Page 1 of Hale's Pawn
Prologue
AINSLEE
I makemy way towards the front of the bakery. I stop short when I see my dad sitting right there with Eli, at the same table. Everyone else in the bakery is going on about their day like nothing is happening, but my father is practically glaring at Eli.
I walk over to them with a café con leche and pan de aguafor my dad. He looks up at me. “You look good, Ains. Haven’t seen you in a bit. How’s your influencer stuff going?” I stare at my dad as I take a seat across from him, wondering why he’s asking. He never usually asks.
“It’s umm... going good, I think,” I say. “So, what’s up, dad?”
“You’re getting married. This year actually,” he starts off. I look at Eli and then at my dad. Is there something I’m missing? My dad pulls out some pictures. “So, you’ve got Caerwyn Hale, Harley Hanlon, maybe even Bowie Hanlon or Oran Hale.”
“What?” I ask my dad. “I have a fiance, dad, he’s right here.”
My dad looks over at Eli and then back at me. “This is over.”
“Dad.” My heart skips a beat because I know he’s serious.
My dad cocks his brow. “You can either choose one of these men or... you know?” he winks at me and smirks at Eli. “It's sad that these are the circumstances we’re meeting in. It’s nice to meet you, in some way.” My dad looks at me. “Wrap this up for me, will you?”
I say nothing. My entire body trembles as I stand, wrapping my dad’s pastry up and making his coffee to go. I turn away from the counter and face the wall, trying not to cry. I take a deep breath and turn back to face my father.
There will be consequences to this and I won’t have a choice. Well, I have choices. They’re just not the man that I want. My father walks out after I give him what he’s waiting for. After a minute, I walk out to follow him, without Eli on my trail. “Dad, what if I say no?”
My dad doesn’t look at me, but he speaks before he gets in the car. “Then he’ll be dead before I turn the corner of this street.”
I gasp and without even thinking about anyone else, I go for the one person that I feel is the safest bet and will leave me alone. “Oran Hale!” I yell. I shut my eyes as my father climbs in the Escalade and Mikonos drives him away.
What have I done?
ORAN
A couple months later
Andres Bishops sauntersinto my office looking unbothered bythe world. I look up at him and my brows furrow. “Hi, Mr. Bishops. How may I help you?”
Andres sits down in the chair across from me and the brothers stand closer to the door. “Did your father tell you what has been decided, or did the fucker pretend like he’s too good to pass the message?” he asks.
“He told me I’m supposed to get married, but I told him I have no interest in it,” I answer. A smart businessman never lets the narrative be controlled by someone else. “Why? And does this have to do with the nature of this visit?”
Andres cocks his brow. “Let me break it down especially with what your...father seemed to leave out. You are going to marry my daughter.”
“What? I’m not interested, no offense to your beautiful daughter.”
Andres smirks and the brothers move quickly towards me. Markos holds a gun to my head and I blink. What is going on? I look at Andres and his eyes lose the calmness he had moments ago. “This is going to happen. Whether you or Ainslee likes it.”
“What if I say no?” I must be out of my mind.
“I’ll shoot you myself. You’re a businessman, a CEO. You know business. We’re cutthroat about what we do and we say what we mean.”
Without another word, Andres gets up and the door opens up for him, which means there’s more of his men out there. He walks out and the brothers follow. Mikonos turns to look at me and smirks, shaking his head as he leaves.
“Fuck!”
“This just all seems wrong,”I say to my best friend, Jagger. “Why the fuck do I need to do anything?” I shut my eyes, breathing in and out.
“First off, stop pacing.”
“I’m not pacing. I’m thinking,” I reply.
