Fall For My Ex’s Mafia Dad
Chapter 52

Kent is as cold as ice the whole ride home.

On the way there, he had been burning with fury, his mind racing, desperate to lock her down, to burn down everything, if necessary, in order to secure her allegiance any way he could. And he had... he had just lost it. Twice, at the stables, he had lost his temper, lost his mind.

He was unsettled, in truth, at his reactions to the day's events. His entire life - since his father died - everything had been about control. Control of himself, foremost, because from that spun control over his house, his family, his community, and then his world. Control was the center of his success, his power.

And around her?

God damnit, for some reason, around her he just loses it.

Kent grips the steering wheel tighter as he considers it, remembering the rage he let slip loose when he had watched the boy put his hand on her thigh. Because, Kent knew, it was his thigh-his to control, his to decide who touched it and when.

For some reason, with Daniel, Kent felt no such jealousy. Probably because he knew...well. He knew that Daniel was no real threat.

But Jerome - this handsome, smooth-talking young guy. Kent had been in idiot to ever assign Fay to his care. What the hell did he think was going to happen?

And then the second time - when he had grabbed her - grabbed her shirt and pulled her against him -

Kent scowls at himself, disgusted at his weakness. She was learning his ticks, learning how to manipulate him, learning how to bring him to the edge and just tip him over. And he was falling for it, every time.

Because, god damnit, a large part of him wanted to lose control with her. To do more than just grab her shirt, pull her against him -

He wanted to throw her down when she laughed at him, to wipe that laugh off of her mouth by pressing his own to it, to show her who was in charge.

But he knew he couldn't - he couldn't go that far. When he teetered on that edge, his whole world teetered with it. He had to bring her back under his control, had to have this on his terms.

Nothing else was a real option.

And so, when he pulls into the garage at his house, Kent is all solidity, all icy control. It was a mistake, rushing off to the stables when he was on edge. He should be like this all the time, perfectly in command. He won't do it again, that's for damn sure.

Instead, he would take Fay in hand the old-fashioned way. By force, if necessary.

Kent walks into a quiet house. He's surprised by this - he knows that it's full of people, but everyone is, apparently, walking on eggshells today.

Fine. That's just fine by Kent.

He strides into the kitchen, seeing a group of people at the back table.

The boy is one of them, sitting with the old guys, who give Kent looks just tinged with shame. Not enough to really stand up to him, but enough to let him know that they knew he had lost control.

Kent clenches his teeth and then strides to the fridge, taking out a package wrapped in butcher paper. Then, he walks over to the boy, whose eyes go wide with fear.

"There," Kent says, tossing the wrapped steak on the table. "Put that on your bruise, it will help the swelling."

The boy hesitates, not taking his eyes of Kent, and then reaches for the packet.

"Thanks," Jerome says, his voice quiet.

"Tomorrow," Kent says, looking beyond him towards the back garden, "you wash the cars. Every single one of them." He returns his gaze to Jerome's face. "And I'll check to make sure they're detailed." Then Kent walks away. He can hear the approving sounds of the old men talking to the boy then, patting him on the back.

"See?" One says. "You still got a job, kid. Don't worry - in time, he'll forgive ya."

Kent pretends not to hear, but he's glad he got the message across. He didn't want the kid to think that he's out of hot water - not yet. But at least Jerome knows he's not going to end up in a shallow grave by the road somewhere. Not that Kent isn't tempted. It's just not worth the fuss.

Kent makes his way towards the back door, pausing next to the little window that overlooks the little patio, which stands helpfully open. He glances out of it, seeing the shine of Fay's red hair, hearing Daniel's voice. Then, Kent rests his back against the wall next to the window, listening.

"I don't know, Daniel," Kent hears Fay say, and then to his surprise he hears her sniff. "I just - I don't know if I can do this."

Kent blinks in surprise at the thickness of Fay's voice, clearly choked with tears. She had been a hellcat twenty minutes ago, laughing in his face, challenging him to watch her let other men touch her. And now she's in tears?

Kent hangs his head a little, shaking it. He does not understand this girl.

