Filed to story: Falling for My Ex's Mafia Dad Novel Free PDF (Fay Alden & Kent Lippert)
“My first job,” he says, flicking his eyes to me. “First solo, at least. I was…young. It went well, but there was suspicion regarding who was behind it. One of the reasons I went to America to wait for the dust to settle a bit.”
“We just fled one continent,” I mutter, suddenly anxious. “Where do we go after this one? Asia? Africa?”
“What does he want us to take?” Daniel asks, moving on without me.
Kent describes a particular high-roller who visits the casino on a pretty regular basis one of Bianci’s enemies who owes him a great deal of money and won’t pay up. The job is relatively simple and more crime-y than I’m used to. We broke Kent out for love and family but this? This is all revenge. And money.
As he speaks, Kent lays it out as simply as he can. Our job is to take out the guy while he’s there having a good night, seizing not only his winnings but also as many of his high-roller possessions as he can cash, jewels, bank cards so that we can drain what funds we can. We have to leave the area clean, but with some kind of particular signature that lets Bianci’s enemies know that they need to pay their debts or they’ll meet the same fate.
We’re all quiet for a long moment when Kent finishes speaking, processing this insane plan.
“Why does he want you to do it, Kent?” Gio asks, his voice soft. “It seems…the sort of job any of his regulars could do.”
“Because they don’t know I’m here,” Kent replies, shifting his eyes to his nephew. “And I’ve been away long enough that I wouldn’t be immediately recognized as a connection to the Bianci family.”
“Though I would,” Gio says, tilting his head a little.
“Which is why you’re staying in the hotel room,” Kent says. “Base operations.”
“And me?” Janeen asks, perking up. I move my eyes away from Kent for the first time, surprised by my sister’s tone. My eyebrows arch when I see her so enthused. She catches my eye and shrugs at me. “This one sounds more fun than yours, Fay. Do I get to play a role? Can I be a femme fatale?”
“You do get to play a role, Janeen,” Kent says, crossing his arms over his chest. “Though I need you to take it seriously. This is not for fun.”
“It can be both,” Janeen says, but the way she nods at him lets us all know that she understands.
“Janeen and Jerome are the most unrecognizable, if he’s willing to participate,” Kent explains, his eyes moving to Daniel’s boyfriend. Jerome quickly nods his head, confirming that he’ sin. “They’ll be on the floor gamblers or staff, I haven’t decided yet. We have to see what we need. Daniel and I will do the job itself.”
My heart sinks when I hear this. Not that I want Janeen doing any of the actual job the thieving and the murdering but hearing that it’s going to be my baby daddy and my husband on the line?
Well. I’m not happy about that at all.
“What about me?” I ask when Kent silently surveys our little troops.
“You’ll help me plan it,” Kent says, turning to me.
“No, I mean day-of,” I say, peering at him. “Am I going to be on the casino floor too?”
“You’re going to be here, Fay,” Kent says, looking at me like I’m a little crazy. “With your dad, and whatever guards I can get Bianci to loan me for the weekend.”
“What!?” I gasp, appalled.
“You’ll be more than eight months pregnant!” Kent explains, his confusion only deepening. “Fay, you’ll barely be able to move, let alone travel to Monaco, let alone be an effective member of a heist team ”
“That is such bullshit!”
“It’s true!” Kent says, looking around the table for support. Everyone stays stone-faced and silent, not getting in the middle of this. “Fay, are you are you serious? Did you honestly think that I was going to risk my pregnant wife in a dangerous heist at the end of her third trimester?”
My mouth falls open in shock, but I almost immediately snap it shut in rage. “We are not married,” I growl at him, getting to my feet as I point my finger into his face. “And if you think I’m not going to fight with you about this every minute for four months, you’re dead wrong.”
With that I storm out of the dining room, and through the kitchen. I hear Kent call my name but I don’t turn around as I head out of the house, absolutely livid. I keep walking, my feet slapping against the cold stone terrace, and then the cement around the pool, and then grass, and then a little bit of gravel as I come to the edge of the house’s property so that all that stretches out before me is a field and then the sea beyond.
