Filed to story: Falling for My Ex's Mafia Dad Novel Free PDF (Fay Alden & Kent Lippert)
I see that Kent has left chaos in his wake on the way to his office, people standing in the hallway staring after him with worried expressions. As I walk slowly into the house, I see Daniel come down the stairs. He catches my eye.
“What happened?” he whispers, looking concerned, but before I can answer Kent comes out of his office again, fury in his every line.
“You two,” he demands. “Upstairs.”
“Dad,” Daniel says, taking another step down, putting out a hand to offer to help
“I said upstairs!” Kent yells, and Daniel and I both jump. I scurry to where Daniel is standing on the stairs, grabbing his arm and pulling him up with me.
“Seriously, what’s going on?” Daniel whispers to me as he follows.
“I don’t know,” I whisper back, pulling him towards my room. He comes in with me and I shut the door behind us. But even the door can’t block out Kent’s next bellow.
“Fiona! Get down here! Now!”
Daniel stays in my room with me for a while. He won’t admit it as readily as I do, but we’re both scared to leave. We watch old movies, surviving on bottled water and some gummy bears that Daniel had stored away in his room.
Eventually, though, he has to go to his night class. He apologizes as he goes, looking back at sorrowfully as he leaves. I think he knows that I’d pay anything to be go with him right now.
I wait for a little bit, my eyes on the door to see if Fiona will come. Hardly a night passes when she doesn’t stop by my room to say goodnight, at the very least.
But there’s no sign of her.
A couple of hours pass with no word from anyone and my stomach starts to growl so hard I can’t stand it. I haven’t eaten anything real since my blueberry muffin that morning, and I’m starving.
Hesitant, I peek out my door. The whole house is silent, no guards or servants anywhere. Curious, I step out into the hall further, looking around. Still, no one.
I creep down the stairs, walking as softly as I can, but still, I encounter no one. Anxious, I hurry towards the kitchen, hoping there’s something easy to grab.
When I push open the door, though, the kitchen too is empty. I step into the room, marveling, never having seen it quite so silent. My stomach growls loudly then, prompting me forward.
I scurry over to the giant industrial fridge, pulling it open. Seeing that it’s well stocked with food, I grab a clean plate from the dish rack and start to fill it up. French bread, cheese, some prosciutto and fruit I smile at my haul, excited.
As I close the fridge, though, I hear a noise.
It’s a groan thick with misery, but so quiet that I’d never have heard it if the house itself hadn’t been as silent as the grave. I go very still, my eyes darting immediately to the small white door that leads down into the basement, waiting to see if it comes again.
I almost leap out of my slippers at the next sound, though a heady shriek that turns into a horrible, horrible scream.
Reacting on instinct, I run for the door to the kitchen, almost dropping my plate of food as I push through it and dash down the hall. I press the food against my chest as I run up the steps, not caring if I stain my sweater, heading right for my room.
I’m panting as I slam my door shut, pressing my back against it.
What the hell was that?
Or more importantly, who?
I picked at my dinner that night, the food not tasting quite as good once I realized what was going on in the basement.
This world is so confusing to me. On one hand, there’s so much beauty to it the two days spent at the stables were some of the happiest moments of my life. But everything that happened last night and now, knowing what happened downstairs what still might be going on…
I’m so uncomfortable, knowing that I’m living in a world where the happy parts are bought with violence and pain.
I drift into an uncomfortable sleep later. I had hoped that Daniel might come by, talk to me, maybe put my mind at east. But he never showed up. I’m restless all night, waking up at every perceived noise.
I must have fallen into some sort of deep slumber, though, because when someone shakes my shoulder I’m suddenly awake, gasping, shocked
How the hell did they get into my room without me waking up
I spin in my sheets, terrified, my eyes adjusting to see a dark figure crouched there
I cringe back, but stop when I hear a soft, familiar shushing sound.
“Shh, shh, baby Fay, it’s all right,” Fiona says, putting her hands on my shoulders.
“Fiona!” I cry, sitting straight up in bed, instantly awake.
She turns her head towards the door at my noise, worried, and puts a finger to her lips, shushing me. As her face is turned, the light from the window falls on her face, revealing a deep bruise starting along her cheekbone, under her eye. Her lip is swollen too, a little cut down its left side.
“Fiona,” I say more softly, reaching out towards her face.
She flinches away from me but then works to put on a smile. I can see that it takes effort.
“What happened to you,” I ask, concerned but in the pit of my stomach, I think I know.
“Don’t worry about it, baby,” she says, giving me a truer smile now. “How are you, are you okay?”
“Me,” I say, aghast. “Fiona, you ”
“Fay,” she says seriously, cutting me off, “we don’t have a lot of time. Tell me are you all right?”
Surprised by the question, I nod. “Sure, Fiona,” I say. “I’m fine.”
“Okay, sweetheart,” she says, putting a hand on my cheek. “I’m going to go away for a while,” she continues, glancing back at the door over her shoulder. “But I couldn’t leave without saying goodbye to you.”
Worry collects in my stomach and my chest as I study her face. “Where are you going? Why ”
“I just gotta get out of here,” she says, working again to keep the fear off of her face, but I can tell by her quickening words that her time is growing short.
“Fiona, did he ”
“Don’t worry about it, Fay,” she says, smiling at me again. “Just stay on his good side, okay? He won’t do anything to you if you do what he says. Lie if you have to just…” she hesitates now, “do what you need to do to survive. But at every turn, let him think he has the upper hand.”
Tears start in my eyes now. I open my mouth to speak but she interrupts me again.
“Don’t do that, little cousin,” she says, giving me a broad smile, wincing when it pulls at the cut on her lip. “I’m all right just like I said I’m getting out of here.”
“So that’s real?” I ask, wiping the tears from beneath my eyes. “You’re really my cousin?”
“Sure,” she says, putting a hand on my cheek. “I knew you the instant I saw you in that kitchen downstairs knew you were our little baby Fay.”