Filed to story: Submitting to My Bestie’s Daddy Read Online >>???
“I just asked him to double-check some elements of the background we’re running on Salvatore,” I answered. “Nothing troubling, but Alessandro worries, so he’s pleased to be involved.”
She nodded slowly. “You know how excited she is about this, right?”
She’d come home glowing from our lunch the other day. She couldn’t stop talking about how good he was with Elio, and how she really thought there might be a future for them.
“I know,” I said. “I’m keeping as much of the checking from her as possible.”
Dahlia whacked me with her shoes. “Don’t shut her out. Just be careful.”
I rubbed my arm. “Noted.”
With that, she moved on past me, heading for her room.
I exited into the garden. Just like Dahlia warned, Olivia and Elio were curled up on the swing in the corner of the yard, the picnic blanket folded up under Olivia’s head. I snuck a little closer.
Protected from the moonlight, Elio sprawled across Olivia’s chest with a sticky hand fisted in her hair. His mouth had fallen open, and a small puddle of drool collected on Olivia’s white T-shirt. Oliva rested a hand protectively on his small back, her hair splayed out around her head, and their chests rose and fell in unison.
I smiled and sat on the ground nearby to simply watch them sleep. I would do anything to protect this hard-fought family of mine, I knew. And that included taking Salvatore out of the picture if he turned out to be lying.
I just hoped Olivia wouldn’t hate me when the dust settled.
*Olivia*
“Peek-a-boo!” I yelled, sending Elio into a fit of screaming giggles.
My phone rang, vibrating the coffee table I’d left it on.
“Mama’s gotta check her phone,” I cooed as I scooped him up.
The pediatrician had said that the more we talked to him, the quicker he would pick up language, and that meant I spent about half my days chattering away at him.
I bent to scoop up the phone. Sal’s name lit the screen, though I hadn’t set a picture for him yet.
I hesitated a moment before picking up the call. Hadn’t set it yet? The last few meetings had been great, and I was excited, but was I that certain he would be a part of my life?
I picked up the call before I could overthink this.
“What’s up?” I asked.
His voice crackled over the line, still warm despite the distortion. “Livi! Just calling to check in on you and my favorite grandson.”
I laughed. “He’s your only grandson, to my knowledge.”
He laughed with me, and I was surprised at how similar the sound was.
“It was wonderful to see him the other day,” he said.
I bounced Elio on my hip, and he babbled. On the other end of the line, Sal gasped.
“Well, that’s one heck of a phone voice he’s got already!”
I smiled down at my beautiful son. “That’s my Elio, an overachiever just like his parents.”
“I’d love to see him again soon,” Sal said suddenly.
I bounced Elio a little more. “I’d love to see you too! There’s a new restaurant just down the street—”
“Well,” he interrupted. “I was thinking we might be past that. It’s a little impersonal, all these restaurants.”
I hummed a song to Elio. I couldn’t exactly disagree. It felt like before we knew Elena, when our life was a series of cafes and fancy dinners. And I’d just been thinking about whether I wanted him in my life permanently.
“I’m sorry if I put you on the spot,” he said after I’d been quiet a moment. “I just want to get to know you like family. Maybe I can come back over to your place, or you can come to mine. I just want to see the two of you somewhere nobody’ll ask if my plate’s alright, you know?”
The more he explained, the more reasonable it sounded.
“I’d have to talk to Gio about you coming back over here, but I could come your way,” I said.
“Great!” A bit of clinking and rattling sounded over the line, like he’d just put something down. “When are you thinking? Are you free today?”
I cast a glance at the ceiling. Gio had said he’d be in meetings all afternoon, and we’d probably have a late dinner.
“I can actually come over for a little this afternoon,” I said. “Elio’s not due for a nap for a couple of hours yet.”
“Fantastic! Can’t wait to see you, kiddo.” He gave me his address, an apartment building in a different part of Florence, but no more than a half hour’s drive away, and we hung up.
I looked at Elio. “Alright, little man, you ready for a field trip? You just can’t tell Papa.”
Elio nodded solemnly like he understood. I laughed and whisked into the hallway to change both of us before leaving.
I didn’t actually intend to keep it from Gio in the long run. I’d tell him as soon as we got home, or sooner if he realized we were gone. I just knew he’d stop me if I told him now, and I wanted a chance to get to know Sal like family, just like he said.
Dahlia stepped into the hallway just as I entered it, carrying a backpack and clearly on her way home from school.
“Somebody looks sunshine-y,” she said.
I grinned at her. “Somebody’s going to go see where their—where Salvatore lives and hang out for a little.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Does Gio know?”
I shook my head and tried to keep my tone light so as not to alarm Elio. “Nope! I’m gonna tell him when I get home so he can’t freak out.”
“I hate being the middleman,” Dahlia complained, but she couldn’t help smiling when Elio waved a chubby fist at her. “Alright. Give me the address, and I’ll keep him out of your hair as long as I can.”
I smiled and rattled it off.
Fifteen minutes later, Elio and I were dressed and packed into the back of the safety-tested SUV Gio insisted on getting after Elio was born. His car seat was always set up in the back, and he didn’t travel in anything else. Gio had been like a madman in the weeks right after Elio was born, making sure there was nothing in our dangerous lives that could hurt him before he could even get out of the crib.
I chewed my bottom lip. Gio’s protectiveness about my father, Salvatore—I still didn’t exactly know what to call him—but Gio’s distrust of the man sprang from the same instinct, I knew. But I’d told him before, and I’d say it again. I couldn’t live my life looking over my shoulder.
We pulled up outside an apartment complex, bigger than the sagging Florentine house Elena lived in, but shabbier and more modern. I took a deep breath. He hadn’t mentioned anything about a job quite yet, and it seemed he was still getting his footing in the city.
I unstrapped Elio and climbed out with him in my arms. Dom and Tino got out, leaving the driver to park the car and wait until we were done.
I led them to the third-floor breezeway Salvatore indicated on the phone and knocked.
