Fall For My Ex's Mafia Father novel Chapter 99

“Oh!” I says, and then I give Kent a big smile. I’m excited, after all. “Out, actually! Daniel just came by and asked me if I want to go to dinner.”

Kent smiles at me then, just raising the little corner of his mouth. “The black, then,” he says, nodding towards a little minidress still hanging in my closet. “That’s better, for a city dinner.”

I considers the dress, which is really just a scrap of fabric. I pull it out and look it up and down. “You don’t think it’s too…” I say, hesitating and looking up at him, a little embarrassed. “Well, slutty?”

Kent laughs a little at this, leaning against my door frame. “The whole point of going to a chic restaurant in the city is to wear a dress like that and make your boyfriend jealous when all the other men stare at you. That’s why a dress like that exists.”

I look back at the dress then, surprised and a little excited. I had never thought about it that way. I sneak a little glance at Kent, then, still leaning there in my doorway, wondering what he’d think if he saw me on Daniel’s arm, in this dress, the hem riding a little too high on my thigh. Then, I take it off the hanger and lay it out on the bed, the question decided.

I start to move over to my vanity but stop dead in my tracks at his next question.

“Do you want to marry Daniel?” he asks, blunt.

I just stand there, blinking at him, totally confused. “What?”

“Daniel,” Kent says, pushing the issue. “Do you want to marry him?”

Where was all of this coming from?

I take a moment to plan my next words. “I didn’t realize that I had a choice,” I say, keeping my voice quiet.

“No one will force you to say yes at the altar,” Kent replies, his voice low and husky.

Oh, I think, then, realizing very suddenly that this isn’t a real question about what I want. That this is a negotiation. I turn fully to him then, folding my arms over her chest.

“I don’t want to go to my father’s house,” I say, evading the question of marriage. “I want to stay here.” Because that, I think, is what this is really about. Kent, I know, could care less about whether or not I actually marry Daniel – our wedded life isn’t what interests him. Instead, it’s my allegiance.

“There are other ways,” Kent says, his eyes drifting down over my body, “of staying in this house. Of proving your loyalty to this family.”

My breath comes shallow, then, and I try to stand perfectly still as he looks me over.