CHAPTER 72: SCARS OF SUFFERING.

They stood in silence as Joseph still just stared at Hana... he literally checked her whole body out.

"T-thank you." She stuttered a bit and even blushed, as she didn’t really expect Joseph to be like this... he was mesmerized... though he had a good question on his mind.

"How do you carry your gun?" Yeah, a great question, because she seemed like she was going on a date rather than being a bodyguard.

"Oh, it’s here." She said as she grabbed the bag that was crossed over her shoulder. "It’s a quick-release bag. I just need to pull this and it’s out." She said as she pulled the strap on the bag, and the gun was already in her hand.

"That’s cool." Joseph said, it was actually very practical... like a little bag that you can pull out the gun from in a second. It looked more comfortable than having the gun in a holster all day at your waist... or not even a holster, just tucked in.

"Can I check it out, the gun?" He asked, as it also looked different.

"Of course." Hana said, and without thinking about it, handed the gun to him.

"It’s light." He said as he felt it.

"Yeah, it is more on the tactical side, so I can handle it faster and shoot more accurately with it." She explained to him as Joseph was truly mesmerized by it too... maybe even more than by her body and looks.

And yeah, it was truly different from the gun he had... it looked cooler, with a red dot on the top, and it just felt comfortable to hold.

"Well, I trust you with it." He said as he handed the gun back to her with a smirk on his face.

"You can, I am a sharpshooter." She smiled as she put it back in the bag.

"Oh really? So you’re very good at aiming?" He asked back..

"Yeah, I have a marksman certificate from my... well, private military era." She answered, and Joseph was even more surprised by it.

To be fair, up until this point, his trust toward women overall wasn’t that good... it felt more comfortable to be with a male bodyguard than a woman. It just felt more protective overall, but knowing that she truly is a trained soldier, one that was in the private military, is something great, to say the least... and well, Pablo too described them as killers.

"Then I have nothing to be worried about, yeah?" He asked.

"Of course, Joseph." Hana replied, but there was something in her eyes... a hint of worry. "I noticed you’re not wearing a vest." She said, her voice lowering.

She knew pretty much that Joseph didn’t care about danger, he had said it himself, death meant nothing to him... but still, many people depended on him, and she was there to protect him... and with a vest, the possibility of him dying was much lower.

"Just for you, Hana, I actually put one on." Another twist, he actually listened to someone once in his life... and his decision behind it was that... well, he was too excited about the mayor of course about Aisha, so dying before he got his answer would be... bad.

So he put down his suit and unbuttoned his white shirt while Hana just watched him... like she wanted to check him out a bit, and she had the right, as he too went over her whole body... literally ate her with his eyes... but she wasn’t ready for it and she finally truly understood that what she heard about Joseph was all true... like what he went through in prison.

It just seemed too much to be true, all the beatings, the tortures, and what Pablo said to them, like what they heard in the gossip going around about him... there was no way they actually fucked Jospeh up that much.

But shit, her expectations were blown away as James threw the shirt down and his back was... disgusting. Disgusting to think that he had gone through something truly terrifying.

His whole back, covered with bruises, with cuts, with the memory of what happened to him, what they did to him... not just that, but how skinny he was... like he came out of a concentration camp rather than a prison. It just didn’t seem real, like something out of a nightmare instead of what he had actually lived through. No one would’ve believed it if they hadn’t seen it with their own eyes.

His body told the story better than any words could, every line, every scar, every bruise carved into him like proof of cruelty...

She wanted to look away, but she couldn’t. It held her there, like she was staring at a truth she had no right to ignore. The whispers, the rumors, Pablo’s words, all of it suddenly made sense. They hadn’t been exaggerations, they hadn’t been gossip. If anything, they hadn’t even scratched the surface of what was really done to him.

And Joseph didn’t even care about it, as if showing his back meant nothing, as if the horror written across his skin was just another part of him now... and indeed it was.

"Hana?"

"I’m terribly sorry...!" She whispered, her voice shaking as her fingers brushed against one of the largest scars running across his back... she touched him without even thinking. "I... I didn’t know... it’s... it’s..."

"Oh, don’t worry about it." Joseph answered as he put on the vest and smiled. "It’s nothing."

She knew it was a lie... of course it was, when the truth was written all over his back... and in that moment, she finally understood, it was enough for her to know. That’s why Joseph is who he is... why he doesn’t fear death, or anything at all. Because, after all, why would he?

His family fucked him up... threw him in jail for ten straight years... just suffering.

Of course he is broken... no, more like he accepted all of it long ago and accepted it properly... he is not broken, not shattered... just true to himself, true to the self that went through hell.

"I am ready." Amine’s voice came now as he stood beside Hana.

"Oh, you too look good in plain clothes..." Joseph said as he buttoned his shirt, and yeah, Amine too was looking good.

She was in short jeans and a plain shirt... though he looked good with it... and she too had that bag on her.

"Thank you very much." She said back, though she wasn’t that confident like Hana, her voice was still low.

"Then let’s go shopping." He said as he tapped Hana on the shoulder, who was still just thinking about what she saw. But minutes later, they were already out in the car... arguing a bit with the bodyguards... but of course, they folded for Joseph, and in the end they left with one car and Hana and Amine as bodyguards.

The shopping spree began... one that would have many surprises.