Page 10 of KAI Tortured

We must think, and make a plan, as we always do. “I’ll get to yours as fast as I can.”

“No. Meet me at the Delgados’.”

“He won’t be there, Orion.”

“I know. But we gotta inform them. The war over Maisy’s still raging.”

“Sure. I’ll meet you there.” I look at my cell to cut the call but I hear him still talking. “What? Did you say something?”

“Yeah. There’s one more thing.”

“What?”

Orion’s silence is strange, and fucking unnerving. More bad news? “Orion, what?!”

“I opened the package from Marina this morning.”

“Why? What was in it?”

“That day in Long Island, when I saw her to the car, I asked her to compare our DNA. As a doctor, she could easily get access to our files.”

As I lie naked on my bed, a sudden feeling of adrenaline is injected into my blood, overwhelming me. My heart races, a wild drumbeat echoing the chaos of my emotions. Instantly, I sit up.

“Logan.” Orion’s voice is now calm. Too calm. “Are you ready?”

For this piece of information, I was born ready. Except I’m speechless and afraid of what’ll come out of his mouth.

“The three of us. We’re…” he starts, and I already know what he’s gonna say.

I stop him. “We can’t be. We cannot be. This is some kind of Slav ploy, and Marina was in on it. Come on, Orion, don’t tell me you’re this gullible?”

“We’re half-brothers, Logan.” The words are clear. And they’re here. In my ear.

“I don’t believe it. I don’t. There’s no way. Someone would’ve known. Someone should’ve known…” I’m on the verge of spiraling, but he brings me back.

“Logan. Stop it. It took me a while to digest the news myself. We’re brothers, man.” I hear him chuckling. “After all this time, against all odds… we’re brothers. Imagine that. And one of you, I want to kick the shit out of right now. If that’s not a brother, I don’t know what is.”

“No. It’s too easy.” Still, I reject it. I’ve been looking for my mother all my life, yet my family, my brothers, have been with me all this time?

“The evidence is here in front of me.”

“Well, if that’s the case, I may have just killed my brother. Thank you for that.”

“You haven’t. We’ll find a solution. We always do.”

“Fucking idiot, taking off on his own,” I mutter, angry that not only have I handed Maisy a death sentence, but I’ve endangered Kai’s life, too.

“How soon can you meet me at the Delgados’?” Orion asks.

I check my watch. “Fifteen minutes.”

“See you there.”

Orion cuts the line, and I’m left with so many questions in my head, although they ought to wait until we find that idiot who took Maisy.

I shoot to my feet and start dressing. My black three-piece suit is clean and freshly pressed and as I’m preparing it, the realization sinks in. Sweet Jesus mama. My mama was Orion’s mama and Kai’s mama. I look at the mirror, at myself. It can’t be. And yet, as I put on my boxers, I try to think of similarities between our bodies.

None of us look like each other. Lies. These are Slav lies.

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