Filed to story: Falling for My Ex's Mafia Dad Novel Free PDF (Fay Alden & Kent Lippert)
Jerome wasn’t kidding when he said they had hours of hard riding ahead. As the afternoon starts to wane, Kent’s body aches with having to use the unfamiliar muscles needed for riding, especially after two months of relative inactivity in the jail. That, combined with sleepless nights, the chafe of metal at his wrists and ankles, and one hell of a car crash
Yeah. He’s hurting.
So when Jerome waves for Kent to follow him towards a red barn after jumping one final fence, Kent does so with relief. They don’t dismount until they’re inside of the barn, and when Kent does he lets out an unintentional groan of exhaustion.
“You okay?” Jerome asks, looking over at him.
“I’m fine,” Kent sighs, looking evenly at the kid. Then he looks around at the empty barn. “What next?”
“We wait,” Jerome says.
“For what?”
“You’ll see.” Jerome laughs a little, smiling and leading the horses away to waiting stalls.
“Why is this so cryptic?” Kent asks, frowning as he follows Jerome. “Why can’t I know?”
“Because,” he says, bolting both horses into their stalls and nodding for Kent to follow him towards the other side of the barn. “She wanted to surprise you.”
“Are you…serious?” Kent asks, his mouth falling open as he follows.
Jerome just laughs and shakes his head. “I know. I told her not to, but she insists. Here, give me your hands I’ll see what I can do about those cuffs.” Kent does as asked as Jerome takes a paper clip out of his pocket, deftly twisting it in the locks of the cuffs and popping them off.
Kent is a little surprised to see Jerome’s skill at this, but then he sighs, deciding to get over being so surprised all the time. It’s becoming normal now, his constant shock.
“You know you have the power,” Kent says, leaning against the wall and watching Jerome work. “You can just tell me what the surprise is.”
“Yeah, but then she’d find out, and that would break her heart,” Jerome replies, smiling fondly as he reaches for another pair of bolt cutters and sits on the ground, reaching for Kent’s ankle so he can do something about the shackle bolted there.
“This is ridiculous,” Kent sighs, closing his eyes and rubbing them with the fingers of one hand as he moves his leg closer to Jerome, making his job easier.
“I think that’s why it works,” Jerome replies, removing the first shackle and then moving to the other. Kent opens his eyes, looking down at the kid, watching him. “If this had been planned by anyone more experienced than Fay, the cops would have been able to predict what was coming next. But because she doesn’t think like a seasoned mafia criminal at least not yet they won’t see her coming.”
“I guess there’s…a bizarre kind of logic in that,” Kent murmurs as the second shackle falls from his ankle.
The barn is quiet for a moment as Jerome gets to his feet. When Jerome stands straight and tosses the bolt cutters to the floor, he turns back to Kent and flinches back a little at the steady, determined expression on Kent’s face.
It’s one he’s seen a thousand times before. And it always means trouble.
“So,” Kent says, his voice low as he finally brings up the subject that’s been lingering between them for hours. “I hear you’re dating my kid.”
“Something’s wrong,” Ivan murmurs, chewing on his lower lip as he watches Daniel Lippert sitting in the coffee shop, his back to the window. Why the hell isn’t he moving? Why is he alone shouldn’t he have some sort of team in place?
It was going to take a hell of a lot more than just Daniel to snatch Kent Lippert on his way into the state penitentiary. So why…where was everyone?
Ivan, at least, came prepared. The state wouldn’t consent to delay Lippert’s transport on such short notice, or add any extra force to the escort, so Ivan had called in every damn favor he could muster and gathered everyone he could here. There were at least twenty cop cars waiting, all focused on Daniel Lippert, waiting for him to make his move.
Daniel Lippert, who is sitting in a damn coffee shop eating a croissant…
“Fuck,” Ivan murmurs, sitting back hard in the passenger seat of the police cruiser and smacking a hand against his leg. He’s missing something he knows it.
But all morning all of it each of his suspicions had been confirmed. First, the dark-haired Lippert had come out of the beach house, alone, and taken the Tesla the Alden corporation had given him out onto the road in the opposite direction of his job.
They had trailed him for hours, and it was all exactly as Fay said it would be Daniel, trying to get close to the state penitentiary on the day his father is being transferred there. Trying something, though Ivan doesn’t know what the hell yet…
But now…he’s just sitting in a coffee shop? Having cup after cup of coffee, alone? What the hell…
Suddenly, a voice buzzes through on the police scanner.
Car crash involving a prison transport
Ivan’s head whips towards the scanner and he stares at it, his jaw dropping open.
No fatalities police officers found bound and gagged
“Shit,” Ivan breathes, his eyes going wide. Because…
Two inmates recovered the third, Kent Lippert, escaped we’re tracking a black van now, anticipating that Lippert is inside
“FUCK!” Ivan shouts, moving instantly for his door, pushing it open and throwing himself out.
“Kaminski!” his partner shouts from the driver’s seat. “Where the hell are you going!? We need to ”
But Ivan ignores him, striding across the street towards the coffee shop, ignoring the fact that traffic is screeching to a halt all around to avoid hitting him. He doesn’t care he wants answers.
Ivan hurls the door open to the shop and crosses it quickly, slapping a hand on Daniel’s shoulder and making him turn. “What the hell is ”
But before Ivan can finish his sentence, the man turns to him and smiles. Ivan freezes, his jaw dropping, his eyes going wide.
Because…because it’s not Daniel Lippert.
It looks a hell of a lot like him the same height, dark hair, square jaw hell, he’s even dressed like Daniel god, they could be…brothers…
But it’s definitely, definitely not him.
“Can I help you?” Donnie asks, but he’s no good at keeping the smug look off his face.
“Where the fuck is he,” Ivan growls, leaning over to glower at this imposter.
“Don’t know what you’re talking about, man,” Donnie says, grinning a little.
“Up,” Ivan says, making a snap decision and grabbing the larger man’s arm. “You’re under arrest you’re coming with me for questioning ”
“I am not,” Donnie says, the smile dropping from his face. “I didn’t do a damn thing I’m just having a nice cuppa coffee -“
“You’re ” but Ivan stops, because this guy is right. Arrest him for what, looking like a Lippert? Driving Daniel’s car? Sure, they might be able to get him on some kind of aiding and abetting but…they don’t even know what the crime is yet
“That’s what I thought,” Donnie snaps, pulling his arm out of Ivan’s grasp and turning back to his coffee as the other customers all watch in silent shock.
Ivan’s head whips back to the police cruiser across the street, outside of which is partner is still standing, looking pissed as hell.