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Where the fuck is Bishop?
ChapterTwenty-Nine
BISHOP
“Bishop, wake up, baby.” Her soft voice is like music to my ears. “We need you to come back to us.” I frown at the sadness in her voice. Am I dead? Is this heaven? It must be if my princess is with me. “Come back,” Aria says again. I smile, reaching out to touch her, to tell her that everything is going to be okay. And then, she disappears. Poof. Gone. My legs buckle, and I scream as my head whips around as I try to find her. Find the woman who is the other half of my soul. The woman that completes me. I—
I am startled awake by a weird noise. It sounds like I am in a wind tunnel.
I jerk up, my head darting around as panic slithers through every part of my body when my mind catches up with all that happened. The wedding. Aria. The phone call. I shoot out of my seat as everything comes into focus. I am on a plane. My gaze moves around the small space, landing on Ryker, Zane, and then Stone.
What the fuck?
“Aria.” The one word comes out choked, hoarse, in my dry throat. Ryker stands as the other two look at me with something that looks a lot like pity in their eyes. Ryker approaches me like I am a caged animal. Slowly, carefully, and with uncertainty on his face. It tells me everything. “Aria. Baron,” I say, stern this time as shame coats every part of me. I nearly shot myself, potentially leaving my son an orphan. At the time, I was so consumed by my grief, I could only think of joining her. I was out of my mind; that much is clear. Although I don’t want to imagine a world without Aria, I need to be strong for Baron. He will need me.
Ryker blows out a breath. “Bish, you need to calm down. We are on our way to New York, but we don’t really know anything for sure. Nothing has broken in the tabloids. I did speak with a friend who has an in with one of the Maxwells’ guards, and he wasn’t able to tell him much apart from Aria was rushed to Mount Sinai hospital. As for Baron…” he trails off, rubbing the back of his neck. “I don’t know man; the guard didn’t mention him. Here. Take my phone. You can try to make a WIFI call.” He hands it over. I used it at the wedding, so it already has Aria’s number stored in the call log. Evan answered her cell. Though, he didn’t say much, I heard the gut-wrenching sobs in the background.
Saving her number, I pull up WhatsApp and press down on the call icon. It rings out with no answer. My heart lurches in my chest, and I grip the phone so hard, I swear I almost break it. Ending the call, I try again, only to get the same result.
Helplessness washes over me, and I hate that I don’t know anything. I need to get to my family, and Ryker anticipating that, arranged the jet. I’m thankful for that. The sooner I get to New York, the better. I want to freak out, smash the plane up, until someone tells me if my princess is alive, but that won’t help anything. Right now, I need to be the Bishop everyone knows me to be. Composed, calm, bodyguard me, who was trained for every potential scenario—even if I want to burn down the whole world right now. I hand Ryker back his cell before reeling off a load of questions. “How far are we from New York? Where is my cell? And what the hell happened at the wedding?”
Ryker motions to my chair, silently asking me to sit as he does the same. He glances down at his watch before looking back to me. “We have about another hour before we land.” He pins me with a look, knowing full well, I am about to kick off. I don’t have an hour, but I guess it’s less than it would have been had they not decided to take me when I was out cold. “You lost your shit when you got off the phone. You were going to shoot yourself. I had to stop you, so I knocked you out with the butt of my gun, and then we injected you with a sedative.” I scowl as all the assholes wear matching smirks. “It was the only way to calm you down. We knew that after seeing the video, we needed to get to New York. It was easier to do it with you sedated.” He shrugs. “Your cell—I don’t know where it is. I think it was left at the house. The cleaning crew is there as we speak, so I will get them to keep an eye out for it.”
I nod. “And my father?”
“Dead,” he says, like he is talking about the weather. I did know this bit of information, but I wanted to be sure that the fucker is actually dead and currently residing in hell.
“Did you know what was happening? The wedding, I mean?” I remember how I believed they had all betrayed me. I vaguely recall Ryker telling me it was all a ruse, but I want to know everything.
“Yes,” Ryker states coldly. “Your father contacted our fathers and told us about the wedding. We knew we had to act fast. My dad managed to find some very incriminating evidence regarding Calvin. Not only was he making deals with The Vegas Vipers MC, an enemy of the brotherhood—also close friends with Spencer Parkes, which explains why he wanted to initiate him into our society—but he was embezzling money and ordered the murders of the Fancott family. We were going to go to the rest of the families with this information, but then we got word about your impending marriage and didn’t have time. So, we came up with our own plan. I didn’t want to kill Calvin. My father wanted him to answer for his crimes, but I had no choice. He got less than what he deserved, but at least he is dead.”
I stare, taking in all the information I have just received.
It’s a lot.
More than I expected. But I can’t focus on any of that right now.
All I can think about is my princess, my son, and getting to them. At this point, I don’t know if Aria is dead or alive, but I have somehow convinced myself it’s the latter. It’s the only thing keeping me sane right now—even though I don’t know what situation I am going into.
Instead of making further conversation, I lean back in my chair and count down the minutes until we land.
* * *
Striding across the private airfield to the waiting SUV, I slide inside, my friends quickly following me. I bark orders to the driver to take us straight to Mount Sinai, where I now know Aria was taken. I don’t mean to be rude to our driver—in fact, I am appreciative of the fact he was here waiting for us when we landed—I am just anxious to find out more about my woman. I tried her cell again, but there was no answer. If I had my phone, I could at least call Elena, as I have her number saved from when Aria was sick before Christmas. I don’t know where my cell is, so it’s pointless even thinking about it.
I rest my head on the leather seat, my eyes squeezing closed as my heart rate kicks up. My pulse is so loud, so strong, I can hear it in my ears. I feel an anxiety attack coming on about going into the unknown, but I shove it down. I need to be strong.
For Aria.
For my son.
I don’t know how long it takes us to get to the hospital, but it took longer than I wanted it to. Damn traffic in the city. The SUV doesn’t even come to a full stop before I am barreling out of the vehicle and rushing inside. People stare at me, no doubt because of my abrupt behavior, but I don’t care. They can look all they want.
Stopping at reception, I don’t give the woman behind the counter a chance to speak. “Aria Maxwell, where is she?” Her brows furrow. She exhales with a look on her face that I don’t care to decipher right now. It is taking her too long to give me an answer. That can’t be a good sign. “Do you know where she is?” I snap.
She jumps into action, her eyes narrowing in on me. “I am not allowed to give out any information regarding the Maxwell family,” she says haughtily, and I want to wrap my hands around her neck and force the information from her mouth.
“She is my wife.” I try to be patient when I am anything but.
