Fall For My Ex’s Mafia Dad
Chapter 163

I'm startled from my nap on Daniel's shoulder a little while later by a gentle shake at my shoulder. I raise my head, groaning at the crick in my neck and wiping at my mouth where I'm horrified to see there's a little drool. Blinking, confused, I look around. Where... "Hey, baby," a soft voice murmurs. My eyes focus on the figure crouched down in front of me, on her head of pretty purple hair... "Janeen!" I gasp, and then I pitch forward into my sister's arms. She lets out a little surprised gasp as knock her to the floor, holding her tight to me. Then she laughs a little as I duck my head against her shoulder. "Okay, kid," she says, patting my hair. "It's all right. We came to take you home."

"We?" I ask, raising my head. And then I look up to see my dad standing there my real dad, who I haven't seen in weeks, and I burst into tears.

"Oh, darling," he says, holding his hands out to me. I reach out for him instantly and my dad pulls me first to my feet and then into a warm hug where he holds me for a long time, rocking me back and forth.

After a few long moments of this, I hear someone awkwardly clear their throat behind me. When I turn, I see Daniel standing up from his seat, looking hesitantly between us. Of course, he's figured out who these people are - but he's never been introduced. "Dad," I say, stepping away from him and wiping at my eyes. "This is Daniel. My...um, he's my fiancé." And then I gesture towards Janeen as well. "Daniel this is Janeen."

"It's a pleasure to meet you both," Daniel says, all formality, saying precisely what is expected of a fiance upon meeting the family. "I wish it was...under better circumstances."

Janeen laughs, a harsh thing, but not without humor. I turn to glare at her a little but she doesn't see, her eyes on Daniel. "Oh, we all wish it was under better circumstances, Danny." Then, even though he opens his mouth to reply, Janeen turns to me. "You ready to get out of here, baby?"

Eagerly, I nod, but I fix my eyes on Daniel and the lawyer. "Um, can we go?"

The lawyer, looking exhausted, sighs and nods. "They want to bring you for questioning later in the week, but considering they only just captured Lippert now, they're distracted -"

I gasp when I hear the news and Daniel reaches out to take my hand. "I'll tell you all about it," he promises. "He's okay."

I nod, clenching my jaw with something between relief and anxiety as I squeeze Daniel's hand, agreeing. Then I look at Janeen and my dad, wondering...

"Is he coming with us?" Janeen asks me, raising an eyebrow and nodding towards Daniel.

"Of course he is," I say, frowning at her, a little pissed that she'd even ask.

"Okay," she says, raising her hands innocently, though I can see a sarcastic little smirk on her mouth. Just asking. I just wasn't sure if you'd want the reason you got shot at tonight to come along home -"

"I didn't get shot at," I snap, narrowing my eyes at her. "And none of this is Daniel's fault."

"Whatever," she says breezily as my dad tightens a supportive arm around my shoulders. Then Janeen starts to move towards the door. "Let's just go. Bring your little mafia boy toy along all you want."

My jaw drops open, aghast, but Daniel squeezes my hand again. "Let it go," he murmurs to me. "Her are..justified."

"Damn right it is, son," my dad says sternly, and I look up at him, surprised again. Dad is usually so mild-mannered. When dad sees my surprise, he just gives me a shrug. "Well, it is, baby."

"Okay," I sigh, dropping Daniel's hand as we start to move towards the door. I lean into my dad, wanting his warmth. "I get it. Let's just...go home."

When we climb into the car, I'm surprised that dad drives us not to our little city house - but instead hits the highway and starts to take us towards the shore. It doesn't take me long to realize that we're heading for the shore house - my shore house, which I've mostly turned over to Janeen.

Janeen sits in the back with me, leaving Daniel to awkwardly take the front seat next to my dad. We're all silent for a long time before Janeen asks dad to turn on the radio, which he does. But when she turns to me and leans close, I realize that the music is just a

cover.

"How are you?" she whispers, unbuckling her belt so she can scoot closer to me. "Are you okay?"

I ignore her questions, instead countering with some pressing ones of my own. "How did you even know we were here, Janeen?"

