Fall For My Ex’s Mafia Dad
Chapter 74

In the early hours of the morning Kent comes through the door to the third floor dressed in his wrinkled clothes from the night before. He exhales a deep breath through his nose as he pulls the door shut behind him and starts downward, his eyes on his feet. "What were you doing with her in there, dad?" Kent jumps at the voice, his eyes fastening suddenly on Daniel, who sits at the foot of the third-floor staircase, his back pressed against the wall. Waiting for him.

Kent says nothing to Daniel, just stands frozen, staring at his son. Daniel looks exhausted as he slowly shakes his head. Has he been sitting there all night?

"I saw her when she came out last night, crying. You can't bullshit your way past this one, dad."

Kent's eyes narrow at his son. What, after years of having no qualms or questions about his choices in women, suddenly he wants to be involved? Suddenly he wants to play the morality police?

"Go to bed, Daniel," Kent commands, starting down the stairs again. "Don't you have a test or some other bullshit to concentrate on today?"

"Dad -" Daniel protests, getting to his feet.

Kent whirls on his son when Daniel puts a hand on his arm to stop him. "Stay out of things you don't understand, Daniel," Kent orders, taking a step towards his son to glower over him.

"She's better than this," Daniel hisses through clenched teeth, holding is ground. "She doesn't deserve to be treated like trash - like you treat all of the women who -"

"Shut your mouth, Daniel," Kent snaps, his voice low with warning, moving so close to his son that Daniel takes an involuntary step back. "You don't get to say a god damn thing to me about this. She's mine now." Kent pauses, giving Daniel a second to process that fact. "Find yourself someone else to defend, and someone else to f**k. Not that you weren't doing that already."

Daniel's mouth falls open as Kent turns away and continues calmly down the steps. Daniel knew, of course, that his dad found out about Jerome's secret visit to his room. Whether or not Kent knew it was Jerome was another question. But this was the first time, ever, that his father had ever come even close to acknowledging his secret love life.

And Daniel realizes that Kent probably knows more about Daniel and Jerome than he was letting on. And that Kent is very willing to use it as a weapon if that information carves a path to getting what he wants.

And what he wants, apparently is Fay.

Daniel clenches his fists as he watches his father's form disappearing into his office. Because Fay is his, not his dad's - she is the only good thing in this stupid world, the only thing that made Daniel feel at home. And even if he could never be a true husband to her, he still wanted her at his side as his wife. He knew he could make her happy, in the end.

And so, he was going to fight to get her back.

I groan when I hear a knock at my door.

I glance on the clock on my phone and see that it's not even six o'clock. Who the hell could want my company now? I swing my feet off of my bed, heading to the door thinking that it's even too early for my clothes to be delivered.

I pull open the door, yawning, and immediately freeze.

It's Kent standing there, in perfectly pressed suit pants and a crisp white shirt.

Kent, who never comes to my bedroom in the morning - who always waits to speak to me until I come down to the kitchen for breakfast.

I stare at him, shocked and a little afraid, as his eyes flick over me, quickly assessing my rumpled hair and my bare legs and oh my god -

Ivan's jacket.

Indeed, his eyes pause for a moment on the fine wool of the suitcoat, its long sleeves rolled up to my elbows. It's way too big for me, and Kent would certainly recognize one from his own collection or from Daniel's, so he certainly will figure out...

I see him put the pieces together as he clenches his jaw and moves his eyes back to mine. "Good morning, Fay," he says, his calm belying the anger I can see roiling behind his eyes.

"Good morning, Kent," I whisper, leaning against the doorframe, wanting the support.

Kent opens his mouth to say something but then snaps it shut, looking down again at the suit jacket and then turning his head to look down the hall. Or, at least that's the direction of his gaze. I can tell from his unfocused eyes that he's not looking at anything - just staring into space as he puts together his thoughts.

"I have new instructions for you," he says after a moment, still not looking at me. I watch him, curious, my anxiety increasing. If he just has instructions, why didn't he wait to give them to me at breakfast, like he always does?

"All right," I say quietly, waiting for him to continue.

But he doesn't. Instead, he just nods abruptly and turns away, heading back down stairs. I watch him go, baffled, but noting that he doesn't look at me again. Not once.

Almost as if he can't.

A little smirk pulls at my lips as I slowly shut my bedroom door and look down at Ivan's suitcoat. Well. That hadn't been my intention, when I put it on.... But it certainly yielded results, didn't it?

I take careful note, and then head to my bathroom to start getting dressed for my day. When I return from my shower, I see that my clothes delivery has arrived and that it contains a crisp little blazer in just my size. I smile and tuck Ivan's jacket away behind the headboard of my bed, hoping that the household staff won't find it there. I'm not ready to say goodbye to it, not just yet, and I know that if I leave it in my wardrobe today that, by this evening, it will have mysteriously disappeared.

Twenty minute later I head downstairs for breakfast, dressed in the suitcoat and chic grey slacks that Kent chose for me. It's a more formal and restrained look than I'm used to, and I'm curious about what he has planned for me. I'm certainly not going to the stables, after all - not dressed like this.

When I push through the door to the kitchen, though, the first person I see is Daniel. My stomach drops and I hesitate when he looks up to meet my gaze. He does not look happy.

Instead, for the first time since I've known him, Daniel refuses to smile at me. He just looks at me, grim. A little angry. Then, his eyes flick to the empty chair across from him, a demand as much as an invitation.

I hesitate a little longer, glancing around the room to better assess the situation. My gaze falls, on Jerome, who is likewise looking at me. Jerome gives me an exaggerated wide-eyed grimace, drawing a finger across his throat and nodding towards Daniel. His meaning could not be more clear: I'm dead meat.

Nodding towards Jerome, who gives me a sympathetic shrug, I make my way over to our little breakfast table and sit down across from Daniel.

"Good morning, Fay," he says, his voice even. I raise my eyes to glare at him a little, wondering if he realizes just how much he sounds like his dad in this moment. Who the hell was he anyway, to make me feel bad about anything, when he's sleeping with Jerome? "Good morning, Daniel." I murmur, mocking his tone a bit. I probably shouldn't, but I can't help myself.

"And just how long," he bites out, glaring at me, "have you been fucking my dad?"