Fall For My Ex’s Mafia Dad
Chapter 161

"What?!" Ivan gasps, his gun falling to his side as he gapes at me, his eyes wide.

Daniel groans and drops the pretense of holding his hands up, burying his face in them instead.

"You're pregnant!?" Ivan asks, aghast.

"And YOU!" I say, pointing an accusing finger at him. "Are a cop, Ivan! So if we're trying to compare surprises here - I still think I win!"

"Ohhh my god," Ivan groans, turning his back to us and scraping his free hand down the length of his face, apparently completely forgetting his job of keeping us at gunpoint. He turns to glares at me over his shoulder. "I can't believe you let him knock you up, Fay," he says, like it's the worst god damn news he's ever heard. "You're such an idiot."

"Um, excuse me," I say, appalled, "I didn't let anyone -"

"So," Daniel interrupts, his face curious as he steps forward and looking carefully at Ivan. "You're...not the father?"

"Daniel!" I gasp, betrayed, at the same moment in which Ivan remembers he's a cop and turns to point his gun at Daniel again, scowling and shaking his head.

"No," Ivan snaps. "I'm not. Now back against the wall."

Daniel does as he's told, pressing his back again against the wall and tiredly holding his hands up again.

But as much as Daniel's willing to play nice, I am livid. "You're such a fucking dick, Ivan," I growl, crossing my arms across my chest and glaring at him with all of the hatred I currently feel.

"I'm a dick!?" Ivan snaps, turning his head to look at me again. "Seriously, Fay? After everything you know Lippert did - after everything he confessed to you?! I'm a d**k!?"

"Um, ya!" I retort, leaning forward and laying the words out like it's the most obvious thing in the world. Because it is. "You're. A. D**k. Ivan."

"I'm a cop!"

"Precisely! You completely betrayed me, Ivan!"

He bares his teeth at me then, full of rage. "He's a fucking murderer, Fay. He killed my dad."

My eyes go wide at this and I stand up straight. "What?"

"Yeah!" Ivan says, still livid and distracted again from keeping his gun trained on Daniel. Not like it matters, though - Daniel is paying just as much rapt attention as I am. "What?" I ask, completely bewildered.

"Yeah, that cute little confession pillow talk you guys had last night? When he casually mentioned that he's killed cops and you told him it didn't matter to you? Yeah, he was talking about my dad."

And I go pale then for...many reasons.

One of which is that...I feel suddenly so horrible for Ivan, for having lost his father like that. I'm reminded, suddenly, of the tattoo on his arm that I saw at the taco stand - when he told me about losing his dad, about missing him.

And I had had...no idea that Kent was the one who took him away.

But - perhaps horribly - the thing that really shakes me to my core is...

"How...how do you know about that conversation?" I ask, my voice hardly more than a whisper. That conversation was held here...in my bed. Wrapped up in these pretty floral blankets, hardly louder than a whisper.

"Remember my jacket, Fay?" Ivan retorts, spitting the words out like they're venom meant to sink into my veins. "That night you were so cold, and I put it around your shoulders, and you wore it inside?"

My face drops as I realize...

And then my eyes shift to my headboard.

"Yeah." Ivan says, cruel. "It was bugged. It's been bugged for months. We've been listening to every conversation that's happened in this room. If anyone's the betrayer here, Fay? It's you. Because you gave us everything we needed to take Kent Lippert down." He gives me a nasty little smirk now, rubbing it in. "Without you? None of this could have happened."

"What's he talking about, Fay," Daniel says, his voice cold.

And I turn to him, my eyes filled with tears, and just shake my head.

The guilt rolls in me now.

Because - because I was selfish, and scared -

And I wanted a piece of Ivan to keep, and that Kent wouldn't take away -

But of course Kent would have taken it away, because Ivan was his enemy in more ways than one. But I - I hid it, so I could keep it...

Even though Ivan...was playing me too.

"Fay!" Daniel snaps. "What is he talking about!"

And slowly I push myself away from the wall and stand up straight. Ivan doesn't stop me as I move to my bed, doesn't even point the gun at me as I pull the headboard forward and pull out, from behind it, the formal jacket that Ivan gave me that night when I was cold. That I slept in, thinking it was going to give me peace.

That I tucked back there and forgot about.

That has...completely ruined all of our lives.

"Everyone at the NYPD has really been enjoying listening to all of your conversations, Fay," Ivan says, nasty, as the tears slip down my face. "You've been very popular," he sneers, "especially every morning, when you come back upstairs and fill Daniel in on how his dad f****d you -"

"Shut the f**k up," Daniel snaps with a snarl.

"You shut the fuck up!" Ivan shouts, losing his temper again and taking a long step towards Daniel now, the gun redirected back at his face.

"Leave her alone! You jealous asshole, you're just bitter that -"

"STOP!" I shout, my whole body shaking, hurling the jacket to the floor in anger and despair. "Everyone just shut the hell up!"

And then, my teeth gritted, I glare at Ivan with as much pride as I can muster. Which is not much.

"If you're going to arrest us, arrest us," I say. "We are done talking."

And then I cross my hands over my chest and turn my face away from him, pressing my eyes shut, determined not to say another word.

Daniel and Jerome apparently follow suit because silence reigns in the room for a long moment. And in that long moment, I realize that the shooting has stopped downstairs. That whatever was done is...done.

After a second I hear Ivan click his radio on again, telling the men downstairs to check the passage that I told him about. Some response comes but, again, I can't hear it well enough to understand.

And then we're all silent for a long, long time before we start to hear the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs. I open my eyes when the steps approach the threshold and see Ivan moving towards my door, twisting the lock and pulling it open.

"In here," Ivan murmurs, stepping back so more police can come in the room.

I stand perfectly still as cops move roughly past me, sweeping the room and the bathroom to make sure there are no threats here. But there's no worry about that. When they finish, two cops lift Jerome off the floor, setting him on his feet and leading him from the room in silence. Then, another - an older man who looks less mussed than everyone else - addresses Daniel and I.

"If you'd come down to the station, Mr. Lippert, Miss. Alden," he says, his voice even, "we'd like to ask you some questions."

"I need to call our lawyer," Daniel murmurs, lowering his hands to his side.

"That's fine," the man says, nodding to him as a cop takes Daniel by the elbow and guides him away. Then, the man turns to me.

"Miss. Alden?"

"Fine," I sigh, walking towards my bedroom door with my eyes on the floor. Someone touches my elbow as well, seeking to guide me, and when I look up I'm shocked to see that it's Ivan.

I immediately sneer and pull my arm out of his hand, moving quickly away.

"Miss," The older cop says, his voice low with warning, and I snap my gaze immediately to him.

"Not him," I say, jerking my chin in Ivan's direction. "I'm not going with him."

The cop looks at me evenly for a moment before nodding. "All right," he says, offering his hand. "I'll take you myself."

I lift my chin as high as I can - admittedly, not very high, not after today, and walk towards the cop. When I get close enough, he gently takes my arm, and together we walk down the stairs. Ivan follows slowly behind.