his bathroom so as not to be away from him for long. None of us is surprised as we are all checking on him continuously ourselves. Even though he is okay, there is that fear that something could still go wrong and we could lose him.
As soon as we get to his door Jasmine walks straight in. Our rooms are her rooms, and a door is never truly closed to her. As I follow her in, I see Jason sitting up in the bed with his TV on. He turns with a smile on his face which quickly disappears when he sees how distressed she is. Jasmine climbs straight onto the bed and leans against him as if he is the only thing she needs in the world right now.
“What’s the matter Jazzy? What happened?” he asks as he lifts his arm and wraps it around her shoulders.
“Daddy taught me to shoot,” she whispers as I hear the slightest break in her voice.
