The after-dinner talk was just as uneventful as Vincent had suggested, and despite her promise not to ever talk about anything that was discussed between the men, she didn't even understand half of their conversation.
They used a lot of, what she gathered were, code names for people and places, even dates and times didn't seem to match up.
Nonetheless, Alexis listened quietly, noting everything she heard. She hadn't kept herself hidden on the streets for almost a year by not being observant.
She already knew Jeremy's nickname was 'Doc', and after hearing it paired with 'No Name' whom she assumed was Mamax, due to Geoffrey's teasing that his name wasn't a name she realised Vincent was giving out duties to fulfil the next day.
As it happened Doc and No Name were to visit the babysitters as there was an issue with a shortage of loaves.
How the babysitters had run out of bread and why Jeremy and Mamax were supposed to sort it out for them, Alexis couldn't fathom. Also, exactly who were the babysitters watching?
"Will I get to meet the babysitters?" Alexis asked, wondering if she would have a chance to meet the other children of the gang.
Vincent laughed lightly. "No, princess," he said. "These are special babysitters, but let's leave all that unsaid, right?"
Right, so the babysitters probably didn't watch children either, she surmised, giving herself a figurative pat on the shoulder.
So, the conversation continued for a while until the men eventually parted into smaller groups to settle down to talk.
Vincent remained in his seat on the sofa beside Alexis and leaned back into the arm, resting his head against the headrest. He pulled a few of his jacket buttons loose and, on doing so, revealed the matted metallic back of something on the inside of his jacket.
Is that what I think it is? she wondered as she tilted her head to catch a better glimpse of it.
Entranced by the object she leaned in closer, her hand itching with the need to reach in and see what it was, though it was fairly obvious - what else would someone have inside their jacket in a chest holster?
The loud clearing of someone's throat broke her concentration and she looked up to see Thomas watching her with slightly narrowed eyes.
Vincent then lifted his head and looked back directly at Alexis. "Everything okay?"
"Yes," Alexis said, glancing quickly at Thomas who looked as though he wanted to reprimand her in some way.
Why is he always scowling at me like that? she wondered, having barely seen Thomas smile the whole time she had been amongst them. As far as she believed, Thomas, at least, had a problem with her, but Vincent had already promised her safety so surely that meant from Thomas too.
"I was wondering though," she started, doing her best to choose her words carefully. "What that is for?" she said pointing at the object in his jacket.
"Oh, this little thing," he said pulling it from his holster. "Protection, of course."
Alexis stared wide-eyed at the gun as he held it out in his hand for her to see, and wondered, should a gun look so beautiful?
If someone was looking for fancy, they might seek out some jewels, if someone was looking for fun, they might seek out a toy. At that moment, in Alexis' opinion, that matted black gun with golden trim looked much better suited for both purposes.
A small smile etched its way onto her mouth just as her eyes rose back up to catch Vincent's curious gaze.
"Can I .. hold it, please?" she asked, tempering her voice so as not to sound too excited.
"Why would you want to hold something like this?" Vincent asked, bouncing the gun in his hand as he spoke.
Alexis shrugged. In truth, she knew all too well why she would want to hold a gun because if she'd had a gun all that time ago, no one ever would have gotten away with hurting her the way they did.
Vincent nodded, seeming to accept her answer. He held his gun upright and popped the bullet cartridge out before discharging all of the bullets. Then after replacing the cartridge and checking it again, he handed it to Alexis.
Alexis clenched her teeth down, not wanting to upset Vincent, but wanting to ask why he took the most useful parts of the gun out. Without complaining though, she took the gun in her hands.
It was heavier than she'd expected, not like the ones you got in a toy shop, and she had to put active effort into holding it upright in her two hands.
Slowly she rotated her hands from left to right as she admired the markings on the gun, becoming almost entranced by the power and beauty that she held in her hands.
Beautifully terrifying, she giggled internally as it reminded her of her first estimation of Vincent which she believed he upheld.
Blowing out deeply she focussed her strength and raised her hands to point the gun straight ahead of her, aiming at Mamax who sat on his own in a sofa at the far end of the room.
"Hey," Geoffrey's voice came from beside her. "That's not cool," he said as he gently pushed her hands down.
