Ch. 261..265: Fall For My Ex’s Mafia Dad Chapter 261-265

Chapter 261

"Kent!" Daniel shouts into the phone as Jerome drives frantically down the road, blazing through intersections, weaving around and between cars. "Someone - someone f*****g took her!"

They'd done their best to follow the van, but it had already been too late. By the time that they realized that Fay was gone from the side of the road - that she'd been snatched and wasn't just hiding or something - the van was already out of sight, driving like a maniac. The farmer had screamed for them to go after her and they'd gotten into the car as fast as they could -

But by the time they were on the road after it?

The trail was completely cold. They had absolutely no idea where it had gone.

They'd done their best, of course, to find any trace -

But it was a lost cause. Now they're speeding home, trying to get to Kent, because he'll know what to do. Jerome glances anxiously at Daniel, trying to listen to the conversation as Daniel stumbles out an explanation of what happened as best he can. Daniel's voice shakes throughout the entire call and Jerome can tell that he's close to frantic tears. Jerome presses further on the gas pedal, trying to get home as fast as possible.

Kent, Jerome thinks to himself, nodding tensely. Kent will know what to do. But I...

He shakes his head at himself, cursing because...

Fuck. Fuck. He should have told everyone sooner...

But there's no time to think on it now. Jerome barely slows as he pulls up to the gates of the house, pressing frantically at the button at the top of the car that opens the gate. Daniel snaps to Kent that they're home, just come outside, they'll explain everything - As the gate barely opens wide enough, Jerome squeezes the car through and flies down the driveway, skidding to a stop at the end.

Kent's already out the front door, storming towards them.

"What the fuck happened!?" Kent roars, ripping open Daniel's door and grabbing his son by the collar, hauling him out. "Why the fuck weren't you at her side!?"

"Dad -" Daniel stumbles, trying to get his footing while he looks up at his father with such guilt on his face. Jerome's throat tightens to see Daniel like that - because this is - this is his fault, not Daniel's - "Kent," Jerome starts, stepping forward. "It was a complete surprise -"

"She was across the street!?" Kent shouts, dropping Daniel and taking a step towards Jerome now, focusing his rage on him. "By herself!? Why the fuck would you let her go anywhere alone - you idiots -" Thompson comes out of the house now, looking with wide eyes at the commotion at the front of the house. He takes a sharp, deep breath when he looks around and realizes that Fay isn't there.

"What," Thompson gasps, his eyes widening. "Where..." But his words fade away, almost as if he doesn't want to ask, because he knows the answer is going to wreck him.

"David," Daniel says, moving towards the older man, his voice breaking. Thompson just shakes his head at Daniel, stepping away from him, not wanting to hear it. Daniel continues to move forward, putting his hands on Thompson's shoulders and starting to explain to him as carefully as he can what happened.

Jerome watches for a second, but his attention breaks when he sees the seething mob boss striding towards him.

"You're coming with me," Kent growls grabbing Jerome by the scruff of his neck and hauling him inside. Jerome gasps but does not protest as Kent shoves him through the door. "Weapons, now," he growls, pointing towards the master bedroom, where Jerome knows there's an arsenal of guns behind the false back of the closet. Because, of course, Kent wants complete control and to keep them safe.

Gio, standing in the kitchen, looks at them with wide eyes. "Gio!" Kent barks, "You too! Let's go!"

Kent pushes Jerome ahead of him into the room and then into the closet, Gio striding closely behind as Kent mutters to Gio the short details of what happened to Fay. When Kent presses the code into the lock at the back of the closet and the secret door swings open, Jerome glances back at Gio and is unsurprised to see the young man looking very, very pale.

Kent gets immediately to work, taking guns off the wall and tossing them on the table at the center of the room alongside appropriate ammunition. "Load them, Jerome," he snaps, and Jerome gets to work in silence - because he's been trained for precisely this moment.Kent finishes picking his last weapons and slams them on the table, turning to Gio, who flinches.

"Tell me right now," Kent growls, his words low and gravelly as he snaps a clip full of bullets into a handgun that he holds tense at his side, "if Bianci is behind this."

