Fall For My Ex’s Mafia Dad
Chapter 241

Kent stands up straight, jostling me a little as he his biceps tense and he holds me protectively to his chest. "Who the hell is that?"

My eyes go wide as I look at our bedroom door, as if whoever rang is standing right outside of it. All of the delicious sensations slip from me in a second, replaced by sudden fear. "I didn't even know we had a doorbell." "We don't," Kent murmurs, gently putting me on my feet, his eyes still on the door. "It's technically the gate bell -"

We hear a murmuring of words from the living room and then a slow curse before a long beep.

Kent curses too before grabbing the sheets off the bed and wrapping them hastily around his waist. Then, he strides for the window.

"Don't open that!" I shriek, seeing him reach for the blinds. He ignores me, pulling the blinds open and I shriek again, clutching the fluffy towel to my chest. But then I lean to the side, peering curiously beyond Kent to see...

A silver car - a fancy one - making its way down the drive and pulling in front of the house.

"Kent?" I ask, anxious. "Do you know who it is?"

He ignores me still, which makes me purse my lips, but then I see him flinch back as whoever it is climbs out of the car. "Shit," he says once, under his breath. And then he's suddenly moving, letting the blinds fall and moving instantly to my side. "Let's go," he says, grabbing me by the waist and marching me over to the closet, letting the sheets fall from his waist.

"Who is it!?" I gasp, desperate, trying to look back.

"Just go, Fay," he growls, pushing me rather roughly into the closet and moving to the boxes where my clothes are kept but which I haven't yet unpacked. He rips through them.

"Kent!" I demand, stomping my foot. "Tell me right now! Who the hell is here!"

"Daniel's cousin," Kent says, sending me a glare over my shoulder. "Giovanni."

"Gio!?" I ask, my eyes going wide. "But he..."

"Let me guess," Kent growls, standing and tossing whatever he was looking for at me - I catch it and am confused to see that it's...a black swimsuit. "You drove home, and didn't bother to look behind to see who was following?"

I look up from the swimsuit, my jaw falling open.

Because...

Yup. That's exactly what we did.

"Amateurs," he mutters, moving swiftly to his own set of clothes - most of which are, of course, neatly unpacked, folded, and put away in orderly fashion. "Put that on, Fay," he barks, beginning to pull on his own set of clothes. "Why do I get a bathing suit?" I grumble, even as I pull it on.

"Because you're all wet," he replies, not bothering to look at me as he buttons his slacks. "Get a robe, too."

Confused, but - well, having learned my lesson - I obey, pulling the swimsuit hastily over my body and then grabbing a pretty green-and-blue floral robe that isn't precisely made for the pool but...

Well. Whatever. I don't even know what's going on, so I'm not going to be picky about fashion choices right now. As I pull it on I hear voices faintly out in the living room, joyful greetings in Italian. "Let's go," Kent says, making me jump a little as he's suddenly at my side, grabbing my arm.

"Kent!" I hiss, looking between him and the door. "Gio's obviously going to know what's going on if we both come out of the master bedroom soaking wet!"

"I know," Kent growls, pulling me towards our little balcony terrace instead of the main door. And then my eyes go wide as I start to figure it out. "Which is why you're going to come in from the back door, having just gone for a swim -" Half of me marvels at how fast Kent thinks, but the other half is distracted by the six-foot drop from the terrace to the ground below.

"Kent!" I squeak, putting my weight into my heels. But he just lifts me into his arms, having no time for my protests. "There's no way! I'm going to break a leg!"

"No, you're not," he growls, carrying me over to the edge of the terrace.

"Are you going to throw me off!?" I say in a frantic half-whisper, half-shriek.

Kent pauses at the edge of the terrace, glaring down at me in his arms. I stare up at him with wide, scared eyes. "Seriously, Fay? Do you seriously think I'm going to throw you off the balcony?"

"Things are happening very fast right now, Kent!" I snap in reply.

