This is a double update as per usual- Chapter 7 was updated before this so please make sure you read them in the correct order :)

♛Cameron Dawson♛

When Harley is in the shower the following morning and I'm in the kitchen making myself some tea, I hear a knock on the door. I pause from stirring my drink before casually sliding a knife across the counter in case I need it. It feels almost paranoid to do this but living in an area where gangs are head-to-head and killing each other off, I don't think I'm really overreacting.

I look through the small peephole of the door before an unexpected visitor or, rather, an unwelcome one moves into my line of sight. I purse my lips as I try and make a decision, glancing down the hallway to where I can still hear the shower.

He knocks again and I internally growl, already flexing my hand by my side.

With a deep breath, I pull the door open. And I aim straight for his jaw. Harley's brother stumbles back, hand flying to cradle his face before he looks at me with incredulity. Now that it's light and we're not in the confines of Jack's office, I can see him clearly and I take in the resemblance between him and Harley.

For starters, his eyes are really green and much more deep set which is a contrast to Harley's hazel eyes. They both share a fair skin tone but his button nose is nothing like his sister's pointy one. Cyrus also lacks freckles like Harley but he does have a dimple on his chin and his cheekbones seem to be more defined than his sister's. And then there's the hair- blonde, short but still long enough for him to run his hands through. The hair makes them seem more alike than they really are now that Harley, too, is blonde although hers leans more towards white than golden like his.

"Shit." He mutters and I lean against the doorframe, watching him massage his jaw slowly.

"She doesn't want to see you." Is all I say. "And quite frankly, neither do I."

His eyes move to behind me, as if he's hoping he'll see her, before his eyes meet mine. I see the disappointment in them and I scoff slightly.

"She doesn't want to see me?"

"You seem surprised." I say with a raised eyebrow and again his eyes float to the inside of the apartment. "After everything you've done, you think she wants to see the brother that betrayed her? Gave up on her?"

"I didn't give up on her!" He snaps at me. "I went looking for our mother."

"Mmh," I nod my head. "And then joined a gang and left her with your asshole of a father, right?" I ask sarcastically and his thin lips twist up into a scowl.

"What? Would you have preferred that I dragged her into the gang?"

"You already have." I say angrily. "So what was the point of leaving her? All that convincing yourself that she was better off with him because she would be part of a gang is useless. Why? Because she spent years with that man getting beaten before she was taken away and now she's part of your gang anyway. So guess what, Cyrus?" I spit with vex. "Your attempt to 'protect her' has been nothing but a load of bullshit."

It seems I have hit a nerve for Cyrus as he seems to be struggling to contain his anger. And I wonder if he maybe has that part of his father- the anger and urge to hurt people. From the stories Harley told me of when they were little, he came across as a gentle person with a big heart and a patient mind. But the man standing in front of me doesn't really fit with the image I had in mind.

"Y'know, with being Jack's right hand man, I have a lot of power to make your life a living hell in this gang." He threatens me and I almost laugh.

"And make your sister hate you even more?" I shake my head. "You are all kinds of fucked up Cyrus. We might be a part of this gang now and under Jack's control but you will never be welcome in this apartment and Harley will speak to you when she feels ready. If she ever does because at this point, you don't seem to know the idea of redemption." I take a step forward, making sure I look down at him. "And you might be her brother but it's my duty to protect her because I love her. And I'm telling you to fuck off."

I take a step back and admire the way my words seem to have hurt him before shutting the door and locking it. I observe my knuckles as I go back to my tea and Harley emerges from the bathroom, a towel wrapped around her and her hair wet.

"Who was that?"

I shrug, taking a sip.

"Your brother."

Her eyes widen and she comes further into the kitchen. "What did he want?"

"To speak to you. I told him to fuck off, though. To let you speak to him if you ever want to do that. He's Jack's right hand man and so he had a lot to say about making things harsh for me." I shrug. Her eyes widen and her hand gripping the white towel tightens.

"He threatened you?"

"Basically."

She looks down and shakes her head and I immediately walk over to her, putting my hands on her shoulders and forcing her to look at me.

"Hey, it's okay. I'm fine. Just... go get ready. We can't be late." I say with a soft smile and she nods with pursed lips as I press a kiss to her forehead. She walks off then and I sigh, knowing that we're in for a hell of a lot today.

