Filed to story: Falling for My Ex's Mafia Dad Novel Free PDF (Fay Alden & Kent Lippert)
“Okay,” he says, putting a warm hand on my shoulder. “You let me know if you change your mind.”
Alden glances towards the door again. “I’m going to head out, now that I know that you’re safe. Unless…” he gives me a significant look here. “You have anything to give to me…?”
I blink at him, confused, and then suddenly realize
Oh my god, does he mean Fiona’s note?
“No,” I say, stepping back a little, my answer coming perhaps a little too fast. I wrap my fingers further in my hair. “Um, no. I don’t have anything to give you. Not…right now. At least.”
“All right, my dear,” he says, leaning forward to give me a kiss on the forehead. Then, with a pat on my cheek, he strides out of the room.
I stand there, perfectly still, watching him go. What the hell was that?
A few minutes later, when Kent comes into the room, I’m still standing there, stricken, thinking deeply about this snarled world. Kent closes the door behind him and closes the distance between us, sitting down at his desk and folding his hands in his lap.
“So, Fay” Kent says, looking at me evenly
I frown a little at Kent, blinking. What?
He folds his hands and waits patiently.
“What,” I say, hesitating. “What do you want to know?”
“Everything,” he says, raising his eyebrows. “I want you to tell me everything he said to you, and everything you said in response.”
I frown at him further. “Are my conversations with my father not private?
Kent leans forward a little, the corners of his mouth pulling up. “If you want to have private conversations with your father,” he says slowly, “you can have them off my property. But in this house? I’m entitled to know everything. Including the words exchanged between my ward,” he looks pointedly at me, “and my potential enemy.”
I cock my head to the side. “I thought you and my father were allies,” I say, crossing my arms.
“Do allies leave each other to be shot at parties they threw? Do they conveniently leave the room moments before an attack?” Kent shakes his head slightly. “Our alliance is on shaky grounds, Fay, before this wedding happens. Right now, Alden and I are tenuous at best.”
He stares at me then, silent. Waiting patiently for me to talk.
I clear my throat, looking away and trying to think. What did we just say to one another?
“I’m waiting,” he reminds me.
“I know,” I say, a little sharply. “I just…I’m trying to remember precisely.”
I throw my mind back, thinking hard. I don’t usually catalog my conversations so precisely. But I guess, in a Mafia household, you have different instincts when it comes to these sorts of things.
“He asked me if I was okay, after the party,” I say, closing my eyes so I can concentrate. “And I told him I was fine, that you got us out.”
Kent stays silent, allowing me to continue.
“Then, he asked if I’m happy here.”
“And your answer?” Kent says quietly.
I look at him then. “That I am. Happy here, I mean. But he told me that if I wanted to come home and live with him instead, that I’d be welcome to do that. I told him I’d rather stay here, though. With Daniel, because he’s my fiancé.”
“And thennnn,” Kent says, moving his hand slowly throw the air, inviting me to proceed. I can tell he’s growing impatient by my hesitations.
“And then,” I said, putting a hand on my hip, “he asked me if I’m happy with Daniel. And if I love him. And whether or not we’ve been…intimate.”
Kent raises an eyebrow at this, smiling a little. “And what, Fay,” he says slowly. “Was your answer to that.”
I narrow my eyes at him and move on. “I told him that I’m very happy with Daniel, and that of course we’re in love. To which he replied that I’m still very young, and that if I wanted him to introduce me to some new options, that he’d be happy to do that.”
Kent nods slowly at this, still watching my face carefully, clearly processing the implications.
“I told him no,” I say, turning towards the door. “That was it.”
“Was that all, Fay?” he asks me, and I turn back to him.
“What?” I ask, confused.
“Are you sure? Take a moment. Try to remember if there was anything else.”
I swallow then and realize shit.
I had left something out. Not intentionally, not really none of my conversation with my father was important enough to warrant keeping a secret from Kent. Instead, I’d rather be open. But somehow, I did forget the most suspicious bit.
I hurry my next words out, eager to have this finished. “He asked me if I had anything to give to him.”
“What did he mean by that?” Kent asks, frowning.
I shrug. “I have no idea. I told him I didn’t. I don’t. Then he left.”
Kent nods, waving a hand at me in a dismissal, so I walk out of the office and head towards the back garden.
I’m slightly shaken by the experience, to be honest first talking to my father, and then reporting the conversation to Kent. I know that I’m a pawn in their game, but I hadn’t realized that I’d be expected to report, on either side, what the other had said.
How do I manage this? I hadn’t lied to Kent had told him everything. But was that, really, my best choice? Where did my allegiances lie?
I sigh, pushing through the kitchen door and then heading out to the back garden. I need some fresh air.
When I pass through the back door, I’m pleased to see Daniel there, buttering a scone at the little table, reading.
“Oh hey, Fay,” he says, smiling at me. “Do you want some tea?”
“Sure,” I say, sitting down and feeling better already. “Actually, tea sounds great.”
Kent waits for the door to his office to click shut before reaching towards the top drawer, which he unlocks with a key from his pocket. Then he pulls it open and removes the tape recorder that’s sitting inside, still running.
Deftly, he presses the stop button and then the rewind, waiting a few moments before pressing stop again. Then he presses play and listens, carefully, to the entire conversation between Alden and Fay.
Kent smiles a little as the conversation passes, as he realizes that Fay told him precisely what was said in precisely the same order. Not only does she have a good memory, but she didn’t leave anything out. Good. This means his trust in her can remain, at least from now.