Filed to story: Submitting to My Bestie’s Daddy Read Online >>???
“As sweet as that is, you chose wrong. I would have rather had you told me the truth. So who is this guy that was following me today? The one that helped me put the stroller in the car? Is this somebody that I need to be worried about? Somebody that is going to be a danger to my children?”
Taking a moment to ponder over exactly what she was asking me, I shrugged my shoulders and tilted my head back and forth. “Honestly, it’s hard to say. It could have been someone who was genuinely just trying to be nice, but it also could have been someone that was dangerous, and James had a long list of people who didn’t like him. I highly doubt that it was Sergie’s son, but I mean, that can’t be ruled out.”
“I thought you said that moving here, we would be fine.” Because she was using her hands to talk, I could tell that she was getting angry. The only time that she used her hands when she spoke was when she was frustrated or explaining something with it was super exciting.
“No, I said that moving here would be a fresh start and harder for anybody else to find us, which it has been. We’ve been here for months with no issues, and then this guy just happens to appear today. I mean, I need to know exactly what he looked like, anything that could help me figure out who he was.”
As her hand rested upon her chin, she stood there, staring at me as if she was lost in thought and thought I was trying to deceive her. She was trying to discern whether or not I was being honest, or perhaps that was just me being paranoid. Regardless, though, the look that she was giving me was completely unsettling.
“He was tall, about your height, and he had blond hair. He did have an accent, but I didn’t recognize it. No, it wasn’t Russian. It was something else. He had sunglasses on, so I have no clue what his eye color was, and he wore a hoodie and a pair of jeans. He literally looked like anybody else out there. He had no identifying marks. I didn’t see any tattoos that I could remember, and his behavior when I met him up close was completely normal.”
She rambled off a list of things that she could remember from her interaction with this person, and every single one of them left me completely empty handed and without a clue as to who this person could have been.
I was frustrated, beyond frustrated, and more so annoyed because once again, I was going to have to be on high alert. Which also meant micromanaging her. “Until we know who this person was, and we know that the area is safe, I hate to say this, but I really don’t think that you should go out.”
“Hide?” She stared at me before giving a maniacal laugh that was absolutely sinister. “My father and his new wife are here. They just got here a couple of days ago, and they’re coming over for breakfast tomorrow. And then we were supposed to be going out, and now you’re telling me that you want me to not go into town until you mysteriously figure out what the issues are?”
That was precisely what I was telling her. But when she said it the way she said it, of course, it sounded even worse than when I had actually said it. How was I supposed to tell her that she had to do this for her own safety, and that it was probably best her father and his new wife didn’t go out either? I mean, they could end up being used to get to her, which wouldn’t be a good thing because Becca would be the type of person who would go straight into battle rather than to give them what they wanted.
“Look, can I at least make a deal with you?” I asked her as my my shoulders sagged. I did not want to continue arguing with her because, honestly, it was absolutely draining having these conversations with her.
She had become a firm believer in getting what she wanted, and she did not take no well at all, which was good. But at the same time, her extreme, heightened new sense of independence was absolutely irritating. Admirable, but still irritating.
“What kind of deal are you looking to make?” she asked after a moment of pondering the question, her body turning back towards the island as she continued grabbing the last few things out of the cloth bags that she had carried, placing them in the fridge.
“Just give me forty-eight hours to try and figure out who’s behind this. Make something up. Have your dad and his new wife stay here. Do stuff around the house, whatever it is that you need to do. Until I can find this person, and if in forty-eight hours I haven’t found anything, you are free to continue doing as you please.”
I wasn’t asking much. I was literally asking for two days. And even Becca knew that that was a reasonable request under the specific circumstances. There were plenty of things that she could do with the kids and her parents. The last thing I wanted was for anybody to get hurt, and I hoped more than anything that she could see that.
“Okay, fine. You have forty-eight hours. Don’t make me regret this. And I better not find out that you’re hiding anything else. So help me God, Neal. Things will not end well for you if you continue acting the way you have.” Her threat did not go unnoticed, and as I nodded my head, she gestured with her hand for me to basically get lost, or disappear out of her hair, whatever it was that she wanted to call it.
