"Victoria? Victoria?" I'm broken out of my thoughts when I hear Charlotte calling my name.

"Sorry, what were you saying?" I ask, turning to look at her.

"I can't believe what happened to you, I heard from Jax when he got back from his shift," Charlotte tells me. It's Sunday evening, and I've spent the weekend at Jason's, only going home yesterday to grab some clothes to last me until Monday. We both decided it was best we told Oli that I'd be around more often and I have to say it was pretty comical.

《 Flashback

"You know, I think we should tell Oli," I say to Jason as I look at the kid sitting on the carpet watching cartoons.

"Tell him what exactly?" Jason questions, adjusting his arm around my shoulder.

"I don't know, maybe that I might be here more often than normal? He's going to wonder why his school nurse is coming to his house all the time," I say exasperated.

"She comes because she can't get away from his sexy uncle," he says with a devilish smirk before leaning down to peck my lips. 

"Good job at inflating your own ego," I say rolling my eyes, "But still, I think we should say something at least."

"Alright, fine, Oli, come sit with us for a second," Jason tells him as an advertisement plays on the screen. He stands up and sits on the other side of Jason, and I move so I'm facing the both of them. "Oli, do you like Tori?"

"I like Tori, I like her a lot," he says in pure excitement.

"Tori is going to be here a lot, is that okay?" Jason asks him.

"She can come and play every day," he replies. "Tori, do you want to stay with us?" I freeze for a moment in surprise, clearly not expecting him to ask.

"You'll have to ask your uncle that," I chuckle looking over at Jason. 

"Tori still has her own home Oli but she'll come here as many times as she wants," he tells him.

"Yay!" Oli shouts as he comes to where I'm sitting and gives me a hug before going back to his cartoon show.

"Who knew my nephew would one-up me?" Jason says shaking his head in laughter. I look at him, my eyebrows raised and he laughs again as he pulls me into his side, kissing my temple. "One day, in the future, if we're still here like this, I could see myself asking," he murmurs. I keep quiet, my head on his chest, my hand on his heart. If we're still here like this Jason and you asked, I'd probably say yes.

End of flashback 》

Now, I'm here at Charlotte's home. She messaged me earlier in the afternoon asking if Oli and I wanted to come over with the intent to interrogate me on what's happening with Jason, considering he's being tight-lipped with her.

"I know, it was crazy. I wasn't expecting him to act like that, to say the least, I was surprised. I had to listen to him bitch about how I was being a whore because I decided to get to know someone," I sigh. "And now the police don't know where the hell he is." I got a call from Jax yesterday evening and he told me that they were looking for Cruz but it's as if he disappeared, went off the grid with no way to track him.

"Jax and Jason will find him, don't worry about it," she says with a reassuring smile. "But I am curious to know, what's happening with you and Jason? Oli told me some things but when I asked Jason, he told me in a nice way to fuck off."

"We're taking things slow, I don't want to jump headfirst into a relationship," I tell her as I frown unconsciously. Been there, done that.

"There's something else though. Your face gives it away that something else is bothering you," she says as she turns her attention to her kids. "Do you want to hold one of them?" 

"Jason is a cop right, and if he ever did a background check he'd find out if we had a criminal past right?" I ask as she hands me one of the twins, I think Jayden or is it Justin? 

"He looked into you?" she questions.

"He did a background check on me last week after the shooting at my friend's workplace, understandable because of what happened. Since he did that he found out of some things that happened almost ten years ago and I don't understand why he wants me if I'm a past criminal," I confess as I adjust my hold on the baby. She looks at me for a moment and her face turns to one of understanding.

"Victoria, how much do you know of what happened last year?" she questions tilting her head.

"Whatever was on the news and Jason gave me a rundown of what happened. He said that Jax was involved in the mafia and you plus Wren got put into the middle of it," I tell her. "He said you asked for help when you two reunited."

"Jason was a godsend, he's basically my second brother and when we met again I knew I could rely on him when I needed help the most. What he said was true, Jax was involved in the mafia but he left out one point. Jax was previously in jail prior because of the mafia," she reveals.

"What? Really?" I ask in shock.

"I'm serious. He was in jail for a couple of years because of work he was doing for them because he was protecting his younger brother," she tells me. "Wren is that brother and he couldn't leave them with the threat they were holding over his head that something would happen to him if he tried to go. I first met him the day he was released though it could have been under better circumstances."

"What happened then?" I ask in curiosity.  

"It was strange at first. Here I had an ex-convict that was related to my adopted kid not to mention student and he made it very clear that he desired me and even though he was a convict, I overlooked that. I got to know Jax as the man he is now and not judge him for his past," she says to me, a wistful look on her face. 

"I saw him as the man that loved and protected his brother, a man that had strong feelings for me and respected me, so whatever he did before I didn't focus on that. I accepted him for who he is now, not before. I'm sure Jason is the same. Even though he knows what you did before, he sees you now and not before," she says with a reassuring look. "If you don't mind me asking, what were you arrested for?" I look at her for a couple of seconds before sighing, I might as well tell her some of it since she did help me with this. 

"When I was a teenager, I ran away from home. Things were changing and new people came into my life while others turned their back on me. It was too much for me to handle and so I left. I had a boyfriend, a senior older than me by a year and I went to stay with him, he did some things. I joined him,  and I became a wild child, partying, smoking, doing drugs and then it escalated into criminal activities," I sigh as I tell her, not proud of what my younger self used to do.

"Your parents didn't look for you?" she asks in concern. 