"No!" Gio says instantly, shaking his head and going rigid with fear as he realizes that, any second, that gun could be pointed at him. And considering the stakes of this? He could be dead in minutes if he says the wrong thing.

"Tell me the truth, Gio," Kent growls, narrowing his eyes and taking a dangerous step toward his nephew.

"I am, Kent!" Gio insists. "He would have told me if he was - or at least used me for recon, to know where she was going to be and when. But he didn't- and I didn't even know Fay was gone until her father told me where she went! Just ten minutes ago!" "He's not lying, Kent," Jerome adds, his voice soft as he continues packing guns with bullets. "Gio was nowhere around when we decided to go to the grocery store - and asking Fay to come along was a spur-of-the-moment decision. He didn't know." "And where were you," Kent growls, looming over his nephew now, glaring down at him, dangerous.

"I was," he hesitates and then shrugs his shoulders, "I was....in my room. I was talking to Janeen, on the phone." He shrugs again, clearly anxious, not knowing what to do. "You can ask her - you can check my calls, I swear."

Kent backs away a little bit, studying his nephew, seeing his real surprise and fear, the way he stutters over his words.

"Besides," Gio says, shaking his head at Kent, "what would Bianci's motive be? I have reported everything about the progress of the heist, he knows it's tomorrow - he knows it has a high chance of success and being incredibly profitable - I see no reason for him to want to throw you off those plans by kidnapping Fay -"

"Neither do I," Kent snaps, turning away from Gio finally and letting him off the hook, at least for the moment.

Kent sighs sharply and ducks down to grab three black duffel bags, tossing them on the table with the guns. "Fill those up," he snaps, nodding to them. "We're moving out. Wherever she is, we're going to get her."

Gio nods, moving forward to the table, but before he can touch a gun Jerome puts a hand on Gio's arm, stopping him.

"Let me pack, Gio," Jerome says, his hand and his voice shaking a little bit. "Give me and Kent a minute."

Gio pauses and looks at Jerome, confusion all of her his face. But then he shifts his gaze to his uncle, who gives him a sharp nod, even though Kent's eyes don't leave Jerome.

Gio hesitates for just a second but then turns and leaves the room, closing the door behind him.

Jerome takes a deep, shaky breath, his eyes focusing on the gun in Kent's hand.

"Jerome," Kent says, his growl livid, his fingers tightening around his weapon. "What the f**k aren't you telling me?"

 

Chapter 262

Jerome takes another shaky breath and raises his eyes to meet Kent's. The air sticks in his throat, his lungs, because he knows this could... This could go very badly for him.

"You'd better start f*****g talking, Jerome," Kent snaps, slamming the gun down on the table as he loses his temper. "Because I have methods to make you talk, and I don't have the f*****g patience right now to use the easy ones." "Okay," Jerome says, putting up his hands and backing a step away, starting to talk very, very fast. "Okay, Kent. Um. I've been...I've been meaning to tell you for a while -"

"Skip the f*****g preamble, Jerome!" Kent shouts.

Jerome's eyes drop and his shoulders start to shake. "Okay. Okay. But it's important for you to know that I would never betray you, Kent. Or Daniel. Or Fay! All right?"

Kent doesn't say anything, but the fact that he doesn't say a word lets Jerome know both that he understands and that Jerome is on very, very thin ice.

"So," Jerome says on an intake of breath, "there might be...someone else looking for you who has a particular interest in Fay. Besides the cops in New York. Besides...besides Bianci." "Who?" Kent asks, his voice terrible and cold.

Jerome looks up through lowered lids, his whole body starting to tremble as he comes out with it. Fuck, I'm going to die, he thinks, shaking his head. He gulps. "The...the woman who hired me. To get myself into your good graces. She -"

But he doesn't get another word out, because before he can Kent is across the room, his fist flying through the air.

Jerome shouts as Kent's fist connects with his cheek, sending him stumbling to the side, clutching his face. Jerome groans, pain flashing through him as he bends over, his face cupped in his own hands-

Somewhere in the back of his consciousness, he hears the door creek open -

"Jerome!"