****

The common room for the gang seems to still have quite a lot of members lounging around but still not nearly as many as there were yesterday. We have not seen Cyrus since arriving here and the minute we walked through, Persephone- or Percy- told us to follow her into the common room.

"Isaac," Persephone says to the man that broke into our house along with her, who seems to be talking to another girl. The girl has a beautiful brown complexion that is only complimented by all of the gold jewelry that she wears. She has various piercings and an extravagant chain hanging from her septum. Her black hair is cut into a bob and her feline eyes lightly study Harley and I. "Here is your problem."

Isaac glances at Harley who is scowling at Persephone. Isaac nods before standing up and turning to the girl he was talking with.

"I'll catch ya later Seline. Got a newbie to teach." He says and Harley scowls again.

"I'm not a newbie."

"We'll see about that." Isaac smiles, almost patronizingly. "C'mon."

Harley gives me one last glance as I give her a reassuring nod before she follows the tall man out of the room. The thing I probably hate the most about this whole thing is the fact that Harley and I are separated. This way I don't know what they're doing to her and where she is. And I hate that. I hate having to worry about whether she's okay or not.

Persephone then turns to me with a frown. "Come on, Cameron. I gotta introduce you to Xavier so let's get this over with. I got other shit to do." She mutters before leading me back back to the front of the bar and out into the parking lot.

"What are you? Jack's co-ordinater?" I ask in amusement and she spins around so that I'm forced to stop walking. Her face is deadly calm but an almost sardonic gleam is evident in her eyes.

"If there's anyone you should be careful with how you talk to- it's me." She says lowly. I hold her gaze, my curiosity all but piqued as to what role Persephone plays in this gang because she seems to have... a high rank, I feel. And it's evident that other members keep a fair distance from her. But something tells me she probably won't answer me.

"Get in your car and follow me to the gym." She says over her shoulder before walking over to a black Land Rover and climbing in. I shake my head as I climb into my car as instructed and follow her down the streets. The gym that she eventually pulls up to isn't far and is in a shopping center which has a grocery store, a clothing store and a shop selling items for cars like tires.

I park my car beside Percy and follow her inside after grabbing my duffel bag from the back. The cool air conditioning sticks to my skin when we enter and I glance around the place. It's nothing too fancy- there is no top-of-the-range equipment but there is everything that one would need to get in shape. However, what I really notice through the sliding doors beside the administration desk is the numerous boxing rings lined up. Persephone only glances at the ginger-haired boy behind the counter who seems to shrink in her presence before the doors open for us and I really enter the gym. The sounds of people working out is heard and especially the sound of gloves hitting punching bags. I ignore the gazes of men who glance at me, most of them huge in terms of muscle as Percy leads us to the navy blue boxing ring in the center. A tall man with two sleeves stands in the center of the ring, holding his hands up in front of him as another man- much younger- punches his hands with a grunt. Sweat glistens down his forehead as he holds his hands up, giving his dark chocolate skin a certain kind of glow to it. The beard and mustache he's working just adds to the image of his age and he has a long scar across his left eyebrow and temple, leaving me to think that the wound was a horrendous thing to heal.

"Xavier!" Persephone calls out, grabbing his attention so that he tells the boy in front of him to take a break. He walks over, climbing out of the ring and hopping onto the floor with heavy breathing before nodding at Persephone in greeting.

"Hello Persephone." He says and then his brown eyes meet mine, eyes silently observing my body. He turns back to her. "This my new fighter?"

The blonde nods. "Yep. I just came to drop him off." Without so much as a glance, she's walking out, saying something briefly to another one of the fighters in the other rings. My attention is reverted back to Xavier.

"You are?" He asks, his voice deep.

"Cameron." I respond and he nods, tightening the bandages around his hands.

"Go change Cameron and then join me in the ring."

After getting changed into a white, lose shirt and black shorts with sneakers, I return to the room where my trainer is already in the ring and waiting for me. I hoist myself up, grabbing onto the ropes and hauling myself over into the ring. My hands are already wrapped in bandages since I know how that works- I used to box like this when I worked out at home if I wasn't in the mood for gloves or completely cracking my skin open.

"You ever boxed before?" He asks me with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes. But not for... underground fighting." I respond and he nods. It happens so fast that I barely have time to act but his fist is flying towards me in no time, my body moving out of the way as my hand reaches out to block his fist from making contact with my face.