He just huffs a quick sigh and shakes his head at me, lifting me over the edge of the terrace and then helping me find my footing on the tiny ledge on the other side. Then, holding my hands, he gives me a set of crisp orders that I obey without hesitation. Before I know it I'm leaning backwards over the six foot drop, my eyes wide with terror, my hands held firmly in Kent's.

"Okay," he says, looking into my eyes. "I'm going to lower you down now, and then drop you the final few feet to the -"

"WHAT!?"

"Fay," he growls, his hands tightening on mine as he glares at me hard now. "We have about ten seconds to do this -" "You are not dropping me off this balcony -"

"Hey," he snaps, shaking his head sharply at me and holding my gaze. "Do you trust me or not?"

And then I take a very deep breath and glare back at him...because, god damn it, I do, but I very much wish I didn't right now.

But I nod, once, the expression on my face clearly communicating that he's going to pay for this later.

And, damn him, but Kent smirks before leaning forward to yank me close enough to kiss me once before again holding his hands further out. "Just dangle, Fay," he murmurs. "I'll lower you, and then...it will be like, three feet..."

I can't help another little shriek of fear as I press my eyes shut and do as he says, dangling from his hands, clinging to him as he lowers me -

But then, quite suddenly - his hands are gone, and I give another little shriek as I plummet to the ground -

Or, well, fall three feet. As he said.

My feet hit first and I tumble back onto my ass, rolling back a little on my back just a little bit onto some soft grass. I gasp a little, because I landed right on my tailbone, but...

I open my eyes, assessing myself and realizing that I'm completely fine. I scowl a little, feeling a little stupid as I get to my feet and look upward but...

Kent's already gone.

So, I pull myself together, dusting grass off my robe and rubbing my ass, and then I make my way around to the pool, marveling at the fact that less than five minutes ago Kent and I were having a perfectly delicious shower and heading to the bed for a little more... "Fucking Gio," I mutter, stepping onto the smooth flagstones next to the pool and running my fingers through my hair, trying to put it in some kind of order as I climb the steps.

When I finally get to the door of the house, I see that most of my family is already gathered in the living room, greeting our not-so-welcome guest. Kent, for some reason I can't discern, isn't there yet even though he had a much shorter distance to cross than me. Where the hell is he? Janeen sees me first, turning towards me in shock.

"Fay," she says, frowning in confusion. "How the hell did you -"

"Gio!" I say, interrupting her cheerfully and moving across the room.

Janeen figures it out in a moment, shutting her mouth and starting to grin a little as she realizes that something more complicated is afoot here than just a cousin's visit.

Gio turns and smiles at me, looking me over with interest. "Fay," he says, holding a hand out to me. When I take it, he pulls me close and gives me a set of twin kisses on my cheeks. "I was just being introduced to your lovely family."

"Well," I say, stepping quickly to Daniel's side and wrapping an arm around his waist. "I was just taking a dip in the pool. So refreshing, on a day like this." Dad and Jerome look at me like I'm a little crazy, still not putting it together, but they know enough now to intuit something is up. Like the good soldiers they are, they keep their mouths shut.

"Really," Gio says, grinning a little. "I would think it was rather cold."

I open my mouth to reply as Daniel wraps an arm around my shoulder, but before I can the door to the master bedroom opens up and Kent steps through.

Gio's grin deepens as he turns towards Kent and I watch him carefully. I'm a little disappointed to see that Gio doesn't look surprised at all - he just shakes his head a little, moving quickly to his uncle with open arms.

"My Uncle," he says, laughing as Kent returns his smile and wraps his nephew in a warm hug. "I wondered if I'd see you here."

"Yup," Kent replies, letting Gio go and patting his cheek fondly before ruffling his hair. "Looks like the cat's out of the bag on this one. I'm home."

"For good, I hope," Gio says, stepping away and seeming genuinely pleased to see his uncle.

"That depends," Kent says, sliding his hands into his pockets and studying his nephew. "On who sent you, and why."