Fall For My Ex’s Mafia Dad
Chapter 141

I wait a long time before going down to Kent's room tonight, not really knowing how to play this. Because what I do know is that I want to know more about what he was saying with Alessi, and what the hell is going on, and who might be planning whatever attack is But what I don't know... is how the hell I'm going to get him to tell me all that.

coming, and why he's not taking it seriously.

As I walk through the cold basement passage, I consider that, well...there's always s*x?

But I scowl, knowing that Kent has a tendency to wipe my own brain clean of any useful thoughts or suspicion way more often than I do his, so if I go that route, I'll probably forget I even had a question...

And I guess there's always...asking him bluntly?

But as I climb the stone steps, I just shake my head, knowing that Kent has already told me to stay out of it. So by the time I give a little knock on the door and press it open, peeking my head through, I've still got no plan.

I guess I'm just...winging this.

Kent smiles at me from his bed where he's reading a book, already in his "pajamas," which just means he's in his underwear.

"Fay," he says, starting to stand up. "I was beginning to think you weren't coming down."

I smile at him, waving for him to sit back down, which he does. "I like to keep an air of mystery about myself," I say breezily, moving to his side of the bed and perching primly on the edge as I brush my hair airily off my shoulder. "Don't want to become predictable, after all."

"I wouldn't mind it," Kent murmurs, his eyes moving slowly over me as he reaches out a hand to brush softly over my hair, "if I was able to predictably count on you being in my bed every night."

"Aren't you though?" I ask, leaning forward and wrinkling my nose at him. "I mean, I've come down every night for weeks, haven't I?"

"Yes," he murmurs, taking my hand and pulling me forward a little bit so that my face is closer to his, so that he can place his palm on my cheek and run his thumb over my lower lip. "But eventually I'll run out of enticements for you, Fay. And you'll get bored, and stay upstairs with Daniel, keeping your secrets." He hisses the last word, his mouth twitching up into a little smile.

I laugh into his face, leaning forward to press a quick kiss to his mouth. "You really hate that we have a secret that you don't know, don't you?"

"Secrets are my business, Fay," Kent sighs, tossing his book aside before reaching out to wrap his arms around me, gathering me closer so that I'm sitting warm in his lap. "You two make a fraud of me if there are secrets in my own house." "Trying to make me feel guilty," I say, shaking my head at him and tapping him on the nose. "Not going to work. If you want to know who Daniel's boyfriend is, you can ask him."

"Why would I do that," Kent murmurs, starting to drop kisses down my neck that he knows I can't resist. I bite my lip, doing my best to deny the warmth that's starting to build in my belly and my core. "When I can just seduce it out of you?" I gasp at this, at the gall of him, smacking lightly at him and laughing until he pulls away, laughing himself.

"Hypocrite!" I gasp, shaking my head at him with a big smile on my face. "It's not like you don't have secrets from us."

"What?" he says, still laughing though his smile faulters a bit. "What secrets do I have from you?"

"Well, for instance," I say, raising my eyebrows at him. "Whatever it is that you were talking about with Alessi today, in your office."

Kent's face drops then, going suddenly cold. "What?"

"In your office," I push, though a new anxiety wipes my own smile from my face. "Something about...a shipment, and a delivery. And the police not knowing?"

Kent draws away from me then, his arms going slack as he stares at me. "Were you...were you listening in on me? On my private conversation, Fay?"

I hesitate, blushing and looking down at the sheets. "The door was...open...a little bit..."

My heart starts to pound as Kent folds his arms over his chest, letting me fall out of his lap to land awkwardly against the sheets. "Seriously, Fay?" he asks. "The door wasn't completely closed, and you took that as an...invitation?" "We were walking by," I murmur, still looking down at the blankets. "We couldn't help but hear..."

"Who?" he asks, his voice sharp now, making me look up at him. "Who was walking by?"

"Me and Daniel," I answer, my own voice mostly a whisper now.

