This is a double update as per usual- Chapter 11 was uploaded before this so please make sure you read them in the correct order :)

♕Harley Anderson♕

Danté fixes the door up as best as he can, telling me that we'll have to get a new one since there's a crack through the middle of the current one. While he does that, I decide to clean the bloody utensils that I used on Cyrus and pick up the broken mug that I never got around to, too. My stomach seems to groan in hunger but I cannot stomach a meal after the night I've had.

"So you talked to your brother, huh?" Danté enquires from where he puts away all the tools. I scoff.

"I wouldn't call it talking." Is my simple reply and Danté's lips quirk up into a small smile as he nods. I slide him his mug of tea and take a seat next to him on the couch where I sit between his legs, resting against his chest. After the night I've had, this is the only way to make me feel better and safe. "So what was the ring like?" I ask, wrapping my hands around the mug.

I feel Danté shrug behind me. "Nothing I wasn't expecting." The tone of voice he uses makes me turn around and glance to which I notice the uneasy look on his face. Usually Danté can keep a mask on pretty well but, tonight, I can see exactly how he feels and I don't have a good feeling about it.

"Danté..." I say and he sighs, moving so that I'm leaning against the arm rest with my legs over his so that I can see him better. As he pinches the bridge of his nose, I see how tense his muscles are and I'm scared for what he's about to say.

"Today turned out to be 'Dirty Fight Night'." He says to me and my eyebrows draw together.

"So what happened?"

He looks down at his tea. "The fight was gruesome. I heard how much people were betting on players and it was insane. But the one guy had a knife and the other... he had rings on. And he didn't walk out of that ring." Danté says lowly and my heart gets stuck in my throat.

"Did he... was he..." I struggle to say.

Danté shrugs, trying to go for a look of nonchalance but I see through it.

"I..."

He squeezes my knee. "It doesn't matter amado. I saw what I'm in for and now I need to prepare. There's no escaping it."

I purse my lips. "Please tell me you'll be careful." I ask pleadingly and looks at me softly.

"I will."

I reach out to him, and he puts his mug down on the table before laying his head on my chest and wrapping his arms around my waist. My hands run through his hair and I kiss his forehead before we're both lulling off to sleep.

****

"What the hell was that?" Isaac hisses at me from the passenger seat and I glare at him.

"What? Would you have preferred I drove us into a tree?"

"Fucking watch it Harley. It's already Wednesday and you need to be ready by Monday. At this point you're a lost cause." He snaps and I narrow my eyes at him. "I told you to hit two hundred and all you hit was one! One!"

I run a hand through my hair in frustration, mentally strangling Isaac so that I can at least get some type of anger out. However, it doesn't really do much and when he tells me to do it again, I can't help but sigh in defeat. Racing is supposed to be fun and enjoyable and a way for me to release all my pent up emotions and just let go- even if for only a couple of seconds. But all this has being is stressful and nerve wrecking. Isaac is horrible- he has no patience and he isn't willing to listen either. He asks you for something and expects it done and, unfortunately, I can't seem to meet his status-quo in this case.

I know that all the other racers are watching and continuously messing up isn't helping setting a name for myself amongst them but I swallow that down and focus on the road. My foot presses on the gas and we're lurched forward, my foot not lifting off and easing up. The speed meter goes from a hundred to a hundred and fifty and things are already blurring around me, the earth seeming to spin outside of the vechile and induce me into a coma of anxiety. I blink it away, focusing on the feel of the wheel under my hands, the engine under my feet and the lightness as I control the car. Danté always said I had control of the car- and even if I lost it, I had to have had it at some point in order to lose it. So I repeat this mantra in my head, imagining it being Danté sitting beside me and encouraging me, as I increase in speed until I hit Isaac's request of two hundred miles an hour. I keep a steady grip on the wheel as I turn the car with the curb and I grunt, my chest seizing up when I feel the familiar motion of the car beginning to skid.

We'll surely die if I don't regain control.

So I do, even though it takes every ounce of determination to do so. When I'm back on the road, the car still speeding but fully in my control, a feeling of pride and relief can't help but consume me and soon I'm smiling to myself as I feel myself floating. I almost don't stop the car when Isaac tells me to but I do, just to avoid his snarky remarks. I park next to the cars of the other racers before cutting the engine.

