Filed to story: Submitting to My Bestie’s Daddy Read Online >>???
On some level, he must have known that. He had been silent as a grave since his arrest. He made no attempts to defend himself or to throw anyone else under suspicion. As long as he stayed quiet, he would be safe from us. He must have realized that.
I was glad that it was over and soon that part of our lives would just be a bad memory.
Natalia had set me free. She had made the difficult calls that were necessary, and she had been relentless in her pursuit of the real killer.
She was incredible.
I couldn’t believe how lucky I was to have her. She surprised me at every turn.
“You’re staring,” Natalia said softly. “Is there something on my face?”
“I’m just basking in your beauty,” I answered.
Her cheeks turned pink, and she scoffed. “That’s too cheesy,” she muttered.
“It’s the truth,” I argued. “I know we were only apart for a short time, but I missed being able to see you.”
“I missed your face too,” she said in a goofy tone.
I shook my head at her antics and took a sip of my own drink.
This was exactly what I had wanted when I planned this trip. There were no looming issues that we had to deal with and no deadly threats on the horizon. We had nothing to keep us from relaxing and no one to distract us from one another.
Natalia sat forward and an excited glint came into her eyes. “You said that you want to help with the wedding planning,” she said.
I nodded. “I do,” I confirmed. “I’ve been far too hands-off until this point. I want to be by your side for the rest of the planning.”
“I’m really happy you feel that way,” she said with a wide, beautiful smile.
It made my heart soar to see that look on her face. If I had realized that being involved in the planning would make her smile like that, I would have done it from the beginning.
“We’ve already chosen the cake,” I said thoughtfully. “I already have my suit. I think that your dress is the most important thing that hasn’t been chosen.”
“There’s a lot left to do,” she corrected. “But my dress is at the top of the list.”
“You know how I feel about it,” I said. “You could wear a potato sack and you’d be radiant.”
“I appreciate the sentiment,” she said. “But I don’t think that would go over very well.”
I chuckled. “No, I suppose not. Besides, you deserve the finest dress possible. I know that you’ve been looking at those off the rack things, but if you want something made just for you, I will make that happen.”
She smiled. “I know,” she assured me. “I have a much better idea of what I want now, but I’m not in love with any of the dresses I’ve seen yet.”
“Tell me what you’ve liked,” I said.
The moment the words left my mouth, I knew that I’d made the right call.
Natalia scooted closer to me and pulled her phone out. She turned the screen so that we could both see it and started pulling up pictures.
I don’t know how long we sat there looking at dress after dress. It must have been hours.
Far from being bored by the topic, I reveled in hearing her excitement. She pointed out what she liked about each dress and told me what she wasn’t sure about.
I looked at each dress and pictured her in it. I teased her about getting something sexy, but she only giggled and quickly flipped past the more revealing dresses.
I pretended to reach for the phone and tried to go back, but she pulled out of my reach.
The teasing and laughter filled my heart with joy.
We discussed the options that she had tried on and what she thought looked best on her. I wished that I had gone with her instead of Mia, but it was bad luck for me to see her dress before the wedding. I wasn’t willing to risk any more bad omens.
I was surprised when the captain’s voice cut through the silence, informing us that we would be descending soon.
Natalia looked at me expectantly. “Will you tell me where we are now?” she asked excitedly.
I reached across her and lifted the window shade.
She looked out immediately and I heard a soft, amazed inhale from her.
The aerial view wasn’t nearly as impressive as the city itself, so I wasn’t sure if she actually recognized where we were. She turned back to me after a few seconds and stared in surprise.
“Is that Rome?” she asked.
I felt my eyebrows raise with impressed surprise. “It is,” I confirmed.
She turned back to the window, and I looked out with her. An expanse of old roads lined with beautiful stone buildings lay below us. The domes of the architecture shone in the sunlight and made the entire city seem somehow ethereal.
It was a magical city, in its own way. That was why I had chosen it. Well, that and the fact that it wasn’t too far away. I wanted to take some time to be alone with Natalia, but I couldn’t afford to go too far right now. The family was still in upheaval, and I needed to be close by in case something went awry.
Still, Rome was a wonderful choice for our little getaway.
There was beautiful architecture, history, and art for us to explore. There was good food to enjoy. We could relax in our villa the entire time if that’s what she wanted to do, but I made sure that there were options.
Natalia deserved the world, and I was determined to give it to her. I wanted to give her every reason possible to smile. I wanted to see her enjoying herself. It was the least I could do after what she had done for me.
I was going to make this trip as perfect as possible. Making Natalia happy was all that mattered to me right now, and I wasn’t going to miss any opportunity to do just that.
Natalia
I was so excited to be spending time alone with Tallon that it really didn’t matter where he was taking me, but when I realized that we were in Rome, I was ecstatic.
I had spent a lot of time in Italy, but I had never been to Rome before. I was so excited to explore the city, I was practically bouncing in my seat on the entire drive to our villa.
When we arrived, I was awed by how beautiful the place was.
It was obviously a newer construction, but the design borrowed heavily from the historic architecture of the city. The front of the villa featured a lavish garden that was in full bloom at this time of the year. The scent of the flowers filled the air as we stepped out of the car.
While the staff unloaded our bags, Tallon took my hand in his and led me into the villa.
It was just as beautiful inside as it was out. There were gold gilded frames on every wall that featured beautiful landscape paintings. Vases of fresh flowers sat on nearly every surface and carried the pleasant scent throughout the building. Whoever managed the villa clearly paid attention to every detail.
It was like something out of a dream.
I wandered aimlessly through the large rooms for a while, just taking in all the beautiful decor. Tallon followed my lead, and I could feel how amused he was by my reaction. I didn’t mind though. He had clearly put a lot of thought into planning this trip, so he was justified in feeling a little smug about it.