It's Daniel's voice but Jerome can barely focus on it, because the fucking pain -

"Stop!" Kent shouts and there's a scuffle behind Jerome, who finally blinks back to himself and begins to stand up, turning to see Kent shoving the door to the room shut, Daniel's shirt wrapped in his fist. "Your f*****g boyfriend betrayed us, Daniel," Kent growls, shaking Daniel hard, making him listen.

"Wha- what?" Daniel gasps, going still and turning to stare at Jerome, his face horrified.

"It's not like that!" Jerome gasps, desperate for Daniel to see - Kent too, but especially Daniel -

"Stay right the fuck there," Kent growls, not letting go of Daniel but grabbing his gun from the table and pointing it right at Jerome's heart.

"Dad!" Daniel gasps, but Kent just shakes him again, silencing him.

"Talk," Kent snaps, his hand holding the gun steady. "You have about fifteen seconds, Jerome, to convince me not to kill you."

"Please," Jerome says, putting up his hands now, his pain disappearing in the wake of his blind terror. "I swear - it was years ago - she she hired me, she told me to put myself in your view! To let you notice me! And then- um - when I got in your good graces, I was supposed to report back! I was a mole, or whatever!"

"Jerome," Daniel says, his voice breaking on his name, desperate and devastated. "How could you -"

"No!" Jerome continues, shaking his head frantically, his eyes wide and locked on Daniel's. "I swear - Daniel - I reported to her like twice - stupid shit, because I was nobody, I didn't even know any secrets at the time! And then once I got into the family? Once I met you?" His voice breaks as he focuses only on Daniel now. "I - I decided that's where I wanted to be! I cut ties completely! I never spoke to her again - she tried to get me back, but I completely broke away -"

"God, fuck, Jerome," Daniel moans, and his father lets his shirt loose as Daniel buries his face in his hands and turns his back on him. "How could you f*****g do this -"

Jerome's heart breaks as he hears Daniel gasp, his breath thick with tears as his world pretty much falls apart - his best friend f*****g kidnapped, his boyfriend who he is completely in love with confessing an insane betrayal -

But Kent isn't so easily distracted.

"So did you do this?" Kent snaps, narrowing his eyes and taking a step closer to Jerome, the gun still pointed solidly at his chest. "Did you put this woman in contact - did you tell her where Fay was going to be?" "N-no!" Jerome gasps, his eyes going wide as he focuses again on the man in charge. "I'm not lying, Kent! I cut ties ages ago - I have been loyal for years -"

Kent strides forward and hits Jerome again, the butt of the gun in his fist connecting solidly with the side of Jerome's skull. Jerome moans and falls to the ground, covering his head and curling into a ball.

"Tell me!" Kent shouts, looming over him. "What the f**k did you tell her!?"

"I didn't tell anyone anything!" Jerome insists, covering his head.

"Dad!" Daniel gasps, coming forward and grabbing Kent's arm, stopping him from hitting Jerome again.

Jerome peeks through his hands to see Daniel pulling hard on Kent, making him turn towards him. "He didn't," Daniel growls, defensive, putting his body between Kent and Jerome. "I swear to god - if Jerome was up to anything? If he'd been betraying me for years? I would know."

Kent seethes but locks his jaw shut, staring into his son's face, probably deciding...fuck, Jerome doesn't know what. Whether to kill him? Whether to trust Daniel? Whether any of this actually matters - because honestly, Jerome doesn't know who took Fay - it's just a hunch - "Please," Jerome moans, shaking his head. "I'm sorry - but you needed to know -"

Kent snaps his attention back to Jerome at that. "Tell me," he demands, his voice more even now. "Who is it? Who hired you to watch me, to spy?"

Jerome takes a deep breath, still clutching his head and hiding his face.

"Jerome," Daniel begs, pleading with him.

Jerome takes a single steadying breath before moving his hand from his face, looking up at the mafia boss and his boyfriend, who - f**k - look so strikingly similar, but who are so...totally different.

Just like Fay. And that woman.

God, the first time he'd seen Fay...

"It's her mom," Jerome moans, shaking his head, tears leaking out the sides of his eyes. "The one who hired me? It was Fay's mom."

Kent and Daniel stare down at Jerome for a long moment in complete shock.