My head falls against the seat and I close my eyes for a moment as I smile, relishing in the feeling of success but feeling exhausted from the sudden rush of adrenaline and Isaac's harsh treatment.

"Was that so fucking hard?" He asks, and I almost sense a hint of relief in his voice. Without any appreciation of the way he talks to me, I grunt and climb out of the car so that the sun scorches my eyes and I have to squint as I adjust to the light. Isaac climbs out before nodding his head at me. "You did good." That's all I get out of him before he's moving on to speak to a few of the other racers who watch me with amused smiles that they don't bother to hide.

I scowl at them as I drag myself over to Lina who is sucking on a blue lollipop and leaning against the black and sleek Mercedes she has behind her. She cracks me a wide grin- one thats almost contagious- and claps her hands for me so that I roll my eyes.

"Damn girl, who knew you could ride like that." She says, the glint in her eyes letting me know she's aware of the double meaning. "But really, that was great. You'll be taking the track by storm."

A grateful smile makes it way onto my face as I lean against the car beside her.

"Thanks Lina."

She nudges me with her shoulder, "Isaac didn't seem too happy though."

A scoff leaves my lips as I roll my eyes. "Yeah because he has a stick up his ass."

Lina laughs loudly at that, her laugh probably one of the prettiest I've heard, as she pulls the sweet out of her mouth. We lapse into silence as some of the other racers take to the tracks while others talk in a huddle. I've spoken to a few of them but none of those had anything nice to offer. Lina's friendliness is still something I'm not sure I'm comfortable with but something I definitely appreciate. She's witty, protective and seems to be a good listener but despite that, there's a certain type of hardness to Lina- one that makes her a little rough around the edges. Lina is sassy and downright snarky when she wants to be, she always seems to have a response to everything. She's impatient and hot headed and she's more than willing to get into a fist fight when someone pisses her off which I witnessed yesterday when Charlotte had said something to her when she walked in and Persephone had to pull them apart before Charlotte suffered a major concussion. According to Lina, Charlotte is an absolute bitch and nothing but a pain up her rear-end. Add blunt to her never ending list of qualities.

"Can I ask you something?" I say suddenly, making Lina glance at me. Even though I only speak to Lina, I know nothing about her and that bothers me because how do I know that I really know her?

"Mmh, shoot." She complies. I choose my words carefully.

"Why are you and Ramiro both part of a gang?"

Lina's face hardens slightly but I see no anger which makes me visibly relax.

"We've being involved in gang life our whole lives. My parents were part of it and they were grooming us to join them just like a normal parent would groom their child to become a doctor." She tells me and I notice the past tense in which she speaks. "They were caught in a gang crossfire and died. Me and Ramiro just went through what would have happened if they were still here."

Deep sorrow and empathy runs through me and I feel like a car has hit the air out of my lungs. How can she be so okay with this life when she lost her parents to it? I can only imagine what it felt like to have her parents die so mercilessly with no justice for them enforced.

"You don't deserve that." Is what I reply. Saying sorry is the most useless thing I can say- it's like a sympathy card that everyone uses- so I avoid it. But today it's all I can think to offer.

Lina shrugs, tossing her lollipop stick into her jacket pocket with more force than necessary.

"Yeah, well, this is the life I was born into. It happened a while ago so it's okay. I guess it just sucks the way it went down."

I don't offer anything else to say and allow her to mask over the grief on her face before she turns to me.

"What about you, huh? Why are you and Cameron joining the gang?" She asks and I would assume it's just her returning the favour of asking such a question if it wasn't for the look in her eye... one I cannot quite pinpoint what is. It feels like she's almost testing me.

I purse my lips. How do I respond to this? I can't tell her why I'm joining exactly without explaining what dirt Jack has on me but I cannot say it's because 'I want to' when it's obvious to anyone with eyes that I don't.

"Would you believe me if I said there's a much bigger picture?" I ask and Lina chuckles.

"It would be dumb of me not to."

"Then that's it. We're just... joining for a lot of reasons."

