Fall For My Ex’s Mafia Dad
Chapter 238

Kent's eyes go to the floor with the bra, and then his gaze slowly travels up my body as I shimmy out of my panties and then kick them away when they hit the tiles. "This isn't going to work, Fay," Kent says, his voice low with warning. "You're not going to seduce me out of answering your questions or being pissed at you -" "I'm not trying to, Kent," I say, my voice calm as I turn away and walk into the water. "I'm just taking a shower. I'll answer whatever questions you have."

For a second I close my eyes and gasp a little as the water hits my skin. This shower is a marvel of engineering, with water shooting from at least six points strategically positioned on the walls and the ceiling. Most of the water falls directly from above, mimicking a rain storm. I take a moment to tilt my head back, letting it wash over me, and I'm drenched in seconds.

But after I've gotten used to it, I turn back to Kent, unsurprised to see him glaring at me, fully dressed, from the edge of the tiles where the shower begins.

"What do you want to know?" I say, reaching for the sea sponge and the soap. "Tell me everything," he demands, leaning against the wall, looking determinedly at my face and not letting his eyes stray. And I do.

As I later up the sponge and drag it over my neck, and then down my chest, and then over my stomach and around to my back, I tell Kent everything. I tell him about how months ago we arranged for the DNA test so that the baby would be a Bianci, so that we could offer them an heir and solidify my connection to Daniel, making this a deal between family, not rivals. And then I tell him about how Daniel and I decided to leave Kent behind because we knew he'd never let us go and make our offer to the Don.

Halfway through the telling, Kent covers his face with his hand, his shoulders shaking just a little with frustration. But I press on, standing in the steady stream of water, telling him about meeting his family, and being escorted upstairs to see the Don. And then about the offer I made of everything I own, everything I've stolen and killed for, in exchange for Kent's freedom.Our freedom.

When Kent raises his head, his face holds a great deal of grief.

"Fay," he says, his voice cracking a little as he scrapes a hand down the length of his face. "It's - it's too much - and he'll never -"

"He will," I say, my eyebrows going up as I reach out a hand towards him. "It's a move that plays to his greed for power and his familial pride, Kent," I sigh. "It makes sense."

Kent shakes his head at me. "He doesn't do things just because they make sense, Fay," he murmurs. "It's not that simple."

"Then come explain it to me," I say quietly, allowing myself to beg just a little bit. And then I take a step closer to Kent, my hand still outstretched.

No part of me is surprised when Kent sighs and starts to pull his shirt over his head. I know my man well.

I take a few steps closer now, intending to help, but Kent's glare stops me in my tracks. Because he is still pissed, and does not want my assistance right now. So I step back into the stream of water, reaching for the shampoo and starting to wash my hair as my eyes follow Kent's every move as he strips down.

Because, I mean...where else would I look?

Kent's angry enough to be dangerous right now, but he's still hot as hell.

My eyes are still on him as he stands up straight and steps into the shower with me, immediately coming close enough that his stomach presses against mine as he glares down at me. Kent raises his hands to my head, sinking his fingers into my hair and running through the long strands, rinsing the suds of the shampoo out.

"Do you know what I'm going to say next, Fay?" Kent murmurs, his voice still tense. "Since you know everything?"

I close my eyes, my hands finding a spot on either side of his waist as I tilt my head back, luxuriating in the feel of his fingers against my scalp. "You're going to say that we should have told you our plan," I say quietly. "And let you talk us out of it." "And you're going to tell me it was a good plan, and I wouldn't have let you, so I forced your hand."

I open my eyes then, bringing my head back up and nodding to him. "And would I be wrong?"

"Is that the most important thing to you?" he asks quietly, his hands stroking over my hair possessively. "To be right?"

"No, Kent," I say, pulling him tighter against me. "The most important thing is for you to be free of all of this. So we can do what you said you wanted - what we wanted. Remember? No more criminal bullshit. The vineyard...the baby. A simpler, safer life." He growls, surprising me by spinning me around. I stand facing the wall for a second, not understanding - but then I hear Kent grab another bottle from the little shelf and hear him squeeze something in his hand. And then I smile, biting my lip a little, as I feel Kent begin to apply conditioner to my hair before starting to speak again.

"The route to freedom, Fay," he murmurs, working the conditioner through my hair firmly but gently, "was not to go to Bianci."

"Explain that to me, Kent," I say on a sigh, tilting my head back a little and taking a step closer to him, unable to stop myself from reaching behind me and wrapping my hands around his hips. "If you still 'owe' him, and couldn't leave the criminal element behind because he wouldn't let you, then what else is there to do but offer him something worth letting you go?"

"Because he has no intention of ever letting me go," Kent murmurs, using his fingers to work the conditioner completely through my hair. "And now, with this baby, and this deal, you've given him everything he needs to wrap you and Daniel up in it too." I shake my head, not believing it. "We won't let that happen, Kent," I say, assured.

He turns me again, and I open my eyes to look at him as he again tilts my head back, rinsing my hair clean. "You already have, Fay," he says, shaking his head. "I think that..."

He sighs and wraps his arms around me, truly holding me for the first time today as he looks down into my face. Steam puffs in the shower all around us as I look up into his eyes, and very suddenly it feels like the only things that exist in this world right now are Kent and me. That everything outside of this room is...illusory.

And as he studies me, his eyes roving over the details of my face as he presses me tightly to him, I think...well, I think he must feel precisely the same.

"The only way out of this, Fay," he whispers. "Was to run. To avoid him at all costs."

"Then why did we come to Sicily, Kent?" I ask, my voice as soft as his.

And he shakes his head at me, as if I've caught him there. Or as if he really doesn't know.

I raise my hands to his cheeks then, hoping he hears me. Because as mad as he is, and as good as his points are, I don't regret a single thing I did today.

"Kent," I whisper, "there was no running. He was going to find us. The right move was going to him first."

"Fine," Kent growls, baring his teeth at me just a little bit. "But then you should have let me be the one to go."

"I had more to offer than you," I counter, shaking my head.

"You offered too much," he says, getting mad again. "And you gave him too much information, making the offer for me -"

"What?" I ask, confused.

"Don't you see it?" he asks, his face close to mine now, the water dripping down his cheeks and off his nose. And damn it, I can't help it, but my hands raise, my fingers sinking into his hair.

"No," I whisper, as I stroke his hair back from where it has fallen into his face. "Please," I ask, my face close to his now as heat begins to pulse in my core. "I don't understand - what did I miss?"

"That Daniel and I have always been at odds," Kent murmurs, his head dipping just a little now as he begins to give in. "That Daniel - my freedom would never be enough for him to ask you to give up everything. Not for me."

"Oh," I say, blinking a little as I realize what he's saying. I start to fall back a step, but he doesn't let me. "You mean," I continue, speaking the words as I think them, "it wouldn't make sense for me to give it all up for you...if I am already safe with Daniel and the child." Kent hums a little in confirmation when I finally get it, but I just curse and cover my face with my hands.

"Shit," I whisper, realizing that he's right that I...I gave too much.

And Bianci - he's too clever to have missed it.

So, what on earth will his counter-move be?