Chapter 64
Chapter 64
“But tonight,” Kent says, not noticing the face I’m making, “he wants all of his people, and all of my people, in a room together. And not on either of our turf – in an outside location.”
I glance at the invitation again and see, indeed, that he’s invited us all to meet at a local country club.
Kent continues to shake his head and Daniel joins him. “I just don’t like it,” Kent says pensively.
Daniel nods but I look between them again. “Wait,” I say, “catch .me up. What’s so bad about that?”
Kent says nothing, staring at me–challenging me, I think, to figure it out myself. But Daniel shakes his head and explains. “Fay,” he says, “when big families get together like this, sometimes other gangs see it as an…opportunity. Two birds with one stone, as it
were.”
“Or,” Kent says, picking up the thread. “Because Alden has greater numbers than us, he could see it as an…opportunity. To pressure us into deals we’re not happy making. It’s….
non–preferred.”
“Oh,” I say, raising my eyebrows. “Maybe we should…not go.”
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Kent shakes his head again. “No, he’s got us cornered there. He’s
already sent out the invitations to all of his people, all of mine. It’s
short notice, but…if I keep you from it, it will look like I’m keeping
you from your family.”
Daniel and I nod, understanding.
“Well,” I say, hesitating, “I could just go…alone…”
Kent freezes then, looking at me with humor and disbelief in his
eyes. Then, he bursts out laughing.
“Not a chance in hell, Fay,” he says, walking by me and giving me
a little swat on my jodhpur–clad butt. “Go get ready!” he calls. “We’re leaving at 4:30, sharp! I want you two looking good!”
Both Daniel and I stare at him as he walks away.
“Did he…” I say, shocked.
“Just…” Daniel continues, his voice low and unbelieving.
I turn to look him, my eyes as wide as saucers. “Did your dad just
smack my ass?”
A few hours later, Fiona is putting the finishing touches on my
hair. I groan a little as she pins the last piece into place, finishing
it off with some hairspray. My entire scalp hurts, each strand of hair having been combed and tugged and curled and pinned and
sprayed.
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The hairdo is a triumph, of course. It’s so elaborately curled and swept up delicately off my shoulders that I look like I could be getting married.
“You’re gorg,” she says, leaning down so that I can see both of our faces in the mirror. She laughs, then, giving me a kiss on the cheek and then whipping her lipstick off my skin with her thumb. “Absolutely gorgeous!”
I stand up and let Fiona help me into the little black cocktail dress she’s chosen for the occasion, the fabric shimmering subtly in the low light of my room. It skims off my shoulders and cuts high on my thighs – definitely racier than anything she’s put me in before.
“Are you sure this isn’t a little…risqué?” I ask, considering myself in the mirror. “For like, a meeting the family sort of thing?”
“When it was your dad, it was one thing to look like a pretty pretty princess,” Fiona says confidently, zipping me up. “But trust me,
I know women like those you’re meeting tonight. If you come in
looking like a little girl, they’ll eat you alive.”
We both look at me in the mirror and I’m surprised by what I see.
If last time I was the Mafia princess, tonight I am dressed as the
Femme Fatale. The woman who can wreck it all if she wants, and
walk away laughing.
“You look as if you could breathe fire,” Fiona says approvingly, passion in her words.
Chapter 64
“Do you really think so?” I ask, turning to look at her.
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“Baby Fay,” she says, shaking her head at me with a little pity in her eyes. “Our innocent little baby. You really have no idea what you’ve got going on, do you?”
I frown at her, not understanding.
“You could have them all in the palm of your hand,” she whispers to me, holding out her own in front of my face to demonstrate. “With just one look. You could bring them all to their knees.”
I snap my head back to the mirror, wondering if it’s true. Thinking, suddenly – perversely, I know – of Kent on his knees before me. And what I’d make him do if I had him there.
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Gifts
Fall For My Ex’s Mafia Father
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Chapter 65