Filed to story: Submitting to My Bestie’s Daddy Read Online >>???
My voice sounded so far away from me.
I felt his hands rub small circles over my back and hush quiet words of assurance in my ear.
Christ, I just wanted to let this nasty feeling inside of me out. I wanted to scream, cry, anything. But no. Nothing would come out.
***
Later that night, due to the unforeseen events from earlier, Alessandro offered to make dinner for everyone—homemade pizzas, mushroom risotto, and steamed mussels in red sauce. He’d made a large list of supplies and sent one of the men who patrolled the property out to pick everything up.
As soon as everything came in, the man swiftly got to work.
Watching Alessandro prep everything for dinner was oddly therapeutic. I sat silently at the counter with my head resting in my arms and watched him work through all the necessary ingredients. He’d make occasional small talk with me, but he knew well enough that I wasn’t in the best frame of mind.
Thankfully, my mother was too far into her work to notice much of the tension that circulated the room. She was surprised to see that Alessandro was sticking around and moving about through the kitchen. She offered to help in any way she could, but Alessandro assured her that he had everything under control. So, my mom pulled out a nice bottle of red wine to go with dinner and started pouring everyone a glass.
Elio, on the other hand, remained firmly by my side. He kept his touches light and hardly noticeable, which I was grateful for. The last thing I needed was for my mom to find out the truth about Paul and worry about me even further.
The woman had enough on her plate with her workload and having to move everything into the safe house. The last thing she needed was more drama to deal with.
“Oh my, everything looks amazing, Alessandro,” my mom commented with a smile.
It truly did. The pizza he’d hand-tossed looked like it came from an actual restaurant. The risotto smelled amazing, along with the mussels.
“Yes, it does,” I agreed. I carefully pulled myself off the bar stool and went over to the cabinet to pull out some plates and utensils.
Elio helped me set the table while Mom helped Alessandro bring all the food over. Everything was delicious. It was difficult to explain, but I felt a strange sense of warmth fill my chest as I silently glanced around the table. I felt secure and supported.
I leaned over toward Alessandro. “Thank you for this,” I said softly.
“Yes, thank you for all of this. It’s incredible,” my mom chimed in with a smile.
Alessandro chuckled. “It’s no problem. But I honestly can’t take all the credit. I accidentally forgot desert,” he admitted.
That was the first time since this morning that I found myself smiling.
“Well, that’s okay,” Mom said. “After we’re finished here, I’ll go to the store and pick up some ice cream. How’s that sound?”
I felt her gaze fall on me. Quickly, I swallowed my mouthful of pizza and nodded my head.
“Works for me,” I said.
Just as we were all about finished with dinner, my mom got up from the table to grab her bag. I swiftly got to my feet and went to hand her my keys instead.
“Here, take my car,” I told her. “I think it’s parked behind yours anyway.”
“Okay, I’ll be right back.”
I knew in the back of my mind that she wouldn’t be any longer than fifteen minutes. My nerves were still too unsteady, and I couldn’t bear to let my thoughts run wild.
‘She’s going to the store and then she’ll be right back,’ I thought. ‘Fifteen minutes.’
Well, that fifteen minutes had come and gone like the wind. I was in the middle of helping Alessandro and Elio clean up the kitchen when I stole a glance at the clock.
“It’s been over twenty minutes,” I muttered.
I hastily set the wet dishes on the drying rack and went to pick up my phone. I pulled up my mom’s number and eagerly waited for her to answer.
Several rings went by, but I never got an answer. My call went straight to voicemail, causing my stomach to flip and my nerves to tangle with worry. I tried again and I waited.
But still nothing.
I lifted my head to see Elio glancing at me from the doorway of the kitchen. I shake my head in distress.
“It’s been over twenty-five minutes, Elio,” I said weakly. “Mom should be home by now.”
He quickly rushed to my side and rubbed up and down my arms, trying to get me to calm down.
“It’s alright, Cat,” he hushed. “I’m sure your mom just went ahead and picked up a few other things while she was out.”
I nodded my head and took a deep breath.
Yes, I was sure that was the case. Knowing my mom, I was sure she had a whole list of items in her head while she went off to the store. Whenever she’d tell me that she was heading to the store for two items, she’d almost always come back with at least twenty.
A broken laugh slipped past my lips. Yet, something in the recesses of my head was telling me that this was not one of those times.
I bit the inside of my cheek and glanced down at my phone.
“The thing is, why wouldn’t she pick up her phone?” I questioned. “You know she never has it on silent. I’ve called at least twice, and she hasn’t even tried to call me back. Something’s not right. I can feel it.”
I noticed Alessandro move out of the corner of my eye. He reached into his back pocket to fish out his own phone to make a call. His voice was far too low for me to be able to hear what he was saying.
Regardless, I continued to get in touch with my mother.
Over the next half hour, I moved myself into the living room, where I was finally sitting down. My phone was still tightly gripped in my hand and my mother was still nowhere to be seen.
Elio’s working theory of her picking up a few more items deteriorated in my mind. There was something else at play. But still, I kept calling her number in hopes that she’d pick up.
Finally, I put the call on speaker before pressing the call button. I waited patiently as it rang, then someone finally picked up.
Both Elio and I shot up from our seats.
“Well, hello, Kitty-Cat,” a familiar voice slithered into the speaker.
My eyes widened in disbelief as all the air became lodged in my lungs.
“Paul,” I hissed out. “What the hell are you—”
“What am I doing on your mom’s phone?” He chuckled darkly. “Well, as luck would have it, we sort of fell in each other’s way.”
My lips twisted into a tight sneer. “So, help me God, Paul. If you do anything to—”
“You’re not in any position to be making demands here, Caterina. Oh, and I suppose you can stop calling me Paul now… I know you know who I really am. Such as shame you couldn’t just remain ignorant in the dark. It was so much safer for you there.”
Angry tears filled my eyes. “What the fuck do you want?” I shouted.