Falling for My Ex’s Mafia Dad — Episode 48
Daniel braked at the end of the drive. Turning back would place Fay inside an active federal search; continuing would leave Kent alone while agents dismantled the rooms most capable of destroying him. Fay chose distance, not abandonment, and ordered Daniel to drive.
They reached David and Janeen’s protected apartment under escort. Fay’s mother treated the bruise on her shoulder while Daniel coordinated attorneys by phone. David made coffee no one drank and checked the locks twice, resisting every question until Fay promised the danger was being addressed. Ordinary domestic care felt almost unreal after guns, masks, and federal warrants.
Kent did not call. Through Colin, they learned he cooperated with the search and invoked counsel whenever agents exceeded the warrant. The basement contained interrogation equipment, weapons records, and encrypted files, but his staff had removed active operations after learning Ivan’s status. Agents photographed every restraint and marked stain, building a visual story more damaging than the items’ legal significance. Even without charges, those images could redefine Kent in Fay’s eyes if Grant leaked them.
Fay wondered whether that preparation was prudence or obstruction. Loving Kent could never transform the question into something harmless. She spent the night reading the Elise file again, now aware that pages might be missing because he had destroyed them.
At dawn, she found a handwritten code embedded in Elise’s expense reports. The repeated numbers corresponded to patient files from the trafficking investigation, including dates, routes, and initials. Elise had preserved a second ledger inside the bureaucracy Grant ignored.
One set of initials appeared beside the safe-house transfer: M.G. A later entry noted a meeting with I.K., though Ivan would have been barely old enough to participate. The notation might refer to Ivan’s father, Ilya Kozlov. A payment recorded the next day matched the amount used to purchase the shipping contracts Kent lost after Elise died.
Fay sent encrypted copies to the independent clinic counsel rather than Kent, then created two offline backups and sealed them separately. Preserving evidence outside both Mafia families was the only way to prevent another powerful man from deciding which truth survived.
The federal search ended without arrest. Daniel returned to the estate while Fay remained with her parents. By afternoon, Kent finally called and asked whether she was safe. He did not request her return.
Fay told him about the ledger and where she had stored it. Kent’s silence carried frustration, then reluctant approval. He said independent counsel could become a target. Fay replied that she had warned the attorney and arranged redundant copies.
“You planned for consequences,” Kent said. She recognized the compliment. He was beginning to see protection as preparation rather than confinement, though neither of them knew whether the change would survive fear.
Fay asked whether he had destroyed anything before the raid. Kent admitted authorizing the deletion of current operational files but denied touching evidence related to Elise or Grant. She believed he was telling the truth and hated that belief still required a choice.
He offered to testify about the old task force if independent counsel secured immunity for Daniel and uninvolved household staff. He would also open historical shipping records to a court-appointed examiner, even though unrelated crimes might surface. The decision could weaken his empire, but it placed people above control for once.
Fay returned that evening. Kent waited in the library alone, without guards or hidden listeners. Her gate key lay on the table where she had abandoned it.
He apologized for concealing his role in burying the evidence. The apology named the act, the harm, and the change he intended—three things Fiona had taught Fay to require. Kent did not ask forgiveness or use Elise’s death to excuse himself.
Fay took back the key. She told him trust had not been restored; it had been given material from which restoration might begin. Kent accepted the uncertainty instead of demanding reassurance.
Their thirty-day deadline still had ten days remaining. Fay said the calendar no longer mattered because Daniel had privately released her and Kent had finally told a truth that cost him power. What mattered was whether they could enter any new relationship without using it to escape the crisis around them.
Kent asked what she wanted at that moment. Fay answered with the honesty he had demanded: she wanted one experience built entirely from negotiated choice, followed by space to decide what it meant. No promises, ownership, or secret claim on her future.
They reviewed her written limits again. Her safeword remained “winter.” Tonight allowed a blindfold, verbal direction, and soft wrist restraints with a release she could reach. Nothing would involve pain, humiliation, or sex. Fay also established a yellow signal for slowing down without ending everything, and Kent repeated it back until she was satisfied he understood.
In the private room downstairs, Kent secured a silk cuff around one wrist and placed the release tab beneath Fay’s fingers. He asked her to confirm each step aloud. When the blindfold covered her eyes, his voice became the only stable point in the darkness.
“Tell me to stop,” he said, close enough that his breath warmed her lips. Fay tested the word—“Winter”—and Kent immediately removed every restraint. Only after she opened her eyes and chose him again did she pull him down into their first kiss.