Page 56 of Free-Falling
“Me, motherfucker.” He gauges my surprised reaction. He shrugs. “You’re her husband, you should know my name but no one else can know.”
“Got it.” I answer. “What’s your issue with Guinevere?” I say, changing the subject. “I’ve noticed that you get prickly around her. Bad blood or ancient crush?” I tease.
Mikonos grunts and curls his lip in disgust. “Her father stabbed me once when I was thirteen.”
My eyes widen. “What? And you hate her because of it?”
“It’s just added to her pompous, shitty attitude. You know, she looked me right in the eye after her father did it and she told me I deserved it. That was the first time I thought about the many ways I could decapitate her and make it hurt even worse.”
“Shit.” I say. I know I just should mind my business but this is the most Mikonos and I have ever talked. I know little about him like the name he goes by and now his real one, that he’s older than Ainslee by two years and that he’d kill all of us for Ainslee. “Why did her dad stab you?” I ask anyway.
“Because he wanted me to realize he was big shit.” Mikonos lightly chuckles. “Too bad, though. I was an angry thirteen-year-old and bold enough to yank the knife out of my gut and stab him right back. He never fucked with me again and even though he dragged his daughter with him, I didn’t help her.”
“Do you regret not helping her?”
Mikonos smirks. “I haven’t given her much thought until I saw her while I was out with one of the boys. I might have even been content with her being dead. Fuck the entire Esposito bloodline. I tolerate her now because Ainslee wants me to.”
I whistle. “And I thought my hate for Ainslee was real.”
Mikonos laughs harder this time. “Your hate for Ainslee was never real. You forget I see everything. That birthday party, the necklace she never checked, the way you react to her now. There’s a difference between liking her with your dick and your heart. The reason I never stepped up to you is that your eyes never lie when it comes to her, Jagger. You love the one girl who means the entire world to me. She’s my family. My little sister and even when you guys would fight, there was always a resistance from you. When she cried, you stopped, and you’d leave. You need more examples, asshole?”
I shake my head, snickering. “Thanks for letting me know you’re a fucking creep. If I’d known you watched me that hard, I would’ve given you a chance too.”
Mikonos flips me his middle finger. ” Kiss my ass dude.” He turns towards the small hallway. “HURRY, AINS! FIVE MINUTES.”
“Fine!” Ainslee replies. “Pick up your phone, it’s dad calling.”
Mikonos pulls his phone out as it rings. He picks it up on the first ring. “Papà?” He answers.
I don’t know what is going on, but the neutral expression on Mikonos’s face transforms to murderous. He sits up straighter and is staring off at the wall behind me. He looks like he either heard bad news or has seen a ghost. Every once a beat, he answers withyes I understand. He’s silently huffing and puffing like a bull ready to charge at the matador. “Can’t we just get rid of her? I don’t want to fucking do it!” He hisses.
I don’t hear Ainslee’s father’s response, but it’s clear Mikonos’s reaction doesn’t faze him. After another minute, he grits through his teeth. “Yes, papà,katalavaíno.” He says then hangs up. He crushes the cell in his hand as if it’s a toy and not a functioning thing.
Ainslee picks this moment to come and stand by Mikonos. I try to pull her close to me because I don’t know what just happened or what Mikonos will do. “Please, Miko. Please.” She begs, “Do this for me, for us. Please. I would never ask this of you if I knew it wasn’t necessary.”
Mikonos shoots up out of his seat but doesn’t move. He glares at Ainslee and starts firing off in rapid Greek. Greek wasn’t a language I wanted to learn. I only understood the basics of it and none of what he’s saying can I understand. Ainslee shakes her head, holding back tears as she replies to him in Greek. He stops talking, his hands in fists at his side, but then he gives her a sharp nod. Mikonos walks away and out of the apartment.
“Hey…” I stand, turning her to face me. I bend a little just to catch her eyes. “Hey, what’s going on? What’s got both of you so upset?”
Ainslee finally looks at me. “The only way we can put Guiny under our protection properly is by Mikonos marrying her or else her dad may challenge us. It’s our code. Mikonos knows that.”
I shake my head. “You’re forcing him to get married to someone he doesn’t want to marry, Ains? Baby…”
“I know!” She yells. “You don’t think I know how bad it looks!” She yells.
“Hey! Ainslee, I know you’re upset but don’t do that. Don’t transfer that shit over here. I’m trying to talk to you. Help me understand why this has to be done.”
“Sorry,” she apologizes. “I know we just went through it, but her father is the reason she’s running. She won’t tell me why, but I can’t leave my cousin, Jagger. I called my dad to see if there was any other way, but there isn’t. Even if he is the Don on the Island and some parts of the States. He doesn’t run the entire syndicate. This isn’t his territory.”
“So, he has to do it. Another fucking arrangement?”
Ainslee sniffles. “Yeah. He knows I would never ask him to do this if there was another way. He’s mad at me, and Mikonos has never been mad at me, Jags. I don’t know what to do.”
I pull her in my arms. “Don’t worry baby, I’ll talk to him, he is my brother-in-law, right?” I lighten the mood.
Ainslee wraps her arms around my waist. “Thank you and please tell him I’m sorry and that I love him dearly.”
“Will do but I’m not adding dearly. I’m a jealous fuck, pretty baby.” I kiss the top of her head and Ainslee snuggles into my arms.
