Fall For My Ex’s Mafia Dad
Chapter 242

Gio laughs warmly and tilts his head to the side, giving Kent a self-deprecating grin that makes me blink in surprise at how damn charming it is. I shoot a glance at Janeen and smirk inwardly to see one side of her mouth pulling up, looking him up and down like a

hungry cat. Clearly, his charm is not lost on her, though Kent continues to stare at his nephew with a stony expression.

behind!"

"Oh, Zio," Gio says, continuing to smile as he spreads his hands wide. "You cannot blame me for this. Honestly, Daniel shows up unannounced with his new bride, who makes a fascinating offer, and you expect nonno to what...just let them go? Of course he sent me "So, what?" Kent asks, slipping his hands into his pockets. "You're here as his spy?"

"I am here," Gio says, looking around at all of us with a warmth in his expression that's kind of incredible in the face of Kent's withering glare, "as your nephew. I want to hear more of your life, I want to catch up with my favorite cousin!" Gio claps Daniel on the shoulder, and I can tell that Daniel can't help the smile that breaks out onto his face. But Kent just raises an eyebrow.

Gio turns his gaze back to Kent. "Am I going to be required to make a report back to my grandfather? Yes." I blink a little at the blandness with which Gio admits that he's a spy. "But," Gio continues, his voice a little cagier now, "precisely what I report, and how much, is..." he shrugs here, nonchalant, "up to me. Is it not?"

My eyes move immediately at Kent's because I, for one, am totally shocked at Gio's interesting offer. I mean, what's he playing at?

I see Kent's eyebrows raise, reflecting my curiosity and surprise. "Well, Gio," Kent says slowly, stepping forward and slipping his arm around his nephew's shoulder. "I guess we can talk about all of that in the morning, can't we? You'll stay overnight, yes?" "Of course!" Gio says, reaching down to pull a bottle of wine out of the bag at his feet. "I will not be going back on the road after drinking this, after all." He hands the bottle to Kent, who smiles with genuine pleasure - which means it must be a rare vintage. A vintage which I, of course, cannot taste. I scowl a little, jealous.

"Come in," Kent says, smiling again at Gio and leading him towards the kitchen, scooping up the bag of wine on his way. "It's a night for celebration! I'm glad to see you, kid."

The ice officially broken, my family all moves towards the kitchen to make our guest - who is also Bianci's spy - feel welcome. Daniel walks alongside Kent and Gio, and Dad likewise moves into the kitchen, peering into the bag of wine bottles that Gio brought as if he has any idea what the labels mean. Janeen quickly takes Daniel's place at my side as I follow more slowly. Jerome falls in with us, not quite knowing his role in all of this just yet.

"So," Janeen says, her voice soft, her eyes never leaving the Gio in the kitchen as Kent opens the bottle of wine and Daniel sets out glasses. "Tell me everything."

"I don't really know everything yet," I reply quietly, slowing my pace and letting the loud chatter in the kitchen cover my words. "He's a doctor -"

"A doctor," she says, her smile deepening, like I just told her Christmas is tomorrow.

"Janeen," Jerome scoffs, giving her shoulder a shrug, "you left a perfectly good doctor back in America."

"Who?" she asks, frowning at him.

"The guy who switched our DNA sample?" I murmur, my hand going immediately to my stomach so she knows precisely who I mean.

"Oh!" she says, laughing now. "Dr. Banks. Yeah, he was a nice guy - asked me to marry him, actually - but come on, Jerome," she says, glancing over at him and rolling her eyes. "He was no Italian Mafia prince with a car like that -"

"You have a vintage Porsche, Janeen," Jerome points out with a scoff, "you don't need another fancy car."

They continue to bicker a little as we finally make our way to the kitchen, and as I lean on the counter Kent lifts his eyes to mine, raising his eyebrow just a little and flicking his eyes between Janeen and Jerome.

I give a little shrug, letting him know that I don't have any idea how they were introduced to Gio before I came into the room. He scowls a little as he pours the wine, but luckily Gio makes it easy on us, turning and leaning on the counter to smile at Jerome and Janeen.

"Apologies, all of this family talk got in the way of introductions," Gio says, turning to smile at Janeen and Jerome. "Fay's father I met, but..."

Kent slides smoothly in here, taking control. "This is Janeen," Kent says, handing her a glass of wine as she turns her mega-wat smile on Gio, "Fay's sister. And this," Kent says, handing a glass along to Jerome, "is Jerome. Janeen's fiancé."

Jerome falters just for a second as he takes the glass of wine, flashing his eyes to Kent as his face falls. I almost laugh in surprise but I hold myself back as Jerome recovers fast, smiling at Gio and slipping an arm around Janeen's shoulders. "Just happy to be along for the ride," he says, grinning and raising the glass in our guest's direction. "Nice to meet you, Gio. Thanks for bringing the wine."

Janeen's mouth pops open when she realizes what Kent has done, but her expression quickly turns into a scowl as she glances at Jerome before taking a big swig of her wine. I bite my lip a little to keep from laughing, because while it's clear that she understands her role in this little farce, it's also clear that she's not happy about it.

"So nice to meet you both," Gio murmurs, sipping his own glass of wine and looking carefully around at all of us. When his eyes meet mine his smile deepens and he holds my gaze. I stand up and hold his eyes, well aware that he realizes that something is off about our little family.

But I raise my chin, letting him know that I have no intention of letting him get the upper hand.

Gio grins and nods to me as Kent begins to pull food out of the refrigerator, letting a cutting board clatter loudly on the granite counter top and drawing Gio's attention before placing cheese on top and beginning to ask Gio friendly questions about his life, easily distracting him from asking Jerome and Janeen any awkward questions about how they met.The next few hours are...masterful. I take mental notes as I watch Kent carefully orchestrate every single moment of the night. He's a charming host, making Gio perfectly at ease, but I do not miss that Kent dominates the conversation with Gio, continuing to ask questions so that we learn a great deal more about Gio and the Biancis than he does about us. We all chip in on the conversation as dinner is prepared - Daniel asking questions about old friends, Jerome asking about where Gio went to school - but Kent quickly gives us all jobs so that our hands are busy in the kitchen and Gio has no opportunity to steal one of us away for a private chat.

I scowl a little when Kent plops a single onion in front of me with a cutting board and a knife. "Slice," he quietly orders, starting to move away.

"Can't I do cheese?" I ask, glancing over at where Janeen is grating a large block of parmesan and laughing a little too hard at Gio's jokes.

Kent just smirks as he raises an eyebrow at me. "You can graduate to cheese," he says, "when you demonstrate that you can properly slice an onion."

I scowl, picking up the knife and starting to saw the onion in half. Gio's eyes shift to me even as he chats nightlife with Janeen, and I don't miss the huge smile that breaks onto his face.

"Oh, baby," Dad says, quickly coming to my side. "No, Fay - you slice it, you don't have to saw it like bread. Let me show you -"

I scowl again, handing my knife to my dad and crossing my arms over my chest as he shows me how to cut an onion, considering bitterly that he probably should have shown me this a decade ago.

But I only half watch my dad, my eyes really on Gio as he carefully surveys our family, clearly trying to suss out what's really going on here. Kent moves to his nephew's side, again speaking cheerfully and dominating the conversation so that he is complete control of what Gio knows...

But is it already too late? What has Gio already figured out?

And what will he tell Bianci tomorrow when he goes home?