Filed to story: Submitting to My Bestie’s Daddy Read Online >>???
“I thought he’d gotten over it,” Giovani replied. “But apparently not if he’s telling you.”
I nodded my head. The pieces were coming together now.
“No wonder he’s been so flirty with me lately,” I said without thinking.
Giovani’s eyes darkened, and I saw a flash of jealousy cross his face as he stiffened next to me. His grip on my hand tightened, but not painfully. He always held me gently, treating me like I was something precious.
It was the difference between them, I guess.
Giovani held the things he thought were precious close to him, being patient and gentle, whereas Alessandro bulldozed his way through life, reckless and blunt.
“Hey,” I said sweetly, brushing my hand across his face as I turned his eyes to meet mine. “It’s not a big deal. I don’t like him like that anyway.”
But Giovani’s face remained set in stone. He wasn’t happy about this, and I wasn’t sure how to reassure him that I liked him and not Alessandro.
Giovani let go of my hand quickly, placing it back into my lap as he pulled away from me. My heart dropped for a moment until I saw Tallon and Alessandro walking toward us.
They hadn’t noticed us yet, so I turned in my seat, acting as if nothing had happened.
As they approached, Giovani said, “You can head back now.”
“By myself?” I asked in wonder.
“Sure. I have to talk to them about something,” he said dismissively.
I felt a little hurt by the way he was acting–like he was saying I could go now, and I wasn’t needed anymore.
I knew he didn’t mean it like that, so I sighed as I got to my feet. Just as Tallon and Alessandro arrived, I brushed past them, a little annoyed.
“Where are you going?” Alessandro reached out to grab my wrist, but I was quicker this time.
I pulled away from him, only pausing for a second as I said, “Going to see Dahlia.”
I jogged the rest of the way, too far away for them to catch me now as I pushed through the doors and into the hallways. I remembered the way from yesterday, keeping an eye on the room numbers as I passed through.
The halls were suspiciously quiet and were a bit creepy, if I was being honest. I quickly found her room and entered, a little giddy at the thought of seeing her again.
“Dolly,” I called out as I stepped inside. The minute I did, I paused in my tracks. I was downright shocked and confused as I saw the scene before me.
“Mmhmm,” Dahlia hummed in delight as she scooped a spoonful of a pudding-like substance into her mouth. I wasn’t sure what it was exactly, but there was a tower of empty pudding cups on her bedside table.
I was pretty sure this wasn’t her first of the day.
“You’re having fun.” I laughed at the lovestruck look on her face.
“Olive!” She peeked up at me, having just noticed as I stood there.
I grabbed the seat next to her bed.
She beamed, setting down the empty pudding cup, but she kept the spoon in her mouth as she licked it clean.
“What are you eating?” I asked, happy to see her so up and active. I couldn’t guess what had been in the empty cups from just the leftovers. She’d pretty much scraped them clean.
She popped the spoon out of her mouth, setting it on the table in front of her as she grinned.
“Tiramisu pudding,” she said, delighted. “They’re to die for. I’ve had, like, twenty since I’ve been here.”
“And that would be why the receptionist was complaining,” I laughed.
“Hmph,” Dahlia crossed her arms playfully. “If they didn’t want me to eat them all, they shouldn’t have made them so goddamn delicious.”
We laughed and my heart felt so much lighter. It was like nothing had happened at all, and we were just two girls just getting off the plane to have the adventure of a lifetime.
“When you come home tomorrow, we’re going to lay around and do whatever you want–within reason.” I hurriedly added the last bit as I saw her face light up.
She grinned, shrugging even as I kept the restriction. “I’ll hold you to it, Olive,” she beamed. “I’ve got so much planned for us. We can’t go out clubbing, but I do have a movie marathon planned.”
“Sounds awesome,” I smiled.
There was no doubt she was going to stick to it. The last time we’d had a movie marathon had been years ago. We used to have them every Saturday night, tucked up in a pillow fort with bucket loads of snacks and soda we’d bought.
The memories still brought a smile to my face as I thought back to everything we had been through together. Dahlia was like a sister to me, and I’d almost lost her.
I grabbed her hand, smiling tearfully at her as I gazed at all the injuries she had sustained.
“I’m so glad you’re alive. If you had let me-“
“No, no,” Dahlia clasped my hand, shaking her head fervently. “Don’t even think about it. There’s no way I’d let you take all the cute guys by yourself.”
I laughed through the tears I felt developing, brushing them away as I tried to get myself together. The last thing she needed was a weepy best friend on her case.
Dahlia was suddenly serious as she stared at her lap like it was the most interesting thing in the world.
“Have they been caught yet?” Dahlia asked testingly, looking like she didn’t care… but I could sense the stress in her eyes as she talked about it.
They told us that Dahlia didn’t remember much of the incident. It was probably due to trauma, they’d said, but I knew there was more that she wasn’t saying.
I shook my head, “Giovani is working on it. Alessandro said he’s staying to help investigate, too.”
Dahlia nodded, a somber look in her eyes as she brushed her fingers over her casted wrist. “I’m a bit tired, Olive. Mom and Dad just left to get a hotel, so they’ll be back soon. I think they need to talk to the doctor or something. They missed him.”
I nodded, sad to leave her, but I understood she needed some time to rest right now. Despite her bravado, Dahlia had just been through something horrific.
There was going to be a long recovery.
“Okay.” I smiled. “I’ll leave you to sleep.”
I got to my feet, and Dahlia waved to me before she turned over in her bed, pulling the covers up to her chin. Wrapped up like that, she looked even more vulnerable than before.
I sighed as I left her room and traced my steps back to the waiting room. I wished I could do something to help her but once again, I was useless.
The minute I stepped into the waiting room, my senses went on high alert, and I immediately knew why.
Giovani and Alessandro were standing opposite of one another, both staring the other down as they leaned into each other’s faces.
