Fall For My Ex’s Mafia Father by Caroline Above Story
Chapter 0188

I open my mouth, desperate to say something, to break the tension, looking around a little frantically, when I suddenly see Kent striding over to us.

Daniel looks up at his father, transferring his rage to him now, but Kent just looks evenly down at his son. Not angry, not responding to his son's temper, just perfectly calm.

"Get it together, Daniel," Kent says, his tone unwavering but also not unkind. "Don't air your dirty laundry at the breakfast table."

And, to my shock, it works. I watch Daniel reel himself back in, almost physically, tucking his emotions away somewhere deep inside of myself, his face turning back to its normal color and becoming again passive. And while I'm glad that he's not going to flip out on me, the therapist within me wails, a little, to see how practiced Daniel is at tucking those emotions away.

Because it looks like it's something he does on the daily. And one day, all of those emotions are going to come out. I reach forward, then, taking his hand, looking at him with a great deal of empathy in my eyes. And Daniel leans back in his chair, staring down at himself, looking... just, so defeated.

"Good," Kent says, patting him on the shoulder and turning back to the galley. "I'll get you two some breakfast." And then he walks away.

"Daniel," I begin, as soon as he's out of earshot. "I never meant to -*

"But you did, Fay," Daniel says, looking up at me, and my heart breaks to see that his eyes are lined with tears. "Like everyone else - you took his side."

"I'm still on your side," I try to assure him, shaking my head earnestly. "I can do both -"

"No," he sighs, slipping his hand from beneath mine. "You can't. Because his side is not my side"

I sigh, nodding, wanting to listen rather than correct. But Daniel doesn't say anything else, just stares down at himself while we wait in silence for Kent to bring our food. When Kent does bring our food, I smile up at him, eager to break the tension at the table, but he just looks impassively at us as he slides the plates onto the table.

"All right?" he asks, slipping his hands into his pockets and looking between us.

Daniel just nods, not moving or saying anything otherwise, and I nod too, still looking up at Kent.

"Okay then," Kent says, turning swiftly away from us. I blink at him a little in shock and then call his name out after him, Kent pauses for a second and then comes back to stand at the table, looking down at me, his face blank.

"Um," I say, suddenly awkward under his stare. Where was the man I was laughing with this morning? Who held me tight in his arms all night? "What am I supposed to do today?"

"What?" he asks, apparently confused.

"You sent this dress," I say, gesturing towards it. "I mean if you don't have anything

planned, you usually send riding clothes so I can go to the stables. So, am I going somewhere today...?"

Kent stares at me for a second and I feel...well, I feel a little stupid under his gaze. And I absolutely hate it. I'm starting to frown up at him when he replies.

"Do whatever you want, Fay, I don't care," Kent says, giving me a bored little shrug. "I have no tasks for you. If you want to go to the stables, you have spare riding clothes in your room. Wear those."

My mouth falls open a little as Kent turns without another word and walks away.

"Not so great, is he," Daniel murmurs, looking at me from beneath lowered brows. "Once you've given him all he wants and he no longer has any reason to be nice to you."

I stare sadly at Daniel as I realize what he's saying. And that, frankly, he might be right.

But I dismiss the thought, squaring my shoulders and sitting up to look down at my breakfast. "Let's just eat, okay?" I say, picking up my fork and starting to scoop up some eggs. "Can we just be kind to each other? And have a nice breakfast?"

Daniel takes a deep breath then and sits up as well, grabbing his own fork. "Whatever you say, Fay," he murmurs, digging in as well.