And then Kent lets out a stream of curses, turning away and storming from the room. He slides some guns at random into one the black bags on the table as he goes, not checking to see what he's got. He doesn't look behind him either as he moves through the closet, through the bedroom, and into the house.

He barely looks around as he strides for the door, grabbing his set of keys on his way to push it open -

Except -

"Kent." Thompson's cold voice rings out behind him, agonized and terrified and pissed.

Kent slowly turns to look the man in the eyes.

A thousand words run through his head - apologies, pleas for forgiveness, excuses that this wasn't supposed to happen -

But he swallows them all and nods once.

"I'm going to get her back, David," Kent says, his words tight.

Thompson just stares at him, livid, his jaw clenched.

Kent nods once and pushes through the door.

Gio's already waiting for him at the car.

 

Chapter 263

"All right," I say, quietly stroking the little dog's ears, noticing the deepening of his breathing as he starts to fall asleep - probably a very puppy reaction to all the stress. "You've got my attention, Ivan. By force. But all right, tell me about this offer."

"I can't," he says, shaking his head a little. "That's for her to say."

"Who?" I ask, tilting my head to the side.

"You'll find out," he says dryly. Then he sits up, trying to peek out the back tinted windows. "I think we're almost there."

"Ivan," I hiss, leaning forward. "What the f**k is going on? Like, why are you even in Italy? Running someone else's errands?" "What?" he asks.

"Seriously," I say, gesturing towards him with an open palm. "This is - so not your style. You're the errand boy, going to kidnap me and bringing me to someone else? This is very much not the mafia boss who blocked the road with his Lamborghini, nor is it the kinda- sexy police man who was all," I shrug a little, "all stuck up and straight laced. And bossy."

Ivan tries to fight it, but he smirks a bit at this. He can't help it. I burst into a grin. "Well," he says, shaking his head at me. "If this isn't my style that's not my fault. That's yours." "What?" I ask, sitting up straight.

"Yeah," he says, leaning forward again to glare at me. "Someone got me put on leave from the NYPD because I botched the Lippert escape so badly. I was very much under suspicion for why I asked half the police force to meet me across the state." I can't help it. I burst into a laugh and then smack my hand over my mouth.

"Yeah," he says, shaking his head at me. "Real funny, Fay. Just my career down the drain."

"But it was just leave!" I say, tossing an apologetic hand out towards him. "They didn't fire you."

"And when they bring me back, if they ever do, I'll be on desk duty for the rest of my life. They'll never trust me ever again."

And suddenly I do feel guilty about that. Because I never meant to ruin his life. Just...get him out of my hair. And rub his nose in it a little bit.

"So why are you here?" I ask quietly, shaking my head, not getting it.

"Consider it freelance work," he says on a sigh, narrowing his eyes. "I found someone a little higher up whose plans intersected nicely with my own." "Higher up?" I ask, curious.

"FBI," he says, his voice a little superior as he delivers the news. My eyes go wide with shock.

But I shake my head, dismissing it, needing more information. "Wait, plans? Ivan...what are you planning?"

"What I've always been planning," he replies. "Nothing has changed, Fay. I'm still working to bring Lippert and the mafia down."

"Why," I exclaim, almost shouting in my exasperation. "Just let it be, Ivan! You're letting this vendetta control your life - just let it go. Find a nice girl, settle down," I sit back against the wall, letting my eyes flick over him. "Go have...little blonde police babies. Or whatever."

"It's all very easy for you to say, Fay," Ivan says, sighing at me. "Because you got what you wanted. Me? I'm still hungry for it."

I sigh too, rolling my eyes. But we don't have a chance to get into it any further, because suddenly the car rolls to a stop.

Ivan stands up in the back of the van, looking down at me calculatingly. "Are you going to do something stupid? Like...run, or whatever?"

"Ivan, I don't know where we are," I say, exasperated, "and I don't speak Italian -"

"You don't speak Italian yet?" he exclaims, baffled.

"And," I continue, moving on without acknowledging his rude remark, "I'm crazy pregnant. So even if I did want to run? I'm not getting far."

