“Language, Orion,” Lisa warns, although her voice trembles. “That’s Mya’s new greatest pal.”

I kneel down by the mattress to speak to her. “Hey, Mya. You know the way I advised you about your cool Uncle Orion?”

Her massive blue eyes shift to Orion. “Mm-hmm.”

“Nicely, he simply made positive that horrible man downstairs is shipped to endlessly land–by no means ever to come back again.”

“You probably did?” she asks him.

“Sure, kiddo. Come right here.” She goes to him and he takes her in his arms. “You’ve grown a lot. I missed your voice.”

“I missed your voice too.” She grins and wraps her arms round his neck.

Orion closing his eyes and visibly melting in her embrace is the most effective factor ever.

“I promise nothing will ever occur to you once more,” he whispers.

ORION

“The artwork of revenue relies on exploiting want, and nobody perfected that darkish artwork higher than my father,” I decreed within the boardroom to an viewers of Kai, Logan, and two further members of every of their households, all me impassively.

“And my father,” Kai added curtly.

“Yeah, let’s not neglect about Lorenzo, both,” Logan interjected, as if this was a contest. “He beloved to fuck, however he was fucking sensible!” His relations nodded approvingly.

I ignored them. “Along with his nice enterprise acumen, he invested in plenty of corporations which have turned out to be very related to the COVID disaster: multi-service companies equivalent to catering, cleansing and disinfection, industrial laundries, transport, funeral houses, waste assortment, meals distribution–and well being,” I continued. “All of those sectors have been basic throughout COVID, which labored out nice for us. I’m positive your fathers did the identical, and also you each have one thing you’re working towards.

“Nevertheless, now that we’ve came upon Milan was out to get us all this time, the mess the Slavs saved serving us for too lengthy can’t be ignored any longer. It’s the proper time to affix forces and assault.

“Our relationship, if I may name it that, shouldn’t final lengthy. Nevertheless it positive will function a basis for the long run, offering it’s profitable. I due to this fact suggest we strike Milan’s HQ, get entry to his secure, the place all of the vital paperwork on us are held, take what’s ours, and go our separate methods. We don’t must fake to be buddies right here.”

I vividly remembered Maisy telling me the secure was what we wanted. There ought to be three bins in it, one on every of our respective households. Every part she’d learn was positioned in there. All of the proof of crime, snitches, earnings, scams, and extra. However selfishly, I wished this for no different purpose than to get my arms on that letter from my mom. Why the fuck would Milan have a letter from my mom in any respect?

“How do we all know you gained’t do one thing silly? Like, pull the gun on us mid-heist?” one in every of Logan’s folks requested with a scowl.

“It’s all the time our personal division that destroys us. We’ve been on the verge of extinction and we survived, all of us, too many occasions. I’d must be silly to do one thing like that. One factor everyone knows is that there’s an excessive amount of animosity. The household we every belong to is vital, however it’s additionally in regards to the honor and loyalty and character of the relations. I imagine Kai and Logan have that.” As I concluded, each Kai and Logan nodded so everybody would know they agreed.

“So, do you imagine the identical about me?” I requested.

Logan stood up and provided his hand. “I do.”

I shook with him and nodded.

“Sure.” Kai received to his toes and provided his hand too. “It’s possible you’ll be many issues, however you’re loyal, Orion.” I knew he meant it.

Their relations rose and all of us shook arms, sealing the plan tight.

As for executing it, we didn’t waste a lot time. We knew Milan had snitches in every single place; heck, we knew about Bobby from the Vitali household and so, formally, we mentioned it could happen in a month’s time, when in precise reality we did it inside mere days.

Two days from that assembly, fifteen of us–5 from every household–had been in Milan’s home. Out and in. He figured one thing was happening once we took an costly portray from his home, one which he shouldn’t have had in his possession within the first place, and left it exterior the Interpol HQ, leaning towards the signal saying The Stolen Works of Artwork Database. We dropped him within the shit, needing him to be centered on one thing whereas we had been sifting by means of the data he had on us and making sense of it.

Initially, he didn’t know we infiltrated his secure. We didn’t take rather a lot, largely simply the three bins Maisy had advised us about. In fact, we went by means of all the pieces, together with a bunch of previous DVDs, every with a photograph of an underaged woman on the duvet. That made us sick. I might’ve left them there if I hadn’t seen Maisy’s face staring again at me from one of many covers. A scared-looking little woman sitting within the nook of a dingy grey room, with brief hair and darkish circles below her eyes. That’s what I noticed first, the abyss in her eyes. After which I made a decision I used to be taking all of them, so I shoved the DVDs into my field and we left.

We went our separate methods, every with our personal field. We needed to undergo the vital paperwork, the cash, the snitches, and our personal private shit earlier than passing it on to everybody else.

~

It’s been three days since I’ve seen them, and Kai and Logan are attributable to come over as we speak. I’m positive Milan is aware of what occurred by now. Interpol contacted him the following day, and he’s certain to have joined the dots. And if he didn’t, I guess one in every of his snitches advised him.

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