Filed to story: Submitting to My Bestie’s Daddy Read Online >>???
“Part of me kind of anticipated a hundred questions and numerous looks of doubt and shock,” I told her. “Most of the family is well aware of how Elio and I acted around one another when we were younger. But really, everyone was surprisingly supportive, my mom especially.”
Anna gave me a smile and nodded her head.
“That’s great. But how do you feel about being here with Elio when your mom is still going through her recovery?”
‘God, sometimes it’s really scary how well this woman knows me,’ I thought to myself.
The corner of my mouth began to curve upward into a knowing grin. “Well, funny you should mention that,” I noted. “Because a few days ago, Elio told me that he and I own this apartment space as well as the one below it too.”
Anna’s eyes grew wide in disbelief. “So, I told my mom that on top of Elio and I moving in together, that she would be moving here along with us.”
“Oh my God, Cat! That’s awesome!” she exclaimed. “I’m so happy for you both.”
“Come on, I’ll show you a peek of the bedrooms and then we’ll get into studying.”
My friend let out an unhappy grunt at the mention of schoolwork, but she graciously followed behind me through the rest of the apartment.
***
After I was done showing Anna around, we settled down in the living room and found ourselves surrounded by a sea of notebooks, highlighters, and made-up flashcards for various classes. The bulk of her work centered around mathematics and statistics, whereas mine fell to art history and chemistry.
Anna sat with her legs folded beneath her on the couch. She had a small stack of white note cards sitting in front of her while I readied my mind to focus on each individual question.
“Ready?” Anna asked firmly.
I nodded my head and narrowed my eyes in burning anticipation. “Do it.”
She picked up the first flashcard and read it off. “What type of subjects were seen most in Paleolithic Art?”
“Paleolithic Art showed primarily animals, almost never any humans.”
“What’s an example of a kind of animal one would see?”
“Usually horses, bulls, and cattle.”
“Correct!”
A wave of pride and much-needed confidence washed over me. Before I knew it, we flew through the entire first round of flashcards without a single missed question. I felt good.
We heard a buzz, and Anna turned her head to glance at the coffee table. “Oh, Cat. I think that’s your phone going off.”
I quickly turned my attention to see Elio calling me.
“Hello?”
His deep voice rolled through the speaker. “Hello, Love. How’s your day been so far?”
“Pretty good actually.”
“That’s good,” he said. “I want you to come out here and meet me for lunch. I have a surprise visitor you need to see.”
“Oh, okay,” I said with a hint of suspicion in my voice.
Elio ended the call and went on to send me the address where he wanted to meet. I bit the inside of my cheek.
I told Anna that we needed to cut our study session a little short on account of needing to meet Elio for lunch. She thankfully understood and was happy to walk back down toward the lobby.
We said our goodbyes and I gingerly made my way to my car and pulled up the address Elio sent me. I quickly call him back and tell him that I’m on my way.
Much to my dismay, the address that Elio sent me didn’t exactly lead to a restaurant or some kind of cafe. The road I was told to stay on led me down a long, narrow path that brought me to a warehouse.
An unsettling sensation started to swirl in the pit of my stomach. Just seeing the run-down looking structure made my skin crawl with vicious, unsightly memories.
‘Why the hell did Elio tell me to meet him here?’ I asked myself nervously.
I had half a mind to turn my car around and head back to the apartment, but something in the back of my mind was telling me to stay.
I hesitated to park the car and turn off the ignition. But my nerves seemed to ease when I caught sight of Elio heading toward me. He walked around the front of the car and pulled open my door for me.
Just as I was about to open my mouth to speak, he held up his hand.
“I do have lunch. But you said you wanted me to keep you in the loop.”
I eyed him curiously and felt myself go pale as I turned my head back toward the warehouse, not having a single idea what waited for me within those walls.
*Caterina*
‘I did say I wanted to be involved,’ I told myself.
This was a part of that, and just being out here meant that Elio trusted me, and he truly wanted to respect my wishes. That was what I wanted. But the eerie-looking warehouse gave me a chill up my spine, and it took everything in me not to throw the car in reverse and get the hell out of there.
But Elio was there, so I knew I was safe. There was no way that man would let me anywhere near a place that was dangerous, no matter how involved I’d told him I wanted to be. I couldn’t help feeling for a few seconds that inclusion wasn’t something I wanted at all.
Those feelings warred with each other inside me as I slid out of the car and grabbed my bag. Elio casually slipped his hand into my own and pulled me forward. The feel of his touch was comforting, and I was back to being certain that I was safe with Elio here.
But then the closer we got, the lower my heart started to sink into my stomach. Yet, I kept quiet. As Elio opened the doors, I ducked in behind him and felt my nerves spiral as the doors slammed closed loudly behind us.
I took a deep breath and looked around. The place seemed to be made up of mainly one large room and appeared poorly lit. Unlike the previous warehouse I was in, this one held less cargo and a lot less high-tech equipment.
For a moment, I wasn’t entirely sure what Elio wanted me to see, and I was starting to feel like I didn’t want to see it, whatever it was. But I walked forward, my hand still firmly in Elio’s as we weaved through the stacks of pallets and shrink-wrapped boxes.
When we turned one last corner, a sharp shiver of discomfort raced down my spine as my eyes fell upon a strange, unfamiliar man who was tied to a chair. He was placed in the far center of the room. His face was covered mostly by shadows and, to my surprise, didn’t even appear to be all that injured.
My stomach turned over with slight nausea. Right then and there, the thought dawned on me.
I gently lifted my hand to point at the man. “Is that the guy who escaped?” I asked.
Elio merely nodded his head as he took hold of my hand once more and led me through a side door and down another narrow hallway. I followed him up a long flight of stairs and into another large room that was significantly more put together than the one downstairs.
The floor was carpeted and at the far end of the room was a large desk and a few leather-bound chairs. A large glass window overlooked the main room below. I’d been just about to feel comfortable when I felt my stomach instantly sink when my gaze caught sight of the man restrained in the chair yet again.
A strange sound of rustling made me turn my head to see Elio picking up a white delivery bag and placing it on the desk.
I’d forgotten all about lunch.