Page 66 of Orion Ruined

She nods, and I head out after Orion. She’s the most important thing to me, showing me a semblance of what my life could be like.

“I’ll meet you in the kitchen,” Orion announces, not turning back. “I’m gonna put some clothes on.”

“Sure.”

I follow the stairs down and go to the kitchen. Orion doesn’t keep me waiting for long. He’s changed back into a black t-shirt and sweats when he enters the room in silence.

First thing he does is reach for the whiskey, pull out two tumblers, and pour. He brings them to the table, the bottle too. He downs one glass and pours another shot.

“Is it that bad?” I ask.

“They know about her.” His voice is solemn. Fuck knows what’s going on in his head. He’s always the one who can see three, four steps ahead. And now he’s worrying me.

“Yes, but we won’t let them do anything to her,” I insist.

“Logan, there are snitches among my men. That much I know.” He pauses for a beat. “She’s told me a lot. Do you remember the Savak Street drive-by?”

“Yes, and the journalist was killed after reporting on it.”

“We know it wasn’t you or Kai. And we never questioned it. We didn’t want anyone to doubt you, right? But actually, it was the Slavs.”

“The fuck?” I sputter.

“And the problems Kai got after the shootout with the Irish? The arm deals that went rogue? Kai swore he didn’t kill them.”

“Yeah, what about it?”

“Well, there were ten Irishmen there and not seven, as we originally thought. Apparently, three were left alive to go home and tell their people about what the Delgados did. We know Kai. That’s not him! He doesn’t leave one witness alive. That was Milan!” Orion looks furious. “And what happens after? The Slavs take over the arms deal with the Irish and the Delgados are left to deal with the police.”

“Fuck, man. Does Kai know?”

“Not yet. He’s like a bomb waiting to go off. I don’t know what he’ll do with it. We need to make a plan before telling him. Not just show up, spray bullets into thin air and hope for the best. What’s Maisy told you?”

“Quite a lot. Bobby Saunders is on Milan’s payroll. I’m still trying to recover from the shock. I’m inventing new ways to torture the fucker.”

“Bobby–as in your right-hand man? Is she sure?” Orion asks.

“And why the fuck does Milan have a copy of my residency record, and my DNA? Maisy knows a lot, and she’s only just now sharing information with us. She knew about my father, and his involvement in the porn industry.”

“I wondered when that would come up. Did you tell her?”

“I told her the truth,” I tell him, “that my cousins run that side of the show now.”

“Logan, this is deeper than we thought.” Orion takes a moment before talking again. “Milan has a letter from my mother.”

I’m confused. “What d’you mean?”

“Wendy wasn’t my real mother.”

I’m in shock. I thought we shared everything. “How long have you known?”

“Long. I didn’t know what to do with the information, so I parked it.”

“How come you never told us?”

He shrugs. “Willer told me a long time ago, when he was drunk. It was a one-time thing, and that was that. No matter how much I pressed, he avoided answering my questions. I thought nothing of it ‘til Maisy mentioned it. I mean, what’s this letter about? And why the fuck does Milan have it? Everything suggests that he’s preparing something.”

“Yeah, he sure is. We got to be ready for him. Is there a plan?”

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