Fall For My Ex’s Mafia Dad
Chapter 270

My mouth falls open as I look between Kent and Jerome - processing their lack of shock, and the way Jerome hangs his head, and the bruise across his cheek - And suddenly the puzzle pieces snap together.

"Wait," I say, sitting up straight and pulling suddenly away from my dad. "Are you - are you serious!?" I take a deep, shuddering breath, my eyes locking on Jerome first and then moving to Kent and Daniel. "You - you f*****g knew!?" "We've known for about two hours, Fay," Daniel grits out between clenched teeth, glaring at Jerome. "Obviously I would have told you -"

I gasp again as Jerome raises his eyes to me, guilt and devastation on his face. "I'm so sorry, Fay," he breathes, shaking his head at me.

"WHAT!?" I shriek, leaping to my feet and crossing the room to him in a second. "You - you knew, Jerome!?" I whip my hand out, smacking him - hard - across the arm - suddenly fully understanding why Kent punches him so much - "I'm sorry," he insists, flinching instinctually away from me but accepting his fate. "I wasn't trying to keep it from you - it's so complicated -"

"Were you - were you part of this?!" I gasp, stepping backwards in my shock as Kent comes to my side, tugging me a little further away from Jerome. "Were you teamed up with Ivan and my mom -"

"He wasn't," Kent growls, tugging me into his arms. "At least, not that we can tell." I look up at Kent, desperate to believe it. He nods as he looks down into my eyes. "I'll explain everything, Fay - as best I can. But as far as I can tell, right now, Jerome knew about your mother in a different context. He hasn't seen or worked with her in years."

My mouth falls open as I stare up at Kent in shock, shaking my head. And then I spin to glare at Jerome. "But you knew about her," I breathe, my lip starting to tremble.

Slowly he raises his eyes to meet mine, and he nods once.

I pull my shaking mouth shut and raise my chin. "I will never forgive you for this, Jerome," I whisper, shaking my head at him. And a thousand other words roil up inside of me but I turn my face away, burying it against Kent's shoulder for a second as he strokes my hair, letting me pull myself back together.

Because, right now? Jerome doesn't deserve another second of my attention. He may never again, for the rest of his life.

"I'm sorry," I hear Jerome say again, his voice devastated and weak. But I ignore it, don't let it reach my heart.

Because of all the ways I've been betrayed in the past year? This is the worst.

"Come on, sweetheart," Kent whispers to me, starting to tug me towards our bedroom door. "Let's take a minute."

"No," I protest, spinning away from him and towards my dad, who is starting to get to his feet.

"It's all right, baby," he says, wiping the tears away from his eyes. I shake my head, stepping away from Kent and moving toward my dad. I wrap my arms around him and he gives me a quick hug, patting me on my back. "I think...well, baby, I think I need a few minutes alone anyway."

"Are you sure?" I ask, my eyes roving over his face. "I can come with you - we don't even have to talk -"

"I'm sure, sweetie," he says, giving me a tentative smile that I know he's forcing for my sake. "I want to walk anyway, and you're," he forces a little laugh and looks down at my stomach, "well, you're in no shape for walking, are you."

"I'm plenty good for walking," I growl, hoping to make him laugh, but he just smiles at me and pulls away. "You'll stay close?" I beg, reaching out a hand to touch his arm.

"I promise," he says, nodding to me as he heads for the back door. "Don't worry about me, baby - I'm not going anywhere. I just...need a minute."

And then he exhales a deep breath, and turns, and I believe him.

A horrible little sigh forces its way from my lungs as I watch my dad walk away, feeling so horrible for this man who has been so good to me my whole life, whose own life just got turned upside down again. In one day, his daughter gets kidnapped and returned, and his wife comes back to life only to reveal that she pretended to kill herself to get away from him, from us...

Because she deemed her revenge more important than our family.

I jump a little, totally lost to my thoughts, as Kent wraps his arm again around my shoulders.

I look up at him and he runs his knuckles down the length of my cheek. "Come on," he whispers, nodding his head a little to our bedroom. "Let's take a minute, Fay. You need it."

"Okay," I say, giving a shaky nod. But before we can take a step I whip my attention to Daniel. "You," I say, pointing a finger at him. He looks at me in surprise, clearly wondering if he's in trouble. "You get Janeen on the phone, now. She needs to know, and she needs to be on call in case dad needs to talk, okay?"

Daniel nods to me fervently, pulling his phone from his pocket and beginning to dial even as Kent and I start to walk away.

I bend down to scoop up Lil Kent on the way, pulling him up into my arms and giving him a little snuggle. Kent just sighs and glares down at the dog as we move towards our bedroom. But I do my best to smile at the pup, not wanting his puppyhood to be all scowls and frowns, and give him a kiss on the head.

He turns and playfully snaps his little teeth at a strand of my hair as Kent pushes open the door to our room, which makes me genuinely smile.

"Such a brave little puppy," I murmur to the pup, scratching his ears.

"I can't believe," Kent murmurs, closing the door behind me as I walk to the center of the room. "That today, of all days, you decide to bring a dog home."

"I didn't decide, Kent," I say, turning to him as he comes close. "The universe gave him to me. We're meant to have Lil Kent, just like we're meant to have the baby. It's fate."

Kent glares at me, putting his hands on my hips and pulling me close so he can look down into my face, the puppy between us. "We are not calling him Little Kent."

"Lil Kent," I correct, unable to keep from grinning up at him. "Not little - lil." I scrunch my nose at him. "It's cuter."

Kent laughs with me and shakes his head and a sudden wave of gratitude rushes through me, because Kent - he's indulging me right now. I know that all of his instincts are screaming at him to interrogate me about the details of what happened today, to come up with a plan, to figure everything out.

But instead, he's standing here, joking with me about puppy names.

Because that's what I need right now.

And so I smile at him, and stand on my tiptoes, and tilt my head back, seeking a kiss. "We can name him whatever you want, Kent," I whisper, smiling.

Kent takes wraps an arm around my waist and presses his mouth to mine, giving me a long, desperate kiss that shows me how worried he was, how much he missed me, how incredibly grateful he is that I'm now back in his arms.

I look up at him with half-lidded eyes when he pulls away.

"I was so worried, Fay," he whispers.

"I was too," I say, raising my eyebrows. "I think...honestly, Kent, you're not going to like it - but I think we're lucky Ivan was involved. My mother - she was ruthless. I think she'd tear the world apart to get to her goals. But Ivan -" "Has still got a soft spot for you," Kent finishes for me, shaking his head and pulling me tight.

"And me for him," I say, truthful, which just makes Kent glare down at me, jealous. I laugh a little, shaking my head at him. "Don't worry, Kent. We have a family now - a baby, and a puppy -"

"And is that the only thing keeping you in my arms?"

"Well," I say, screwing up my face a little, "considering that you're broke now-"

"I'm not broke," he growls, his arms tightening around me.

But I just smile at him, and shake my head, because I know he's well aware of the truth of it. Kent and I? We're end game.

"I'd never let you go, Kent," I murmur, reaching up a hand to cup his cheek. He leans into my palm, the action soft and animal.

A moment passes as we study each other.

"Does that mean?" he asks softly, "that you've made up your mind about which side of your mom's deal you're going to take? Bianci or me?"

"Well," I reply, my eyebrows going up. "Someone's got to go down, Kent." I start to shake my head. "And it's not going to be us."

Kent looses a breath, staring at me, and then slowly he nods.