Fall For My Ex’s Mafia Dad
Chapter 134

The food at dinner does me no favors by being absolutely delicious. The salad is tart and citrussy, the lasagna creamy and rich, the desert - coconut sorbet which Natalia annoyingly made from scratch - basically makes me moan when I taste it.

And I grudge every bite that I take, wishing to hell and back that I don't like it as much as I obviously do.

"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself, Fay," Natalia says warmly to me once we've all finished, delicately holding the spoon that she's been using to feed Kent sorbet. There's a wicked gleam in her eyes. "I do like to see a girl who is not afraid to eat, no matter how much it expands her waistline."

I do my best to hold back my glare as I slowly lick my spoon, savoring every drop. "Luckily," I say, lowering my silverware leisurely to the table, "that's not something I have to worry about, Natalia." I give a little shrug. "Maybe in twenty, thirty years." Her smile falters a little on her face and I decide that this little victory is the perfect note on which to make my exit.

"Thank you!" I say, getting to my feet and stretching my arms above my head in the growing dark. "This was lovely. Daniel?" I say, turning to him. "Are you coming up?"

"Sure," he says, getting to his feet as well and saying his goodnights and thank-yous around the table, as polite as he always is. Natalia, Kent, and Alessi say their farewells to us as well, but they stay at the table, turning towards each other as Daniel and I head to the door.

As Daniel leans forward to grab the handle, though, some of Alessi's words catch my ear.

"Kent," he says, "perhaps now is a good time to go through the details of the little deal that we're working through -"

I turn then, my curiosity getting the better of me, and immediately meet Kent's eyes as he frowns at me. I know, instantly, that he's sending me a very precise message: that this conversation is not for me.

But, stubborn, I pause, turning my head and doing my best to listen further as Daniel pulls open the door and takes my hand, pulling me with him.

"Wait," I murmur, straining my hearing to catch Alessi saying something about plans, about a shipment -

But then Daniel catches his father's glare as well, and he hurries to pull me through the door, despite my silent protest.

"Hey!" I say, frowning up at Daniel as he closes the door to the patio behind us. "I was listening to that!"

"You were eavesdropping, Fay," he shoots back, frowning at me. "There's a reason they were waiting to talk about it until we left."

"Yah," I say, looking up at him as if it's obvious. "Which is why I wanted to hear what they were saying!"

"Dad doesn't like that," Daniel says, putting an arm around my shoulders and guiding me through the now-empty kitchen towards the door so we can go upstairs.

"Just because he doesn't want us to know isn't a reason for us to let him keep it secret," I snap, getting angry now. "Daniel," I say, stopping in my tracks and making him turn to me. "We're in bad shape. This is not the time to be willingly ignorant about the goings-on of this family."

And then I take a minute to give him the short version of what Ivan told me this afternoon - that there's only about a week, maybe less, before something big is coming our way. That our lives are at stake.

"Fay," Daniel says, sighing and running an anxious hand through his hair as he looks back at the door. "I hear that you're anxious about this - but honestly, this is stuff that's all best left to my dad - he knows what he's doing -" "Daniel!" I protest, shocked and a little appalled. "I have as much faith in Kent as you do! But clearly, clearly this is getting out of even his hands! We need to know more!"

"Don't let him hear you say that, Fay," Daniel says, looking down at me with a worried expression. "He will...not take it well, if you suggest that this is somehow out of his hands. Because of something fucking Ivan told you."

Something about this - about Daniel coming at Ivan when he is too scared to tell his daddy that he doesn't like his process - really gets under my skin. "What," I say, crossing my arms and glaring at him. "Ivan's as much of a boss as Kent is. And now suddenly he's full of shit, just because he's your rival? My intel is good, Daniel. We need to know what's going on - I'm not just going to sit alone in my room while my life is at stake, hoping that everything is going to be okay!"

"Well!" Daniel says, spreading his hands out like there's nothing he can do. "I, for one, am going to have faith in my dad! And trust that he'll handle it, as he's asked me to, and as he's always done!"

"Cool!" I say, sarcasm obvious in my harsh tones. "Then I guess you can go and do that! Alone! In your own room tonight!"

"Great," Daniel says nastily, leaning close to my face now. "Not like I'm not alone every night in your room anyway," he whispers, bringing his face close to mine so I can hear him, apparently so used to this life that he whispers his secrets even when he's pissed as hell and we're alone in a big room.

I press my lips shut though, angry and a little cowed by his words. Because he's right. My threat doesn't have much substance to it, does it?

Seeing that I have nothing else to say, Daniel turns on his heel with a big sigh and stalks towards the kitchen door, leaving me alone.

And as the kitchen empties, the last thing I want is to follow after him like a lost little duckling.

But then, as I stand alone in the dark kitchen - a little creeped out by the large empty space - I realize that I also very much do not want to hang out alone in here.

I spin, looking for a solution, my eyes falling on the door to the back patio.

But I know they'll clam up the moment I go out there, and Natalia will use the opportunity to pick me to pieces like a little dead crab.

So I spin again and suddenly find my eyes falling on the little door to the basement - the level where Kent once chained me to a table, where before that I watched him punch the hell out of someone he was interrogating, and even before that where Fiona brought me to a little room full of archives... And suddenly, I know exactly what I want to do.

A few minutes later, I'm settled in the leather armchair that Fiona placed down here, a little book of photographs on my lap, another glass of wine that I claimed from the bottle in the fridge sitting on the table next to me. After all, I'm not going to look through teenage photos of Kent and Natalia sober.

Hell no.

I had to go through a whole pile of dusty albums until I came across this one - almost a flipbook, really, in its simplicity - just plastic sleeves holding maybe twenty-five photographs? But even one glance told me it was precisely what I was looking for. I hold it in my lap now, staring down at it, not...not really sure if I want to know.

Because...this is Lenai's book.

I brush my fingers over her name written on the front in her own, looping handwriting, my heart starting to beat a little bit faster. Because Natalia - honestly, Natalia I think I can handle. I didn't like seeing her throw herself at Kent tonight, but all I have to do is close my eyes and think of some of the things Kent does to me when we're alone to be reassured that...yeah. I'm not going anywhere anytime soon. But this...

Lenai's book. Lenai's memories.

Am I ready to see pictures of Kent and the only woman he ever loved?

I stare at the photo album for a few more moments, taking deep breaths in and out.

But then, I think...fuck it.

And I grab my wine, take a big gulp, and open to the first photo.