Fall For My Ex’s Mafia Dad
Chapter 222

Early in the morning two days later, before the sun even comes up, I roll over in bed and kiss Kent gently on the shoulder. "Kent," I whisper, loud enough that I know it will wake him. "Kent, wake up."

He blinks a little, frowning, and then presses his eyes further shut. "No," he grumbles, turning away from me.

"Kent!" I say, laughing and placing a hand on his shoulder to gently shake him. "Come on! I want to go up and see it!" "No, go away," he mumbles. "I hate you. Let me sleep." He turns over onto his stomach and buries his face in his pillow.

This just makes me laugh harder. I sit up now, eagerly grabbing his arm and trying to pull him back over and wake him up. "Kent!" I hiss. "You have to! If I go up alone I'm going to be seduced by a sailor, or kidnapped, or -" "Good," he mutters. "Then I'll get some sleep."

I smack him on the arm then, but I'm still laughing because I know that if any of that was a reality? Kent would be wide away, his fist already cocked.

Kent sighs, turning over and looking up at me. "You're really not going to let me get out of this, are you?"

Grinning, I shake my head and bounce a little, eager to go. I don't want to miss it.

He sighs and sits up then, taking my face in his hands. "You should let an old man sleep, Fay," he murmurs quietly, shaking his head at me. "We need our rest."

"You shouldn't have got a girlfriend more than half your age, Kent," I counter, smiling at him, "if you couldn't keep up. Now let's go!"

I lean forward, pressing a quick kiss to his lips before jumping out of bed and heading for the bathroom. I hear his groan behind me as he pulls himself out of bed as well, but I ignore it, because I'm not going to let him guilt me into missing this. We can sleep the rest of our lives away - but this? It's once in a lifetime.

I lean against the doorframe of the bathroom as I watch Kent pull a sweatshirt on, a little sad to see his chest and abs disappear from sight. Then I quickly move back into the bathroom, spitting out the toothpaste and rising my brush.

When I come back to the door, Kent is fully dressed and kneeling down by my own suitcase, quickly choosing something for me to wear. I smile to see it, glad to see the old habit coming back.

He looks up at me then, maybe hearing or sensing me. "What?" he asks, confused as to why I'm just standing here.

"Nothing," I say, smiling at him. "Just like looking at ya."

He smirks a little and tosses some soft clothing at me as he stands. Luckily, I catch it. "Get dressed," he murmurs as we swap places, "before I drag you back to bed and make you forget all about this."

I laugh as Kent closes the bathroom door, well aware that he could probably do just that. But the fact that he doesn't?

I sigh as I get changed, pleased that my man is so nice and caters to my early-morning whims.

A few minutes later, as cleaned up and polished as we're going to get, Kent and I leave the cabin and I almost clap my hands with eagerness. Our captain told us last night at dinner that if we got up early we'd be treated to an especially unique sight. I absolutely can't wait.

Kent, however, is determined to be grumpy. He pulls back when I grab his hand and try to drag him forward. "Slow, Fay," he growls, giving me a glare. "You've got me up at this ridiculous hour, the least you can do is walk at a normal pace." "We're going to miss it," I whine, tugging more at his hand and Kent sighs and walks just a little faster for my sake.

But we get to the stairs soon enough, and make our way up them, me tugging at his hand the whole time. Kent doesn't say anything and doesn't go any faster despite my efforts, but the little smile on his mouth lets me know that he's pleased too. He likes to see me happy.

When we finally do make our way to the bow of the ship, I'm pleased to see that the sun hasn't risen yet and is just a hazy purple glow on the horizon. The stars are still out, as I'd hoped they'd be, shining bright against the blue-black sky.

Even more pleasing is the sight of two other figures leaning against the rail, looking out into the dark.

"Oh good," Daniel says sarcastically, turning towards us as he hears the door open. "Someone else has joined us for this insanity."

I laugh, because his voice is just as bitter and exhausted as his dad's.

"Did we miss it?" I gasp, hurrying over to Daniel and Jerome, pulling Kent with me.

"We didn't," Jerome says, opening an arm to me. I drop Kent's hand and go to Jerome, hugging him around the waist and grinning up at him. "You're just in time."

"I'm glad you got Daniel up," I whisper, grinning up at Jerome. "Did he fight you on it? Kent did."

"I basically had to throw a glass of cold water on him to get him up," Jerome says, laughing down into my face. "They're lucky to have us romantics in their lives, aren't they?"

"They are," I say on a sigh, laughing a little.

"We are deeply unlucky," Kent corrects, wrapping a hand around my arm and giving it a little tug, a silent request that I come back to him. Jerome kindly releases me from my hug and I stand on my tiptoes to give Daniel a kiss on the cheek as he mumbles some half- hearted morning greetings.

Then, I stand in front of Kent at the rail at the front of the ship, leaning back against him and smiling as the wind tugs at my hair. Kent wraps his arms around me, keeping me warm, and rests his chin on my head as we both look towards the horizon, waiting. And as we wait, I realize that in this moment I am again just...perfectly happy. Here, with Kent, and two other people that I love, about to start on an amazing adventure? With my little baby growing in my stomach?

"Doesn't get any better than this," I sigh, lifting my hands to curl my fingers around Kent's forearms, wanting to have my hands on him, as I always do.

"Would be a little better with some coffee," Kent mutters, but he drops a kiss on my hair letting me know he doesn't mean it. "Though...well, it's very beautiful, isn't it?"

"Yeah," I say, my face breaking into a grin as the sun starts to rise a little more now, revealing the sight that we've been waiting for.

Out ahead of us, black against the lightening sky, sitting dark beneath the hanging stars, the four of us catch our very first sight of our destination stretching out before us in the dawn.

"Wow," I say completely undone by the spectacular sight as the island inches closer. I mean, I knew that it would be special - the captain promised us that it would - to see the land stretched out before us at dawn as we made our final approach. But really, nothing prepared me for it - for the wide expanse of sea, and the way the land takes shape under the stars...

Kent takes a step forward, pressing his stomach closer against my back, pulling me tight against him. "All right," he mutters, a little bitter at having been proved wrong. "You're right. It was worth it."

I laugh and snuggle back against him. "Say it again, Kent," I whisper, my voice rich with joy.

He laughs softly too and lowers his mouth to my ear. "You were right, Fay," he murmurs, and a shiver runs through me for more reasons than the words. But Kent takes a deep, contented breath and raises his head, looking out over mine to fasten his eyes on the place where we're going.

A place he's been many, many times before.

I glance over at Daniel and Jerome, who likewise stand having their own private conversation, their arms warm around each other.

And I smile because I am just...so, so incredibly excited to be here. To have given this moment to each of us.

"Welcome to Sicily, Fay," Kent says, dropping another kiss to my hair. "Welcome home."

And I smile, and shake my head a little in wonder.

"I can't wait to see it, Kent," I whisper. "You have to show me everything."

"I will," he says, nodding once in assurance.

And I look back at him, and tilt my chin up.

And Kent seals his promise with a kiss.