SWNOVELS Chapter 75
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The joy on her face when she sits astride Heathcliff’s back for the
first time – a little chill runs down his spine. He can’t help feeling
just…purely happy.
Last night, in the car, seeing Fay shake like that – the shock, the
trauma in every muscle- it was one of the worst feelings of his
life. He frowns, thinking of it now, of his extreme reaction to Fay’s
physical danger.
He’s a mafia boss, for heaven’s sake, Kent tells himself. It’s not like
he hasn’t lost people to this business before, hasn’t put his loved
ones on the line on an almost–daily basis. So what was it about
this girl that made him absolutely horrified at the thought of her in
danger?
Kent grits his teeth, uncomfortable with the potential answers
to this question. He knows that he wants her on a physical level
– god, every day he’s confronted with that horrible fact. But this
other feeling, this…protectiveness. He shakes his head, unwilling to delve into it just yet.
Instead, Kent stands up straight from his spot at the stall door and
walks towards the riding rink.
The lesson is coming to a close, the instructor talking eagerly to Fay, who smiles down at him from her place on the gelding’s back.
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When Kent comes to lean against the rink’s fence, the trainer gives him a warm smile.
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“She’s a natural!” the trainer says, resting a comfortable hand on Fay’s knee. Kent glares at the touch and the trainer, grimacing a little, quickly removes his hand. Fay doesn’t notice.
“See!” she says to Kent, laughing. “I told you I had a natural seat!”
“I didn’t doubt you for a minute,” he says simply, giving the trainer a stern look. Knowing his boss, the trainer says a gracious goodbye to Fay, promising to see her again next time, and then
heads back to the barn.
“He’s really nice,” Fay says, nudging her horse so that he walks
over to Kent.
“You just like anyone who gives you compliments,” Kent jokes, reaching out a hand to stroke Heathcliff’s neck.
Fay’s eyebrows raise, almost disappearing beneath her helmet. “A joke!” she laughs. “Kent Lippert made a joke!”
He laughs with her, perhaps a little surprised himself. “Don’t get used to it,” he says quietly. “It’s not a common occurrence.”
“No kidding,” she says in response, smiling indulgently at him.
“You enjoyed it?” Kent asks, nodding towards the ring and
indicating the lesson as a whole.
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“Yes,” she says, definite and happy. “Can I come back
tomorrow?”
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Kent nods, pleased at the big smile she gives him. “Come down now,” he says, gesturing towards her. “Heathcliff has earned his
rest.”
“Um,” she says, biting her lip, suddenly concerned. “He didn’t…
teach me…how to get down.”
Kent laughs and ducks under the rail of the fence, coming close to Fay’s left side. “Feet out of the stirrups,” he says, and she obeys.. He puts up his hands towards her. “Now just swing your right leg over the back of the horse and slip down to the ground.”
“What!” she says, appalled. “You just want me to jump down!?”
Kent laughs at her, entertained. “Well, you can always stay up.
there forever if you want.”
-Fay gives him a dirty look.
“I’ll catch you,” Kent says, enjoying himself. “Come on, let’s go.”
Fay narrows her eyes at him a little and then takes a deep breath,
swinging her leg back over the horse.
Kent is as good as his word, catching Fay by the waist, letting her fall back against him instead of sliding her body down against the
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saddle. As he lowers her slowly to the ground, Fay puts her hands on top of his for balance, her back running down the length of his chest and stomach before her booted feet hit the ground.
A little thrill echoes in his stomach at the feel of her against him. Kent clenches his jaw, trying to keep himself under control.
Fall For My Ex’s Mafia Father
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They stand like that for a moment, his hands on her waist, she leaning back against him – just an instant, really, before she
pushes away and loops her horse’s reins over his head, using
them as a lead.
Fay smiles innocently at Kent, silently thanking him for the lift, and
the two head back towards the stables.
“Last night,” Kent says quietly after a moment, his hands again in
his pockets. “Before…everything…”
Fay looks up at him, a little wary. Clearly, she doesn’t want to talk about it. Still, he presses on. “Did you enjoy it? Meeting your
family?”
“Oh,” she says, surprised. Then she laughs a little. “Honestly, I kind of forgot about that part of the night. Well, yeah,” she says, looking forward again. “It’s surprising, really. I never knew I had
such a big family.”
Kent nods as they enter the barn. “It’s pretty standard for us,” he says. “We, in this world, we tend to come from large families. I
don’t know what a family gathering looks like with less than eighty
people.”
“Wow,” she says. “So do you have lots of siblings?”
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“No,” he says, shaking his head. “I’m a rare lonely child – my mother could only have me.” When she frowns up at him, he adds, delicately, “complications at my birth.”
“Oh,” she says, frowning as she leads Heathcliff into his stall. Kent follows her. “I’m sorry to hear that,” Fay adds softly.
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“It’s all right,” he says shrugging. “My parents were each one of
six. I grew up with lots of cousins who felt like siblings.”
Fay laughs at that. “Yes, apparently, I have lots of those too. I met
a few last night – second cousins, even.”
“Yes,” Kent says, leaning against the post by the stall door and
watching her. “You’ll have so many of those that you’ll lose track
of them. Until they need something,” he adds, a little ruefully.
“Oh!” Fay says, remembering something as she loosens
Heathcliff’s girth and slides the saddle from his back.
“I heard something funny last night,” she continues, carrying the saddle over to hang it over the stall door. “I was talking to my second cousins over at the bar, they called me ‘baby Fay,‘ just like
Fiona does, and they said that they have a sister named Fiona. Is that for real? Has she been my cousin all along, and you just never told me?”
Kent blinks at her for a moment, standing perfectly still. Then his mouth falls open slightly as his brain begins to whir, processing –
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