Filed to story: Submitting to My Bestie’s Daddy Read Online >>???
“He’s gone. They took him,” I mumbled into his neck, feeling numb.
The tear tracks on my face felt like ice against my skin as they dried up. I couldn’t cry anymore even if I wanted to.
“I’ll find him, carina,” Gio whispered to me, his voice low and restrained. “I’ll get our son back, I swear to you, and I’ll make whoever took him pay for this.”
Numbly, I shut my eyes, fully going limp in his embrace as the thought raced around my head. I hadn’t had time to consider it, but somebody had taken Elio, had known when his bedtime was, where his room was.
Someone who had seen it before.
“It was my father,” I stated numbly. “That’s why he was looking around Elio’s room. He was trying to see how to get in to take him. This is what he’d been planning from the beginning.”
The truth was bitter on my tongue, but the burning scorn that followed was relief. It chased away the numb misery I had been feeling, letting me latch onto it.
It wasn’t my fault.
It was Salvatore’s.
Hatred like I had never known filled every piece of my broken heart and I dug my nails around Gio’s shirt, clenching my teeth down until it hurt. The anger was intense, like wildfire in the middle of August.
It spread into my veins, infecting me until every part of me agreed on one thing.
“I hate him,” I hissed, pulling from Gio’s arms to gaze him firmly in the eyes. “Make him pay. Hurt him. Kill him. Do whatever you want with him. I don’t care. Just bring me back our son.”
Despite the surprise in Gio’s eyes, it quickly melted into a steely determination and he pressed his forehead against mine, never moving his eyes away as he vowed to me, “I will burn the city down to find him, Olivia. And I’ll take care of everyone who gets in my way.”
At that moment, I knew he would do exactly what he said he would. There was no doubt in my mind that he would find our baby and bring him home.
Because that was the kind of man I had married.
My husband scooped me off the floor and carried me like a princess. I wrapped my arms around his neck to stabilize myself as he carried me from the nursery to the couch. He gently sat me down, taking the seat beside me, and I barely heard him as he demanded, “Go bring Dahlia back,” to the door.
That was when I noticed Gabriele standing there with his arms crossed, a pissed look on his face. He nodded once, turning back around and heading to find my best friend. I felt terrible for not stopping her when she’d walked away.
She had been there for me when I fell apart. And she was suffering too.
My attention was taken away by Gio, however, as he gently brushed his thumb underneath my cheeks, wiping away the tear tracks still visible there.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered to me, guilt shining in his eyes. “I let this happen.”
“No.” I shook my head immediately, gripping him as I buried myself in his arms. “I let Salvatore into our home. I trusted him, and now look what happened. You were right about everything but I refused to listen and now I’ve put our son in danger! This is my fault, not yours!”
“Olivia,” he said sternly, cupping my face in his hands. His eyes flickered back and forth in mine, searching for something. “This is not your fault. It’s his. He will pay for this. I will make sure of it.”
I nodded, believing him with all of my heart as I curled into his embrace. I had to hope that everything was okay, that Elio would be okay.
“Olive!” Dahlia cried.
I whirled around to face her, whimpering softly at the fear in her eyes, the sadness boring holes into me, and Gio pulled away from me, gently waving a hand toward Dahlia.
I was grateful for him as Dahlia rushed over and took his place, hugging me as tightly as she could. I could feel the slight tremor in her body, the sobs she kept biting down, and I held her back just as tightly, hoping to bring her even the slightest bit of comfort.
I hardly noticed Gio walking out the door, but I knew he had to go find our son.
Dahlia pulled back from our embrace with teary eyes. She choked on the words, but pushed forward anyway, biting out, “Elio….”
It hurt all over again to hear his name, like picking a scab and a new wound opening up. I choked on the emotions building in my throat, slamming down on them hard. I couldn’t fall apart again, not now.
Elio would be safe. Gio would make sure of that. I repeated that like a mantra in my mind.
“He did it, Dolly,” I told her, gritting my teeth with anger. “This was his goal from the beginning, and I just let it happen. I was so goddamn stupid to trust him.”
“You’re not stupid,” Dahlia reassured me, looking just as furious as I was. “He is. Once Gio gets done with him, there’ll be nothing left of him. We’ll take him down, and he will regret ever coming back into your life.”
I nodded, finally releasing the tension from my body as I collapsed onto the couch beside my best friend. I still couldn’t believe my father would do this to me, but all the warning signs had been there.
I had trusted him and believed him despite all the evidence pouring against him, and look where it had gotten me.
Well, he couldn’t fool me any longer, I thought. I hoped with every corner of my heart that Gio would find him. He would find him and once he was in front of me again, he would be answering to me.
I had some questions left for him.
*Giovani*
I shut the door to the empty nursery, dimming the twin sounds of Olivia and Dahlia’s tears. Gabriele stared at me with hard eyes, but I was too distracted to try to guess what he was thinking.
Part of me wanted nothing more than to wave him away to solve the problem and collapse on the floor with my wife. Looking at that empty crib, there didn’t seem to be any solution other than to scream.
My son–he took my son. I let that bastard get within striking distance, and he took my fucking son.
I swallowed and pulled my shoulders back. I was more than just a father with a missing son. I was Don Valentino, head of the most formidable crime family in Florence.
Soon to be the only crime family in Florence.
“Walk with me,” I said.
Gabriele and I strode out of my bedroom and through the nearest door to the outside. I leaned into the guard there, barely seeing him.
“Tell Tallon and Alessandro to meet us here when they arrive.”
The man nodded.
I marched into the night air. It felt cool, a balm for the rage heating my skin.
“I’m sorry,” Gabriele said quietly.
I whirled on him. “I don’t need apologies. I need you operating at your absolute best. I need everyone operating at their best.” I stared at the lit window of the nursery. “Clearly, they weren’t before.”
He frowned. “I’ll forgive that because I know you’re having a difficult time, but don’t you dare say that in front of the men. This is the fault of that snake Salvatore, no one else.”
I grabbed him by the collar and dragged him close to my face. “You presume to tell me what I can’t say to my men? I’ll have their goddamn fingers chopped off if I think they need a fucking object lesson. You can’t tell me shit.”
Talon and Alessandro stepped outside and took in the two of us, wide-eyed.
I gritted my teeth and released Gabriele’s shirt.
