Fall For My Ex’s Mafia Dad
Chapter 201

Gasping, I pull my face from Kent's and snap my gaze to the door where -

"JANEEN!" I shriek, scrambling suddenly to get out of Kent's lap -

Even though seconds ago I would have said that nothing could tear me away -

But my sister - here on the ship! Does it mean -

I clamber to my feet and hurl myself at her. Laughing, Janeen catches me in her arms. "Hey, baby," she murmurs, giving me a tight hug. Desperate, I pull away, searching her face. "Does this mean- did dad -"

"He's here," she says, grinning and nodding to me. "I talked him into it - last minute. Apparently we got on the boat just moments before your boy here." Janeen tilts her head towards Kent now and, beaming, I turn to see him still sitting on the floor, looking a little chagrined as he watches us, his arms looped casually around his bent knees.

"Hey Kent," Janeen says, grinning at him like a devil. "Didn't think that the next time I saw you that you would be groping my sister in a shipping container with a horse in it," she adds, her smile deepening. "But hey, life is full of surprises."

"Nice to see you too, Janeen," Kent replies, his voice dry. Then he sighs, getting to his feet and coming over to us. The moment he gets to my side, he puts an arm around my waist, like he can't not touch me.

"Um," I say, looking between Kent and Janeen, suddenly torn. Because as much as I want, honestly more than anything, to spend several long hours alone with Kent - I can't just abandon my dad, who just gave up his whole life to join our band of criminal expatriates.

"Come on," Janeen sighs, tugging at my hand. "They told us to come to dinner. You two can catch up after. All right?"

"Five minutes," Kent says as Janeen drops my hand and steps away. She turns her head at him, curious. "We'll be up in five minutes, all right?" he clarifies.

Janeen grins at him again. "Is that all you need, Lippert?"

Kent just scowls at her, making her laugh as she starts again down the hall. "Five minutes!" she calls over her shoulder. "My timer's started!"

As Janeen disappears down the long hall I turn my face up to Kent and can't help the smile that breaks out on my face. His face is serious as he watches Janeen go and butterflies burst out in my stomach as I study the stern expression that I love so much. When he looks down at me he can't stop his smile either, though I see him fight it, which just makes me smile harder.

"Fay," he murmurs, taking my chin in his hand, looking over my face and shaking his head at me a little bit, like he can't believe he's looking at me with his own eyes. I wrinkle my nose at him, which elicits a smirk. But then he sighs sharply and takes a step back, looking down at me, at my stomach.

I bite my lip, suddenly trying to guess the direction of his thoughts, and realizing that as thrilled as we are to see each other...this might be one aspect about which he's not so happy.

"I'm so sorry, Fay," Kent murmurs, still looking down at me. "For how I acted that day in your bathroom - for not instantly being on your side. I should have... damn it, the night before I promised you that you had my utter trust, and then at the first test of it -" "It's okay, Kent," I say quietly, leaning closer to him and rubbing one hand softly over my stomach. "That's so far in the past - honestly, I don't even think about it anymore. So much has changed - and I know that I haven't seen you since that moment but honestly... everything is different now." And then I hesitate. "Isn't it?"

He looks up into my eyes. "Yes," he agrees, nodding sharply. "I mean - not everything - how I feel about you is the same but...yes. Nothing about what I thought or said in that moment even feels like me anymore."

I grin suddenly, and he turns his head at me, silently asking what's so funny. "Look at you, Kent," I say, laughing a little, "talking about your feelings. Jail did you good."

"Jail made me miss you," he murmurs, wrapping a fierce arm around me and pulling me tight against him again, precisely where I want to be.

And I smile up into his face, tempted to let the moment pass, but then...

I can't.

He sees my smile falter. "What is it, Fay?" Kent murmurs, lifting a hand to stroke his thumb across my cheek.

"Kent," I whisper. "I...I really like the baby."

"What?" he asks, confused.

"I mean - I've gotten to know it a little - and I think it's probably going to turn out to be a really funny kid. I mean, I don't know how I know it, but I already feel like the baby has a sense of humor And then I blush, looking up into his mystified face, realizing that I'm saying this all wrong. So I bite my lip, and take a deep breath, and start again.

"What I'm trying to say, Kent," I begin slowly, "is that I...really want you to like this baby too. I - I think it's going to be a good one."

Understanding breaks on his face, which softens immediately with tenderness as well as a little guilt. "Fay, is this what you've been worrying about for two months?"

"Well, yeah," I scoff, "amongst...other things."

"Because I told you I didn't want any more children?"

"Because you underwent elective surgery to prevent more children," I clarify, rolling my eyes.

Kent murmurs something soft and exasperated in Italian before he drops the arm around my waist and turns fully to me, taking my face in his hands and looking carefully down into my eyes.

"Everything - everything is different now, Fay," he says quietly, saying every word carefully so that I hear him. "I don't know if you believe in god, or fate, or...anything like that. But I do, somehow - at least a little bit. We were given this child - meant to have it - and there's nothing more I want in this world than raise this baby with you. All right?"

A tenuous little smile breaks out on my face. "You're not just saying it?"

Slowly he shakes his head as he smiles at me. "I like this baby too, Fay," he murmurs. "I promise."

And my eyes fill with tears again, and he clicks his tongue to see it and strokes my hair comfortingly, murmuring some pleasant things about not crying so much, but I just laugh, and shake my head, and stand on my toes and turn my face up to him so that he'll kiss

me.

And he does, and it's...perfect.

"FAY!"

Janeen's shout comes ringing down the stairs, echoing off the metal walls around us, making Kent and I jump apart.

"Dinner! It's been SIX minutes!"

"Um," I say, smiling up at Kent. "I think we should go up."

He sighs and closes the door to Heathcliff and Butterfly's makeshift stable, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and leading me in the direction of my sister's voice. "Who picked this vessel anyway," he murmurs, looking around. "No one should have allowed Janeen on a boat that's so...reverberant."

"Daniel picked it," I sigh, leaning against him as we walk.

"What?" he asks, shocked. "How did he do that? Who - who owns this ship?"

"Well," I say, looking up at him wide-eyed. "It's kind of...mine..."

"What!?" Kent stops dead in his tracks, shocked.

"FAY!" I wince and then laugh as Janeen's voice shouts again.

"Coming!" I call out to her and then I tug Kent forward. "Come on," I say with a grin. "It's a really long story. We'll catch you up at dinner."