"It's okay, Fay," Daniel says softly and Kent hears some movement - perhaps Daniel taking the girl in his arms, comforting her. He grits his teeth to think of it.

"He just...he pisses me off, Daniel," she says softly. "And then I say things I don't mean - and I do things I'd never do, just because I know it pisses him off -"

Daniel laughs at her here, just a little, in a comforting way.

"Yeah, he has that effect on people," Daniel says softly. "Though, I have to admit, you're the only one I've ever seen respond like that. He has most people shaking in their boots -"

"Oh, I've got plenty of that going on too," Fay says, and she laughs a little as well, sniffing again. "I just...I don't know. Something comes over me."

There's a pause in conversation, and then Daniel presses her. "So, what are you going to do? What's next?"

"What do you mean?" she asks.

"Do you still want to...go? To run? Leave this life behind?"

Kent blinks, surprised. She was considering running?

Foolish girl, he thinks. There was nowhere she would go that he wouldn't find her. And the trouble she'd cause him as he hunted her down - god damnit, he'd be livid -

But that. Kent checks himself, realizing that he's growing angry again, that it is precisely this side of Fay that fills him with this kind of rage. When she's unpredictable, and stupid, and follows what she wants instead of what he knows is good for her.

"I don't know," Fay says softly, distracting Kent from his thoughts and bringing him back to the conversation. "I don't know...if there's anything to run to," she says, thoughtful. Kent nods, agreeing.

"Not back home? Or to France, like we talked about?" Daniel asks, curious.

"I just..." she says slowly. "I don't know if that world exists for me anymore. Or, maybe it's that the old Fay, the person I used to be? Who fit into that world? I'm not sure she exists anymore."

"I'm sorry," Daniel says, and Kent can hear the guilt in his son's words. "It's all my fault."

"No," she says, quick to assuage him. "I'm not sure...honestly, Daniel, I'm not sure I dislike the person I'm becoming in this world."

Kent is surprised by this, his eyes opening wide.

"The old me is gone," Fay continues, "but...the new me? She's not half bad. I just wish...that your father realized that. That I want to be here. Honestly, I said some stuff to him today about - well, about wanting to explore the relationships with the jerks my father introduced me to the other day."

She laughs then she must see something on Daniel's face as he reacts to her words.

"No, Daniel," she says, her voice a little more cheerful now, "I didn't mean any of it. I just said it to piss him off. I just wish that you dad would figure out that I want to be here, with you, and with...I guess with him. I don't want to be on my father's side. I would be more than happy to pledge myself to the Lippert family. I'm just not going to do it because he forces me to. God, if he were just...a little bit kinder to me."

"More flies with honey," Daniel says, his voice understanding. "That I do get. But I'm not sure that my dad will ever understand something like that. Allegiance, in response to kindness? It's not something that makes sense in his world."

"Well," Fay says, a little pity in her voice. It rankles Kent to hear it. "That's really a shame, isn't it?"

"Enough," Kent mutters to himself, pushing up from his spot against the wall and striding out of the kitchen, towards his office.

As much as he hates to admit it, their quiet conversation outside...it's given him a lot to think about.

The next morning, a car takes Fay to the stables, as requested. It's not Jerome driving this time and she stays quiet on the journey there. She'd been miserable all night, but a smile tugs at her lips as the driver pulls up to the barn. As Fay gets out of the car, her mind elsewhere, she does a double-take when she sees a flash of long purple hair -

What-

"Oh my god," Fay says, standing shocked and still as Janeen peeks her head out of the barn.

And then the sisters both scream, flying across the ground towards each other, colliding and wrapping their arms around each other, holding tight, each hardly able to believe that the other is real. "What are you doing here," Fay asks, unable to stop the tears streaming down her cheek.

"I can't believe you have a horse!" Janeen says at the same moment, laughing.

Fay steps back, holding her sister at arm's length. "Seriously," she says, shaking her head and marveling at her sister. "How did you get here?"

"Lippert," Janeen says with a little shrug. "He came by the club last night and asked me if I wanted to see you. We struck a little deal."

Fay shakes her head, unbelieving. Of all of the people in the world who she thought would help her reconnect with her sister...

The last on the list would have been Kent.

What the hell had changed?