"True," he says, offering a hand. When I take it but still struggle to get to my feet, he helps me, being very patient and, frankly, delicate with me as I stand and settle the little puppy in my arms.

"Are you seriously taking the puppy?" he murmurs, looking down at me like I'm crazy.

I gasp and look up into his face. "Are you suggesting I just let him go!?"

"Fay, this is serious -"

"He'll die!"

"Oh my god," Ivan sighs, and then he leans forward and knocks on the door, which slides open. A plain dark-haired man stands there, pointedly not looking at us. Ivan murmurs something to him in Italian as we climb out. "Wait, you speak Italian?" I ask, confused and a little impressed.

"Fay, do you seriously think I went undercover in the mafia without speaking Italian?" He rolls his eyes at me.

"Well, who is he?" I ask, looking back at the man, who turns away from me.

"He's just a driver," Ivan says, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and moving me forward. "Temporary hire. The less he knows, the better, and vice versa."

"Temporary hire," I murmur, confused and turning back to him. "Wait, aren't you FBI now? Don't you have better resources than this?"

"Just," he sighs and rolls his eyes at me, "can you just get inside, Fay? Before you begin your interrogation? God, I forgot how annoying you can be -"

"I never annoyed you," I mutter, narrowing my eyes but starting to look where I'm going. And I'm shocked to suddenly realize that we're at some sort of...Italian version of a cheap road-side motel. What? In such a beautiful country, how did Ivan land here? Ivan doesn't respond to me, though, instead moving forward to a door tucked into the corner of the building. He glances at me once before he sighs and raises his hand, knocking.

Fear begins to rise in me now and I tighten my arms around the puppy. Because while I'm not afraid of Ivan - honestly, even after everything, I know he's not going to hurt me -

...I have absolutely no idea what's behind this door. Or who. Or why they're here.

"Come in," calls a voice from inside and something in me passively realizes that it's a woman's voice.

Ivan twists the knob, pushing the door open, and gestures me in in front of him, blocking my exit behind. I look up at him, scared, my face silently pleading for him to tell me that it's okay.

But he just shakes his head and nods inside the door. "Go, Fay," he says, his voice defeated.

And I bite my lip, and turn, and take two steps into the room.

Ivan closes the door behind us as my eyes focus on the woman standing across the room with her back to us, her shining red hair falling to her shoulders. My eyes sweep over her, taking in her crisp white shirt, her pencil skirt.

But my jaw absolutely falls open when she turns around because...

God, fuck, because it could be a mirror.

Or, at least some weird, cursed mirror from a fun house that shows me what I'm going to look like in twenty-five years.

My mouth goes absolutely dry as she smiles, a cold, dark thing, and looks me up and down.

"Well," she says, assessing. "You turned out prettier than I thought you would, with that man as your father."

Her voice is what seals the deal. It rings somewhere in my memory - from back in the days when I had a mother.

All the blood rushing from my brain, from my face. When I do speak, the word stutters lamely from my lips, shocked, haunted, and alone. "M-mom?"

 

 

Chapter 264

I stare, completely baffled, at my mother - who I barely remember - but it is absolutely undeniable, instantly, who she is. Not only because she looks exactly like me, but because... The things I do remember about her? The way she moves when she walks, the shape her words take as they ring in my ears? They're...precisely the same. I'd know her anywhere in an instant - because she's my mother- My mother is dead...

But...

I blink at her, completely confused, tears filling my eyes in response to the insane rush of emotions that fill me - fear, and... is it happiness? And an unbalanced sort of hysterical humor, at the ridiculousness of the situation? And betrayal - that I know is there - because where the f**k has she been for the past twenty years -

"Don't cry, Fay," she says quietly, crossing her arms and peering at me. She leans forward to study my face and I realize that, even though I expected her to be taller - because, duh, she's always been taller - we are precisely the same height. "W-what?" I ask, unable to utter - or think - anything besides that.

"You always were a little silly," she says, her mouth twisting a bit with irritation. "And emotional. I think you got that from your Italian side." She stands up with a sigh, looking me from head to foot. "And it looks like you went and got yourself pregnant. That was foolish of you, wasn't it?"

