Page 73 of Hale's Pawn
“Uh…” I hear Jagger saying and I look up at him. He’s staring off at something and I stop looking at my phone while ignoring the paps. When I do look at where Jagger is staring, my wife and Mikonos jump in the backseat of the big black Cadillac SUV. Ainslee rolls her window down and she looks at me.
“Something’s wrong,” I say. I can just tell. We begin to walk faster.
“Maybe it’s not what it seems,” Karessa says.
I nod. I appreciate the sentiment and hopefully, everything is okay.
“What happened?” I ask as soon as we get in the Escalade.
“It’s Dad and Phoenix, they’re in the hospital.”
I widen my eyes. “Oh no, baby, I’m so sorry.” I pull Ainslee into my arms. On our way to the hospital, I turn my cell on, prompting all my notifications to start pinging back to back. How many times have they been trying to get into contact with one of us to tell Ainslee and Mikonos what just happened? I kiss Ainslee’s temple. This is bad, really bad.
When we getto the hospital, Ainslee and Mikonos rush out before us and are nowhere to be found when we enter the hospital. Not even a minute after, one of the Bishops’ men escorts Jagger, Karessa and I to where they are. I hear Ainslee screaming and I walk faster, trying to figure out what is going on. I turn the corner and Ainslee is yelling at some of the other men who stand there with their eyes concentrated somewhere else. “You were supposed to protect them. They are your number one priority. Who the fuck do you think you are, huh? What were you doing? Somebody answer me!” There’s an air of authority around Ainslee that I’ve never witnessed before.
Ainslee paces back and forth in her heels. The fact that she’s all dolled up wearing a cropped tank and a lace skirt that reaches her knees p does not take away from her looking like she’d beat the shit out of one of them.
One of the men she was talking to takes his eyes off her and looks our way. Ainslee reaches out and slaps the shit out of him. “Don’t fucking look at them. Look at me! My father is lying there in the hospital bed alongside my fucking brother. They were both shot. How? If you don’t answer me now, I’m two seconds away from losing my shit.”
“It was at a restaurant in Vegas. They were aiming for Ciro Sarkozy’s wife, not boss.”
Ainslee snaps her fingers and one of them gives her a gun. Jagger, Karessa and I watch as Ainslee grabs the man, who is about six feet tall, by the tie. “Kneel,” she says as if she's the head of the family now. She aims the gun right at his head. I try to move closer to her to stop it but Mikonos comes out of nowhere. He has his hand on my shoulder. I look at him and he shakes his head. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t fucking send you to the morgue right now. ONE!” she yells.
“We know who did it,” the guy blurts out.
Ainslee doesn’t say anything for a bit and then turns, not even looking at me. She looks right at Mikonos. “Set up a meeting with Ciro.”
“Done,” Mikonos answers.
“Who’s Ciro?” Jagger whispers to me. “I’m a little fucking intimidated by this Ainslee. She’s hot, but jeez, this isn’t just for shits and giggles,” he says.
I side eye him and he shrugs. Karessa looks just as worried and honestly, a little terrified. Shit, we all should be terrified of what just happened. Things are changing and I don’t know how it’ll affect my wife. My first priority is my wife. I need to make sure that she’s alright. Ainslee turns back around, grabbing the guy’s jaw and digging her nails into his skin. He pops his mouth open. She puts the barrel of the gun in his mouth. She bends, staring him in the eye. “If Andres or Markos Bishops dies, I will torture you myself. Your job was simple. Watch Markos’ back while he watches our father’s. He did his duty, what the fuck did you do?” she hisses. She looks at the others standing. “Tell Luci I need her. You, Matthews, you watch my family while I’m in Quebec. Count your days, big boy.” She stands and hands the gun to the other guy.
She turns and she walks towards us but it’s like she’s operating in a different mode. I grab her elbow as she tries to walk by me. Ainslee turns like she’s about to attack. “Whoa! Babe, it’s me. Baby, what’s going on? Talk to me. Are you okay?”
Ainslee looks up at me, then her elbow, then back up at me. “You don’t understand, Oran. You can’t possibly understand what’s happening,” she says to me and I can see that mask slowly starting to take place again.
“So then explain it to me,” I say softly.
Ainslee sighs. She shuts her eyes and when she opens them again that vibrant spirit of hers is gone. “Let me go. Go home. I’ll be there later.”
I cock my brow. What the fuck? I try to reply but Mikonos does that damn hand over the shoulder thing again. He shakes his head. I’m pissed the fuck off but she’s right, I don’t know what’s happening. I let go of her elbow and she walks off with her head held high and Mikonos right by her side.
“Dude, your wife is the temporary head of the Bishops family while Andres is down. That’s what’s happening,” Jagger says.
“Is she going to be okay?” Karessa asks. I look at her as she cuddles into Jagger’s arms.
He kisses her temple and he looks at me with worry in his eyes. I wish I could tell him that I know what to do, but I don’t. I’m jealous for a second because I just want my wife back, but I know that my wife has taken a backseat to the Don of the Bishops family, Ainslee Bishops.
“I don’t know, Karebear,” Jagger says to her. “I really don’t know.”
AINSLEE
“You need to go home,” Mikonos says to me.
I shake my head as I look over my dad’s books and try to figure out who really put a hit out on him. Ciro Sarkozy is going to have a meeting with me in a few days. I sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose. “Okay, let’s go.”
The car ride is silent. Neither Mikonos nor I have much to say. It’s hard to believe that both Markos and dad are in the hospital. “I’m going to check on them. I need you to go home and sleep. I will be back in an hour. There are more men in the back of the house watching,” Mikonos says as we pull up to the house .
