Fall For My Ex’s Mafia Dad
Chapter 145

My mouth drops a little at the blunt way that Kent basically admits that...that he kills people. Maybe every day. For money.

I think back, suddenly, to the day after I met Kent - when I sat on my couch with my little laptop perched on my knees, googling him, seeing all of the legitimate businesses he had started and invested in... And as I stare at him I realize that...

I mean, I know that Kent is the Mafia King, I know that that's his reputation. But honestly...I've never really seen any of it except that one time I saw him punch a man in the basement. But I have no idea what that was about - and I have no idea what he really does all day.

And I think...well, I think I didn't ask a lot of questions because I don't want to know. But also, when I imagined the work Kent was doing, it was more...legitimate work than the shooting and stabbing and murder that you see in Mafia movies. And maybe...maybe that's all he wanted me to see.

I stare at him, starting to piece it together - that Kent, even though he told me his days of back-alley brawls are done, is still very much in that world. That even if he is himself not getting his hands dirty...that doesn't mean he's not paying others to do it for him. Kent watches me as I go a little pale. As I step away from him.

"Seriously?" I whisper. "Is that is that really what you do?"

"I never hid it, Fay," Kent says evenly, his entire face stern and cold. "I never asked you to think I was a good man."

And I stare back at him, wondering if...wondering if that's something I can handle. Something I'm okay with.

But I definitely need more details before I can make that decision.

"Tell me, Kent," I say, my voice starting to waver a little as I raise my chin and make my demand. "I need to know. I need to know everything."

"You don't need to know anything -" he scoffs, crossing his arms in frustration.

"I do!" I snap, looking at him hard. "I need to know, Kent, whether I can do this. I need to know who I'm -" I hesitate now, because - well, because I'm not in a relationship with him, am I? "Who I'm sleeping with," I finish, working hard to hold his eye.

"Fay," Kent says, taking a few steps closer to me. "You don't need to know the details - nothing has changed. You'll be safer if you don't -"

"Why don't you trust me?" I break in, shaking my head at him, suddenly realizing that we're back where we started - that everything that passed between us before Alessi came into the room - it was all bullshit.

Just Kent telling me what I wanted to hear so he could...so he could get into my pants. And he did, immediately.

I look down, suddenly ashamed. There is no trust - not really - between us. And I fall for it every time.

"It's not about trust, Fay," Kent sighs, closing the distance between us so that he stands very close, so that I can hear his words even though they're barely a whisper. "It's about...what you need to know. These details - they are better kept between a very small group of people -"

"And I can't be part of that group?" I ask bitterly, anger starting to burn in my chest.

"You don't need to be part of that group," Kent insists.

But I just look up and shake my head at him, unable to accept it. "This is it, Kent," I say quietly, determined. "Either you tell me or..." I breathe out sharply, realizing that I need the ultimatum as it falls from my mouth. "Or I...I have to make changes."

Kent just glares at me, not liking being backed into a corner, but also I don't think really understanding what I mean.

"I can't be with someone who doesn't trust me," I say as simply as I can, keeping my expression as cold as his. "Either you tell me what you're getting up to with Alessi, or...I have to go."

Kent stares at me quietly for a second and then starts to slowly shake his head. "You know, Fay," he growls, anger clearly coiling in him as well. "That's precisely what a spy would say. A really sloppy, naive spy."

It takes a moment for his words to hit me, for me to understand what the hell he just said. And then my eyes narrow in rage, and disappointment, and the desire to honestly rip him to shreds. "If I was a spy Kent," I hiss, letting that rage burn coldly within me, "Trust me. You'd never see it coming."

And then I spin away from him, striding towards the door. When my fingers brush the handle Kent barks out my name and I turn to glare at him.

"You can't go out that way," he snaps, his arms still crossed over his chest. "You'll be seen."

And a really, really big part of me wants to tell him to fuck off and to throw open the door, striding out into the hallway for everyone to see - for Alessi to see that Kent was keeping me in there, hidden, the whole time.

But the other part of me the part that's still in this, that wants Kent to trust me...

I drop the knob and, still glaring at him with what pride I have left, stride for the door to his bedroom. But I don't look at him as I pull the book and pass through, walking quickly through the bedroom and towards the passage.

And then I go through that too, my rage and anger and sadness building in me with every step because...

F**k.

I think...I think Kent and I just broke up.

Even though we were never really together - not officially, not in any real way outside of his own bedroom -

But I gave Kent the ultimatum. I told him to tell me the truth, to trust me, or I was gone.

And he made his choice.

And I realize the finality of that as I walk through the cold underground passage at the bottom of the house, grief sweeping through me, replacing my rage. By the time I pull myself up the winding staircase to my room, and push through the door in the back of my wardrobe, tears are streaking down my face.

"Fay!" Daniel gasps and I jump a little as I step into my room and see him sitting on my bed. I hadn't realized that he was here - that he was going to see me like this. "Are you - what's wrong? What happened?"

"Nothing," I murmur, hiccoughing a little. But I immediately prove this a lie as I start to cry harder. Daniel sighs and comes to wrap his arms around me.

"What did he do?" Daniel asks quietly, angry now. "What did he say to you?"

"Nothing," I insist, pushing away from him a little, not wanting to talk about it.

"Seriously, Fay what - "

"Daniel," I sigh, looking up at him with an honest plea on my face. "I just - I don't know. I haven't even processed - I think he broke up with me? But I need..." Daniel gasps and glares at the door, but I sigh, realizing that...that is not the energy I need. Slowly, I raise a hand to Daniel's cheek and turn his face back to me. "Can I Daniel, do you think I can be alone tonight?" I ask softly. "I just want to cry in my bed. Alone. Okay?"

"Are you sure?" he asks softly, his voice all sympathy and concern. "I can come back - bring snacks, wine, we can trash Kent all night -"

I laugh a little despite myself but shake my head. "Honestly, Daniel," I sigh. "I just...want to be alone. I want to go to sleep."

"Okay," Daniel says softly, and as I turn into the bathroom to take a long hot shower, I hear him move to the door.

"I love you, Fay," he calls to me gently. I turn to smile a little at my best friend.

"I know," I reply. "I love you too."

And he quirks one side of his mouth at me before passing through my bedroom door and leaving me alone.

As soon as he goes, the grief hits me like a wall. And I turn the water in the shower to scalding hot, and strip down, and climb in, and sit on the wet tiled floor with my head in my hands. Wondering what the hell I'm going to do next.