Chapter 69
Chapter 69
“Sure,” he says, laughing. “I’m Michael, this is Chris,” he says, indicating the slightly smaller version of himself next to him, “and
our sister Amy.”
“Oh,” I say, raising my brows. “Wow, it’s really nice to meet you.”
“Not quite cousins,” Amy says, leaning in familiarly to talk to me.
Her words are just a little bit slurred – not sloppy, but I can tell
she’s had a couple of drinks. “We’re second cousins! Your dad
is our mom’s cousin, which means,” she screws up her face in
thought, thinking, “we have great–grandparents in common.”
“Wow,” I say, taking a sip from my glass. “Um, my family- I mean,
the family I was adopted into – we didn’t pay a lot of attention to
that sort of thing. So to find out I have great–grandparents and
second cousins all in one day…” I raise my eyebrows in emphasis and they laugh, nodding.
“Yeah,” Michael says. “It must be a lot, to go from nothing into a big Italian family like this.”
“We remember you, though!” Amy says with a big smile. “Because you were our little redheaded Baby Fay-”
I blink, suddenly, at the way she says that. Baby Fay – only one other person calls me that-
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“We used to play with you at family parties,” she continuos, “like I remember one summer, our other sister Fiona –”
“Hey,” Michael says sharply then, nudging her with his elbow.
“Oops,” Amy says, lifting her fingers to her mouth. She rushes to continue, then, trying to move the conversation on. “Yeah, anyway, I remember you when you were so little on the slip–n–slide-”
“Wait,” I say, putting out a hand to stop her. “Fiona? Is that –”
Suddenly, though, Kent is by my side. “Fay?” He asks, looking. sternly at my new cousins. “Did you have some trouble getting your drink?”
Michael, Chris, and Amy stare at Kent, maybe a little star–struck. “Kent,” I say, gesturing towards them. “These are my cousins
“Come on,” he says, ignoring them and taking me by the arm. I look back at them and grimace a little, shrugging as I let him pull me away. They all give me a little wave. As I walk away I see Michael say something sharp to Amy, who cringes.
“What’s the big deal,” I murmur to Kent when we’re out of earshot. “They were nice –”
“I don’t know them,” Kent says, bringing me back to the table. “And if I don’t know them, they’re a liability.” He glances back at
Chapter 69
them and shakes his head. “We can’t take risks like that, Fay.”
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I sigh at him. “Kent, if I’m going to come to these things to meet my family, you have to let me, you know. Meet my family.”
He just glares at me and turns away to survey the room again.
People are starting to filter out, I notice – it’s definitely a smaller crowd than it was before. Even when I glance at our table, I notice that my father and stepmother are gone, which seems a little odd.
Daniel sees me looking for them. “A problem with the baby,” he says, shrugging. “They all left a minute ago.”
Kent stiffens next to me, though, and I turn my eyes to him. He’s looking very closely at the people left in the room now, who have, indeed, grown a little quiet. There are very few children left, mostly men in suits standing quietly at pairs.
Looking, largely, at us.
Kent reaches out a hand then and just as he grips my arm
BAM –
The sound resonates through me and I can’t help my little yell of surprise god damnit, it sounds like a firework has gone off in the
room-
–
BAM BAM BAM
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The sounds echo throughout the space and suddenly Kent has
thrown himself over me, blocking me with his body, pushing me
towards the far wall –
Daniel is next to us as an instant, crouching down, pulling me away with him-
I hear a few more pops and bangs and then the room starts to fill with a grey fog-
“Was that,” I gasp, trying to see around Kent, who blocks me, “was that gunfire –”
Kent he ignores me, turning to Daniel. “Smoke grenades!” he yells, looking around to our left and our right, trying to see the source, “you know what to do –”
Daniel turns to me, taking my hand and looking me seriously in the face. “We’re under attack, Fay!” he yells. “We’ve got to RUN!”
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Gifts
Fall For My Ex’s Mafia Father
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Chapter 70