Fall For My Ex’s Mafia Dad
Chapter 103

The party is already in full swing when we get there, which makes sense. Even though Kent is technically the host, there's no way he's not going to make an entrance. I walk in on Daniel's arm and find my breath almost immediately stolen at the beautiful scene before me - though I'm not sure why I'm so surprised. When Kent does something, he does it right.

"Wow," I breathe, pulling a little closer to Daniel as I look around. "Incredible..."

Daniel shrugs, less impressed than me. But then again, he's been coming to parties like this since he was a kid. I nudge him with my arm, making him look at me, and then I whisper "so jaded," teasing him as I wrinkle my nose. Daniel just laughs at me and shrugs, looking around and trying harder to appreciate it.

The party is being held in a beautiful rooftop garden in the center of the city so that buildings rise tall beyond the delicate arcs of greenery artfully placed along the rooftop's waist-high brick walls. The entire place is lit by candlelight and a quartet of musicians sit in an alcove, giving us a little music to pair with the night.

Kent, Natalia on his arm, moves away from Daniel and I to speak with a group of people who come forward to greet Natalia, and Alessi is likewise snapped up. Daniel nods towards the bar, raising a questioning eyebrow my way, and I happily nod. Halfway there, though, we're intercepted by a couple of young men around our age who Daniel introduces as his "cousins," though I know that can't be right - Kent doesn't have any siblings. But these Italian families are so sprawling that I doubt they bother with differentiating second- and third-cousins from firsts.

The boys' conversation is chatty and cheerful, talking about old memories and childhood vacations, but there's not much room for me in it. So I tug on Daniel's arm a little and nod towards the bar again, indicating that I'll go get us some drinks. Daniel nods to me encouragingly, letting me go.

I quickly walk over to the bar and place our order - a red wine for me, a Manhattan for Daniel - when suddenly I feel a presence by my side. I turn and am shocked to see Natalia standing close, looking at me rather than the bar tender. "What did you order?" she asks, cold, not bothering with a greeting.

"Um," I hesitate, suddenly on guard and doubting the order - even though I know it's what we want. The bar tender is back with our drinks before I can answer, though, so I nod towards the glass of wine and the whiskey.

"Red wine," Natalia sneers, looking at the glass with distaste. Then, she turns the look on me. "In the summer?"

"Um," I say again, hating myself in this moment for not having a better retort. But I love red wine...

"Take this back, per favore," Natalia orders the bar tender. "The girl will have prosecco, and so will I." The bar tender doesn't hesitate, doing as Natalia says, and I sigh discreetly through my nose. I don't look at Natalia, a little pissed at being countered like that, but she places an elegant finger under my chin and obliges me to turn my face to look at her.

"You will like it better, eh?" she says, nodding to me and taking back her hand once I meet her eyes. "In the summer, you must drink light. Red wine is for winter nights. Unless it is sangria, and then it is for day." She shrugs, as if this is obvious.

"I can handle my own drinks, Natalia," I reply, working to keep my voice even as the bar tender delivers two sparkling glasses of prosecco.

"Clearly," Natalia remarks, smirking at me. "You cannot."

I roll my eyes a little and reach for my and Daniel's glasses when suddenly Natalia reaches for my left hand, quick as a whip, a little hiss on her breath.

Shocked, I turn to her as she clasps my hand, pulling it closer to her so that she can stare at my ring.

"He gave it to you?" she asks, looking up into my face with wide eyes. "This engagement ring?"

I hesitate, a little shocked. "Yes?" I reply, hoping it's the right answer. "Daniel thought it would be...good. For me to have his mother's ring."

I'm a little shocked by Natalia's reaction as she turns her eyes once again to the sparkling diamond and then drops my hand as if it's a hot coal. She turns her face up to mine again, glaring at me as she grabs her drink. "Don't be a fool, girl," she sneers. "That ring was never Daniel's. If you have it, it's because he wanted you to."

And then Natalia spins and walks away faster than I've seen her move before, her elegance and poise ruffled for a moment. As she walks, though I see Natalia straighten her shoulders and smooth out her steps, as if our strange encounter never happened. "Hey," Daniel says at my side, and I jump a little. I had been so focused on Natalia that I didn't see him coming.

"Hey," I say, giving him a brief little smile, and then I reach for his drink on the bar and hand it to him, taking my glass of prosecco as well.

"What was that all about?" he asks, looking after Natalia's retreated form. "I don't think I've ever seen her...perturbed before."

"She got upset," I say, turning and frowning after her, "when she saw my engagement ring."

"Oh," Daniel says, raising his eyebrows and then nodding with understanding. "Well, that makes sense," he says, giving a little shrug and putting his arm around my waist, guiding away from the bar and towards a little bench underneath a rose arch, where we're alone.

"Why does that make sense?" I ask, sitting down next to him and taking a sip of my drink, not really tasting it.

"Because," Daniel says, grimacing a little. "That ring has...more history than we've told you before."

"What?" I breathe, my eyes going wide. I look down at the ring again, shocked. "Is it - what's wrong with it?" I know that it was Lenai's engagement ring - and, somehow, I had assumed that it came from her family, a Bianci heirloom passed from bride to bride, and Daniel only got it because he was the only boy.

"Nothing's wrong with it, but..." Daniel hesitates. "Well. Let me start at the beginning."

I sit next to him, tense, desperately wanting to know but having no idea where the hell this is going.

"That's my grandmother's ring," Daniel says, gently taking my hand and admiring it. "Dad's mom."

My mouth makes a little surprised "o" - I hadn't realized that this was a Lippert heirloom.

"My grandmother gave it to dad when he was eight and she shipped him off to Italy, after his father was killed. She knew that he would be safe there, and the ring with him. She told him to protect it with his life, and to give it to the woman he would marry." "Oh," I say, looking down at the ring again with new appreciation. "I mean, it's always been beautiful, but I had no idea it had such a...complicated story," I say, my words a little awed. I look up at Daniel again, who is watching me closely. "So, then he gave it to your mom?"

"Well, yes," Daniel says, a little awkward, looking away from me and running a hand through his hair. "But... he gave it to Natalia first."

"WHAT!?" I hear myself shriek, and the party goes a little quiet, everyone turning to stare at me.