Fall For My Ex's Mafia Dad novel Chapter 284

“And I’m still giving everything to the Bianci,” Kent sighs, completely unaware of how jealous I am at the mere mention of his wife. “Twenty years – twenty years of building everything. And I swear to god – I’m almost out. I’ve almost paid my tab, I can feel it. Just…a little bit more, and then I’ll be free.”

“So, this is the end of it?” I ask after a moment. “The guns? Are the end?”

“I don’t know,” he murmurs. “It’s not like there’s a literal tab, Fay. It ends when I can…substantially make the case for breaking off the ties. That it will be more profitable for both of us if I stop meddling with crime and actually go legit. And I’ve been building that case for a long time – I have a lot of investments in tech and real estate, it should all work out. But,” he pauses, turning to me, “the Bianci’s aren’t easily convinced to give up their golden goose, are they?”

“No,” I say, nodding slowly, finally putting the final pieces of the puzzle together. “Which is why they’re pushing you so hard to marry Natalia.”

“Precisely,” he says, wrapping the arm beneath me a little tighter. “But my marriage isn’t on the table as a bargaining chip this time. Not anymore.”

There’s a long pause before I ask my next question.

“Is that why you married her, Kent?” I ask, tentative.

“Partially,” he replies after a second, and I think I hear a little relief in his voice to speak the truth.

“No,” I murmur, letting my hand drift to his shirt, where I idly play with one of his buttons. “That’s okay. Not tonight. But I reserve the right to ask later.”

Kent murmurs his assent and another moment passes before he urges me on. “What else, Fay,” he asks. “I want this done - I want peace between us. So, whatever you want to know, ask now – because I don’t have the patience or the nerves to have this fight again.”

I move closer to Kent then, tucking my head below his chin, pleased when he wraps his other arm around me and holds me close against him. “You said that you’re legitimate now. But you had to start from scratch when you got back from Italy,” I say quietly, thinking aloud. “Was it…was it very bad, Kent?” I ask. Honestly, I’m not really sure why I want to know. But as soon as I ask it, I know that I need to know what it was like.

“It was awful,” he replies, resting his chin against my head as he remembers it. “Just…scraping on my knees trying to reignite the connections my father burned, taking insane risks to build trust, gambling everything on these reckless hits to build as much power and control as I could as fast as I could. And all with a baby at home.” Kent sighs and tucks his forehead against mine. “It was…horrible. Some men have a taste for this world, Fay – I fucking hate it. I’m just good at it, because I was trained by the best.”