Fall For My Ex’s Mafia Dad
Chapter 156

There are two lines on the pregnancy test.

A quick glance at the little key to the side of the screen confirms what I already know.

Pregnant.

I'm pregnant.

I feel everything drain from me in this moment - like all color, all life, all breath and joy floods from me as I stare at the little stick in my hands.

"Shit," I hear Jerome say, watching my response.

"Fuuuuuuck," Daniel hisses, turning away for a split second, his shoulders tense. I raise my eyes to watch him, to look between him and Jerome, desperate for...

For any solution.

For anything at all, now that my world has turned upside down.

Jerome's eyes are on me. "It's okay, Fay," he says, coming forward to me slowly with his hands out, like he's approaching a startled horse. And as I see the sympathy and the worry in his face, I feel myself start to tremble, feel my eyes start to fill with tears as my hands clutch around the test.

Pregnant!

I gasp in a sudden breath, all of my emotions and thoughts and panic snapping back into place as my mind starts to whirl, frantic for a plan, for a solution -

"Oh my god," I murmur, leaning back against the sink and staring down again at the test. "What are we going to d-"

But I don't get a chance to finish my sentence.

Because we all go silent and perfectly still as we turn as one towards the bedroom door.

Which Daniel didn't lock behind him.

And which now, quite slowly, is pressing open.

"Shit shit shit," Jerome starts to say, his whole body going rigid.

Because we all know precisely who it is.

Only one person left in this house would come boldly into this room uninvited.

"Give it to me," Daniel hisses in a panic, hurrying forward, grabbing at my hands. But I'm frozen - absolutely frozen - as I watch Kent walk into the bedroom, watch him look around, and then watch him frown a little as he sees movement in the bathroom. "Fuck, Fay!" Daniel whispers, clawing at my hand.

Late - probably too late - I open my hand and let him take the test from me, which he quickly whips behind his back. I stay where I am, my lower back pressed against the sink, as Kent crosses the room and comes to stand in the bathroom doorway and looks between the three of us.

"What's going on here," Kent asks, stern, all business. He knows already that something is off - he's too practiced at interrogation for us to hide anything from him now, especially since we're all so clearly worked up. His eyes fix especially on Jerome, which makes sense Daniel and I have a reason to be here.

But Jerome?

"What are you talking about, dad?" Daniel asks, too innocent. His voice is just barely higher than it usually would be, but it's enough.

"I heard shouting," Kent replies evenly, slipping his hands into his pockets as he prepares himself to question us. He's impossibly cool, as I imagine he always is at these moments. I can feel my body betraying me though, starting to shake again. I press my jaw shut, wondering how the hell we're going to get out of this.

"It was nothing," Daniel says with a shrug. But Kent ignores him.

"Why are you here," he asks, lifting his chin towards Jerome, ignoring me for the moment, though his eyes flick to me once, taking in my rigid form, my trembling muscles.

"I" Jerome says, coming up with nothing. And I don't blame him, under the Mafia King's heavy gaze. "I'm just..."

"You're just what," Kent asks, taking a step forward towards him.

"Um," Jerome says, not looking at Kent, his eyes moving fast around the room as if looking for some sort of explanation. And then they land on something on the floor that makes him go pale.

My eyes follow his only a second before Kent's do. And my blood freezes again when I realize that it's...it's the box that the pregnancy test came in. Frowning, Kent steps forward, trying to get a better look, but Daniel takes a frantic step in his way. "Stop," Daniel says, putting one hand on Kent's chest.

Kent swipes the hand away and keeps moving, but Daniel shouts this time, telling his dad to stop, putting his palm again flat on Kent's chest and shoving him back, keeping his other hand with the pregnancy test twisted behind his back.

Kent snarls at his son, glaring at the deliberate opposition, but then he notices that Daniel is only using one hand to stop him. His eyes move swiftly to Daniel's elbow, to where his arm disappears behind him.

"What are you hiding," Kent snaps, grabbing Daniel's arm and attempting to spin him. But Daniel struggles, working to keep his arm behind him.

I moan a little, knowing that it's done, and stressed almost to my breaking point as I watch Daniel and Kent struggle in my bathroom, Kent pulling hard at Daniel's arm and Daniel working hard to twist away from him. Jerome takes a step away, coming to my side, likewise staring in shock as it starts to get rough-as Kent yanks hard at Daniel's arm and the test falls from his hand -

The test goes spinning across the floor and we all go still as we stare at it.

Kent's the only one who moves.

He takes two steps over to where the pregnancy test come to rest. Then he stares down at the test's face, at the two lines which stand stark against the white plastic of the test, against the white marble of my floor.

Kent doesn't touch it, though I watch him freeze as he stares down at it, as he understands.

After all, he's seen a pregnancy test before.

He stands still for far...far too long.

And I can't help it. I start to pant in anxiety, in fear, desperate to know what he's thinking -

Because of course - of course his first thought is the same one that Jerome and Daniel had - that this baby can't be his.

And my breath comes faster and faster, the harsh rasp of it echoing in the still room, as I think frantically that it can't not be his - that I haven't slept with anyone else -

Ridiculously, my mind flicks through my memories as I stare at Kent, who stares at the ground - because am I - did I forget something? Did I sleep with someone else - was I drunk!? But then I shake my head at the ridiculousness of it - obviously I would remember But how? How did this happen?

-

Slowly, Kent turns his face upwards to meet mine. My heart starts to pound harder when I see the insane range of emotions cross over his face - rage, and betrayal, and fear, and confusion, and hurt -

"Is this yours?" he asks, his voice too low, too even.

Hesitating, but not coming up with anything I can say to hide it - obviously, I am the only one here who could produce a positive pregnancy test - I nod.

He straightens his shoulders and prowls towards me, the predator in him taking over. Kent comes to stand close, close enough to grab me, and I feel the trembling in my muscles intensify until my whole body is shaking.

Kent stares down at me, studying me, his teeth clenched, his eyes full of rage even though his voice stays quiet. "Who have you been f*****g, Fay?" he asks.

I gasp a little breath as I look up at him, undone by the harshness of his words.

But then I snap my mouth shut and lift my chin a little, because I know that I haven't done anything wrong. That no matter what he throws at me right now - no matter what Daniel or Jerome think either - I know the truth. That I'm pregnant with Kent's baby. No one else's.

Before I can open my mouth to tell him precisely that, Kent snaps a hand up and grabs the fabric of my shirt in his fist, yanking me forward so that I stumble against him, gasping in surprise and fear.

"WHO," he roars, shaking me a little, "have you been F*****G, Fay!?"

"Hey!" Daniel shouts, and I feel a pulse go through Kent's body as Daniel hits him, hard, across the shoulder. "Get your hands off of her!"

"She's -" Jerome starts, stepping forward, but Kent drops me so that I fall back against the sink, his eyes on Jerome in a flash.

"It was you, wasn't it?" Kent snarls, bearing down on Jerome now, who stumbles backwards.

"What!?" Jerome gasps, "No! I -"

But Kent advances on him, cutting him off. "I've seen you," Kent seethes, moving forward until Jerome has his back up against the wall, "holding her hand, laughing with her, all your little touches in the car in your secret moments - is that what you've been doing? Taking her to the stables every day and f*****g her -"

"No!" Jerome protests, putting up his hands, a very literal fear for his life passing across his eyes. "I swear, I -"

But Kent, faster than I can see, whips his arm up and cracks his fist across Jerome's face.