Filed to story: Falling for My Ex's Mafia Dad Novel Free PDF (Fay Alden & Kent Lippert)
“We remember you, though!” Amy says with a big smile. “Because you were our little redheaded Baby Fay ”
I blink, suddenly, at the way she says that. Baby Fay only one other person calls me that
“We used to play with you at family parties,” she continues, “like I remember one summer, our other sister Fiona ”
“Hey,” Michael says sharply then, nudging her with his elbow.
“Oops,” Amy says, lifting her fingers to her mouth. She rushes to continue, then, trying to move the conversation on. “Yeah, anyway, I remember you when you were so little on the slip-n-slide ”
“Wait,” I say, putting out a hand to stop her. “Fiona? Is that ”
Suddenly, though, Kent is by my side. “Fay?” He asks, looking sternly at my new cousins. “Did you have some trouble getting your drink?”
Michael, Chris, and Amy stare at Kent, maybe a little star-struck. “Kent,” I say, gesturing towards them. “These are my cousins ”
“Come on,” he says, ignoring them and taking me by the arm. I look back at them and grimace a little, shrugging as I let him pull me away. They all give me a little wave. As I walk away I see Michael say something sharp to Amy, who cringes.
“What’s the big deal,” I murmur to Kent when we’re out of earshot. “They were nice ”
“I don’t know them,” Kent says, bringing me back to the table. “And if I don’t know them, they’re a liability.” He glances back at them and shakes his head. “We can’t take risks like that, Fay.”
I sigh at him. “Kent, if I’m going to come to these things to meet my family, you have to let me, you know. Meet my family.”
He just glares at me and turns away to survey the room again.
People are starting to filter out, I notice it’s definitely a smaller crowd than it was before. Even when I glance at our table, I notice that my father and stepmother are gone, which seems a little odd.
Daniel sees me looking for them. “A problem with the baby,” he says, shrugging. “They all left a minute ago.”
Kent stiffens next to me, though, and I turn my eyes to him. He’s looking very closely at the people left in the room now, who have, indeed, grown a little quiet. There are very few children left, mostly men in suits standing quietly at pairs.
Looking, largely, at us.
Kent reaches out a hand then and just as he grips my arm
BAM
The sound resonates through me and I can’t help my little yell of surprise god damnit, it sounds like a firework has gone off in the room
BAM BAM BAM
The sounds echo throughout the space and suddenly Kent has thrown himself over me, blocking me with his body, pushing me towards the far wall
Daniel is next to us as an instant, crouching down, pulling me away with him
I hear a few more pops and bangs and then the room starts to fill with a grey fog
“Was that,” I gasp, trying to see around Kent, who blocks me, “was that gunfire ”
Kent he ignores me, turning to Daniel. “Smoke grenades!” he yells, looking around to our left and our right, trying to see the source, “you know what to do ”
Daniel turns to me, taking my hand and looking me seriously in the face. “We’re under attack, Fay!” he yells. “We’ve got to RUN!”
Daniel grabs me by the hand, pulling me to the south side of the room where a terrace balcony runs. Kent is close behind us, providing cover. There’s a door there at the corner of the room and I’m filled with relief when I see it but suddenly, a man jumps in front of it
A man all in black, wearing a ski mask
I stop short and start to pull Daniel back, but my act is disrupted when I hear a BANG at my ear and scream again, clutching the side of my face.
The man in front of us falls and Daniel bolts forward, dragging me with him, I turn slightly to look behind at Kent and see a gun in his hand
What the how the hell did he
“Go, Fay!” he yells at me, clearly frustrated at my delay.
I nod and turn my attention back to Daniel, who reaches the door and pushes it open, pushing me against the wall.
Kent darts out, quickly scanning then I hear more noise, see his finger pulse again as he shoots
There are screams, thumps I hardly have any time to process anything as Kent yells “clear!” and Daniel pulls me through the door. We run ahead of Kent then as he follows closely behind, watching our backs.
All of a sudden, I realize that there are bodies that we’re stepping over there’s blood on the ground one of the men on the ground moans, reaching for his gun and I skitter away. Before he can reach it, though, we’re beyond him.
Panic is rocketing through me, so much that I can’t think, can only act can only follow Daniel wherever he’s leading me
We run to the end of the terrace and wait for Kent to pass us. He goes down the stairs first, expertly sweeping the area, firing efficiently at the threats he sees. Daniel looks anxiously behind us, but no one comes through the door
“Clear!” Kent shouts up and we start down the stairs. “Fucking hurry, Daniel!” he shouts, and I almost stumble in my haste.
When we get to the bottom there is a moment of quiet where we huddle together with Kent.
“Listen to me,” Kent says, his eyes darting between us. “I don’t know who did it, but this is a setup, targeted at us. They want one of us maybe all of us ” his eyes shift to me, “Maybe just Fay. So we have got to get out of here, fast.”
Daniel and I nod and I feel my panic subside just a very little bit under Kent’s expert command. I trust him to know what to do.
His eyes sweep over me then, lighting on my stilettos. “Get those fucking things off your feet,” he says and I hurry to pull them off, standing barefoot on the cement at the bottom of the stairs. Then, he looks around once more.
“We’re going to make a run for it,” he says, gesturing a hand out towards the golf course spreading out before us. “Across the greens, into the darkness. Head for the trees, and then keep going. When I say go, you two run.” He looks us in the eyes then. “Whatever you do. Don’t. Look. Back.”
I start to tremble, a little, and he steps close to me, taking my face sternly between his fingers. “Do not fall apart on me now, Fay,” he growls. “Cry at home, if you must. Never on the battlefield.”
I nod quickly, working to do as he says pull myself together and then he crouches down, ready to cover us as we go. “One,” he says, and Daniel and I crouch forward.
“Two,” we get ready, and then there’s a long pause…I almost look back, when suddenly
“THREE!” Daniel launches into an all-out sprint, my hand in his. I work hard to keep up, but he’s faster, more athletic than me
Still, I push myself, willing my legs to whirl, to push, to run as fast as I can.
I hear the sound of gunshots ringing out behind us, of footsteps