"What?" I spit out, starting to get mad now. Because - is she - is she for real?

I look back over my shoulder at Ivan, who watches me carefully, actually wondering suddenly if this is real -

Because - I mean - am I dreaming or something?

Is this -

"Pay attention, Fay," my mom snaps, and I spin to look at her with wide eyes. Because that tone I remember. She shakes her head at me, and then glances once at the little dog in my arms, and rolls her eyes. She doesn't say anything about it but I blush, suddenly, realizing that she thinks I'm ridiculous.

Mom smirks at my blush and turns away, heading across the room to a little table, where she opens a bottle of water and takes a sip.

And I purse my lips, and draw myself up, and try to remember frantically precisely who I am a powerful, rich, ruthless woman - the donna of the Lippert family - a viper as well as a fawn -

Because right now? In front of my mother? I feel every bit the lost little girl she left behind.

Tears start to spill down my cheeks despite myself.

Ivan, seeing them, comes to my side.

"All right, Victoria," he says, his voice a little bored now. "Let's get on with it."

Mom turns her smirking gaze to Ivan now. "You told me you were close to her, Ivan," she says, raising an eyebrow. "But you didn't say you were in love with her."

"I'm not," he growls, crossing his arms.

"Really," she says, raising her eyebrows and slowly twisting the cap back onto her water bottle. "So protective of someone you...don't love. You must be a real pitbull for the girls you do care about."

My mouth is open but I snap it shut at this, my mom's cruelty to Ivan somehow snapping me more back to myself than all of her coldness to me.

I glance up at Ivan now, wondering why the hell he's working with her if she treats him like this. And then I glance back at her, my eyes narrowing. Is she deliberately putting me on edge? I'm her daughter - why make it so clear from the start that she has no familial affection for me?

"What is this?" I ask, my voice quiet as my mind starts to run, trying to put all of the pieces together. "Why did you bring me here? What do you want?"

"There she is," Victoria says, turning her head and considering me as I come back to myself. "This must be the girl I've heard so much about - who has become so accomplished in crime in so short a time. I knew you couldn't be a complete idiot."

I straighten my shoulders. "You can stop it now, you know. I get it. You're here on business, not some kind of tearful reunion. If you don't want me to think of you as my mother, then message received."

"Good," she says, raising her eyebrows at me. "I'm glad to see you can be rational."

"Why am I here?" I ask again, insistent this time and stepping further into the room so that I can see both Ivan and my mother at once. "What is this all about? Because you two might think that you've been clever, grabbing me off the side of the road? But my people are not without resources, and you do not have a lot of time before they come through that door."

My mother's eyes snap to the purse tucked behind my back and Ivan's eyes fly to it too.

"Shit," he murmurs, suddenly diving for me, realizing that I've probably got a phone in here that has tracking on it.

Which I do.

"How did you ever go undercover, Ivan," my mother murmurs, sinking into a rickety little chair by a small table with a sigh. "You're such a slob."

I dodge Ivan, trying to keep the purse behind my back, but he just glares at me.

"I'm going to get it, Fay," he growls. "Don't make this difficult."

I glare back at him but turn, letting him dig his hand into his purse and pull the phone from it.

"Get rid of it," my mother murmurs, nodding towards the door.

Ivan sighs and looks me in the eye. "I'll be two minutes," he murmurs, and then heads for the door, striding out of it with my phone in his hands.

"It's not like Kent won't be able to track me here anyway."

"It doesn't matter," my mom sighs, reaching for a pack of cigarettes on the table and languidly pulling one out. "We'll be gone before they can get here. Our conversation will be short, Fay."

I raise my eyebrow, inviting it. The sooner I get out of here the better.

And as I realize that - that I have no desire to spend this time with my mother, to ask her where she's been for so long, why she left me, what she's been doing - I wonder if she's manufactured this reaction in me to keep herself safe.

Is she being this cold on purpose? Or is this...who she is?

My mother watches me puzzle it out, lighting her cigarette and taking a little puff. She blows the smoke into the air above her head, not bothering to apologize for smoking around a pregnant woman. I don't mention it either.

