Page 116 of Orion Ruined

“Wait, Gianini’s? The people you trust? Then they’re working with Milan, Kai!” I yell. There. That’s my comeback.

“Listen to me!” Maisy yells, getting our attention. “Milan told me if I took the three of you to Gianini’s today at noon, he’d set my sister free.”

“Your sister?” I take a deep breath. “Maisy, I’m sorry to tell you this, but your sister is dead. We found a note saying she killed herself.”

She frowns at my words, her black eyes slowly dying in front of my own. She blinks, too fast, then slower, like her mind is trying to restart but getting the same outcome each time.

“Wh-what?” Her voice is barely a whisper.

“We didn’t know how to tell you, sweetheart,” Logan says. “I’m so sorry.”

“No! That’s a lie!” She lunges at him with her fists. “I shouldn’t have told you about Milan! You’re all gonna die for these lies!”

I hold both of her wrists in my hand while she tries to wrestle free. This is bad. So bad that we’re holding her down between us. But I got to know.

“Maisy, stop it. Stop. Is this what I think it is? You’re taking us into a trap?”

She raises her gaze to me and when I look at her, I know all I need to know. I would’ve died for her, right on this very spot, but she sold us out. Her dark eyes are begging for forgiveness. For anything to keep us bathing in her waters. But they are toxic. They must be, because this keeps happening, over and over. And she’s the common denominator.

I knock frantically on the barrier between Garry and us. “Stop the car! Stop it!”

With a screech, Garry stops in the middle of the road and turns to us, baffled. He lowers the barrier. There are sounds of other cars screeching to a halt behind us. “Is everything alright, boss?”

My brain goes into overdrive. In my head I’m planning every intricate detail of our attack, except I haven’t been to Gianini’s and I would need to know every inch of that restaurant.

“Park the car. Call everyone you can think of. Milan’s set us a trap at Gianini’s. We’re gonna hit him back, and end this once and for all.” I check my watch. “Tell them to be there in fifteen minutes.”

Kai and Logan are already on their cells, talking to their families. I dial Uncle Leo’s cell and wait. The glances we exchange are real, raw, like those before a gladiator’s battle, when nothing is certain. Maisy’s taken off her pink heels and has pulled her knees to her chest. She’s terrified, but still fucking guilty. I scowl at her and shake my head, partly at my own stupidity for trusting her. She should’ve told us; she should’ve told me last night. There were plenty of opportunities. But she didn’t even try. That shows how much she loves us. She came clean only because she felt guilty. That’s all.

If I didn’t have to think about Kai or Logan getting killed right now, I’d have shot her first. Guilt-free. Ugh!

12.15PM

“I don’t wanna see you outside of this car, clear?” I warn Maisy.

If anyone’s going to kill her, it’ll be me. Her eyes are wide. We haven’t addressed her at all, except when Kai asked if she knew how many people would be there and she shook her head. She knows she fucked up. Massively. None of us want to even entertain the thought of what happens next. We just know that we all want her inside the car.

This is it. Kai, Logan, and I were born ready.

On the other side of the street are seven, maybe eight cars, and everyone inside them is armed and has one aim: kill the Slavs. This is the perfect occasion for it. I should remember to thank Maisy for bringing this fight to us sooner than we planned.

I nod at Garry, who’s glaring impatiently at me in the rear-view mirror. He nods back and with a screech, ours is the first in the line of cars speeding toward the restaurant where the Slavs are waiting for us. It’s a minute away, and as the noise reaches them before we do, rapid gunfire is opened on us. Someone from behind us responds, and all hell breaks loose.

Garry parks the car opposite the restaurant. A few of the cars following us crash through the front of the restaurant, and the rest alongside, creating a circle around the Slavs, who are hidden all over the space.

Adrenaline kicks in. I swing open the car door and crouch behind it as I shoot, one bullet at a time, each time getting a kill. I look back inside the car to check on Maisy. She’s covering her ears and her eyes are shut.

A deafening boom blows out three cars in a row. Some of the Delgado team have sneaked in with grenades, totally disorienting everyone. The Slavs will die today. The air’s thick with flying bullets and smoke. Garry takes a bullet in the shoulder; it’s through and through, nothing deadly, but he’s young–

“Orion…” Another spray of bullets hits him, three or four in his chest and neck. He coughs and splutters blood.

Not Garry! He’s just a kid!

Turning to me was his mistake. Because of me, people die. The simple reason I’m petrified to love.

I run to him but it’s too late. He’s on the ground, staring vacantly at the sky. In the chaos I kneel and close his eyes, giving him his peace. Anger rolls through me as I turn in the direction the bullets are coming from.

“Cover me!” I yell. Most of us are advancing, pushing the Slavs back into the dead-end alleyway where they’re sitting ducks. I pick up the semiautomatic of a dead Slav and mow down everyone in my way. We got them! The Slavs are over!

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