Fall For My Ex’s Mafia Dad
Chapter 183

Predictably, the courtroom is packed with journalists and other members of the press. Kent has known for a long time that he's been a person of public interest - that damn Mafia King nickname had done some real damage when it was first applied to him - and

whispers start around the room as he walks in wearing his orange jumpsuit, his wrists cuffed.

Kent clenches his jaw, refusing to meet any of their eyes, his gaze going immediately to the front of the room where his team of lawyers wait, and to Daniel and Jerome, sitting in the first gallery row behind them. Kent's heart sinks, just a little bit, when he sees that Fay isn't there with them. What he'd give to see her, just for a moment - just a glimpse.

She's got to be in her second trimester by now, which means she'll be showing - if just a little bit. He wants to know everything - absolutely everything about it. But he also understands: if Fay and Daniel are trying to go legitimate, to convince the world that Daniel is her husband and the father of her child, then she can't have anyone see her relationship with Daniel's father as anything but a disgraced father-in-law.

It makes sense.

But god damn it, it hits him right in the heart.

Daniel gives him a little smile, just the corner of his mouth pulling up, and Kent nods to him, and then to Jerome sitting beside him.

For a moment, as Kent passes to the group of his lawyers sitting at the front of the room, he considers how weird it is that Jerome is always around. He glances over his shoulder, frowning at the young man who he picked up basically off the streets, never intending for him to be any more than a low-level runner. And now he was the only one Daniel and Fay bailed out of jail? And he was, essentially, living with them?

Who the hell was this kid?

Kent makes a mental note to ask Daniel next time they speak alone, but then he sighs considering that...well, it doesn't really matter, does it? Jerome is in. And he, Kent, is...screwed.

The judge begins speaking and Kent's lawyers kick into gear, giving their responses and making their arguments. Kent glances over at the lawyers for the state, noticing for the first time that Ivan is over there as well, apparently waiting in case he needs to be called as a witness. But then Kent looks away, because it can't possibly matter anymore.

Kent barely listens as his lawyers speak. He knows the details of what they're asking for - he's read all the paperwork and asked all of his questions. This judgment session is, largely, a formality - the teams have come to an understanding, and the judge will only really deny it if she has some kind of personal vendetta. And, glancing up at her face, which is very nearly bored, Kent considers that it would be a surprise if she did that.

So, he lets himself space out a little bit, which he never does, glancing down at the paperwork on the table and passively reading some of the words. But as he looks closer, he frowns, leaning forward a bit to see that...

Her handwriting is...basically on every piece of paper here.

What?

Kent's eyes eagerly pass over everything on the table, noting Fay's chaotic cursive notes on nearly every document that the lawyers have brought today - which were only updated yesterday with the final details. Which means that...Fay was up last night, or this morning, going over every bit of it. What the hell?

Why on earth was she involved? Fay doesn't have a law degree - and while she's certainly clever enough to understand it...why...

Kent stands up straight and sighs through his nose, working hard to keep his face impassive. What on earth is she up to? He knows she wanted him to take this plea deal, but he had assumed it was to...keep things easy for him, for all of them. To just get everything settled so that they could all go on with their lives - Kent in jail, Daniel and Fay out in the world.

But this? The fact that she's not just leaving it up to the lawyers? That she's apparently going over every bit of the paperwork?

Kent clenches his fists as he realizes that...that Fay is fighting for him. And he doesn't get it - he doesn't know how, or why - but she's up to something.

And he could kill her for it - for putting herself in the middle, when she should be concentrating on herself, on the baby.

But damn it, if his heart doesn't swell with happiness and pride. Because his girl is out there, and she's fighting for him.

And he...he doesn't really know if he fully deserves it. Deserves her.

But he'll take it. God damnit, he'll take it, all of it. Because he's a selfish bastard and Fay?

Because she's everything.

"Mr. Lippert?" The judge says turning her gaze on him now and startling him a bit out of his reverie. "How do you plead?"

Kent glances at his lawyer, who nods to him, letting him know to do as rehearsed.

"Guilty," he replies, his voice ringing out stronger than he thought it would when he entered the court room, almost...god, it almost sounds a little happy, and smug, and sly.

The press whispers with curiosity and anticipation.

