“What about a bone marrow transplant?” I asked.
“He doesn’t think a bone marrow transplant will work at this stage, so we have to start there.”
“I need you to give me your doctor’s name and number and you need to tell me everything he’s told you in the past month.”
He pulled out his wallet and handed me a card, then leaned back in his chair. “The Apex Predators are coming for us, Ori. I can’t deal with them and chemo. I need you to step up.”
The Apex Predators were trying to horn in on our pot business. They’d been too slow to get the necessary grow permits and rather than do it legally, they figured they could muscle us out of ours. We weren’t ones to be muscled, however, so the fuckers were shit out of luck.
“I hear you, Dad. I’m here. You’ve got your officers, too. You know Moses and Rocky are already on top of it.”
“Yeah, I know.”
I leaned forward, settling my elbows on his desk. “We got this, Dad.”
“Don’t get cocky, son. That’s when things go to shit.”
“I’m not cocky. I’m confident. I get that we need to proceed carefully.”
Dad dragged his hands down his face. “I’ve put a call into Hatch in Portland in case we need back up.”
“Hopefully we won’t.”
Dad nodded and I took my opportunity to cut the meeting off. “I’m gonna go check on Raquel.”
“Okay. We’ll talk later.”
“Sounds good.”
I slid the doctor’s contact card into my pocket and walked out of the room.
Raquel
IFOUND THE coffee and put a pot on, then rummaged around for a mug. It wasn’t hard to find. The kitchen was set up very similarly to the kitchen at the Dogs of Fire compound, which was super logical.
“Can I help you?”
I turned to the sound of the feminine voice and smiled. “Hi. I’m Raquel. I’m here with Orion, but he’s meeting with his dad, so he told me to make myself at home. Do you want some coffee?”
She studied me. “No, I don’t want coffee.”
The woman was blonde, obviously from a bottle, and she wore a shit ton of makeup that made her look older than she probably was. Her mouth was in an I-just-sucked-on-a-lemon pucker, and I couldn’t stop myself from straightening my shoulders for some reason.
“Why are you here?” she asked.
“I’m sorry?”
She crossed her arms. “What do you want with Orion?”
“I’m not sure that’s any of your business.”
“Well, considering I’m fucking him, I think itismy business.”
I narrowed my eyes. “I’m guessing you might have been fucking him at one point, but I highly doubt you are now.”
“Bitch—”
“Sonja,” Orion said as he walked in. “You’re here early. Need somethin’?”
