Guns and Mirrors

TEN

This is a double update as per usual- Chapter 9 was updated before this so please make sure you read them in the correct order :)

♛Cameron Dawson♛

I decide to cover the tattoo with a rose. It's easy and simple and yet still holds enough meaning to me to get it permanently drawn onto my skin. Along with that, there are already roses below the Jaguar so to have a big one in the centre will make it seem like it was like that from the start.

Harley sits silently beside me, watching as the tattoo artist does his thing, not once caring enough to question why I was covering the tattoo that clearly shows I was a part of something. I stick to black and white and it takes nearly two hours for him to do his thing. When he's done, I admire it, happy that the rose has covered the jaguar and writing and that it's beautiful.

"I love it." Harley says when I ask her what she thinks. I grin at that before pulling my shirt over. I never wanted to cover the tattoo that tied me to the cartel- it reminded me of where I was, what I'd done, who I was. And even though I don't always want to remember, sometimes I need the reminder. But the thought that the rose symbolizes Carla, and she's cheering me on and encouraging me to keep pushing, comforts me.

Before I can say anything, Harley is sliding into the chair after me even causing the tattoo artist to raise a brow. Harley already has a tattoo- and a stunning one at that. It's a Phoenix on her right shoulder blade, it's wings spread open and tail reaching the waistband of her jeans.

"I want to be like a Phoenix and rise from the ashes. I need a reminder that I can pick myself up and still go on." She had said when I asked her why she decided to get that one. And I loved it. I often traced it when we were in bed.

She pulls out her phone and holds it up to the bald artist. "I want this."

He studies it for a while before nodding and handing back her phone.

"Where do ya wan' it?" He asks and she lifts up her shirt, revealing just the bra-line.

"Here." She points to the spot underneath her right bra cup. It's an intimate place and somewhere she can't really show it off. The man nods and gets to work, Harley's face twisting up in pain every now and then. I laugh at her and she scowls before the artist steps back a while later and puts the needle down. It's then that I read the beautiful and elegant cursive writing:

indissolubili sociavit

It takes me a while to translate the Latin in my head but when I do, I look up to see Harley watching me. I smile at her.

"Unbreakable." I say and she nods before dropping her shirt. She comes over to me, leaning up on her tippy-toes so that she can whisper in my ear:

"And you're the only person who will ever get to see it, touch it, kiss it..."

Her words make me want to kiss her breathlessly right here, right now but not with this artist behind us. After paying him, we leave the parlour and head back to the apartment.

"I like the Latin twist." I remark as I toss the keys onto the counter. She grins.

"Well I am dating a Latino after all." She muses and I chuckle before she eyes me carefully. "Do you like it?"

I stride over to her and trap her against the counter. "I do. But... let me see it again, maybe?"

I hoist her up onto the counter, standing between her legs before she pulls her shirt off, revealing her bra. She turns slightly to show the side of her torso and I really study it. I think it's a perfect way to describe Harley- unbreakable. She was abused by her father, neglected by her mother and then abandoned by her brother. She has to deal with a mental disorder every day of her life and a phobia that triggers it while having to deal with the guilt of killing someone. She might have unhealthy ways of coping but at least she's alive, here. She's breathing. She's unbreakable.