My response doesn't seem to upset her or make her more curious and instead she nods before she's called out by one of the girls talking to other racers. Lina raises a brow at the girl- Raven, if I recall correctly- who has blue hair that's shaved on one side. The girl has tattoos all the way up to her neck and even one by her temple and although I find it incredibly unattractive, she makes it work in ways I could never.

"I heard you banging the new member- who is it?" The girl's eyes flicker to me. "The girl or her man?" Disgust wraps its hand around my throat at her insinuation and Lina legitimately growls as the two guys around Raven laugh. "Oh, my bad, I forgot you're a fucking prude."

"Mind your fucking business Raven." Lina warns and if I were Raven, I would shut up. But, of course, she doesn't do that. Instead, Raven smirks menacingly.

"What's wrong? You don't like me calling out what a nun you really are? When was the last time you had someone between your legs?" Raven muses and Lina steps forward.

"I'm sure you'd love to go there huh? Especially since that thing between your legs can't recognize one specific dick with all the different ones that go in and out."

That seems to hit a nerve for Raven who scowls, standing up.

"Come say that a little closer Katalina."

Lina begins walking to her and I grip her arm. She just shrugs it off. Fantastic. Now I have to witness a fight.

"I'm not afraid of you little Birdy." Lina says patronizingly and Raven is about to pounce on Katalina when Isaac is popping up out of nowhere and stepping between the two of them, blocking Raven from reaching Lina.

"What's going on here?" He asks and Raven scowls just as Lina spits at her and I frown.

"¡puta!" Lina sneers before Isaac tells her to back off to which she does, coming back over to me with a deep frown. "Let's go before I stab a bitch." She mutters, climbing into the car.

Guess I can add short-tempered to the list of 'All Things Lina' as well.

****

Danté pulls up with Ramiro showing up shortly after at about the same time that Lina and I do. Danté winces ever so slightly when I embrace him and I immediately pull back, looking for where he's hurt. When I come up short I ask: "What's wrong?"

Danté lifts his shirt up slightly, revealing a blue bruise near his navel and a soft gasp escapes my mouth.

"Is this from training?" I inquire as I touch it slightly before he drops his shirt back down. He nods and when he sees me letting out a stressed sigh, he wraps an arm around my waist and pulls me closer.

"Hey, I'm fine okay?"

"You're not fine." I snap, a little too harshly than I intended and Danté frowns.

"I am." He says with conviction and I sigh before he clips my chin and forces me to look at him. "I just... can't strain myself anymore than I already am."

As I catch his drift, I can't help but roll my eyes.

"Well then maybe you should learn to keep it in your pants."

He smirks, hands moving further down so that I give him a warning look.

"But how can I when you live with me?"

I want to scowl at him but instead a smile worms onto my face and Danté laughs before pecking my lips and dragging me along with Lina and Ramiro into the building. When we enter the common room, everyone seems to be celebrating as they drink and laugh and lounge around.

"What's going on?" I ask Lina and she points to a guy with red hair grinding against a girl on top of a pool table.

"It's his birthday."

I don't bother to hide the disgust on my face. Shit, it's like a college party here.

Lina leads the way to the bar table and I follow after her before Danté grabs my wrist, forcing me to look at him. He glances around the place with a frown before looking back at me.

"Do you want to stay for this?" He asks me and I look around at the members seemingly having a good time. I'd much rather be back at the apartment, in bed and under the covers, but isn't being here- in the presence of the gang- safer? Especially after what happened with The Kings last night?

"It's safer right? What if they come back?" I have to say in his ear in order for him to hear me above all the talking and music going on. Danté purses his lips before nodding curtly. He lets go of my wrist and I slide into the seat next to Lina. She orders a bottle of beer for herself while I settle with a Rock Shandy. As we wait, I take the time to really observe everyone. It's still amazes me how many members this gang has. It seems as if there's always new faces whenever I enter this damn place.

"Lina!" Someone suddenly says and I look over to see a man- around our age- slinging an arm over the Mexican girl beside me. He seems to a have a boy-next-door kind of vibe with his attire consisting of only denim and lots of gold jewelry. Lina smiles.

