Fall For My Ex's Mafia Father novel Chapter 40

I’m alone in the back seat of the black sedan that takes me to dinner at my father’s house.

I look up at the grey stone mansion and grimace, not looking forward to this. I know that there should probably be some curiosity in me, some desire to know more about my family and my heritage. But honestly? Lorenzo Alden doesn’t feel anything like my father. That, to me, will always be David.

Kent sent two guards with me and instructed them to stay by me at all times. For protection, presumably, but also – I think – to be Kent’s eyes and ears at the meeting. Alden is his ally, but I think even the term “ally” in this underworld has some tenuous distrust built into it.

I had begged David to come with me but Kent denied that too. Alden, apparently, wanted me all to himself. Great. I was already awkward enough, now I have to go into this alone? It was definitely going to be a disaster.

The guards get out of the front of the car after they park and come around to open my door. I step out and sigh, wishing I was anywhere else. The stables, preferably, getting to know Heathcliff.

The three of us troupe up the front steps to the house and formally ring the bell. I twist my mouth at the irony here. If he’s my dad – if this is my house – shouldn’t I be able to walk right in?

A maid opens it for us, giving us a kind smile, and then opens the door wide in welcome.

As we step in, I stop dead in my tracks. The guards almost bump into me.

“Are you okay?” one asks – Jerome, I think. One of the friendlier guards in Kent’s employ.

“Yes,” I murmur in response, staring around the room.

But in reality? I’m totally not okay.

Walking into this house is like walking into a dream. I’ve been here before, I suddenly realize. I know things about this space – what’s around some of the corners, what things will feel like, what it smells like. Even the rugs are familiar – a soft burnt orange, thick and plush underneath my feet. The arch that leads into the dining room – yes, I know that, and if I look just beyond it I’ll find…

Yes, there. A hutch, filled with blue and white china.