"They were a part of the reason why I left. I was arrested when I was eighteen and released when I was twenty because they arrested the wrong person. When I got out the first thing I did was leave my hometown, and go back to school, got a scholarship and worked and finished school," I finish telling her.

"Whatever you went through back then doesn't make you the person you are today. I see a strong woman in front of me that picked herself up, got an education, an awesome job that you do full time and two part-time jobs. Your past doesn't define you, and Jason sees that so don't worry," she tells me. "But, you could tell him your concern, your past. Communication is a big factor between Jax and me, maybe that's what you two need."

"Yeah, maybe," I reply as the baby in my arms starts to fuss around. 

"Here, let's switch," she says passing me the other twin as we exchange. "So what are you going to do then?"

"I think I'll talk to him about it. I mean it's the right thing to do, and I'd rather get this off my chest and be clear with him," I tell her.

"You're the only person that can decide if it's right or wrong, just don't regret it later," she warns as she grabs a bottle of milk for the baby.

"I won't," I tell her and we hear a loud crash from upstairs followed by loud cries. We both look at each other in surprise and I place the baby that's in my arms down beside her as I rush upstairs to check on Wren and Oli.

"Ms. Marshall, Oli hurt himself when he fell," Wren says when he sees me at the staircase.

"Where is he?" I ask and he leads me to his room. Oli is sitting in the middle of the room crying and from here I can see a bump on his forehead. "Oli, what happened, what were you two doing?" I ask kneeling beside him and looking at the two of them.

"We were playing tag and Oli tripped on that," Wren says pointing to a toy on the floor. I check the spot on his forehead that's red, a little swelled and the skin didn't break so there's no cut but I'm pretty sure his head is hurting.

"Oh hun, the pain will go away soon," I tell him, gathering him into my arms. I rub his back slowly waiting as his cries turn to sniffles. "How about we go downstairs and you two watch a movie before Oli and I go home? You two still have school tomorrow."

"You have school to Tori," Oli tells me with a small smile.

"Oh, someone is cheeky now aren't they," I chuckle, tickling him a bit. I move Oli back to stand up and he takes my hand as we go downstairs, Wren bounding down in excitement. 

"Who was crying? I have an ice pack ready," Charlotte questions as we go back to the living room.

"I need it for this little one," I reply holding up our conjoined hands. "I suggested they watch something before we leave."

"Good idea, Wren choose something for you and Oli," Charlotte tells him as she hands me the ice pack.

"Oli, sit here so I can ice it for you," I say to him as I sit cross-legged on the floor pat the floor in front of me. Instead of sitting in front of me, he happily plops down into my lap.  I shake my head chuckling but don't bother to move him.

"Oli is really comfortable with you," Charlotte observes as I place the ice on his forehead.

"He freaked out when he saw me injured the other day, he told me about his parents and how he thought I was going to die like them," I tell her in a low voice.

"He's just like his uncle, know's good character," she chuckles.

"He did say something but I don't plan on bringing it up to Jason though," I say to her as I fix my grip on the ice pack in my hand.

"What did he say?" she asks in curiosity.

"He said that I'm much nicer than her. She is most likely someone from Jason's past," I tell her. She must know who I'm talking about because her face turns to one of disgust, contempt and even anger.

"Yeah, but Jason will tell you about it at some point," she says with a tense smile.

"Just don't mention to him Oli telling me that, I want him to feel comfortable in telling me about this person. I don't want him to be pressured in telling me since I know," I plead to her.

"My lips are sealed," she says with a soft smile. I feel Oli tugging on my arm, pointing at the television and I'm not sure I hear Charlotte properly with the television noise and the boys talking, but I think I heard her say, Jason, you're a lucky one.

✘✘

"I'll see you?" Jason asks as he pulls up to my apartment.

"Yeah, I'll most likely come by during the week," I tell him squeezing his hand gently.

"Maybe you can bring Oli home with you the days that I'm late," he suggests, checking his rearview mirror with the child in question is who's currently asleep.

"Text me and I'll bring him with me," I say with a grin. "I'll see you later," I tell him as I lean across the console to kiss him. I move to pull back but he stops me, prolonging the kiss a little longer, tugging on it softly. I pull back from him and give him a smile and a smirk tugs at his lips.

"I'll see you later sweetheart," he says letting go of my hand. I get out of the car and quickly walk inside, waving to him as I enter the elevator watch as he drives off. I tap my foot impatiently as the elevator goes up floor by floor until it reaches the tenth floor. The doors open and I walk out making a right to my apartment. 

When I reach the door, I see a white envelope sticking outside, as if someone tried to wedge it in. I pull it out and look around not seeing anything out of the ordinary. I unlock the door and go inside, shutting the door behind me. I turn on the entry lights and open the envelope. Inside is a single crisp paper folded in half.

I take it out, opening it and I feel my stomach fall to my feet and I sink to the floor. A series of intricate lines and in the middle a printed red sakura flower that looks like the petals are dripping water except it's supposed to signify as blood. Oh fuck, they fucking found me.

✘✘

A/N So it's really refreshing to write a convict story from the main p.o.v instead of having the secondary character. It gives a different meaning to the story since we're seeing through the convict's eyes. I'm thinking of possibly having Victoria's past revealed but we'll see, who knows if I'll change my mind last minute like I normally do.

And I know a lot of you are wondering, who's they? Who's coming after Victoria? Well, stay tuned for future chapters.

And for those of you don't know 'sakura' is the Japanese way of saying cherry blossoms [personally my favourite flower] 

ANyways, be sure to leave your thoughts on the chapter in the comments!!