Fall For My Ex's Mafia Dad novel Chapter 50

Tristin turns her eyes to me as soon as I am seated, the baby in her lap looking up at me curiously. “Hello, Fay,” she says, her face cold. But hey, at least she’s talking to me.

“Hi,” I say, giving her as bright a smile as I can manage. Romulus peaks around her to give me a happy wave, which I return.

My father, on Romulus’ other side, turns to me as well. “We wanted to apologize, Fay, as a family. For the events at our house yesterday.”

“Oh, please,” I say, waving a hand to dismiss it. “Don’t worry about it. I understand that it’s…awkward. That I’m sort of a new addition, and that I screwed up some of your plans. I’m…sorry about that, by the way.” I look into Tristin’s face as I say it.

“Not a new addition, Fay,” my father says, looking at me steadily. “A love one returned to us after a long parting.”

“Yes,” Tristin says, her voice low and rehearsed. “You are a member of this family.” Her eyes flick to Kent and Daniel then, and I wonder why.

The rest of the dinner proceeds a little blandly. The food is good, the chitchat a little dull. I get a lot of family history, then, with Alden showing me pictures of my grandparents and telling me about their journey to America from Italy.

I look at the old photos curiously, trying to see pieces of my features in their faces. I’ve never really considered, before, that I’m actually Italian. I never thought much about my ethnicity, but with my red hair and pale skin, Italian had never popped into my mind. I glance quickly at Kent and Daniel – with their dark skin, thick black hair, and roman noses, they look Italian.

“Thank you so much for showing me these,” I say to Alden, handing the pictures back to him. “I’m learning so much about myself these days.”

“And you have so much more to learn,” he says, giving me a warm smile, which I return.

The party goes quite late, with everyone drinking and chatting. At some point, a DJ comes out and begins playing the oldies that this crowd apparently favors – lots of Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. It’s not a bad time, overall – even Daniel is laughing and chatting around.