Fall For My Ex’s Mafia Dad
Chapter 57

That afternoon, I have a lot more fun than I've had in a long time. Perhaps made even more fun by the knowledge that when I get home, Kent is going to kill me. So, I'd better live it up while I can.

"Another!" I call to the bartender, raising my hand to get his attention.

Ivan laughs at me, pulling my hand down. "You know you don't have to do that, right? He's been keeping an eye on you all afternoon. There's no way he's not going to notice when your drink is empty."

A few hours ago, in the car, I had asked Ivan to take me somewhere Kent wouldn't easily find us. He'd smirked and told me he had just the place, driving me across the city to the bad part of town. Then, he'd parked his sparkling Ferrari in front of a decrepit dive bar. I'd been hesitant at first but he'd taken my hand, telling me to trust him, and pulled me inside.

I'd understood the minute we stepped in the door and my eyes adjusted to the light. With deep red booths ringing the walls and a meticulously polished mahogany bar, this neighborhood bar wasn't a dump - it was a well-kept secret.

And we've been here for about three hours now, drinking and laughing, chasing that reckless feeling that I've had since I made the snap decision to get into his car.

"Really?" I ask now, glancing between the bar tender and Ivan. "He's been keeping an eye on me - like, watching me? Why?"

"Because you're hot, Fay," Ivan says, leaning in to whisper it like it's a secret. I throw my head back and laugh, surprised and tickled by the answer. And, yes, well inclined to laugh now that I've got a belly full of tequila.

"Seriously," Ivan says, smirking at me. "Once he figures out that you're rich and funny, too, he's going to lock you in the basement and keep you for himself."

"Really?" I say, looking at him with wide eyes.

"Is he going to lock you up? Probably, Fay, but I've seen that basement and you -"

I giggle, but shake my head. "No," I say. "Do you really think I'm funny?"

"Fay," Ivan says, smiling at me with disbelief as he tucks a strand of my hair behind my ear. "Who ever told you that you weren't funny?"

I shrug, considering it. "I don't know," I say, shrugging. "My sister is funny. I just always thought I was the...other sister."

Ivan cocks his head to the side, his attention fully on me as the bartender delivers two more shots to us. "What's the 'other' sister?"

"I don't know," I say, looking deep into his grey eyes. "The nerdy one. The dork."

"Fay," Ivan says, shaking his head again. Then he leans forward, bringing his face close to mine, like he's telling me a great and terrible secret. "You are beautiful," he says, placing a hand on the side of my face, brushing his thumb over it tenderly. "And you're cute," he leans closer then, placing a kiss on that cheek.

I'm almost breathless when he brings his face back to where it was before, our noses almost touching.

"And trust me, you are funny," he says, surprising me by not kissing my mouth and instead pressing his lips to my other cheek instead.

I can't help but smile back at him, as he looks at me levelly again.

"And yeah," he whispers, smirking, "you're kind of a dork."

I laugh uproariously at that, tossing my head back and shaking with the laughter that pulses through me. When I look back at him again, I can see him laughing just as hard, right along with me.

I almost can't believe it, how much fun I'm having with Kent's worst enemy.

Maybe Kent just has bad taste in men. Because Ivan is a blast.

We both pull ourselves back together, Ivan reaching for the drinks on the bar and handing me mine. I sip from it, staring at him, at his handsome face and the sexy pinup tattoo that wraps around his neck.

"You don't think I'm a dork," I say teasingly, taking my sip from my drink. "Because you wouldn't like a girl who's a dork," I say, leaning forward, trying to bait him into coming closer. "And I think, Ivan," I say, pausing and not bothering to stop the grin that stretches across my face. "I think you like me."

"Really, Fay?" he asks, leaning forward again to bring his face close to mine. "Did you just figure that out now? The Ferrari across the road wasn't enough?"

"No," I say, narrowing my eyes, my smile dropping a little bit. I'm serious now, not playing anymore. "But I thought...I thought you were just trying to date me for...for who I am. For the connections you would make, if you took me away from Daniel."

Ivan doesn't flinch at that. Just holds my eye contact, his face steady. "Honestly, Fay?" he says, his voice as serious as mine now. "It started that way. But you are a surprise. Every extra minute with you," he says, his eyes drifting down to my mouth, "has made me want to do this more and more."

And then, slowly, he lifts his hand to the back of my neck, tangling his fingers in my hair, pulling me closer.

I exhale, my stomach turning over with anticipation, and close my eyes.

But.

The kiss never comes.

Instead, I feel Ivan's grip loosen, and see the color change on the inside of my closed eyelids from purple to orange. I blink my eyes open, looking towards the now-open door leaking sunlight into the room as Ivan straightens on his stool next to me. "Well, Fay," he murmurs, looking at the six guys in suits who walk into the bar, their eyes on us. "Looks like you have a decision to make."

They see us, then, and steadily walk over, their faces deadly.

"Fay," the one at the front says. It's a guy I've seen a hundred times in Kent's kitchen having breakfast, but I don't know his name yet. "It's time to go home now."

I don't say anything, just quickly shoot back my shot, flinching and wiping my mouth with my arm.

Ivan smirks at Kent's guys, placing his still-full drink back onto the bar. "Nice afternoon we're having, isn't it?" he says, cheeky.

The men ignore him, their eyes fixed on me.

I grimace and turn to Ivan. "I'd better go," I say, sad to see it end.

"I get it," Ivan says, hopping up from his seat and putting a hand out to help me down, which I accept. "If he'd sent one, I could take 'em," he says, "but six?"

I laugh a little, nodding in agreement, my eyes fixed on his face as I hop down from my stool.

"A pleasure, Fay," he says, surprising me then by raising my hand, still in his, to his mouth and pressing a kiss to my knuckles, his eyes on mine the entire time. "Thank you," I say, fascinated by him, my words hardly more than a whisper. "It was...I'll never forget today."

"Hopefully you won't have to," he murmurs, letting my hand go and putting his in his pocket. "I hope that we have lots more afternoons, just like this."

I smile at him, then, even as Kent's guy gently takes my arm and guides me out of the bar.

Ivan's face is the last thing I see before the door closes and I turn towards the street, blinking in the sunlight.

"Come on, miss," the guy says, leading me over to a black SUV idling in the road next to Ivan's car. "He's not happy."

"He never is," I murmur, looking out the window at the bar as we drive away.

The trip passes quickly, lost in my thoughts as I am. I barely notice the city passing by as we drive through it. When we get back to the house, though, I do notice when the driver turns to pull in front of the house, instead of to the garages around the side and back. I'm about to open my mouth to ask about the change when the car comes to a stop, Kent's guy next to me opening the door and getting out.

And then, as soon as he moves so that I can see the front of the house, I know why.

He's standing there, at the top of the steps in front of his front door, his arms crossed across his chest as they always are when he's pissed at. He glares at me as I guiltily climb out of the car, meeting his eye.

"Good luck," Kent's guy murmurs, closing the car door behind me and walking around to the other side. "You're going to need it."

And as I stare at Kent up there, at the top of the stairs?

I know he's right.

"Fay," Kent calls, from the top of the stairs. "Inside. Now."