Fall For My Ex’s Mafia Dad
Chapter 47

Ivan laughs at me then, at my speechlessness, and I can't help myself - I laugh too, putting my head in my hands. "Yes," I say, blushing terribly. "I have heard of you. And I have to say, it has not all been good things."

"Oh, come on," he says, still laughing a little. "It can't have been all bad."

I peek out from between my fingers and raise an eyebrow at him letting him know that, yeah. It's all been bad.

"What," he says, joking, "nobody told you about my striking good looks or my debonaire sense of style when they were telling you about my success in the drug trade?"

I shake my head slowly, finding myself laughing again. I can't help it - he's terribly charming.

"Well," he says, giving me a sexy little half-smile. "Now you know."

Ivan catches the eye of a waiter and holds up a hand. "Two shots of tequila," he says, definitive. The waiter nods, walking the short distance to the little bar and interrupting the bar tender to get the order in right away. "What -" I say, my eyes following the waiter. "No, I can't -"

"Oh, come on, Fay," Ivan says, leaning back in his chair. "Relax. I can tell you've just had the surprise of your life. You need a little something to settle the nerves."

The waiter comes back and Ivan takes the drinks from him, sliding him a folded bill and giving him a wink. I can tell by the waiter's pleasure that it's a gigantic tip.

I hesitate, but Ivan winks at me as well and holds the shot nearer to me.

So, I take it from his hand, shrugging. The truth was, I could use a little bit of a relaxant right now. If I'm the unwitting bachelorette in my father's little setup, then I'm not sure I want to do it sober.

"Bottoms up," I say, taking the lime off the edge of the glass and holding it up to toast Ivan. He does the same, and then watches me slowly lick the salt from the rim of the glass and toss my shot back before doing the same.

The tequila is sharp in my throat and sinuses and I can't help it as my whole body shudders. I make a face, then, at the taste of it, sticking out my tongue and pressing my eyes closed.

I can hear Ivan laugh at me. "The lime," he says. "Bite the lime."

I do, and, indeed, it brings some relief, the acid of the lime chasing away the sharpness of the tequila on my tongue.

I laugh as I open my eyes again, meeting Ivan's smile with my own. He gestures to the waiter again, ordering another round, and I lean back in my chair, letting him.

I'm a little surprised at myself, then - a feeling that's becoming oddly more familiar as the weeks pass. Fay of a few weeks ago would have run screaming when she found out that she was doing shots of tequila with the wunderkind head of a mafia organization. With Kent's worst enemy.

But Fay of today? Honestly, I'm kind of enjoying myself.

"See?" Ivan says, leaning closer to me. "You're already more relaxed."

"You're right," I murmur, looking around at all of the people in the circle - at all of my suitors, apparently. I shake my head at the ridiculousness of it all, at the wasted effort.

After all, I'm engaged to Daniel, and I'm very happy to be.

...Right?

The waiter comes and delivers our second glass of tequila. This time, it's Ivan's turn to introduce the toast.

"To Fay," he says, raising his glass. I smile and raise mine along with him. "The most eligible bachelorette of the city's underworld. Too bad she's already got a rock the size of a golf ball on her hand. More's the pity for the rest of us."

My glass shakes a little against my mouth as I laugh at his joke before downing the contents, holding my lime at the ready as I do.

When we're finished, I settle back in my chair, leaning a little closer to Ivan so that we can talk quietly.

"So," I say, actually relaxed, looking at him from beneath half-lidded eyes. "How did a nice boy like you get mixed up in all of this organized crime, anyway? Were you born to it, like me?"

"Nah," he says, smiling at me indulgently and leaning a little closer as well.

Then, to my surprise and pleasure, he begins to tell me his life story.

I find myself paying rapt attention to Ivan's story for the next half hour, sipping on the glass of tequila that the waiter again delivers, savoring the bite and the taste. He's actually really, really interesting - a totally self-made guy, climbing up through the ranks with nothing but sheer will, determination, and cleverness.

Despite myself, I'm impressed. Before all of this I had thought I liked the kind of prince-charming guys who would politely deliver you a rose and ask you, tentatively, if you'd be interested in being courted.

But as I listen to Ivan, and let my eyes rove over his muscles and his tattoos...I wonder, a little, if my tastes are changing.

As I consider it, my mind flashes - unwillingly - to Kent for a moment as well. He doesn't have any tattoos, I note, or at least, none that I can see - but otherwise, these two are pretty similar...

I dismiss the thought, though, bringing my attention back to Ivan. He sees me focus on him at that moment, a slow smile building on his face. He intuits, I think, that I like what I see. That I am, begrudgingly, impressed.

I bite my lip, letting him see me do it.

His words falter for a moment as his eyes flash to my front teeth pressed lightly against the red flesh of my mouth. Then his eyes flash back up to mine and he smiles, continuing his story. Pretending that he wasn't distracted, though we both know he was. Damnit, I think. I like that. I like that, maybe, a little too much.

"What the hell is going on here!?"

I gasp a little - the words surprise me - and jump in my seat, looking up at the fire-lit person standing in front of me - Firelight? When had the sun gone down -

My eyes focus, then, and I realize that it's Daniel standing there - his shirtless form a little sweaty from all the volleyball.

"Daniel," I say, sitting up straight - not knowing, really, how to react.

"Come on, Fay," he says firmly, angrily, grabbing my arm and pulling me up from my seat. "We're leaving."

"Hey man," Ivan says, frowning and standing up. "We were just talking -"

"Whatever," Daniel murmurs, dragging me forward.

Shocked, I let him pull me, glancing back at Ivan - not quite saying sorry, but, in fact, a little sorry - and embarrassed - to be dragged away like this-

"Daniel," I say, pulling against the hand wrapped around my upper arm. "Let me go."

"No, Fay," he says, still pissed off. "Do you even know who that was? Who you were talking to?"

"It's just Ivan," I say -

"Just Ivan?" Daniel repeats, whirling on me.

I look around, embarrassed to see that everyone is staring at us. I open my mouth to respond but Daniel keeps going.

"Just Ivan?" he says. "My dad's greatest enemy? The guy who tried to kill us not too long ago?"

My mouth just hangs open - I honestly don't know what to say -

"You will release my daughter's arm, Mr. Lippert," a voice says, and I turn my head to see my father standing there, glaring at Daniel with a heavy gaze.

Daniel grits his teeth and doesn't release me. "Thank you for the lovely evening," he bites out towards my father. "But we'll be going now."

My father doesn't say a word, just looks, again, at Daniel's hand. To my surprise, Daniel hesitates, and then drops my arm. "Come on, Fay," Daniel says, not looking at me and storming off towards our car. "We're leaving."

I glance after him and then back at my father, torn. "Um, thank you," I say awkwardly. "Thank you for a lovely afternoon."

Then, I hurry after Daniel, our guards following after us.

As I reach the car, though, just as I'm about to climb in, I take a moment to glance back at the beach.

Ivan is standing there, right where I left him, watching me. He raises one hand in farewell.

I can't help the little smile that pulls up at my lips as I give him one long, final look and then climb into the car after my fiancé.