Fall For My Ex's Mafia Father novel Chapter 195

The party is already in full swing when we get there, which makes sense. Even though Kent is technically the host, there’s no way he’s not going to make an entrance. I walk in on Daniel’s arm and find my breath almost immediately stolen at the beautiful scene before me – though I’m not sure why I’m so surprised. When Kent does something, he does it right.

“Wow,” I breathe, pulling a little closer to Daniel as I look around. “Incredible…”

Daniel shrugs, less impressed than me. But then again, he’s been coming to parties like this since he was a kid. I nudge him with my arm, making him look at me, and then I whisper “so jaded,” teasing him as I wrinkle my nose. Daniel just laughs at me and shrugs, looking around and trying harder to appreciate it.

The party is being held in a beautiful rooftop garden in the center of the city so that buildings rise tall beyond the delicate arcs of greenery artfully placed along the rooftop’s waist-high brick walls. The entire place is lit by candlelight and a quartet of musicians sit in an alcove, giving us a little music to pair with the night.

Kent, Natalia on his arm, moves away from Daniel and I to speak with a group of people who come forward to greet Natalia, and Alessi is likewise snapped up. Daniel nods towards the bar, raising a questioning eyebrow my way, and I happily nod. Halfway there, though, we’re intercepted by a couple of young men around our age who Daniel introduces as his “cousins,” though I know that can’t be right – Kent doesn’t have any siblings. But these Italian families are so sprawling that I doubt they bother with differentiating second- and third-cousins from firsts.

The boys’ conversation is chatty and cheerful, talking about old memories and childhood vacations, but there’s not much room for me in it. So I tug on Daniel’s arm a little and nod towards the bar again, indicating that I’ll go get us some drinks. Daniel nods to me encouragingly, letting me go.

I quickly walk over to the bar and place our order – a red wine for me, a Manhattan for Daniel – when suddenly I feel a presence by my side. I turn and am shocked to see Natalia standing close, looking at me rather than the bar tender.

“What did you order?” she asks, cold, not bothering with a greeting.