I take a deep breath, confused about whether I want to indulge my rage or quell it.
Because that really, really pissed me off. How dare he use my pregnancy as a reason to keep me out of this? As if I’m some kind of time bomb that’s going to go off in the middle of his heist and ruin all his plans. Pregnant or not, I’m perfectly capable of deciding what it is that I can and cannot do who the hell is he to make this choice for me!?
And also! If it’s safety that’s at risk, why does he get to put his life and his freedom on the line when I can’t? We’re both going to be parents at the end of this road but I’ve got to keep myself safe?!
Even as these thoughts run through my head I’m aware of the flaws in them. But I don’t let myself address those, not yet. Instead, I just stew in my anger, staring out at the sea for a long, long while.
I don’t know how much time passes before a figure comes up on my right, slipping a blanket around my shoulders. I pull it around myself, surprised into awareness of how cold I was simply because it’s so warm around me, but then as I look up to see who gave it to me I narrow my eyes and wish I’d pushed it away.
Because it’s not Daniel, who I expected. It’s Kent.
“Still mad?” he asks, slipping his hands into his pockets.
“If I wasn’t freezing I’d throw this blanket into the ocean just to spite you.”
“Don’t do that,” he sighs. “It’s merino wool. It would be a shame to lose it to the sea.”
“Why are you doing this to me?” I snap, spinning to glare at him. “Kent! I want to help! I can’t believe you’re cutting me out of what is essentially my deal I’m the one who got this on the table!”
“I’m not cutting you out,” he replies, glaring at me just a little, and I can tell he’s holding back for the sake of mending fences. “I’m just letting you know, upfront, that there’s no way I’m letting you on the front lines of this heist when you’re days away from having a baby!”
“Pregnant people can do plenty of things,” I counter, losing my temper and opening my mouth to list them. But Kent cuts me off.
“You can’t even get on a plane at that point,” he growls. “How would you even get to Monaco?”
“Oh please,” I reply, narrowing my eyes at him. “Like you’d fly commercial for this.”
Kent shrugs, conceding the point that whatever our entrance and exit to Monaco would be, we’ll certainly be chartering private transport for the sake of discretion.
“I need you, Fay,” Kent says, stepping forward and reaching for my face, though I flinch back. He sighs and lets his hand drop. “I need you in every step of planning this. The way you got me out of prison and then out of America it was brilliant. You’ve demonstrated that you’re a master strategist with an incredible capacity to put your plans in motion. I need that.”
I shake my head at him, not buying it. “All this flattery,” I say softly, staring at him with suspicion. “And yet, I hear a ‘but’ coming.”
“But,” he says, tilting his head and conceding the point. “One, you are not good on the spot,” he says, holding up one finger.
My mouth falls open in protest and I step forward, ready to defend myself, but he just continues.
“And two,” he glares at me, “you will be more pregnant than you think you will be at nearly nine months pregnant, Fay. You’ll draw eyes wherever you go, and you will be miserable on your feet. This is not me underestimating you, this is me assessing the reality of the situation. We will have to move fast, and change plans on the dime, and maybe even have to run. You will not be able to do that.”
I sigh sharply through my nose, considering that at least the second point might be right.
“Why do you say that I’m bad on the spot?” I ask, my feelings a little hurt alongside my confusion.
“Fay,” he sighs, stepping closer, and I let him this time. Kent wraps an arm around me and puts a finger under my chin, tilting my face up to his. “You are good at so many things, but you were very wise to send Jerome out to get me while you waited on that boat.”
“I didn’t just wait on that boat,” I growl. “I had a very full morning, if you’ll remember.”
“A perfectly orchestrated morning,” Kent replies, raising his eyebrows at me. “Every moment, practically every bite was planned. You had Fiona out doing all the unpredictable work while you and Daniel walked in and out of that house in half an hour.”