"You're a fool, Fay Lippert," my mother says quietly, making it abundantly clear that she knows my history and to whom I now belong. But, of course she does - Ivan will have told her everything. "For falling back into the world I worked so hard to get you out of. For getting pregnant by that man and dooming another generation to this life."

I raise my chin and stare back at her. "What's worse, mom," I say, working to keep my voice equally cold. "That I went back to the world you left? Or that I thrived in it?"

She just smirks at me, maybe a little pleased. "Kent Lippert wasn't a bad choice," she says quietly. "He's handsome. I knew him, you know."

"He mentioned it," I say dryly.

Her little smirk grows. "Oh, I doubt he told you all the details."

Something twists in me.

What?

What details?

But I keep my face schooled, not reacting, falling back on my months of practice with Kent and Daniel. I don't even look his way when Ivan comes back into the room. They've turned me into an accomplished liar by now- and my mother had the upper hand when I first came in the room, but I'm on the offense now. She squandered my surprise, if you ask me.

I don't say anything, letting her talk. I want her information; I don't want to give her mine.

"Good girl," she says with a little laugh, taking another drag on her cigarette. "My, but they have trained you well."

I narrow my eyes at her, done with these games. "What's your deal, mom," I say quietly, nodding towards Ivan. "He told me you have something to put on the table. So, let's get it done, so I can go home to my husband."

"Which one?" my mom asks, the corners of her mouth lifting into a tiny, cat-like smile.

 

Chapter 265

I ignore her jibe, keeping my face straight. Ivan leans against the wall next to me, taking a deep breath.

"Fine," my mom says, sighing and studying her nails. "You're here, Fay, because you're in a unique position to give me what I want. And I am in a unique position to take away what you love."

My stomach twists again with anxiety, and I flinch a little as it turns into a very real, physical pain. My body contracts low on my abdomen and I clench my jaw, willing myself not to touch my stomach. These pains... God, f**k, if I go into labor right now...I will never forgive this little baby.

But I straighten my shoulders, ignoring it. My mother moves on, either not noticing or not caring.

"What I want," she continues, her eyes locked on mine, "above all things in the world - the reason I left you with David Thompson to pursue my work - is to have the mafia wiped off the face of the planet. I want all the dons locked away. I want all of their systems dismantled." "Why?" I demand, my voice clipped.

"So they stop hurting people. Taking advantage of poor families, of young women. Are you aware, Fay?" she asks, her eyebrows shooting up in superiority, "of precisely what industries you support by not turning these men in?"

"Not the men I support," I say dryly, though...well. I guess I don't know for sure, do I? Kent, I know, doesn't have his hands in anything like that anymore. But Bianci?

My mother just laughs at me, shaking her head. "Naïve," she murmurs, but then she takes another drag of her cigarette and moves on. "I want these industries gone and I've dedicated my life at the FBI to making sure that that happens. But I've been working a very long time, Fay, and have made very little progress against these entrenched, monied forces, with very little method for changing that."

She smiles at me now, gesturing towards me with her cigarette. "That is, until you fell into my hands."

"I didn't fall anywhere," I growl, glancing at Ivan now. "I was dragged here against my will."

"You're a bit of a coup, really," she says, flicking the ash off the end of her cigarette with a charming smile. "A pretty little girl with all the connections I need to make just the perfect move against them."

"Can you please spit it out?" I sigh, rolling my shoulders, getting tired of this gloating.

Ivan looks anxiously towards the door, and I can tell that he's ready for it to end too - especially considering his mistake with the phone.

"Fine," she snaps, and I stand up straight - something in my muscle memory making me react to that tone of voice. I frown a little - because I don't remember her being a stern mother. I mean, I don't remember her much at all. But clearly, my body remembers more than I do.

"I'm going to give you a choice, Fay," she says quietly. "I want you to -"

"I'm not giving up Kent," I interrupt, raising my eyebrows at her, cutting her off before she asks for something I won't give her.

She smirks at me again. "Luckily," she says, "I don't want him. No, baby Fay -"

I shiver, a little, to hear my mother use Fiona's nickname for me, the name Janeen has called me so many times.

