Filed to story: Submitting to My Bestie’s Daddy Read Online >>???
“If you’re sure,” Tallon hesitated, sending her an unsure glance.
“I am,” she nodded.
“Okay then.” Alessandro smiled, then turned to the doctor. “My brother and I will go first.”
“Alright, follow me then.” The doctor turned on her heel, waving for them to follow.
The two brothers walked away, and I sighed as they disappeared through the doors.
Finally, some peace and quiet.
I slumped into the chair, leaning back as I relaxed. Now that Dahlia was awake, and Alessandro was taken care of, things would go much smoother, hopefully.
Olivia gently sat next to me, biting her bottom lip as she glanced at me.
“Um, about Alessandro…” she started, clasping her hands tightly in her lap.
I smiled at her. She really was too kind for her own good.
“Don’t worry about him.” I reached out to tuck her stray hair behind her ear, lingering at the touch of her skin on my fingers. “He always had a bad temper.”
“I know.” Olivia sighed. “But I’ve never seen him so angry before. He used to get in fights all the time when we were in school, but that was normally over petty things. But you’re family. He shouldn’t have treated you like that.”
I pulled back at Gabriele’s warning glance and sighed as I glanced at the doorway they had disappeared through.
“Honestly, I was expecting much worse,” I admitted with a frown. “He’s a good kid, but he had a really hard time when it comes to his family being protected, especially his little sister. Control issues, I suspect. He probably got it from James.” Or maybe from his biological parents.
She giggled, and my heart soared in delight at the first smile I’d seen since we stepped into the hospital.
“That might be true,” she said, looking much brighter. “I can understand him wanting Dahlia to be protected, but going off on you like that was uncalled for. You did everything you could.”
She grasped my hand tightly in hers. The sheer honesty in her eyes as she gazed at me and the faith she showed me in those simple little words were enough to leave me speechless.
I swallowed heavily, glancing away before I’d end up kissing her right here in front of everyone. I clenched my fists against the chair, trying to keep my cool.
I hadn’t realized how much blame I had placed on my shoulders until this moment, until she had released me of it and assured me that she didn’t blame me one bit. She had the right to blame me.
I certainly did.
But Olivia was something else. Even after everything she had seen and heard, she still trusted me much more than I deserved.
I yearned to be worthy of it.
Before I could say something I couldn’t take back, Alessandro walked through the doors and headed straight for us.
His eyes landed on our connected hands, and I saw his eyes darken–a familiar emotion in his eyes that had me clenching my jaw in response.
“You can go see her now, Livi,” Alessandro said coolly. “She’s asking for you.”
“Really?” Olivia perked up, eyes shining with hope as she got to her feet. “What about you, though?”
The absence of her hand was jaring, and I nearly grabbed it back on impulse before I caught Alessandro’s eyes staring intently on me.
“I need to talk to Giovani,” he said in a low voice.
I’d spoken too soon.
Alessandro wasn’t taken care of yet.
*Olivia*
I glanced unsurely at Alessandro. There was something in his expression that I didn’t like, something that told me I shouldn’t leave him alone with Giovani right now.
His behavior earlier had shocked me. I’d never heard him yell at someone with so much malice before. It sounded like he really hated Giovani for some reason, which didn’t make much sense to me.
Giovani caught my eye and nodded at me with a small smile. “Tell her I’m glad she’s okay,” he said softly. I heard the unspoken words underneath it–it’s okay, you can go, his eyes shouted at me.
I bit my bottom lip before nodding.
Gabriele was still here. He would stop anything bad from happening between the two. Alessandro wasn’t stupid enough to start a fight here, was he?
Gabriele nodded to me as I passed, and I pushed past the doors before realizing I hadn’t gotten her room number.
I didn’t have to walk too far before I caught the familiar face of the doctor we’d spoken to earlier. She smiled at me as I approached.
“Hello. You’re here to see Miss Valentino?” she asked in a friendly tone.
I relaxed at how welcoming she seemed, and I nodded with a smile.
“Room 106, not too far.” She pointed down the hall.
“Thank you,” I told her as she left, probably to check on some other patient. I glanced at the room numbers as I passed by until I found 106.
I took a deep breath as I stood outside of the room and then gently pushed on the handle to open it. The room was just like any other hospital room–white everything. A curtain was pulled around the bed, but I could hear low voices speaking as I took a step inside.
A TV mounted to the wall played some random Italian cartoon. I smiled at the thought. Most likely they wouldn’t have any of the dramas she liked.
I stepped past the curtain hesitantly, and I caught my first glance of Dahlia.
The bed was pulled up so it looked like she was nearly sitting up despite actually laying down. There were tubes hooked up to her, a bag of some clear fluid and other beeping monitors.
I glanced at the heart monitor, one that kept its steady beeping. Where she wasn’t covered by the hospital gown, I spotted bruises along the side of her face and the cast on her arm. Tears shot to my eyes as I realized how fragile she really looked.
Tallon grinned, sitting in the chair beside her bed holding her hand, and the two of them turned to me as I entered.
“Olive.” Dahlia beamed with a huge smile.
And that simple word was like TNT hitting the dam, an explosion that broke open the waterworks. I sobbed, tears pouring out of my eyes.
“D-Dol-Dolly,” I wailed through my sobs, my vision going blurry as I broke down standing in the middle of her hospital room.
“Come on, now.” I heard Dahlia’s voice through my tears. “If you start crying, then you know I’m going to start crying, and then it’ll just be a whole mess.”
“Sorry,” I whispered, swallowing my emotions as I wiped the tears from my face. I gently hugged her and then found my way to the chair next to her bed and sat down heavily, still sniffling as I tried to calm down.
