Fall For My Ex’s Mafia Dad
Chapter 88

A hand on my shoulder shakes me awake and I jump, gasping a little bit as my head spins to see Kent's guard sitting next to me in the back seat of the SUV. "Sorry," he says, tentative and pulling away. "I didn't mean to scare you - we're just...home."

"Oh," I say, surprised, turning to see that we are indeed pulling around to the front of Kent's house. "Oh, wow," I murmur, turning back to the guard. "I was really out of it, wasn't it?" He gives me a little smile and a shrug. "Only minor snoring. Minimal drool," he quips, making me laugh.

I narrow my eyes at him a little, working to remember. "Marco...right?" I hazard, and am rewarded with a wide grin on his face.

"You got it, miss," he says, giving me a nod as the car pulls to a stop out front.

"Well, thanks, Marco," I say, giving him a little smile. "For spending the night keeping me safe, and also waking me up before Kent found me slumped and snoring in the back of his car."

Marco laughs, shaking his head and leaning over me to pop my door open. "Any time, miss," he replies warmly. As I climb out of the car I realize that I'm starting to learn the ways of Kent's house more than I thought I was - I'm learning names, patterns. It feels...nice, I think, as the driver - Gianni - comes around the car and lifts my little suitcase out of the trunk. I smile at him as I accept it, pleased when he grins at me in return, and then I turn towards the front of the house.

I stop when I see him standing there, my breath stolen from me a little bit. First because...well, because he looks really good, standing there, clean-shaven in the morning light, already dressed in his finely tailored suit. But second because he looks mad. I sigh, glancing between Gianni and Marco, who don't meet my eyes under his gaze. What the hell did I do this time?

I reach down to grab the top handle of my suitcase, carrying it with me as I climb the steps towards Kent. He watches me come towards him, his arms folded, his face...unreadable. Stern. When I get to the top, close to him, I don't know what to do. Should I...hug him? I laugh a little bit, despite myself, at that impulse. Nothing about Kent right now - his size, his stance, the power radiating off of him, the severe look he's giving me - none of that says "hug me," not at all.

Surprisingly, though, his face softens when he hears my little laugh. "What?" he asks, dropping his hands to his waist and turning his head to the side, just a little bit. "What's funny?"

"Nothing, Kent," I say, shrugging. "It's just...really early to get glared at that intensely. Can a girl get a cup of coffee first?"

Kent blinks at me then, his lips parting a little in surprise, and then he shakes his head, blinking as a little smirk pulls at his mouth. "Come on, Fay," he sighs, reaching out a hand that he places between my shoulder blades, ushering me neatly towards the open door. "Come inside. Welcome home."

Surprised, pleased, I do as he says, only turning back for the little suitcase. "Leave it," he murmurs, continuing to urge me forward. "They should have taken it in for you anyway."

"Oh," I say, glancing backwards at it and then at Marco and Gianni, who seem to be realizing the same thing at the same time. Marco sighs and puts his head in his hands, but I give them both a smile. Kent's back turned, Gianni risks giving me a little wave. Smiling, bolstered by the fact that...well, that I think Kent's guards like me, at least a little bit, I walk with Kent into the house and look up at him. "Did you have a nice night?" I ask, a little desperate to break the silence.

Kent looks down at me for a moment while he closes the door, but he doesn't answer my question. "Did you have a nice night, Fay?"

"Um," I say, my fingers reaching up to tangle in my hair, which I know is...unkempt, after a little - just a little - frisky business with Ivan and a night sleeping outside. Kent's face goes dark as he sees me playing with my hair - something I only do when I'm anxious. Realizing that I'm giving away more than I want to, I drop my hands and fold them neatly behind my back.

"What happened?" Kent asks, taking a step closer to me, glowering down at me so I have to tilt my head back and look up at him. "Did he touch you?"

I frown at Kent then, a little defiance curling in my stomach as he glares at me. "Was he...not supposed to touch me?" I ask. "It was a date, Kent. You knew that when you sent me."

I see anger grow in him then, visible in the flare of his nostrils, the tightening of his jaw, the way his shoulders flex back and his fingers curl towards fists. "I don't want him touching you, Fay," Kent glowers, his voice barely louder than a whisper and dangerous in its depths.

"Well, then what do you want, Kent," I reply, not budging an inch and looking up into his face. "Do you want information? Or do you want me untouched? Because...I'm not sure you can have both."

A rumble sounds deep in Kent's chest and he draws closer to me, but then, to my surprise, he checks himself, backing off and sliding his hands smoothly into his pockets as he looks me over from head to foot. The anger is still there - and, well, the jealousy, if I'm going to put a name to it - but I can see that his curiosity is also peaked. "Upstairs," he commands, nodding to the staircase. "Now."

My mouth falls open a little. Is he...to the third-

"Your room, Fay," Kent clarifies, smirking a little at my hesitation. "I want to know everything you learned, but you need to clean up. You look...rumpled."

I glare at Kent a little, holding his gaze and letting him wonder - for a second - just how I got this rumpled, and then I nod, turning to climb up the stairs. Kent stays close behind me and follows me into my room, closing the door behind me. And then I tell him everything.

Well, not...everything. Some of the details of Rodrigo's life, and Sister Mary's strong, visceral reaction to him, are...not precisely relevant. But the details about Ivan confronting my dad, about my dad apparently apologizing to him and offering the house, of Ivan's warnings this morning? I tell Kent every inch of that. It's my job, after all.

And Kent, to his credit and my surprise, is very businesslike about the whole thing. I move around my room performing my little routines and Kent is quite modest about it all, turning his back to me when I peel my skirt and sweater from my body. When I head for my shower, Kent comes along, leaning against the door frame and looking away as I scrub and continue to recount everything I learned. I watch him the entire time that I talk and honestly I'm a little disappointed that he treats me with such restraint. A little bit of me had been hoping he'd be tempted. That he'd maybe...

But as I climb out of the shower, wrapping my towel around myself, Kent doesn't even look at me, staring out the window instead.

"That's it," I finish, a little lamely. "Um...do you have any questions?"

"I don't," Kent replies, finally turning to me once the towel is wrapped securely around my body. His eyes move over me almost impassively, my body apparently eliciting no reaction from him. "Thank you, Fay," he says, standing up straight and glancing at his watch. "You can take the rest of the day off. I'm sure you're tired after so much work last night."

"It wasn't so bad," I say, letting a little smile find my mouth. "Ivan's...a good time."

There's a little fire in Kent's eyes as he processes my words. But he merely nods and turns to leave the room. I follow Kent into my bedroom and watch him go. He doesn't say a word or look back at me as he opens my door, passes through it, and quietly closes it behind him.

I sink down onto my bed in a huff when he's gone.

What the hell was that?

Did I...did I do something wrong? Does he not like me anymore?