"That guy," she says, blinking at me in wide-eyed surprise. When I glance at Daniel, she takes my hand, pulling my attention back to her. "No, the other guy. Ivan. He - he called, he told me that you were going to need a ride from the police station tonight." "What?" I gasp, yanking my hand out from hers. "Janeen! You're talking to Ivan!? He completely betrayed me!"

"Did he?" Janeen asks, her eyebrows going up. "I mean, how -"

"He's the reason Kent was arrested, Janeen," I say to her through gritted teeth. I mean it's not really her fault, how would she know this? But still, I'm frustrated. "He set it all up! Ivan is behind all of this -"

"Really," Janeen says sarcastically, crossing her arms and giving me a dubious look. "Seriously? It's all Ivan's fault? Kent did nothing to deserve to be arrested. He's completely clean."

I hesitate then, realizing that...well, yes, Kent broke several national and international laws, but...

"Precisely." Janeen says, smug.

I turn and give my sister a nasty look. "You don't know the whole story, Janeen," I snap. "You weren't there."

"Damn right I wasn't there," Janeen says, shaking her head at me. "Because you have pushed me and dad further and further out of your life, getting completely wrapped up in this Lippert bullshit! So much so that you were in a police raid tonight - you could have been killed!" Her face pales then, and she raises an anxious hand to her cheek, clearly picturing it in her mind. I hesitate then, leaning forward, seeing her point.

"Okay," I sigh. "You're right. I get it. But Janeen," I shake my head again. "He's...it's..."

"Whatever it is," Janeen says, her voice tense as she glances at dad - clearly implying that maybe what I'm going to say next is not something dad wants to hear - "all I know is that I got a really nice phone call from a good-looking blonde who has a lot of sexy tattoos and clearly cares about you, Fay. And from my perspective? It looks like he put a lot of effort into getting you out of a very bad situation."

I glance at Daniel, who has his head turned towards us just slightly, clearly listening but pretending he's not.

"The Lipperts are my family, Janeen," I say, looking at my best friend and then back to my sister. "And yours now," I continue, putting a hand on my stomach. "Whether you like it or not."

Janeen frowns at me for a second, but then looks down at my hand and goes white. Her eyes are wider than I've ever seen them when she looks back up at me. She glances quickly at dad - who is, thank god, oblivious - and then mouths some words to me: are you f*****g serious?

I shrug then, tears springing to my eyes.

Janeen leans back in her chair, giving an agonized groan and covering her face with her hands. I watch her for a few long moments as she stays precisely like that, clearly processing the news that I've barely had time to work through myself. Then, slowly, she drags her hands away from her face and looks at me again.

Slowly, she cocks her head to the side and points at the back of Daniel's head, clearly asking if he's the father. I shake my head no, scrunching my face in distaste, and she groans again before heaving with a long sigh. Then she turns to me and mouths another single word:

Kent?

Slowly, I nod.

Janeen's eyebrows go up, almost as if she's impressed. And, seeing the tears starting to drip down my face, Janeen clicks her tongue and goes into big sister mode. She scoots across the back seat to wrap her arms around me, drawing me tight against her and making soft shushing noises to me as we drive down the long empty highway to the coast, letting me silently cry myself out into her shirt.

"It's okay, baby," she murmurs against my hair, just once. "We'll get it all sorted out. Though I have to admit, if you had made me lay a bet on which one of us was going to get knocked up by a mafia guy who was in jail..."

I can feel her shake her head and I laugh, just a little. At that, Daniel looks over his shoulder at both of us, his face clearly worried and pained.

"You okay?" he asks, looking only at me - probably not yet ready to face Janeen's wrath.

"Nope," I reply, giving him a tight little smile. "Are you?"

"No way," he says with a sigh, sinking back in his chair. "Not at all."

"Well at least we're on the same page," I sigh. And then we all ride in silence the final few miles to our house, listening to the oldies station dad picked out.

I close my eyes and rest my head against my sister's shoulder, seeking sleep - oblivion -

But it evades me.

Instead, I just think, and scheme, and plan.

Just as Kent taught me to do.