Fall For My Ex’s Mafia Dad
Chapter 160

"Ivan," I breathe, shaking my head, my whole body trembling again.

"Back up, Fay," he says, lifting his chin towards me. "Let me in."

I do has he says, backing up until I'm almost at the bed. His gun still trained on Daniel and Jerome, still kneeling at Daniel's feet, Ivan climbs through the window, standing up straight. Daniel takes a moment to look Ivan over and then he groans, putting his head in his hand and turning away in disbelief. "A cop?! You're a f*****g cop, Ivan?!"

"Damn straight," Ivan murmurs, though his face remains serious. "Born and bred. I want you back against that wall, Lippert," Ivan commands, nodding to the far wall behind Jerome, where Ivan can keep the gun on both of them at once. "Hands up where I can see them."

Daniel obeys, his face set in an unhappy frown as he glares at Ivan and shakes his head, but he obeys nonetheless. "Fay," Ivan continues, once Daniel is in place. He doesn't look at me, his eyes still trained on the boys. "I also want you in my line of sight, pressed there against the other wall." He nods next to him, to an empty space next to my desk. Slowly, I move to it so that he can see me while he concentrates on Daniel and Jerome.

"Good," Ivan says. Then, he turns his attention to Jerome. "Hands behind your head," he commands. Jerome lifts his hands, scowling at Ivan with real hate in his eyes. Slowly, I raise my hands as well. "Not you, Fay," Ivan growls, rolling his eyes a little bit. "What?" I ask.

"You're not under arrest," he tells me, glancing a little in my direction.

"What!?" I ask again, my voice an octave higher this time, completely confused. Ivan huffs a sigh of frustration.

"Just...stand there," he mutters as Jerome lifts his own hands behind his head.

That done, Ivan shifts his gaze to Daniel. "Are you going to do something stupid?" he asks, his face hard. There's no lightness in it - none of the carefree, charming guy I got to know, for whom I had thought I had real feelings. "Or are you going to let me cuff your boyfriend without any trouble?"

"Am I being arrested?" Daniel asks, cautious.

"No," Ivan says, rueful. "Though that was not my choice." He takes a step forward, his muscles going tense as he raises the gun towards Daniel's face. "Are you going to do something stupid, Lippert? Because if you do, I'll shoot you now and get it over with." "I'm not," Daniel spits out at him, glaring hard, his hands still up above his head.

"Good," Ivan murmurs, and then he moves - fast. In an instant Ivan is tucking his gun back into its holster as he moves to Jerome's side, twisting Jerome's arm behind his back and grabbing handcuffs from his belt. As Ivan slaps one cuff around Jerome's wrist, I see Daniel eye the gun in Ivan's holster, and then glance at the bed, where his gun is sitting-

"Daniel," I breathe, shaking my head vehemently at him. He scowls at me and looks away, but we both know that he was being desperate thinking he could grab one of them before Ivan noticed. We both know that this is done - that any chance we had to fight our way out of this if we ever had it to begin with - is gone.

As soon as Ivan is done cuffing Jerome he kicks him, hard, so that Jerome falls on the floor.

"Ivan!" I gasp, glaring at him, but he just shoots me a dirty look before unholstering his gun again and stepping back so that he has a direct line of sight at the three of us. Then he grabs the radio on his shoulder.

"Hey," he says into his radio. "I've got Daniel Lippert, Fay Alden, and Jerome Rosello up here in the corner bedroom." A voice buzzes in response, but I can't make it out. "Yeah, secure. We're good up here for now. I'll hold them while you finish the sweep." Then he glances at me, his eyes fastened on mine as he asks his next question. "Lippert?"

His face goes cold as he listens to the answer. And for the first time, Ivan gets distracted, looking away. "What?" He hisses into his radio. "Are you f*****g serious, Jones?"

I glance at Daniel, frantic. Daniel looks back at me with the same expression, his face whiter than I've ever seen it. I whip my attention back to Ivan.

"What," I ask, my voice shaking. "What's - what's happening."

He just waves the gun at me, continuing to listen to something on his radio. Then, he murmurs "affirmative" into the handset and spins on the both of us. "Where the fuck is he?"

"What are you talking about?" Daniel growls, still holding his hands up by his head.

"Kent!" Ivan shouts, his face going red with anger now. "Kent Lippert! Where the F**K is he in this house!?"

My jaw drops in shock and a second later relief floods through me, my knees going literally weak for the second time today as I lean back against the wall. If -

If they haven't found him yet -

He's probably not dead -

"We don't know, Ivan," Daniel growls, keeping his eyes on him.

Ivan, losing his cool more than I've ever seen him before, lifts his gun and points it straight at Daniel's face, and I go cold. Because - as much as I understand that this is a tense situation - I'm pretty sure cops aren't supposed to use their guns to threaten guys who aren't being arrested, and who are standing against the wall with their hands up. "Fucking tell me now, Lippert!" Ivan yells. "Where the fuck is Kent!"

"Don't hurt him!" I scream, my hands balled into anxious fists at my side. And I honestly don't now who I'm talking about - Daniel, or Kent, or -

"You're going to fucking tell me, Daniel," Ivan shouts, striding over Jerome and coming close enough to point his gun directly in Daniel's face, but not close enough for Daniel to grab it. "Or I swear to god, I'll shoot you right now!"

I moan at the sight of Daniel at gunpoint, closing my eyes, my whole body threatening to give out under the stress of this moment -

"I. Don't. Know." Daniel growls through his teeth.

"I'll tell you!" I shout, the words out of my mouth before I can think about whether it's smart.

I open my eyes to see again the horrible sight of Ivan's gun still pointed at Daniel's face. "What do you know, Fay," Ivan barks, his eyes still fastened on Daniel.

"Promise me," I cry. "Promise you won't kill Kent! Or Daniel! Or...anyone!"

Ivan growls but then he takes a step back from Daniel, appeasing me. Though he's still looking towards Daniel, his next words are addressed to me. "This is a capture mission, Fay," Ivan says, a touch calmer now. "We're authorized to use lethal force if anyone resists," and here he takes another menacing step towards Daniel, "But we won't kill him unless he retaliates," Ivan continues, his voice low, as if he'd like nothing better than to take them all out. "Then why is there all that shooting downstairs!" I gasp, my voice panicked.

"Because they're probably retaliating, Fay!" Ivan shouts, spinning his head to glare at me. I look towards Daniel, whose hands twitch, obviously itching to take Ivan's gun or tackle him or something. But I shake my head no.

Realizing his mistake, Ivan snaps his view back to Daniel. "Tell me!" He commands. "Where is Kent!"

"There's another floor," I say, all in a rush. "Through the wardrobe," I say, nodding towards it, though Ivan can't see me. "It um - it connects to Kent's bedroom? And there's....all sorts of rooms in the corridor below it? But yeah - he probably went back to his bedroom before you guys came in, after he found out..."

And then, ridiculously, I blush - because in my panic I am saying way more than needs to be said right now.

"After what?" Ivan presses, taking another step back towards the bed so he can keep Daniel under gunpoint and look at me at the same time.

I snap my mouth shut, not saying anything. Daniel does too.

"After what," Ivan insists, his voice breaking under the strain.

But it's Jerome that breaks our silence, his words bitter.

"After he found out Fay's pregnant, you a*****e."