Fall For My Ex’s Mafia Dad
Chapter 216

Kent stares at me for a long moment, steady and serious, before he slips his hand from my cheek to my neck, pulling me to him and kissing me, hard and fast like he can't help it. My mouth opens to him in an instant and I reach for him, wrapping my hands in his The kiss is desperate for a moment as we both consider how close it was - that possibility of losing each other, of me having to raise this baby without him.

shirt and using my leverage there to pull him close.

But now that we're here, and we have another chance?

There's no way in hell that we're letting anyone take this from us. Never again.

Kent breaks the kiss after a long moment, resting his forehead against mine and staring down into my eyes. "I love you, Fay," he whispers, and a thrill runs through me to hear it.

"I know," I murmur, my breath coming hard as I force myself to loosen my grip on his shirt.

He leans in again, moving his mouth to mine, eager to continue, but I put a hand on his chest, very aware that we're indecently close to getting caught in a very compromising position here on this very public deck.

I lean back a little, willing myself into a little more self-control, taking a deep breath.

"So," I say, wracking my mind looking for a safe subject of conversation that isn't going to make me want to tear his clothes off any more than I already do. But...I don't come up with much.

What were we even talking about before?

My brain goes fuzzy as I stare at him, this impossibly good-looking man, with his full lips -

And god, that body that I know is hidden under these unassuming clothes, thick with muscles and so tall and broad -

I lick my lips a little, my eyes drifting from his mouth downward, doing my very...very best to reign myself in.

I flick my eyes back up to Kent's face to find him staring seriously at me, his stillness and silence communicating that he's thinking precisely, precisely what I am right now. But I smirk, smiling, because dinner is in half an hour. And while that's probably enough time...

Well. We've got the rest of our lives for that, don't we? Besides, it will be fun to make him wait.

At least, fun for me.

I smirk a little, leaning forward and placing an innocent hand on his thigh, pretending I don't know what I'm doing. "So, Kent," I say idly, trying again to come up with some small talk to distract him. "How do you feel about -" "No," he snaps, shaking his head and grabbing me suddenly around the shoulders and under the knees, standing up in an instant with me already in his arms. "Absolutely not, Fay," he growls. "This is ridiculous."

He's already well on his way to the door by the time I gasp my surprise and then start to laugh, wrapping my arms around his neck and pulling myself close to him. Somehow he gets the door open and is already striding down the stairs. "What!" I protest. "I wasn't doing anything -"

"You seriously think," he growls, striding down the corridor to our cabin, "that I spend two months in jail thinking about you and we're going to spend our first full day together chatting on the sun deck?" He's angry now - honestly, anyone else would probably think him a little dangerous, but seeing Kent like this? It just sends a little thrill down my spine and lights a fire in my core.

Kent practically kicks the door to our cabin open and then slams it shut behind us.

"Fuck that, Fay," he mutters, tossing me laughing onto the bed and before he pulls off his shirt. "Absolutely not."

And then Kent climbs on top of me, and again seals his mouth to me.

And we are very, very late for dinner.

Janeen grins at me broadly when Kent and I finally do get to the dinner table, resting her elbow against the table and eagerly propping her chin in her palm. "Heyyy Fayyy," she says, blinking innocently. "We saved you some supper. Did you lose track of time?" I blush a little, shaking my head at her, but Kent doesn't raise to her bait at all as he sits down at the table and nods a hello to everyone. He looks completely nonplussed by our activities this past hour, though I am...well, I can't keep the smile off my face. I love Kent for many reasons, but our physical connection? It's...definitely not at the bottom of the list.

I sigh happily, reaching for a dish of macaroni and cheese in the center of the table, suddenly ravenous.

Janeen just laughs at me, shaking her head, while my dad flips through a book of old sea stories he has propped on the table, clearly not wanting to know.

Daniel, in on the joke, wraps an arm around my shoulder and gives me a kiss on the head. "Ah, my faithful little wife!" he says, grinning at me as I spoon cheesy noodles onto my plate. "I've missed you. What on earth have you been getting up to without me by your side?" Kent, reaching for a dish of broiled fish, sends Daniel a little glare but doesn't say anything, letting it pass. Daniel's grin broadens at this and I laugh, considering that Kent letting him get away with a cheeky mark at his expense is probably a new experience. "Well, I, for one," Jerome says, raising a half-drunk glass of whiskey in my direction, "did not miss you, Fay, as Janeen and I have a chance at Scrabble when we can gang up on Daniel together."

"You say this like it's a good thing," Janeen chimes in, rolling her eyes. "As if we hadn't already lost by agreeing to play Scrabble anyway." "Hey!" Daniel protests but Janeen glares, pointing a fork in his direction.

"Next time we're playing strip poker, as I suggested," she murmurs before stabbing a bite of potato with her fork and lifting it to her mouth.

I laugh at this as Kent and I fill our plates, and then dinner devolves into the usual chaotic chatter that I got used to in our weeks at the beach house together, an atmosphere that fills me with joy. This, honestly, feels quite like my element - sitting with people who love each other very dearly, chatting and teasing, sharing a meal. Quietly, and I hope privately, I watch Kent from the corner of my eye, seeing how he takes it. Because as much as I love this, I know that it's very different from the home that he built for himself over the years. Even though he always had Daniel in his house, Kent's mansion...well, it never really felt like a home, did it? He always had barriers up, rules and restrictions that made it very difficult to have these kinds of connections. Silently, I wonder why he did that, or if it was even his choice.

And if it was...my stomach turns over, because...will our new life together mean that I have to give this up? Because I desperately don't want to. But if Kent prefers something quieter -

Suddenly, Kent turns his head and meets my eyes, huffing a little laugh. "Will you stop staring at me?" His words are low, whispered, just for me. The family around us keeps talking, either not noticing or giving us our space.

"What?" I ask, blinking. And then I blush, realizing that I was staring at him.

"It's fine," he says, smiling at me and slipping a hand onto my thigh, giving it a little squeeze. "It's good, Fay. It really is. I like it," he says, gesturing around the table. "Stop worrying about me."

"It's just...different," I say, shrugging and hoping he understands. "Than anything you had."

"It's better," he murmurs, leaning a little towards me. "It's what I would have had - I just...honestly, I don't think I knew how to create anything like this. You're...better at social stuff than me." "What?" I say, turning my head, a little confused. "Kent, you throw beautiful parties -"

He waves a hand, shaking his head. "Real social stuff, Fay. Between people who love each other? That's all so much harder than picking a venue and the right drinks to be served. And I want it - I really do. All right?"

"All right," I say, smiling and running my fingers briefly through his hair before sighing happily and turning back to the table, hoping that he's not faking enthusiasm for my sake. Because I love my obnoxious, loud, funny family - and if he doesn't? Honestly, he's just going to have to get used to it.