Fall For My Ex’s Mafia Dad
Chapter 107

face, furious.

"Stop, Fay," Ivan orders, his voice suddenly serious. He puts his other hand on my waist and pulls me closer to him. Angry, I shove him again but Ivan doesn't relent, his grip iron. "Fay," he insists, his tone matching my anger now. I stop shoving and look up into his "Let me go," I command, my teeth clenched, but he just shakes his head slowly at me.

"I'm not f*****g with you, Fay," Ivan insists, his voice revealing his frustration. "You haven't given me any information that I haven't guessed myself. God damn it, Fay," he grinds out, "don't you get it? That it would be easier for me to let you go down with them? Do you think it's making anything better for me that I f*****g care about you?"

I stop protesting and look up into Ivan's face, shocked. I've never - never heard him get angry before - never heard him confess this kind of real emotion. He gives me a little frustrated shake.

"What's it going to take, Fay?" Ivan snaps at me, his breathing coming harder now. "To get you to go, to leave that house? Because I'm not letting them drag you down with them!" His voice is rough now, out of control in a way it never is. "You mean too much to me," he confesses, staring into my face, shaking his head back and forth.

My mouth falls open a little in surprise. I mean, I know that Ivan and I - we have a connection. But honestly, with everything with Kent...

I think, perhaps, I let myself forget how intense this actually is -

How real it is, apparently for Ivan - and perhaps for me as well -

"What, Fay," Ivan demands, shaking me again and bringing me out of my thoughts. "What's it going to take for you to believe me? Because I've tried being nice, and begging you, and giving you all of the information. And in response, you ignore my calls and apparently renew your ridiculous engagement to Daniel -"

"Ivan," I protest, looking away -

"What, Fay?" Ivan asks again, pressing himself tighter against me and slipping his left hand down from my waist, crossing my hip and dipping into the slit in my dress. He moves fast, boldly sliding that hand around the back of my thigh and gripping me there, using his grasp to drag my leg sharply up and settling it over his hip, pulling my body flush against his as he bends over me, just a little.

"Is this what you want, Fay?" Ivan growls, making my breath come a little too fast. "Do you want me to be more aggressive, to make you listen?" He lowers his face close to mine now, staring at my lips. "Because I can do that. If that's what it takes." And god damn it, but I don't pull away.

Instead, I wrap my arms around his neck, half for balance, half for -

Fuck, because I want him to kiss me -

I feel my lips part as I close my eyes, giving in -

But then I feel Ivan flinch and almost drop me as I hear a woman's cold laugh ring out.

"Shit," Ivan curses, releasing my leg and turning away from me, frustrated, as I find my feet and spin to see Natalia standing there, shaking her head at me and smiling her wicked cat's grin.

"Well," she says, her eyes boring into me as I flush bright, bright red, my breath coming fast as I realize how fucking fucked I am right now. "I was looking forward to meeting this Ivan I've heard so much about," she says, shifting her gaze to him. Ivan turns to look at her, his face still angry, his hands in his pockets.

And as he glares at her I'm shocked to see him...discomposed.

And suddenly I realize that this...this was not part of Ivan's plan. Not at all. That he didn't sneak me back here so that Natalia could follow us, and catch me, and screw up my engagement to Daniel as well as Kent's relationship with my father. That somehow, Ivan has been outplayed here - that he either let himself go too far, losing control with me, or that he underestimated Natalia -

"A pleasure to meet you, Natalia," Ivan replies finally, his voice lacking all of his usual charm. "But if you'll excuse me, I have to go."

"So soon," she coos, cocking her head at him like she's disappointed.

"Yeah," he replies, glancing at me with his regret clear on his face. "I've got somewhere to be." And then, to my shock, Ivan turns on his heel and heads through the far door that leads down to the kitchens. My mouth drops open a little as I realize that Ivan has left me - alone - to deal with this she-wolf. Slowly, I turn back to Natalia, having no idea what to do.

"I knew it," Natalia says the moment I turn to look at her, shaking her head at me but unable to suppress her smile. "I knew you were up to something, little Fay," she continues, taking a few slow steps towards me. "I knew you didn't love my Daniel - that you are a greedy slut who is in this for something else -"

And as she continues to approach and berate me and tell me how awful I am for betraying Daniel -

Something snaps in me. And I realize that I haven't betrayed anyone - that Daniel and I aren't actually engaged. And as much as Natalia treats me like a bug she wants to grind under her shoe....I'm actually just as much of a player in this game as she is. After all, I'm the daughter of one Don and, as far as she knows, the future Donna of the Lippert family.

And I'm spending my nights in bed with the Don of the Lippert clan, who hired me to be his spy.

And who the hell is she? Some puffed up maid of honor? She's not blood, after all. She's an employee.

"Shove it, Natalia," I suddenly interrupt, not letting her finish her long string of insults designed to strip me down. I stopped listening, after all, about twenty seconds ago. I set my shoulders and glare at her. "I'm back here on Kent's orders, performing the duties that he assigned to me, which you interrupted. If you don't like it, take it up with him."

And then I shove past her, starting down the slim corridor back to the party. I don't even look over my shoulder to see if she's following behind.

As soon as I get back to the party, Daniel finds me, coming swiftly to my side. "Fay," he asks, looking me over anxiously. "Are you all right? Where did you go?"

"Ivan," I reply honestly, looking up at him, too tired to keep secrets. Natalia's going to spill everything anyway, the moment she gets Kent's ear. "He wanted to tell me some stuff. Natalia interrupted, though, and spooked him off, so I didn't get much out of him." "Really, Fay?" Daniel asks, raising an eyebrow at me. "You want me to believe that you and Ivan were just talking?"

I look at him blandly and shrug one shoulder, letting him know that his suspicions are not far off. But, frankly, if he wants to question my methods - and, right now, I have to tell myself that they're just my methods, or else I'll go insane - then he's going to have to take it up with Kent as well.

Daniel sighs and nods, recognizing that it's complicated. He puts an arm around my waist and turns me back to the party. "Let's just get through this, okay?" he says, taking a deep breath. "Sure," I sigh, putting on my best smile and letting Daniel pull me forward towards a group of people. As we towards them, I narrow my eyes at Mila across the room, who smirks at me. "If you leave me for anyone," I murmur to Daniel, "Just make sure it's not her."

"What?" Daniel asks, and then he sees the direction of my gaze and laughs, pulling me closer to his side. "Seriously, Fay? After everything, you're jealous because I danced with one girl?" "I'm not jealous," I correct. "I just...have a bad feeling about that one."

And as the girl's smirk turns into a wicked little grin that basically spells out I'm coming for him, I turn away from her and take a hold of Daniel's tie, pulling him down for a kiss. A real kiss, not the pecks that we've exchanged before. Daniel goes still with shock at first and then he plays along, wrapping an arm around my waist and kissing me back.

It doesn't mean anything to me, but I hope that this kiss spells out a clear message to that girl:

Go ahead and try it. He's mine.

And as I pull away, smiling at my fiancé, I catch a look at Natalia standing behind us, her arms folded, watching me closely.