Fall For My Ex’s Mafia Dad
Chapter 164

When I walk out of my bedroom the next morning Janeen comes over to me with a glass of orange juice - what I always started my day with as a kid - but I barely notice as she places it in my hand because I am too busy gawking at the incredible view from the

second-story living room of my house. My house.

"Oh my god," I murmur, walking over to sliding open the glass door that leads to an expansive back deck. Janeen comes with me, smirking a little, as we both look over the silent ocean that seems to stretch for miles in front of us. "Is this...is this a private beach?" I breathe.

"It's supposed to be," Janeen says with a little sigh. "But you can't really stop people from walking up and down it. Nor would I want to the beach belongs to everyone, not just Mr. Lippert."

I give Janeen a little glare before I continue to turn and stare around the gigantic, far too beautiful house with its incredibly high ceilings and walls covered in windows...

"This place," I murmur, shaking my head and taking a sip of my orange juice. "It's....unbelievable..."

"I know, right?" Janeen says, grinning at me a little wickedly. "What did you do to Mr. Lippert that made him this happy -"

"Ew, Janeen," I say, glaring at her again before walking over to the empty kitchen. We're both up before dad and Daniel, which I guess is good - because I know Janeen and I have some stuff to talk about that I'd prefer dad not year. Not yet.

"What!?" she says, chasing after me and laughing a little as I move to the coffee machine and pour myself a cup of the pot Janeen already made. "Seriously, Fay, I'm impressed with your work. Mr. Lippert must be-"

"Stop calling him that," I mutter, starting to get mad. I know my sister is teasing me, and that I've got a lot to answer for, but honestly.

"Fine," she says, leaning against the counter with a smirk, "Mr. Baby Daddy."

"Janeen!" I gasp, swatting at her with my free hand, which she easily evades, laughing at me.

"What, that's also no good?"

But when she sees me take a deep breath, and my face go red - which it usually does when I'm holding back tears - Janeen rolls her eyes and sighs.

"Fine, Fay, I'm sorry," she says, not meaning it. But I accept it nonetheless. "But honestly, what were you thinking, getting knocked up? Didn't you -"

"He had a vasectomy, Janeen," I explain with a sigh. And then, as fast as I can - my eyes always on the door that I know dad is right behind - I tell her the whole story.

"Wow," she says, genuinely shocked at the end of it. "That is some...soap-opera level drama, Fay. Who knew you had it in you."

"I knew," Daniel says, coming up the stairs now, his hands in the pockets of his pajamas that dad loaned him. I smile to see him and then laugh when I notice that the pajamas are somehow simultaneously too short and too baggy around the waist. We both turn to him as he comes into the kitchen. "Fay has been nothing but a delightful source of drama since the moment we met her. Kept us on our toes."

"Excuse you," I say, giving Daniel his own little glare as I turn towards the coffee machine to get him a cup. "But I did not ask to be carried out of a strip club on your dad's shoulder -"

"Is that what happened?" Janeen gasps, grinning at me and shoving my shoulder playfully. "Fay Thompson! Naughty girl!"

We all laugh a little, and I admit it does my heart good to be laughing with my sister and my best friend and not concentrating on the...much bigger questions at hand. At least, not yet. "So," Janeen says, turning her wicked grin on Daniel now as she looks up at him. "You're the gay one, right? Where's your boyfriend?"

Daniel blinks to hear Janeen say it so blatantly, but then he smirks, glancing at me. I grimace a little, realizing that I never told him...well, just how much I filled Janeen in, over the weeks.

"He got arrested," Daniel says, deciding not to deny it and taking a sip from his coffee. "As part of the raid."

"So you're both nerds who are into mafia bad boys," Janeen says with a wide, delighted grin, laughing and looking between us as she crosses her arms. "Makes sense why you're engaged to each other."

"She's just jealous," I say to Daniel, smiling at him over my coffee cup. "She wishes she could land a Kent or a Jerome."

"Accurate," Janeen says with a shrug. "If you know anyone...."

"Pickings are slim," Daniel says, grinning at her. "All in jail for the moment. Though if you're into girls, I know some Russians..."

Janeen raises her eyebrows, clearly intrigued, but I interrupt.

"Enough of this " I say, stepping between them. "We need..." and then I sigh, deciding how to phrase this. I turn to my sister. "Janeen, Daniel and I need to make plans. And you're welcome to be in on them, but if you do...I need you to either be in or out. You're either a part of this, or you should - for your own safety - stay out of it completely."

Janeen goes quiet for a moment, studying me, and then flicks her eyes to Daniel. "Did you do this to her?" she asks quietly. "Turn my geeky little sister into a mafia boss?"

"Nah," I hear Daniel answer, and I don't look at him. "That's all dad."

"Well," Janeen says, returning her gaze to me. "I kind of like it."

"So, are you in?" I ask, needing an answer and wanting it now.

"Of course I'm in," she says, giving me a frown. "You know you can count on me, Fay. Always."

I turn to Daniel then, because no matter what - we're in this together. "You good with that?"

"1 I am if you are," he says, looking down at me with his steady green eyes. My heart twists a little as I look up at him. He just looks...so much like Kent.

I quickly look away, needing...well, needing not to go there right now. There's too much to do. Briskly, I nod. "Okay then. Let's get started."

Daniel and I set up camp on the second-story back deck, which is almost too luxurious and comfortable to serve as the base of our command. But we make do, curled up at the circular wooden table with the blue umbrella open above us. Dad, when he wakes, makes us breakfast and brings it to us while the three of us chat. He doesn't interfere or join in, though - clearly deciding to give us our space.

I thank him and hope he knows how grateful I am that he's here, but I don't ask him to get involved - both because I know he doesn't want to, and because....well, because I can't stand to put him in that kind of danger. My father is a gentle soul.

Janeen, however, is a terrier. I have much less worry about her - and frankly, she's even better than Daniel about getting organized and bringing all of our pieces together.

Daniel contacts our lawyers, getting all the information he can about Kent and Jerome's incarceration as well as our finances. It's not long before we have a pile of mixed news to sort through.

"So, the bad news," Daniel says, ending his call and sitting back down at the table with us, "is that all of dad's property and bank accounts are locked down because he's under investigation."

"Oh," I say, sitting forward, disturbed by this. "So, um. How are we going to pay lawyers and stuff?"

"They'll do a certain amount essentially on credit," Daniel sighs, running a hand through his messy hair, "under the assumption that they'll get paid when dad goes free, or when his accounts and stuff get unlocked. But until then..."

"Are we broke?" I ask, a little afraid. I mean I'm no stranger to being poor, but this situation gets a lot more complicated if we don't have resources.

"That's part of the good news," Daniel says, looking at me and leaning back in his chair. "You and I still have access to our accounts and property."

"We have accounts and property?" I ask, tilting my head to the side.

"How do you not know this, Fay?" Janeen scoffs.

"I was busy, Janeen," I growl, glaring at her.

"Getting knocked up," she murmurs, which makes Daniel laugh. I lean over and shove her hard enough that her shoulder knocks into Daniel's, and they both stop laughing, seeing that I'm mad.

"Can we be serious, please?" I say before I turn my attention back to Daniel.

"My property is in Europe," Daniel says casually as if it's a normal thing - "and you have this house, which is paid for outright." A little thrill of security goes through me at that - at least we have somewhere to stay. "And as for accounts, apparently dad gave the lawyers a list of our assets in case something like this happened. I'll access them now."

But while Daniel types on the computer, pulling up our bank accounts, the doorbell rings.

I frown at Janeen. "Were you expecting anyone?"

Slowly, she shakes her head. So, I stand up, heading for the stairs down to the front door.