Fall For My Ex’s Mafia Dad
Chapter 102

The next afternoon, Daniel gets ready for the party with me in my room, and we're alone for the first time since Alessi and Natalia arrived. He stayed up late with Alessi, drinking and laughing, while I begged off to bed by myself to be alone for a minute. Today, Daniel and I had taken our guests out to see the sights, as Daniel promised. Natalia was, predictably, unimpressed and kept calling our beautiful city a "horrible cage of rats." I'm finally relaxing from the experience now as I do my hair, curling it gently in the way that Fiona showed me so that I can let it sweep down over my shoulders like a femme fatale. My makeup is already done to match, and I'm starting to feel powerful - exactly how I'm going to need to feel if I'm going to stand next to Natalia all night. "So, what's this all about, Daniel," I ask him, looking at his reflection in the mirror so I don't have to turn around. "Why are they here, really?"

Daniel sighs and looks at me seriously. "Something's up, Fay," he says, shaking his head. "They wouldn't be here if it wasn't. Don Bianci - my grandfather - he hasn't sent anyone to check on dad since mom died. We must seriously be in hot water if he's sending Natalia and Alessi here together."

"Oh," I say, my eyes going wide. Don Bianci - finally I have a name to put to Alessi's father and Natalia's boss. I had gleaned, through our conversations the past day, that he's an incredibly wealthy and powerful boss in Italy - and Kent's father-in-law. If he's getting upset with Kent...

"This could go really well," Daniel continues, buttoning up his white shirt, "or, it could go terribly. A lot rides on what happens tonight. Alessi and Natalia want the whole family together so they can get a real picture of what dad is doing. And then, whatever they learn," he shrugs, shaking his head. "They'll decide to either support him in whatever way they can, or..."

"Or what," I say, my hands going still as I stare at Daniel.

"Or they'll replace him," Daniel says, looking at me seriously in the mirror. "My grandfather has a great deal of capital invested with my father. Dad is the boss and grandpa generally lets him do what he wants," he continues, "but if they decide that dad is seriously messing up..."

I nod, understanding him. "Grandpa," I murmur, grimacing a little. "Crazy that you call the most powerful mob boss in Italy grandpa..."

"Not to his face," Daniel says, grinning at me. "Then, it's nonno."

"Nonno," I say, laughing a little and wrinkling my nose. "That's even weirder."

Daniel laughs with me, shrugging, and then starts to put on his tie.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" I ask, finishing my hair and lifting a can of hairspray to set it just the way it is now.

"Just...make dad look good," Daniel says, turning his eyes back to me. "Which, I think, means presenting a united front to Uncle Alessi and Natalia."

"United front," I say, turning to him after I finish spraying. "By which you mean..."

"It would be better, Fay," Daniel says seriously, pausing with his tie and turning to me. "If we were...engaged. And nobody knew, at all, about...whatever's going on with you and dad."

I sigh, understanding and nodding. Then, seeing him struggle further with his tie, I stand up and cross the room to him, batting his hands away and taking the tie in my own hands, beginning to knot it for him. "But you know," I say quietly, looking up into his face after a second. "That us pretending to be engaged for appearances doesn't...actually change anything."

"Fay," Daniel whispers to me softly, looking down into my eyes. "You should let it change. Let me change it for you. We can go back to what we had -"

"Daniel," I interrupt, pausing my hands and then wrapping them around the tie itself, using my frustrated grip to pull a little on Daniel's neck. "Even if I wasn't..." I hesitate, not wanting to say it to him aloud, "with your dad... you and me? It's not fair to either of us." "Fay," Daniel sighs frustratedly, shaking his head at me, "I've said it before - we could be so good together -"

"What about Jerome?" I ask, looking up at him, my expression serious. "It's not fair to Jerome either."

Daniel freezes for a second, staring at me - honestly, as if he's never thought about it before.

"Are you in love with him?" I ask, genuinely wanting to know.

Daniel pulls away from me, turning his back, but I can see the tension in his shoulders. I wait, trying to be patient, but he just stands there - I think wondering himself. I clasp my hands together, considering that...maybe he just doesn't know.

I'm still waiting for Daniel to turn back to me when the door opens and I jump a little bit, turning to look at Kent standing suddenly in the doorway.

"What the hell are you two doing," he demands, "you're not even dressed!" he exclaims, gesturing towards my pajamas. Then he looks at Daniel and scoffs at him, "your tie," he mutters, stepping forward to do it himself. "Why can't either of you tie a tie -"

"I can do it," Daniel complains, the hint of a little boy's whine in his protest, and I smirk as I hurry to the bathroom where my dress is hanging next to the shower. I put it there to let the steam unwind any last wrinkles. "Fay!" Kent shouts after me, tense, as I peel my pajamas off and begin to slip on the dress. "You have about twenty seconds!"

"I'm coming!" I shout back, smirking a little as I pull the dress over my head and zip it halfway up my back, unable to reach any further. Then I hurry back out into my bedroom. "Can one of you..." I say when I'm back in the room, walking swiftly over to them and holding up the front of the dress with my hand. Then I turn and indicate the zipper, looking over my shoulder at them.

Both Kent and Daniel step forward to do the job but, realizing it simultaneously, they both stop and glare at each other. I can't help the laugh that bursts out of me at this. "Seriously!" I say, turning my head away and shaking it. "It's just a zipper!"

But then there's the warmth of a body close behind me and I feel a tug at the fabric of the dress as someone zips me up. When I turn, I'm surprised to see Kent standing close. He stays there for a second - perhaps a second too long, from Daniel's perspective, since Daniel angrily clears his throat.

Kent steps back, then, and looks me over from head to toe. "Shoes?" he asks, slipping his hands into his pockets.

I nod and spin around, looking for them, and I hear a little frustrated sigh come from Kent's direction.

"Would you chill out?" I scold, smirking at him briefly before I spot the five-inch stilettos under my vanity, their red bottoms catching my eye. I quickly sit on my stool and pull them on before standing up and spreading out my arms. "Well?" I ask. "Do I pass muster?" The dress is...gorgeous, simple, and serious. Kent has dressed me in a lot of different styles before, but never one that made me feel so...grown up. The black silk Versace dress has only two little spaghetti straps holding it up before it slinks its way down my body, the delicate invisible corseting below it giving me an incredible hourglass shape. The skirt of the dress spills to the floor but there's a slit up the right side that goes almost to my waist, though there's enough fabric in the circle of my skirt that you barely notice that sexy little fact unless I'm walking, or you're looking closely.

Daniel raises his eyebrows at me, clearly impressed, and gives a thumbs up, but Kent does nothing. He just stands there, looking at me from top to bottom like a connoisseur before he nods. "You'll do, Fay," he murmurs.

I roll my eyes at him a little bit, wanting a little bit more than that, but he just smirks and turns, walking out of the room, snapping his fingers over his shoulder to let us know that he expects us to follow behind.

I move to follow but Daniel stops me with a hand on my arm. "Forgetting something?" he asks, and I frown up at him, confused. Then, from his pocket, he pulls out his mother's engagement ring.

"Oh," I say, blinking down at it. And then I sigh, putting out my left hand and letting him slide it onto my ring finger.

"Where it belongs," Daniel says quietly, keeping my hand in his when he's finished. "Ready?"

"Ready," I say, smiling up at him.

"Off to war then," Daniel says, and we walk out of the room hand-in-hand just as a shout comes from below.

"Daniel, Fay!" Kent's voice rings out. "Come on! We don't have all night!"

Daniel rolls his eyes at me and I laugh as we make our way down the stairs.