Chapter 344

So I move on. Because if I don’t, I’m going to have that meltdown Janeen is looking for.

“Don’t tell him anything,” I say quietly, looking down into my lap.

“Why not?” Daniel asks, curious.

“Because,” I reply, flicking my eyes up to his. “I don’t trust those phones. I know that they’re supposed to be confidential because prisoners have rights, or whatever,” I say, rolling my eyes, “but after everything Ivan pulled, I don’t believe in rights at all anymore.”

I clench my teeth again, frustrated and determined, and my three comrades sit quietly, watching me.

“Kent can’t know anything either,” I say quietly, looking around at all of them, finally deciding to let them in on the plan, just a little bit. “Because what I have planned...he has to be in ignorance of it. Complete ignorance, all right? Until I say so.”

They all just stare at me, silent.

“Okay?” I ask sharply, making Janeen flinch a bit.

“Okay,” Daniel replies, and my sister and Jerome just nod.

“And I don’t want to take any calls from him,” I say, making the decision suddenly and turning to Daniel so he sees that I mean it. “Tell him not to call me on my phone. And if he calls you on yours, I don’t want to speak to him.”

“Why?” Daniel asks, completely confused and looking so terribly sad for me.

“Because,” I say, biting out the words, ignoring his pity so that I can be bitter and determined. “As far as the world is concerned right now, Kent means nothing to me. Nothing. He’s my husband’s disgraced father, who embarrassed us and is going to be in jail for decades and never meet his grandchild. As far as everyone else is concerned, he never meant anything to me, and I never expect to see him again in my life.”

Daniel swallows hard over a lump in his throat, but nods. Jerome doesn’t say or do anything, just sits still, staring at me.

But Janeen leans forward. “Fay,” she says, shaking her head. “Not even like...if Kent called now? If we were alone – and Natalia and Alessi weren’t here – you...you wouldn’t want to talk to him.”

“No,” I reply, my voice harsh, though I look down into my lap, suddenly too exhausted to hold my head up. “Because I don’t trust the phones and I don’t...I don’t trust...”

Myself, I think, looking down into my lap.

Because that’s the truth of it.

I know that if I hear Kent’s voice, I’m going to fall to pieces. And I cannot – cannot fall to pieces right now. I need every bit of strength I have, and if I talk to him, even for a moment, I’m going to want to lean on him – and tell him everything – and let him sort it all out for me, and tell me what to do, and how to do it –

But he – he can’t do that. He just can’t - not from his place in jail – not without getting caught.

So, I have to do it for him. And it’s all so precarious right now that I just can’t slip.

“Fay,” Janeen says, her voice too soft. With effort, I lift my head and meet her eyes. “Is it...are you moving on?” she asks, her voice squeaking a little with emotion that she doesn’t usually show. “Are you...do you not love him anymore?”

I fall back in my chair, my mouth falling open in shock.

Because...

But then anger overtakes me.

“God damn it, Janeen,” I snap, standing up and glaring at her over the table. “If I were giving up, do you think I’d be working this hard? If I was moving on, don’t you think I’d have just taken Daniel’s offer to go live peacefully in Europe and raise the baby there?” I pause, looking around at the three of them, letting my words sink in.

“I’m doing this,” I continue, pressing a single finger against the table, “because I love him. All right? And that’s the last time you’ll hear me say it because it’s too dangerous a statement to utter in this new world we’re building. But don’t any of you,” I hiss, glaring around at all of them, “even begin to doubt it. Not for a second.”

And then, too angry and overwhelmed to say anything else, I push away from the table and storm through the door into my house.

As I head to the open door of my room, I hear Janeen’s question echo behind me.

“Guys...what the hell does she have planned?”

And Daniel’s baffled answer.

“Honestly...I have no idea.”

Fall For My Ex's Mafia Father Chapter 0343