Filed to story: Submitting to My Bestie’s Daddy Read Online >>???
I snorted, making a mental note to dock his pay for that one.
“You’re both idiotas,” Alessandro said, sliding into the seat across from me.
He had a rather relaxed look on him, and I noticed the ripped piece of paper he subtly shoved into his pockets. Considering the obvious looks and slight blush that the female server was throwing at him as she cleaned up the empty dishes, I could put two and two together.
“And you’re still twenty years too young to be playing with us,” Gabriele shot back with a glare.
“Please, I’d kick your ass if you weren’t senior citizens,” Alessandro grinned, smugly.
The two of us shot him identical murderous looks and he backed down with a roll of his eyes.
“Jeez, touchy,” he grumbled.
“Did you find anything else about Salvatore?” I asked, eyeing Gabriele from the corner of my eye as the men continued to run wild. They were distracting enough that I’d forgotten my real purpose for coming here.
“Olivia’s sperm donor?” Alessandro asked, turning to me with a pissed look, “What about that asshole?”
“I was having Gabriele look into him to see if his story holds up,” I explained, then I turned expectantly to Gabriele.
“Well, I did,” Gabriel nodded slowly, tucking his newly won cash into his breast pocket. He gave me a serious look. “That mob he said he got involved with, I’m ninety-nine percent sure it was the Zaytsevs.”
I stiffened, giving him a stern glance.
“Fuck that bastard.” Alessandro clenched his fists together, just as angry as I felt by the news.
It wasn’t unexpectant though. I’d had my doubts from the moment he’d said he got involved with a mob, especially in James’ territory.
“How do you know?” I demanded.
“Well, I asked around but since Dmitri got taken down, nobody has been willing to step up to the plate. They’re all terrified we’ll go after them for revenge.”
They should be, i thought.
“I did manage to track down a few former members, though,” Gabriele said casually. “A few drinks later, they were spilling everything. Apparently, Dmitri started his revenge down in Florida where Olivia grew up. He was trying to get to James, I suspect, and rebuilding undercover. He ended up recruiting hundreds of cannon fodder goons–people who had no real idea of what they were getting into… disposable, I guess. The former member recognized Salvatore, though he went by Calamity back then.”
“Calamity?” I snorted, half in disbelief and half in humor at the ridiculous name… like something a middle schooler pretending to be a supervillain would choose.
“Figures he’d pick something that stupid.” Alessandro crossed his arms unhappily and I silently agreed with him. Salvatore did not seem like a very intelligent man.
A cunning one, yes, but on sheer intelligence? His brain was the size of a walnut by my standards, especially if he could leave Olivia and her mother, no matter the reason.
I would never abandon my family.
Gabriele shrugged. “Apparently, they all got to choose new names to go by and that’s what he chose.”
“So Dmitri was the boss he was running from?” I asked, twirling my straw in my drink with a cautious look.
“That would be a good assumption.” He nodded but then gave me a side-eye. “But that’s not all.”
“Of course, it’s not.” I sighed. When would things ever be simple in our family?
“Turns out that two years ago, he was caught in a raid with two guys who worked under Lorenz. If he was on the run all those years like he said, it doesn’t make sense for him to be right in the jaws of the second-in-command of his old boss, does it?” Gabriele said, calmly.
“No, it doesn’t.” I clenched my jaw.
“Olivia shouldn’t be alone with him again,” Alessandro said firmly. “He’s a liability and a bad one at that. He was obviously lying to her about where he was the past twenty years, and that means he could’ve lied about everything.”
I sighed, knowing he was right. But I also knew it would be incredibly difficult to separate Olivia from him at this point, if it was possible at all. We’d already had one fight about Salvatore. I didn’t want to bring any more tension in our marriage.
“As much as I hate to admit it,” Gabriele said cooly, “I think Alessandro’s right. It’s likely that Salvatore is only back in her life to use her to get to you. If he’s still in contact with Lorenz, that could explain everything. Whether he thought of it by himself or he was put up to it by Lorenz, nothing good is going to come of this. We have to get him out of here.”
“Good luck with that,” I snorted, rubbing my temples. I suddenly wanted a stiff drink instead of the iced tea in my cup. Vodka or bourbon would do. Even just a simple beer would help.
But I was a man of my word, and I had promised Olivia.
“Olivia’s not going to give him up without a fight,” I told them irritatedly, “She’s too independent for that. Besides, she’s convinced this is all a fairytale come true. If I say one bad word about him, she’ll bite my head off.” ‘
Alessando winced. “Oof. I’ve been there… not pretty.”
“Then don’t tell her,” Gabriele said simply, a smirk crossing his lips as he stared at me meaningfully.
I caught on immediately.
“Good idea,” I smirked back. “I don’t have to tell her. He can do that himself. Give him a false sense of security, make him think I trust him, and then trap him into revealing his true motives.”
“And how are you going to do that?” Alessandro rolled his eyes. “It’s not like he’ll just suddenly confess everything over a beer–Oh.” His eyes went wide as he stared at us in realization.
“Every man’s weakness,” I smirked, downing the rest of my iced tea as I got to my feet.
“But I thought you were sober,” Gabriele raised an eyebrow knowingly.
I shrugged. “if it’s to save Olivia and our kid, then fuck sobriety!”
“Fuck sobriety!” A few of the men overheard and repeated me, half drunk out of their minds as they fell on one another and some collapsed face-first into the half-eaten dishes on the table. Laughter rang out from the few who quickly turned the phrase into a drunken ballad.
“Make sure they all get home all right.” I sighed, glancing at my so-called superior men, who were all trained in a dozen combat styles and had successfully run heists on everyone from enemy gangs to political figures.
So much for being sophisticated, I thought.
“Yeah, yeah,” Gabriele waved his hand as I turned to leave.
“Make sure to follow the plan,” Alessandro called out behind me. “Destroy that motherfucker!”
I paused by the wide-eyed and slightly pale server and reached into my pants to pull out a couple hundreds.
“Here.” I dropped it onto her open hands and she stared open-mouthed and teary-eyed at me. “Thanks for cleaning up.”
“Thank you!” she squeaked out moments later, but I was already halfway out the door.
The ride home was long and boring but I had time to gather my thoughts. The compound was dark, all the lights out, and considering it was past midnight, I hoped Olivia and Elio were asleep so I didn’t have to explain where I was.
I snuck into our room, shoveling off my shoes in the sitting room before I headed for the bathroom. I didn’t hear any movement as I changed and finally slipped into the bedroom.
I used my phone as a flashlight as I navigated through Elio’s toys left sprawled out on the floor and finally sat down on the bed.