"Never point your weapon at a friend," Vincent said, in a soft but serious voice. "Even in jest."
"My weapon," she mumbled. "Will I get a gun?"
Vincent and Geoffrey laughed audibly at her question.
"And what would you do with a gun?" Vincent asked.
"Same as you. Protect myself."
"Protect yourself, huh? Is that what you were planning to do with that piece of makeshift dagger earlier?"
Alexis frowned slightly as she pressed her hand against the plaster that Jeremy had stuck over his butterfly stitches. "I wouldn't have hurt myself if I'd had a gun," she said, believing her response to be clever if not, at least, accurate.
"But maybe one of my men would be dead," Vincent said flatly. "How would you feel if you'd caused someone's death?"
Vincent was now sitting fully upright and alert, his dark eyes watching Alexis closely while Alexis stared back at him blankly.
That was a good question which seemed to stump Alexis for a moment as she tried to imagine exactly how she would feel.
It would have most likely been Mamax that she'd shot as he would have been her target, and she didn't know much more about him at that moment than what she'd known earlier so would it really have been a loss?
Though Vincent and his men would probably have been angry about it if she'd killed one of their men. After contemplating if she would have felt a way about any of the other men she simply uttered the word, "Regretful."
Vincent continued to stare, his expression unchanging as his gaze delved into Alexis' eyes as if searching for the meaning of her reply.
Alexis stared back, nervous but somehow comfortable under his gaze as if it were something familiar to her.
"I like this one," he finally said, glancing between Geoffrey and Thomas. "She's got the Blackthorn spirit. I can see it."
"Blackthorn?" Alexis asked.
"That's us, dear," Vincent confirmed. "And you're now one of us."
Alexis smiled, unsure what answer she should give. The previous day she had been homeless and now she was in the most luxurious house she had ever been in, being treated in a manner that surpassed even her own interpretation of her importance, and whereas she would usually be highly sceptical, Vincent had already broken down her scepticism and drawn in her curiosity enough to want it to be real.
"For now though," Vincent said as he took the gun from her hands. "Let's leave off dangerous weapons. If you're ever in trouble we'll take care of it."
"But I want to be able to do it myself," she said in an outburst.
"You can barely hold the gun, princess," Vincent said with a soft laugh. "I'll tell you what. Why don't we get you training first and then when you're strong enough to hold a gun we'll talk about that then."
Alexis didn't even agree before Vincent was arranging sparing sessions between her and Thomas, which Thomas didn't look too happy about.
"Wait. Come on, Vinnie," Geoffrey interjected. "You know I'm the best fighter," he said before directing at Alexis. "Skilled in many martial arts, if you may know."
Vincent looked at Geoffrey from the corner of his eye for a moment before reluctantly agreeing and allowing Geoffrey to take over as her martial arts coach. Vincent, however, pronounced that Thomas was the best shot and be in charge of taking Alexis out for shooting practice. It was something that should be a part of their 'secret', Vincent had whispered to her and shouldn't be spoken about with anyone, but if she were to be given a gun at some point, she would need to prove that she was a good shooter.
Thomas narrowed his eyes at her slightly after being given the duty and received a small back slap from Vincent who laughed lightly and told Alexis that Thomas wasn't the best with children, but she needn't worry as he was one of the best when it came to guarded anything that he, Vincent, held dear to him.
Held dear, Alexis wondered. It was a strange sentiment since they'd only just met, but then he did say he had been close friends with her mother so maybe it was just an extension of their friendship.
She sat, talking with Vincent for a short while longer before he excused himself for bed, claiming he'd had a long day and needed to rest.
"You're free to wander as you wish around the premises," he said before he got up to leave. "But you don't leave the grounds, okay? It's for your safety more than anything else."
She took a glance around at the men. Mamax was partially asleep on the sofa he was occupying. Ben and Eden were in what looked like a semi-serious conversation if Ben's deep, contemplative frown was anything to go by. The rest of the men, Joey, Ren and Jeremy were sitting together playing a card.
"And no one's allowed to hurt me, right?" she whispered to Vincent as he stood.
"I'll personally rip out the heart of anyone who tries," was his answer.
His mouth was set straight as he spoke and he took a quick, cold, glance around the other men in the room before adding. "And I guarantee every other man in this room would do the same."