He's studying me when I meet his gaze and from the power of his punch, I know that Xavier is one strong motherfucker.

He drops his hand.

"Your defense is fast. I hope your offense is just as good."

He then takes a step back before lifting his hands up in front of me. "Hit me."

I let out a breath, taking a step back and standing with my feet slightly apart before raising my hands in front of me. My hands are smacking against his palms in no time and he's taking them silently, watching me with a calculating gaze.

"Hit more with your knuckles." He tells me at some point and I try and correct that.

It seems like forever before he tells me to stop what I'm doing and by then, I'm breathing heavy and can feel the sweat beginning to collect at the back of my neck.

"I need you to fight me as if I'm your opponent." Xavier says then and I chew on my lip. "Not a man of many words, huh?"

I don't respond and instead lift my hands up, showing I'm ready to fight. He does the same and soon we're just walking in circles before I throw the first punch. Xavier catches it immediately and sends a hit to my stomach so that I'm sent flying backwards. He shakes his head.

"You let your guard down. Let's try again."

We take the stance once more and this time, I wait for him to make the first move before I'm moving out of the way and hitting him in the face with my elbow. It doesn't deter him for long because soon he's punching my face and I'm dodging it, bending down to connect my fist with his stomach. We go on like this for a while, Xavier getting most of the punches in which- might I add- sting like an absolute bitch from hell, and me trying to dodge them and hurt him as much as possible. When he's telling me to stop, I'm huffing for air, my hair sticking to my face and my body aching in all the places he hit it.

Xavier, too, is out of breath and I guzzle down some water when he begins talking: "Like I said, your defense is better than your offense which is what we need to work on. You're fast- which is useful. We can use that to our advantage. But you need to stock up on the muscle." He tells me and I nod, taking in his words. I run a hand through my hair.

"When will I start fighting?" I ask him and gives me a one shoulder shrug.

"I don't think you're too bad. In fact, I think you just need a few areas to work on. I'd say by the end of this week if we train everyday. You'll start with one of the lower ranking fighters. Chances are, they'll be an easy feat and they won't take part in any dirty fights."

I raise an eyebrow. "Dirty?"

Xavier nods. "You're only allowed to use hands but some nights they allow you to use weapons. Those usually only have higher ranking fighters who feel confident in what they're doing."

The thought of fighting another guy with a knife or brass rings makes me feel sick. What kind of people get pleasure out of this?

"You need to focus your time on staying fit." Xavier goes on to tell me as if he is a father and I am the son. "Some fights last thirty minutes and if you don't have the stamina and strength for that, you're done for. When you're not fighting at night, I want you training during the day- running, doing weights and obviously working on your actual fighting. A lot of money is placed on the fighters and you need to make a name for yourself the moment you step foot in that ring and fight your first opponent.

"So I don't care about you and your dick- you put that bullshit aside and put all your focus into fighting. I don't want to hear anything about a girl and you not having time. Until you've made a name for yourself, this is what you focus on. I'm going to push you Cameron. You're going to train like your life depends on it because it does and I'm going to make sure that you're another one of the best fighters. Whether you like it or not."

His words are harsh but I'm not surprised. I nod silently before Xavier pulls his bandages off.

"C'mon. Let me introduce you to the other fighters." He exits the ring and I follow after him before he calls out to the other fighters. Three come over. The first man goes by the name of Silver. He's not too tall and has broad shoulders but a much more muscular built than the man next to him- Marco- who is taller and much scrawnier in comparison. His eyes are droopy and his lip is busted from what I assume was a fight so that it's very red and stands out from his olive skin tone. It's the third fighter that stands out to me though. He overtakes all of them in height and is definitely a lean machine. He doesn't have many tattoos but various scars can be found on his body. His brown eyes seem bored and his mouth is twisted into a scowl while his nose is crooked from what I can assume is because of it being broken more than once. This Asian man goes by Ling and, according to Xavier, is the best fighter Jack has.

While they all stand in front of me, the thing that I come to realise is that they all have the symbol of the gang- the same image of a snake that's on the back of their jackets- marked somewhere on their body and I am reminded of the one I have for the cartel. If anyone here were to see it, I could be putting Harley and I at an even bigger risk than we already are.

None of the fighters have much to say to me before they return back their rings to continue practicing. Xavier sighs as he turns to me.

"Let's head back into the ring."

I do as I say before going into three more hours of intense workout with Xavier.

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