Fall For My Ex’s Mafia Dad
Chapter 98

Jerome and I each give a little shout of surprise as I smack bodily into him.I stumble back a few steps, wheeling my arms a little to find my balance. Jerome is there, luckily, catching me by the shoulders and holding me steady. "Well, Miss Fay," he says, his voice hardly more than a whisper as he glances towards the office door. "And where were you last night?"

"Nowhere," I say, smug, shaking my hair back from my shoulders and gathering up my dignity as I find my balance. Jerome releases me, crossing his arms smugly over his chest as he grins at me. "I was just...getting a pen. From the office." "Fay," Jerome says, his face breaking out into a wicked smile. "If you think I don't know whose bedroom is through the bookcase in that office -"

"What!" I hiss, my face dropping. "Does everyone know the secrets of his house except me!?"

Jerome just laughs, shaking his head. "So, how was he, Fay? Come on. I'm dying to know."

"Ew," I say, wrinkling my nose at him. "You're seriously asking this about your boss?"

"My hot boss," Jerome whispers, raising his eyebrow at me. "And I'm just asking - you're the one taking action with your maybe-father-in-law -"

My mouth drops open at Jerome's gall and then I realize something, glancing at the stairs. Jerome - he was coming down them. At four in the morning. I don't actually know where Jerome sleeps, but it's certainly not in one of Kent's guest rooms.

"And where were you, Jerome?" I ask, crossing my arms and blinking up innocently at him. "Speaking of taking action within the Lippert family - did you happen to see my maybe-fiancé last night?"

"Actually," Jerome replies, hesitating, his whole demeanor changing as he glances around to make sure we're alone. Then, making a quick decision, Jerome grabs my hand and pulls me towards the kitchen. Confused but curious, I follow without protest as Jerome pushes open the door and leads me towards the fridge in the empty kitchen.

"What are we doing here?" I whisper.

"Getting orange juice," Jerome murmurs in reply, dropping my hand to pull the juice out of the fridge and grabbing two clean glasses off of the rack next to the sink. "So that we have a reason why we're talking, if anyone comes across us. We both just came down here, independently, and happened to be thirsty at the same time. Okay?"

"Ooooookay," I say, agreeing to it even though I think this story is a little unnecessarily elaborate. Jerome pours me a glass and hands it to me and then begins to whisper to me as he pours his own.

"Actually," he says, picking up where he left off, "Daniel is really pissed at you."

"What?" I breathe, looking up at Jerome with wide eyes. "Why?"

"That's why he called me up to his room last night," Jerome continues. "He usually doesn't...I mean, he doesn't let me come up to his room with him unless he's feeling a little reckless. He knows we'd both be f****d if we got caught. We usually go to my place, or -" "Really?" I ask, my eyes still wide, tilting my head to the side. "Where's your place?"

"Seriously, Fay?" Jerome asks, twisting his lips at me a little. "All of this - and that's what you ask?"

I shrug, still wanting to know. He just rolls his eyes and moves on.

"Listen," he continues, taking a brisk drink of his juice, "apparently Kent said something to Daniel last night - about - about knowing. That Daniel is..." Jerome hesitates and looks around the empty room, not even wanting to say it aloud even though it's just us. "Really?" I breathe, shocked. Kent hadn't said anything to me last night about a fight - hadn't even given a hint that there was any discord - "Oh my god. I thought he...he hadn't guessed."

"I think Kent's known for a while," Jerome sighs, shaking his head and looking down at his juice. "But he either didn't want to face it, or...who knows, Fay. Actually, you probably know him now better than most of us."

I frown at this, shaking my head a little and thinking that Kent is still an enigma to me. Jerome, oddly, has the most connections in this house that feed him information. I consider this for a moment, realizing that despite Jerome's boyish, almost golden-retriever personality...that he's actually kind of a great spy. People trust him without thinking twice about it - I mean, I do. Daniel does. And Kent hasn't kicked him out yet.

I take a deep breath in through my nose, realizing suddenly that even though I've written him off a bit, Jerome is kind of a player in this game. Young, not with a lot of power yet, but that he could make moves, if he wanted to.

"What?" Jerome asks, seeing me study him. "What are you thinking?"

"Nothing," I say, blinking and coming back to the present moment, folding my arms and tucking my glass of orange juice tightly in the crease of my elbow. "So, why are you telling me this? That Daniel called you up because he was pissed, or upset?" "Because, Fay," Jerome says, shaking his head a little. "He went to you first."

My mouth falls open at this news and my stomach sinks with guilt. "He - he went to my room?"

"Yup," Jerome says, nodding slowly. "Apparently, he and Kent were having a fight when Kent dropped the bomb about knowing that Daniel is...Daniel. And that fight was largely about you, and wherever you went with Ivan, and Kent letting you go. And Daniel went to his room for a little bit to cool down, and then he looked for you all day and he couldn't find you."

"And I didn't have my phone," I say, groaning as I realize that I really was unreachable, like a princess locked away in the dragon's lair. "I left it in my room..."

Jerome shrugs a little, taking a deep breath and studying me seriously. "Listen, Fay," he says quietly. "I don't know...what's going on with you. And I don't want to tell you what to do. But Daniel - he's important to me - do you think that you could try, a little harder, to be good to him?"

"Is he good to you, Jerome?" I blurt out instead of an answer. Because, quite suddenly, it's all I really want to know. Here Jerome is, clearly at Daniel's beck and call, nursing him through his fight with his dad and his inability to contact the girl he's begging to be his fiancé, fighting for him. But who is fighting for Jerome?

Jerome's mouth drops open a little bit in shock.

"I mean," I continue, lowering my voice so that it's barely audible. "Does it bother you that Daniel went to you for comfort only after he couldn't find me? That he keeps you a secret? That he - he is pushing really hard to marry me, and not you?"

Jerome shocks me, then, by visibly collapsing a little bit, emotionally. His face falls and he leans back against the kitchen counter, setting his glass of juice down hard and covering his eyes with his hand for a moment. A little sympathetic squeak works its way out of me and I'm quickly at his side, placing my juice down next to his and putting what I hope is a comforting hand on his arm.

"I knew what I was getting into, Fay," Jerome murmurs, still not looking at me. "I...I knew. Okay?"

"Okay," I whisper, beginning to pet his arm a little, looking up into his face as he moves his hand away and looks down at me.

"But can you just try to be nice to him, Fay? He's having...a really hard time with this."

"Okay," I say, nodding eagerly. "I promise, Jerome. I will."

"Thanks," Jerome says, twisting his mouth in a little smile and covering my hand on his arm with his. I smile back, very glad, suddenly, of his friendship. Together, perhaps, we can take care of Daniel as best we can. There's a noise at the back entrance to the kitchen - where the deliveries are made. I jump a little and Jerome turns towards it. "I'll handle that," he sighs, distracted. "You...go on with your day. I'll see you later?" "Breakfast at six-thirty," I say, giving his arm one more squeeze and then heading for the door. "See you soon."