"Is that all?" he snaps, staring hard at me.

"Yes," I say, sitting up straight and starting to get mad at the accusation behind his words. "Kent, I'm not lying to you. I just wanted to know -"

"I already told you, Fay," Kent sighs, starting to stand up from the bed. "You don't need to know - I'll tell you what you need to know -"

"Kent!" I exclaim, getting up on my knees as he stands up from the bed and turns away from me. "Seriously, Kent! You're being unfair!"

He turns to me, anger flashing in his expression, the private Kent I've come to know in this room erased in favor again for the Mafia King. "I never promised to be fair, Fay. To protect you? Yes. To provide a home for you? Yes. To let you into my inner dealings? My work?" He just shakes his head and heads towards his closet, clearly pissed off.

"Kent!" I yell, angry and worried now. I climb off the bed and follow after him.

"Go back to bed, Fay," Kent growls, flicking on the light and heading into the closet, pulling some clothes off of a shelf.

"Kent," I say again, my voice plaintive now, which makes him look at me. I lean against the doorframe, my arms wrapped around my waist, letting him see the fear and worry all over me. "Kent, I lied to you this morning."

He is angry again instantly, opening his mouth to yell at me again, but I interrupt.

"I didn't lose sleep because of Natalia's cooking," I snap. "I lost sleep because I had horrible nightmares about you getting shot - and Daniel laying dead in a pool of his own blood."

Kent clenches his jaw at this and I can see him resisting the urge to come comfort me, to wrap his arms around me. He wants to stay mad - because if he can do that, he doesn't have to tell me anything.

"I can't let you die like this," I whisper, shaking my head, my fear bleeding through my determination. "Please, Kent, I want to help - if you just tell me -"

But it's the wrong thing to say. Kent's face locks down again and he turns away from me to pull on a pair of pants before grabbing for a sweater. "I told you, Fay," he says, his words clipped. "I've got this under control. You don't need to do anything." He glares at me after pulling the sweater over his head, tugging it down over his chest and stomach.

"Seriously?" I ask, as he stalks towards me, deliberately not moving from my place blocking the door. "I'm just supposed to sit around, looking pretty? Waiting for you to call me down to your room so we can f**k?"

"Precisely," Kent hisses down into my face. I blink at him for a moment, not comprehending, and then my jaw drops open as I realize what he just said.

And then I can't do anything but stare at him.

Kent takes a deep breath and looks beyond me into the room. "Move, Fay," he orders.

I don't budge, still staring at him in shock, in humiliation, in...well, in shame, I realize quite suddenly.

Because Kent has just made it very, very clear that I am only his little pet, his mafia mistress. I shake my head at him, knowing that it's deeper than that, but absolutely wounded by what he said.

And, cowed by him, mortified at the insult, I do as he says. I move aside.

Kent strides into the room, grabbing his phone and his wallet off his bedside table. He doesn't look at me again as he strides back to me, and then past me, headed for the door to his office. I watch him go, completely shocked. And then tears start in my eyes as I hear the door to his office slam.

I stand there, alone, for a long time, not wanting to touch my emotions. Not wanting to...to think, at all, about how my relationship maybe just fell apart.

But after a while, I start to get cold.

And I realize how exhausted I am.

And that I can't stand here all night.

I glance towards the door to the passage but realize immediately that that's not a choice, because Daniel's up in my room, asleep in my bed, and I don't...I don't want him to ask me what's wrong.

So I look towards Kent's bed, and consider that...I can't go there either. Because I can't think of anything more humiliating than laying in his bed, waiting for him to come back.

But there's...there's no where else to go.

So, I sigh and cross the room to the big chairs nestled close to the fire, picking my book up from my nightstand as I go. And I curl up in the chair that has its back turned more towards the bed, hoping that Kent won't notice me in it. And then I start to read, trying to block out the world, my feelings, my life.

When I fall asleep a few hours later, Kent still hasn't come back.