Fall For My Ex’s Mafia Dad
Chapter 59

I pound my hands against Kent at first, desperate to get away, but he holds me steadily against him with that arm wrapped around my waist, with that steady hand wrapped in the hair at the base of my neck. I am locked in place as he moves his mouth against mine,

his movements slow, controlled, taking his time as he explores the contours of my lips. Savoring the experience.

A breathless moment passes and then, damn it, but my body betrays me.

I stop beating at him with my fists, distracted, suddenly, but the incredible softness of his lips, the expert way they slide over mine, at the feel of his tongue moving exploratively over my bottom lip. I feel my own mouth fall open at this, obeying his demand for entry, allowing him to slide that tongue into my mouth and press it urgently against my own.

He tightens his arms at this and I hear a moan escape me as he pulls me away from the door, bending me backwards at the waist. His mouth is sealed against mine, kissing me with an demand that makes me want to submit, makes me want to follow his every command. Suddenly, my hands are in his hair, my eyes sealed tightly shut as he slides the hand around my waist, and then lower, down to grab the curve of my a*s, to press me closer against the swelling mass of him that I can feel pressed against my abdomen. Still holding me tight against him with that hand on my rear, Kent takes his mouth off of mine suddenly, laughing.

I blink, panting, looking up at him, returning to myself in a flash and feeling the sudden rush of embarrassment and panic and rage. I freeze for a moment and then I shout as I pull my hands from his hair and begin to shove against him with all my might. But he doesn't let me go - not an inch.

Instead, he continues laughing that low laugh, holding me tight against him.

"You see, Fay?" he murmurs, watching me, taking pleasure in my futile struggle. "Why would I be jealous when I can do this any time I want?"

I continue to shove against him, my shout turning into a little roar of fury, and he holds onto me for a second or two more - just to prove he can. Then, he releases me all at once and I skitter to the side like an angry cat, glaring at him and whipping at my mouth as I move away from the door, away from him.

"You're a monster," I snarl, pursing my lips together in an angry, embarrassed line.

"I never said I wasn't," Kent says seriously, putting his hands cooly in his pockets. "But don't forget it, Fay. Monster or not?" He pauses, and leans towards me. "I own you. You are mine."

I storm towards the door then, intent on leaving, not wanting to give him another word. But he just laughs and, damn him, leans forward to pull the door open before I can lay a hand on the knob. As if it's his choice to release me.

"Good night, Fay," he calls as I stomp up the stairs towards my room. "See you at breakfast."

I don't look back. Instead, I storm through my bedroom door and slam it shut behind me, hurling myself onto my bed. There, I hide my head in my pillow and burst into furious tears.

I stay alone in my room for hours after I finish crying. Vacillating between feeling absolutely horrible and then feeling absolutely nothing at all, I stare at my ceiling for hours.

I had thought I was in charge with Kent. That I could rile him, and use his...his attraction to me for my benefit. But today, everything had proved to me that I was again out of my depth. I had thought Ivan liked me, but he was just doing it for show. I thought I had been in control of things with Kent but -

God damn it, tonight he played me like a puppet. First raising me to anger, and then kissing me, making me kiss him back, lose control like some lovesick girl while he humiliated me.

God, I really am his puppet. Ivan's puppet. Even Daniel's sometimes. It is so mortifying, realizing how easily I play into all of their games.

I stare at the ceiling, watching the light of day fade into the shadows of night, trying to come up with a plan, with some way to get what I want out of this stupid game.

But at the end of it all?

The fact is that I don't even know what I want. Or how to play. Everyone is playing chess and I'm not even playing checkers. I feel so...stupid. And alone. I pull my pillow over my head, groaning, missing my sister, my dad, my old life. God, what I wouldn't give to go back to it all.

The thing that finally breaks me out of my stupor is my stomach, which gives a mighty growl at some point in the evening when I've been laying in the dark for what must be a few hours. I sit up, looking down at my complaining stomach, and feel a headache pulse at the back of my head.

I groan, and put a hand there, wondering if it was Kent pressing me up against the door or Ivan feeding me tequila all day that's responsible for this. Either way, I want water, and sustenance. Now.

When I peek out of my bedroom door, the house is quiet, which pleases me. I want to see no one - absolutely no one - this evening. Waiting a moment to check that the house is quiet, I then sneak out into the hall, pulling my door softly shut behind me. I glance at a clock down the hall, surprised to see that it's much later than I thought - around one in the morning.

I am pleased when I encounter no one in the kitchen. I quickly pour myself a glass of milk and grab an entire box of cookies from the cabinet. Not healthy, I know, but tonight I need food for the soul as much as the body, and chocolate and sugar sound about right. I begin to relax as I head back up the stairs, confident I won't meet anyone, but just as my foot hits the landing I hear something and freeze.

It was just a soft noise, a groan, or a moan...

I stand at the top of the steps like a startled hare, not moving a muscle except my eyes, which dart around looking for the source of the noise. Nothing in the hallway moves but...yes. There it is again!

Curious, I listen closely and find my eyes moving to Daniel's door. I continue to listen for a few moments more and then - yes. I'm certain. It's coming from inside.

I let my curiosity get the better of me, perhaps feeling a little reckless as a result of my great embarrassment earlier in the day. Either way, I tiptoe closer to Daniel's door, careful not to make a sound. Passingly, I wonder if he's okay and hope that nothing is wrong... But deep down, I know what it is that I'll see when I lean down and peek through the little keyhole of his door.

And as I do just that, my suspicions are confirmed. It's convenient, frankly, that Kent never replaced the old-timey locks on the bedroom doors in this old house, because Daniel's gives me a perfect view inside to where he and another person - I can't see who - tangle on his bed.

I cock my head to the side as I look, curious. I know that it's wrong - that I should give Daniel his privacy, but...I realize, suddenly, that I've never seen anyone have sex before. I blush to realize it. I mean, of course I have seen it on TV and the internet. But not like this, never before so...real...

I'm mesmerized, frankly, by the sight of the bodies pressed together so fervently, tangled so that I can't tell the limbs apart in the dark blue light of the room. I continue watching as they pull apart for a moment sit up, changing positions. I recognize the profile of Daniel's sweet face, looking down at his lover.

I'm embarrassed, a little, by the tenderness that I see there, and know I should move away. In fact, I start to do so when the lover himself turns his torso towards the door. And I gasp aloud because...

Because I know that face, I know the shape of that body.

Jerome.

I stand up straight, aghast, my eyes wide and my jaw dropping open.

"Did you hear something?" I can barely hear Daniel's voice from inside the room, but I know that I've been caught. I scurry backwards, my eyes fixed on the door, when - Oh my god.

I go stock still as I feel my back collide with something else. Someone else.

"Good evening, Fay," I hear that familiar dark voice purr. "Why are you spying on my son?"