Guns and Mirrors

EIGHT

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.