Fall For My Ex’s Mafia Dad
Chapter 265

I ignore her jibe, keeping my face straight. Ivan leans against the wall next to me, taking a deep breath.

"Fine," my mom says, sighing and studying her nails. "You're here, Fay, because you're in a unique position to give me what I want. And I am in a unique position to take away what you love."

My stomach twists again with anxiety, and I flinch a little as it turns into a very real, physical pain. My body contracts low on my abdomen and I clench my jaw, willing myself not to touch my stomach. These pains... God, f**k, if I go into labor right now...I will never forgive this little baby.

But I straighten my shoulders, ignoring it. My mother moves on, either not noticing or not caring.

"What I want," she continues, her eyes locked on mine, "above all things in the world - the reason I left you with David Thompson to pursue my work - is to have the mafia wiped off the face of the planet. I want all the dons locked away. I want all of their systems dismantled." "Why?" I demand, my voice clipped.

"So they stop hurting people. Taking advantage of poor families, of young women. Are you aware, Fay?" she asks, her eyebrows shooting up in superiority, "of precisely what industries you support by not turning these men in?"

"Not the men I support," I say dryly, though...well. I guess I don't know for sure, do I? Kent, I know, doesn't have his hands in anything like that anymore. But Bianci?

My mother just laughs at me, shaking her head. "Naïve," she murmurs, but then she takes another drag of her cigarette and moves on. "I want these industries gone and I've dedicated my life at the FBI to making sure that that happens. But I've been working a very long time, Fay, and have made very little progress against these entrenched, monied forces, with very little method for changing that."

She smiles at me now, gesturing towards me with her cigarette. "That is, until you fell into my hands."

"I didn't fall anywhere," I growl, glancing at Ivan now. "I was dragged here against my will."

"You're a bit of a coup, really," she says, flicking the ash off the end of her cigarette with a charming smile. "A pretty little girl with all the connections I need to make just the perfect move against them."

"Can you please spit it out?" I sigh, rolling my shoulders, getting tired of this gloating.

Ivan looks anxiously towards the door, and I can tell that he's ready for it to end too - especially considering his mistake with the phone.

"Fine," she snaps, and I stand up straight - something in my muscle memory making me react to that tone of voice. I frown a little - because I don't remember her being a stern mother. I mean, I don't remember her much at all. But clearly, my body remembers more than I do.

"I'm going to give you a choice, Fay," she says quietly. "I want you to -"

"I'm not giving up Kent," I interrupt, raising my eyebrows at her, cutting her off before she asks for something I won't give her.

She smirks at me again. "Luckily," she says, "I don't want him. No, baby Fay -"

I shiver, a little, to hear my mother use Fiona's nickname for me, the name Janeen has called me so many times.

"Today," she continues, again not noticing or caring about my reaction, "I'm going for bigger fish. I want you to give me Bianci." "What?" I breathe, my eyes going wide.

"We've been watching you," she says, gesturing towards Ivan. "We know you've got Bianci's heir in your house. We know you're tight. We want you to wear a wire in the upcoming months, to give us the information the Italian officials need to take him down." "Absolutely not," I gasp.

"But it would be so easy," she laughs, leaning forward and grinning at me. "The supposed mother of his first great-grandchild? They will have no filter around you."

I keep my face impassive, letting her think that I haven't taken a different role in the family, that Bianci doesn't understand me as more than Daniel's pretty pregnant wife. Because Ivan and my mother - they've been watching, but clearly they don't know all the details.

"They'll catch me and kill me," I snap, looking between Ivan and my mother. Ivan looks down at the floor, guilt written all over his face.

"Well," my mother says with a sigh, "either you risk that, or I take everything I know about Kent Lippert's current location, and his plans, and everything I figured out about what happened at the Alden house the day that container ship conveniently left the New York harbor, and I take it directly to the FBI."

I go cold as I realize what she's proposing.

"Yes, Fay," she says quietly, nodding to me as she takes a final drag of her cigarette before stubbing it out in the glass tray before her. "I'm giving you a choice here. Either you give me Bianci, or I take Kent."

I say nothing, my mind racing, trying to figure out a way out of this.

"The paperwork is already in an electronic lock box in DC, Fay," my mother says quietly. "One phone call from me and my contacts at the FBI have the location of your cute little villa neatly in their email."

Is it a bluff? What would they do with that information? Would they actually pursue him across international lines?

Slowly I turn to look at Ivan...because what's his business in all this?

Does he want Bianci to go down?

Because as far as I know...all he wants is Kent.

My mind spins, but what I do know is that I need a great deal more information. And I need to get out of here before I give them anything else.

"How long do I have to decide?" I ask quietly, slowly turning my head to look at her again.

"One day," she says, her voice light and even cheerful now.

"And Ivan said...he's taking me home?"

"Yes," she says, flicking her eyes at him. "Because I want you to talk this decision through with our mutual friend, Kent," she says, smirking now because she's again implying that she knows Kent more than I thought she did, and I think she knows it's driving me crazy. "Why?" I breathe.

"Because I don't want him to chase me down and shoot me for taking you," she says, narrowing her eyes. "And because I think he will obviously have a preference regarding which side of the deal you should take."

"And if I don't decide in one day?" I ask quietly.

"Oh, Fay," she says, turning her head and studying me like I'm cute. "You know the answer to that."

I nod, because I do. She'll release the information anyway.

My mother sighs happily, getting to her feet and coming to place her hands on my shoulders. She again studiously ignores the dog, leaning forward and pressing a kiss to both of my cheeks in the Italian way. "I'm really looking forward to working with you, baby," she whispers. "It will be so nice to have a mother-daughter team working to bring down corruption and crime."

I don't move an inch as she pulls away from me, partially because I am...stunned.

Her scent - after all these years, god...I remember what she smells like.

Tears fill my eyes again, and my stomach aches, and I am just...completely overwhelmed.

"Here," she says, pulling a little folded piece of paper from her skirt pocket and holding it out to me. When I don't move she leans forward and tucks it into my little purse for me. "That's the number you can reach me at tomorrow," she says quietly, "to give me your answer."

I nod and she backs away, crossing her arms and nodding at Ivan.

"Come on," he murmurs, slipping a hand behind my elbow. "Let's go."

And without another word, barely able to understand anything that I'm thinking or feeling, I let him lead me out of the room, the little puppy fully asleep in my arms.

When the door closes behind us, Ivan sighs and moves his hand from my elbow, slipping his arm around my shoulders instead. "Come on, Fay," he says, surprising me by leading me to a little blue car. "Let's get you home."

I don't say anything as I let him tuck me into the front seat, buckling my belt over my lap before he moves to the driver's side and climbs in.

Because I'm really at his mercy, aren't I?

As we pull away from the dirty little roadside motel I keep my eyes on my mother's door.

And wonder where the hell Ivan's really taking me.