The judge takes a moment to look at him and then puts her glasses on, looking down at her the paperwork in front of her. "So be it. The sentencing will be delayed, then, but I am well convinced that the bargain struck here between the state and the defendant is equitable. Mr. Lippert, if you provide evidence to the state regarding the illegal activities of other extant criminal organizations to the satisfaction of the state, you will be sentenced to twenty years in prison for your collected crimes. Do you understand?" Kent sharply nods, and the judge bangs her gavel. And then it's done.

Kent turns away from the judge but before he can turn to Daniel, Ivan catches his eye from across the room, giving him a smirk and a nod that clearly says "I'll be seeing you soon."

But Kent gives him nothing, and turns to his son.

Daniel's there, and Kent quickly reaches for him, despite the rail between them. His wrists are still pinned together, but Daniel wraps him in a tight, fast hug. Kent knows that they don't have much time before the guards pull him away, take him back to prison for the month of interrogations, but he's going to take what he can get.

"How are you," Kent growls, resting his head against his son's for a moment. "Are you all right?"

"I'm good, we're good," Daniel says, pulling back a little bit and giving his dad a real smile. "I promise. Fay is...she's getting fat."

Kent laughs suddenly, surprising even himself. "No, she's not."

"No," Daniel says, grinning at him, and Kent can't help the surge of love that fills him to see his son looking so happy, even on such a tough day. "You're right, dad - she's not fat. She's just got this little belly now. I - um, I wish you could see her." His eyes flick around, aware that there might be listening ears.

Kent just nods, understanding. Daniel has to play the role of a husband telling his father about his wife's pregnancy. Not updating an imprisoned man on the woman he loves.

"She's healthy?" Kent asks. He knows it's dangerous to ask, but he has to know. "The baby too?"

"Yeah," Daniel says, smiling and running a hand through his hair. "The doctor says they're doing great - the baby, he's making her really nauseous -"

"He?" Kent asks, his breath catching, his eyebrows raising almost to his hairline.

But Daniel's face suddenly falls. "Oh, god, no, dad -"

Kent frowns, not understanding.

Daniel glances at Jerome, who grimaces, and then looks back at his father. "I'm sorry - it's kind of like, an inside joke. We don't know the sex of the baby yet - not at all. But we have this bet going, where Janeen and Jerome think it's a girl, and Fay's dad and I think it's a boy, and so we call the baby he and she - it...it doesn't sound very funny, does it? But it's -"

"It's all right," Kent says, smiling truly now as he nods to his son. Honestly, it's the best news Daniel could have given him - that he and Fay are living in a house with so much joy in it right now, despite everything, that they have jokes about the baby. That they laugh, and tease each other, and that the baby is safe and warm.

It's all he could have wanted. Daniel, without even knowing it, has given him a gift he couldn't have thought to ask for.

But still. There's more he needs to know.

Kent's eyes flash to the guards moving close towards him now, intent on taking him away, so he leans close to his son.

"What the hell is she getting into?" Kent says, leaning close and nodding over his shoulder at all of the lawyer's notes with Fay's handwriting all over this. "What is she planning?"

Daniel just shrugs. "She's a real Lippert now, dad," he says, sighing a little. "She says when we need to know, she'll tell us."

"God damn it," Kent growls, glancing away, his mind whirling. The guards come then, taking him by the arm, pulling him away. He looks back at his son and shakes his head once, sharply.

But Daniel knows his dad well enough to read him, even without the words. Don't let her get into anything she can't handle, Kent had said with that shake.

Daniel just shrugs, apologetic. She's out of my control, dad.

And Kent sighs, because he knows it's true.

When Fay is determined to do something, or have something her own way?

Lord help anyone who tries to stop her.

The guards lead Kent out of the courtroom and he lets them without hesitation or protest. He doesn't even look back over his shoulder at his kid.

Because he doesn't need to. Daniel gave him everything he needed - more than that.

The two of them the only two people who matter to him in the world?

They're safe, they're happy.

And they're fighting for him.

Kent closes his eyes for just a moment, saying a quick prayer, because whatever she's doing? Fay's dabbling in a dangerous world. Kent just hopes to hell she doesn't get in so deep that she can't get herself back out. Not for me, he thinks, shaking his head. I'm not worth that.

But if it were him on the other side, fighting for her?

He'd turn over heaven and hell to get her out.