Fall For My Ex’s Mafia Dad
Chapter 149

"And I'm still giving everything to the Bianci," Kent sighs, completely unaware of how jealous I am at the mere mention of his wife. "Twenty years - twenty years of building everything. And I swear to god - I'm almost out. I've almost paid my tab, I can feel it. Just...a little bit more, and then I'll be free." "So, this is the end of it?" I ask after a moment. "The guns? Are the end?"

"I don't know," he murmurs. "It's not like there's a literal tab, Fay. It ends when I can...substantially make the case for breaking off the ties. That it will be more profitable for both of us if I stop meddling with crime and actually go legit. And I've been building that case for a long time - I have a lot of investments in tech and real estate, it should all work out. But," he pauses, turning to me, "the Bianci's aren't easily convinced to give up their golden goose, are they?"

"No," I say, nodding slowly, finally putting the final pieces of the puzzle together. "Which is why they're pushing you so hard to marry Natalia."

"Precisely," he says, wrapping the arm beneath me a little tighter. "But my marriage isn't on the table as a bargaining chip this time. Not anymore."

There's a long pause before I ask my next question.

"Is that why you married her, Kent?" I ask, tentative.

"Partially," he replies after a second, and I think I hear a little relief in his voice to speak the truth.

"Oh," I whisper, surprised. "I - I thought you loved her."

"I did love Lenai, Fay," he replies, and I can feel him looking seriously at me. "I would never deny it - would never want to. She was incredibly important to me, and a good wife, and a great mom. But it was...complicated." "Okay," I reply, not wanting to push him on this. And honestly, not sure I'll be able to bear it much longer, hearing him tell me about how much he loved another woman.

"Kent?" I ask after a long moment of silence. He makes a soft noise, urging me to continue. "You are sending guns to Italy now...but does that mean you aren't involved in the drug trade? At all?"

"No," he replies, "I don't. I leave that, ironically, to your father and your boy Ivan. I was able to convince the Bianci's a long time ago that drugs are dirty money and the business had too many eyes on it. And I was right - there was more to be made from slower, more subtle businesses. Do you want me to tell you what those are?"

"No," I murmur, letting my hand drift to his shirt, where I idly play with one of his buttons. "That's okay. Not tonight. But I reserve the right to ask later."

Kent murmurs his assent and another moment passes before he urges me on. "What else, Fay," he asks. "I want this done - I want peace between us. So, whatever you want to know, ask now - because I don't have the patience or the nerves to have this fight again." I move closer to Kent then, tucking my head below his chin, pleased when he wraps his other arm around me and holds me close against him. "You said that you're legitimate now. But you had to start from scratch when you got back from Italy," I say quietly, thinking aloud. "Was it...was it very bad, Kent?" I ask. Honestly, I'm not really sure why I want to know. But as soon as ask it, I know that I need to know what it was like.

"It was awful," he replies, resting his chin against my head as he remembers it. "Just...scraping on my knees trying to reignite the connections my father burned, taking insane risks to build trust, gambling everything on these reckless hits to build as much power and control as I could as fast as I could. And all with a baby at home." Kent sighs and tucks his forehead against mine. "It was...horrible. Some men have a taste for this world, Fay - I f*****g hate it. I'm just good at it, because I was trained by the best."

I pull back then, looking him in the face, meeting his eyes as best I can in the dark. "Have you killed anyone, Kent?" I ask quietly.

"Yes," he whispers instantly, giving me his honest confession. "More than you'd probably want to know, Fay. Innocent men as well as real scum bags. Cops, bosses, both sides. I've ordered hits and I've pulled the trigger myself. And...worse." He sighs. "I have a lot of blood on my hands, Fay."

I nod, letting him know that I hear him as my gut twists as I think about what Kent has done. Because it's not that I didn't know it. I just...it's easier to suspect, I guess, rather than have it confirmed.

"Is that...does that change you feel about me?" Kent asks serious, carefully observing my face.

And I take a long moment to consider his question, wanting to be as honest with him as he's been with me. And then, as I stare at him and really search my heart, I'm a little surprised to find that there's no part of me that wants to run screaming from him now that I know this. And maybe it's my mafia baby genetics, or the fact that I've been living in a mafia household for months?

But it doesn't. It doesn't change a thing about how I feel for him. Not at all.

"No," I say simply, looking evenly into Kent's face. "It's not a problem for me. Unless...are you going to kill more people?"

Kent laughs then, a dark thing. "It's not part of my agenda Fay, no." He lowers his head to my neck then, running his nose and his mouth along the length of my skin there before pulling back a moment later. "I would, though," he adds seriously. "You should know that. If anyone came to threaten you, or Daniel? I wouldn't hesitate. I was born and raised to be a killer, Fay," he continues, shaking his head regretfully. "You should...know that about me. It's not something I can, or would, wipe away."

I nod once, accepting it, and I slide my own hand up his neck and into his hair, letting my fingers tangle there as I pull him tight against me again, wanting him close. "Thank you," I murmur, as Kent rolls his body over mine a little, letting his weight rest against me. "For trusting me."

"I do trust you, Fay," he murmurs, nudging my nose with his. "I wish you would trust me."

I laugh up at him then. "Kent," I say, shaking my head and smiling a little, "when you say 'trust me,' sometimes you mean 'let me run your life for you."

"Yes," he says decisively, sliding a hand up my arm and lifting it above my head, stopping only when he's got my wrist pinned against the mattress. "That would be preferable, Fay. For you to cede me complete control."

"Well," I whisper, biting my lip as I look up at him in the dark, as I lift my leg to wrap around his hip. "Maybe...just for one night."

And, after laughing darkly and shaking his head at my continued resistance and negotiation, Kent kisses me, his hand tightening against my wrist. And I let it go - all of it.

And I let him take control.

And Kent takes his time in convincing me that it was a very, very good idea.