Filed to story: Falling for My Ex's Mafia Dad Novel Free PDF (Fay Alden & Kent Lippert)
And at the end of it? Kent looks at me with clear eyes.
“Are you sure?” he asks, just once.
“I’m sure,” I say, my voice quiet, giving a single nod.
“All right,” he says, his eyebrows going up. “We have a short timeline for this, Fay. We’ll have to stay up all night.”
“I’m ready,” I whisper, holding his gaze.
Kent leans forward, pressing a single kiss to my mouth, and then the two of us get started, all business.When the sun comes up, our bed is scattered with paper, our notes everywhere. And Kent poor thing despite his best efforts, he did fall asleep at the end. I smile at him as I silently pace the floor, my hands pressed against the small of my back, breathing steadily through the contraction that pulses through my body.
They’re about fifteen minutes apart now and even more painful as my body begins to get ready for the real work of labor. I grit my teeth, wondering how the hell I’m going to keep this a secret. Because the moment Kent realizes what’s happening, he’s going to call off our entire plan
But that can’t happen. It’s just…not an option.So, even though I’m more intensely uncomfortable than I think I’ve ever been in my life and aware that it’s only going to get worse I breathe through the contraction, and steel myself, and nod, knowing that we’re going to have to move fast. I glance at the sweet puppy, asleep in his little crate with his little doggie blanket, and then at the clock, which reads 6:00. And as the contraction ends I grimace, knowing I’ve got about fifteen minutes until the next one, and it’s time to go.
I move, then, to sit on Kent’s side of the bed, reaching out and running my fingers through his hair, knowing it will wake him.
I smile as his eyes blink open and focus on me. The moment they do he reaches up and takes my wrist, bringing my hand to his mouth and pressing a kiss to my palm.
“Hey, gorgeous,” I murmur.
“That’s my line,” he mutters, his words still thick with sleep.
I grin at him. “I’m just borrowing it. You can have it back tomorrow. Are you ready?”
“Did I fall asleep?” he asks, sitting up and scowling at himself. “Did you?”
I nod eagerly. “I got a couple of hours,” I lie. “But baby got me up. Constant bathroom breaks, as you know.”
Kent murmurs something comforting to me as he sits up, and then he presses a kiss to my mouth. I lean into it, wanting his love, his warmth, and he holds me close for a long moment.
“Okay,” he says, pulling away and nodding to me. “Let’s get started.”
And then Kent and I stand up and get ready for our morning. And individually, I prepare myself for the biggest performance of my life.
My heart breaks, just a little, when I walk out of my bedroom with the puppy in my arms to see Jerome asleep on the couch, his bruised face pressed unconscious against a tiny throw pillow, a scanty blanket draped over his legs.
And then I scowl at myself, because I’m not supposed to feel bad for him, my betrayer.
But I sigh, because Kent explained more of it to me last night the whole story, at least from his perspective and I know that I owe Jerome a long talk. And he owes me a great deal more.
And, because I love him, I’ll give him that when all of this is done.
So I walk over, and, balancing the puppy on my hip, I lean down, stroking my fingers through his hair until he, too, blinks awake.
“Hey, ‘romey,” I say, smiling down at him.
Jerome groans and rolls over on his back. “Hey, Fay,” he says, trying for a smile and failing, that guilt already coming back into his eyes.
“You ready to get to work?”
He frowns a little and sits up. Behind me, I hear Kent’s feet moving across the room and down the hall, intent on waking Gio and Daniel.
“Work?” Jerome asks, looking up at me, his eyes curiously moving over me and taking in that I’m dressed for the day. “What what are we doing? Are we still going to Monaco ”
I quickly shake my head as I take a step back, letting him put his feet on the floor. “Change of plans,” I say, my voice steady. Then I look at the puppy and over at the coffee machine, anxious suddenly as I feel a contraction coming on. “Will you make me a cup of coffee? I want to take the dog out ”
“Fay,” Jerome says, grabbing my hand before I can skirt away. I bite my lip, anxious. “Please, we need to talk ”
“Coffee first,” I bite out, pointing towards the machine and turning to the back door as I grit my teeth at the pain. And as I scurry away, I silently thank my contraction, because it’s certainly making me look sterner to Jerome than I actually am.
I barely get outside before the pain hits, making me gasp.
I moan softly as I put the puppy on the grass and wait for him to do a little business, breathing sharply through the short contraction. I assess myself quietly, remembering what I’ve read online and in the baby books Natalia bought me that I’m only really in trouble when I can’t talk or breathe through the contractions anymore.
And while I didn’t walk or breathe, instead standing quietly next to the puppy, I’m pretty confident that I could do both. Bolstered with this knowledge, I cheer for the puppy as he finishes up, congratulating him heartily on being clever enough to go to the bathroom outside.
I don’t bother to pick him up then, and he cheerfully gambols at my side as we go back into the house.
When I go in I’m unsurprised to see a sleepy Daniel and Gio standing with Kent at the coffee machine, Jerome sitting quietly at the kitchen island. As I take them in, I have to suppress a grin at my collection of big tough men, quite pleased to have them on my side.
Kent takes a moment to look me up and down, as he always does, but when he assesses that I’m fine he moves back to his task.
“Good morning, Fay,” Daniel says, opening an arm to me and pressing me tight to his side as I fill the gap. “And good morning, Lil Kent!” he says, leaning over to smile at the dog.
“We’re not calling him that,” Kent says dryly as Gio laughs, hearing the name for the first time.
“Then what are we calling him?” Daniel asks, turning his grin on his dad.
“Anything. Else.” Kent snaps, turning to hand coffee to Gio and Daniel. He nods to me, letting me know I’m next.
Gio leans forward to give me a kiss on the cheek as my morning greeting before sipping his coffee. “So?” he says, looking around. “Am I to assume…”
“Plans have changed,” Kent interrupts, all business. “Fay’s mother threw a wrench in the Monaco plans they’re being postponed. You,” he says, nodding to Gio, “are going to the airport to pick up Janeen.”
“Oh,” Gio says, surprised, looking around at all of us. I smile at him, leaning into Daniel and hoping he doesn’t see through my expression. Because we’re all aware that Janeen could get a very expensive cab from the airport, or take the train or a bus, or rent a car. But…quite frankly, we want Gio out of the house.
And at last minute? This was the only reasonable excuse Kent and I could think of.
“Her plane lands in two hours,” I say helpfully, raising my eyebrows at him.
“Yes,” Kent murmurs. “So, drink up. We need you on the road.”
“What ” Daniel says, his arm slipping from my shoulders. “What is happening? Why didn’t you ”
“Daniel,” Kent snaps, his focus still on the coffee. “Go get dressed. Jerome too. We’ll see you out here in a few minutes.”
His tone brooks no compromise, and even though Daniel hesitates for a moment, he and Jerome go. Kent stops Jerome on his way, handing him a cup of coffee that makes Jerome smile far too wide. It’s Kent’s first kind gesture to him all night and all morning.
As the two of them leave, Gio looks carefully between us. “Is everything…all right?”