"Today," she continues, again not noticing or caring about my reaction, "I'm going for bigger fish. I want you to give me Bianci." "What?" I breathe, my eyes going wide.

"We've been watching you," she says, gesturing towards Ivan. "We know you've got Bianci's heir in your house. We know you're tight. We want you to wear a wire in the upcoming months, to give us the information the Italian officials need to take him down." "Absolutely not," I gasp.

"But it would be so easy," she laughs, leaning forward and grinning at me. "The supposed mother of his first great-grandchild? They will have no filter around you."

I keep my face impassive, letting her think that I haven't taken a different role in the family, that Bianci doesn't understand me as more than Daniel's pretty pregnant wife. Because Ivan and my mother - they've been watching, but clearly they don't know all the details.

"They'll catch me and kill me," I snap, looking between Ivan and my mother. Ivan looks down at the floor, guilt written all over his face.

"Well," my mother says with a sigh, "either you risk that, or I take everything I know about Kent Lippert's current location, and his plans, and everything I figured out about what happened at the Alden house the day that container ship conveniently left the New York harbor, and I take it directly to the FBI."

I go cold as I realize what she's proposing.

"Yes, Fay," she says quietly, nodding to me as she takes a final drag of her cigarette before stubbing it out in the glass tray before her. "I'm giving you a choice here. Either you give me Bianci, or I take Kent."

I say nothing, my mind racing, trying to figure out a way out of this.

"The paperwork is already in an electronic lock box in DC, Fay," my mother says quietly. "One phone call from me and my contacts at the FBI have the location of your cute little villa neatly in their email."

Is it a bluff? What would they do with that information? Would they actually pursue him across international lines?

Slowly I turn to look at Ivan...because what's his business in all this?

Does he want Bianci to go down?

Because as far as I know...all he wants is Kent.

My mind spins, but what I do know is that I need a great deal more information. And I need to get out of here before I give them anything else.

"How long do I have to decide?" I ask quietly, slowly turning my head to look at her again.

"One day," she says, her voice light and even cheerful now.

"And Ivan said...he's taking me home?"

"Yes," she says, flicking her eyes at him. "Because I want you to talk this decision through with our mutual friend, Kent," she says, smirking now because she's again implying that she knows Kent more than I thought she did, and I think she knows it's driving me crazy. "Why?" I breathe.

"Because I don't want him to chase me down and shoot me for taking you," she says, narrowing her eyes. "And because I think he will obviously have a preference regarding which side of the deal you should take."

"And if I don't decide in one day?" I ask quietly.

"Oh, Fay," she says, turning her head and studying me like I'm cute. "You know the answer to that."

I nod, because I do. She'll release the information anyway.

My mother sighs happily, getting to her feet and coming to place her hands on my shoulders. She again studiously ignores the dog, leaning forward and pressing a kiss to both of my cheeks in the Italian way. "I'm really looking forward to working with you, baby," she whispers. "It will be so nice to have a mother-daughter team working to bring down corruption and crime."

I don't move an inch as she pulls away from me, partially because I am...stunned.

Her scent - after all these years, god...I remember what she smells like.

Tears fill my eyes again, and my stomach aches, and I am just...completely overwhelmed.

"Here," she says, pulling a little folded piece of paper from her skirt pocket and holding it out to me. When I don't move she leans forward and tucks it into my little purse for me. "That's the number you can reach me at tomorrow," she says quietly, "to give me your answer."

I nod and she backs away, crossing her arms and nodding at Ivan.

"Come on," he murmurs, slipping a hand behind my elbow. "Let's go."

And without another word, barely able to understand anything that I'm thinking or feeling, I let him lead me out of the room, the little puppy fully asleep in my arms.

When the door closes behind us, Ivan sighs and moves his hand from my elbow, slipping his arm around my shoulders instead. "Come on, Fay," he says, surprising me by leading me to a little blue car. "Let's get you home."

I don't say anything as I let him tuck me into the front seat, buckling my belt over my lap before he moves to the driver's side and climbs in.

Because I'm really at his mercy, aren't I?

As we pull away from the dirty little roadside motel I keep my eyes on my mother's door.

And wonder where the hell Ivan's really taking me.