"Hey William." She greets him and his eyes slide over to mine.

"Who is your pretty lady friend?" He asks, not removing his eyes from mine.

"This is Harley. Harley, this is William- IT genius." Lina introduces him before the same girl who was speaking to Isaac yesterday- Seline, I remember- suddenly comes bouncing over.

"And the guy who will fuck anything with a hole." She adds and William pouts childishly before smirking at her.

"You know I love your hole though, babe."

Seline throws him the middle finger before stalking off. William laughs at her retreating figure before turning his attention back to me.

"Call me Will." He says, offering me a wide smile that tells me he definitely had braces when he was younger from how straight they are. The fact that Will is supposed to be the IT genius for the gang amuses me. I thought he would be lanky and nerdy, a guy with glasses and horrible social skills, not some guy with a charisma, tattoos and grills in his mouth. But Ramiro doesn't really fit that criteria either so...

"I'll leave you two ladies alone. But if you consider getting it on, please call me. I'm down for watching or joining."

Lina hits him in the ribs with her elbow and he takes off laughing, heading over to Ramiro who is speaking to Danté.

"So, William is in charge of everything got to do with hacking and whatever for the gang?" I clarify as I receive my drink. Lina pops the cap off of her beer with her teeth before nodding.

"Yep."

"But he's so young." I say, more to myself than her.

"Jack doesn't care about age but rather ability. I mean, look at Seline there." Lina says, pointing to Seline who is dancing on top of a pool table. A guy is dancing beside her and when he brings their bodies closer together, I notice the very subtle movements of her hands moving to his wrist and in the blink of an eye, without the boy noticing, she's peeling his watch off and slipping it into her pockets all the while dancing rhythmically. "She's in charge of everything got to do with stealing. And she's fucking good at it. Her heists are insane."

My eyebrows raise at that before Lina goes on to point at another man, this one being someone I don't recognize. But, with a face as terrifying as his, one could never forget it. Besides that fact he's huge in terms of muscle and insanely tall, he has bags under his eyes and his one eye seems to have a scar across it, all the way from his forehead to his cheekbone. He has extravagant piercings, three in each ear and a lip ring and eyebrow ring. With his beard growing and his overall terrifying aura, he seems to be fairly older than me. Whoever this man is, he sits and smokes a blunt with a bunch of other people, Ryan and Charlotte included in them.

"That's August." Lina says, catching me staring. "He's head of drug deals and is completely unstable. I swear."

"How old is he?" I ask and she shrugs, taking a swig of her alcohol.

"No older than forty, that I know."

Do people not find it terrifying that people so young are involved in stuff like this, in charge of stuff like this? People my age should be attending college and going to stupid parties, not dealing drugs and killing people.

I shake my head to myself. Some of them don't know any better since this is the life they've always lived.

"What does Persephone do?" I've always being curious since it's obvious that she's put on a pedestal to everyone else however, I've never seen her do anything specific which has only made me all the more curious.

"She's the gang's hitman. Assassin, rather." Lina tells me and my eyes widen considerably, my throat constricting at that. How is it possible for someone to kill for a living? I don't understand. How does she do that? I can barely cope with the guilt of taking one life... I suppose it really is a quality of a murderer to feel no remorse for those they have deprived of life. "And then we have Cyrus- Jack's righthand man and second-in-command."

The mention of my brother's name makes me snap my head to Lina who is looking at Cyrus leaning back on one of the seats, drinking a can of beer while a bunch of guys sit and talk to him. One of them say something and he laughs loudly, the skin around his eyes crinkling and I feel my heart clench violently in my chest so that my eyes water.

He looks so happy. So content. Cyrus is at ease here, and is completely comfortable with these people... these monsters. How can he ever expect my forgiveness when he was busy laughing and having a good time with these people while I was at home getting beaten to a pulp and mourning the abandonment of my mother and brother? I was his family- his little sister, and he gave me up for this. This life of violence, money and sex. We were supposed to stick together- we only had each other. Our mother was absent and a coward, our father was a monster. He was all I had left.

I look into my glass of alcohol as a thought comes to mind, one that I struggle to accept.

I was his family, but these people are his family now.

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