I wasn’t going to have her tell me twice, so turning quite quickly, I made my way towards the front door, prepared to go search her car for anything that this person could have left. Maybe I should call a detective friend or somebody with the expertise at dusting for fingerprints. He had obviously touched the stroller, and it made me wonder if there was anything else he had touched that I could use to figure out who he was.
I was no detective myself. I was a real estate agent with a very bad past, and my investigating skills were limited. This kind of stuff, it was James’s forte, and as soon as I stepped out the front door, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and called him.
He needed to be updated.
“Hello?” James said quite quickly. “What did you find?”
“I found us forty-eight hours because that’s all that Becca is going to give us, so I hope your skills are as good as you claim them to be.”
If I was going to be warned, so was he. He had to get his shit together, because if we didn’t get this crap done in time, there was no telling what would end up happening to her.
Becca.
With Neal finally telling me what exactly was wrong with him, I found myself at a loss for words when I realized that the danger I had once been in was no longer over. In fact, it had only died down for a short time. And now, with the rising slowly coming, I knew that the inevitable would eventually happen.
Standing in the kitchen, staring out the window over the lush blue ocean with white capping waves that came upon the shore as soon as it had hit the sandbar, I tried to let my mind work over everything that he had told me. How was it that after so much hard work and trying to start over, my life once again was slowly starting to spin out of control?
Was it so hard for a girl like me to simply ask for peace? To be able to raise her children as she saw fit, without having people constantly trying to interfere? Not to mention, I had just gotten my father here and his wife, and with them coming here, it was supposed to be an amazing time, not full of chaotic hell that seemed to want to run rampant through my life.
“He finally spoke to you,” Allegra said softly from behind me, causing me to glance over my right shoulder, taking in the image of her hair pulled up into a messy bun, bags underneath her eyes, sweatpants, and a T-shirt. She didn’t even look like the same Allegra.
“Yeah, he told me that he had been looking into some people who are from James’s past, still trying to wreak havoc in my life.” She nodded her head slowly, seeming almost hesitant, but then moved forward and turned on the electric kettle that sat on the counter near the microwave.
“Neal knows what he’s doing. I know he comes off as being an asshole, but it’s only because he’s stressed out worrying about your safety.”
The thought of him worrying about my safety made me cringe. “Yeah, well, if he wants to stay in my good graces, it’s best that he turns around and tells me the truth about stuff. Because I already warned him that if I find out he’s hiding anything else, he and I are going to have serious problems.”
That was now empty. I placed them back into their spot, passing by Allegra as I did. She remained quiet, unwanting to say anything, and just before I turned to say something to her, Layla came into the kitchen with Alessandro, who was crying over a bumped knee.
“I’m sorry to interrupt your guys’ conversation, but he just really won’t stop crying.” His little arms reached out to me, and as I took him, cradling him against my chest, I kissed the top of his head. I thought about everything and how moments like this were important. The children needed me just as much as I needed them.
“It’s okay. Let’s get you an ice pack on that knee and a popsicle, and then you can go back to playing with Layla, okay?” I whispered to him, watching as his big brown eyes looked up at me with a slow nod and a quivering lip.
I had a feeling that Alessandro was going to grow up to be a little bit softer than one would initially think for a boy, but that was because I had a soft hand with him, as did Layla. We showed him all the love and affection that he could get because I knew that would be what his mother would have wanted.
He had changed her, and she loved him more than anything, and I hated that. I was not able to share these moments with her. But I was raising him the best that I could to ensure that her son had a life he deserved, a life that she wanted for him.
As soon as he was done crying and felt completely better with his popsicle in hand, I handed him off to Layla, who took his hand and took him down the hallway to go watch whatever Disney movie it was that had been entertaining them previously.
“You’re good with him, and you’re good with Dahlia.”
I had almost forgotten that Allegra was standing there now with her completely made cup of tea in hand as she sipped upon the hot beverage as if it was warm and comforting to her. “Thanks. I try my best to do what his mother would have wanted.”
“Then you know how important it is that you listen to what Neal says. You are needed for those children, and if you don’t listen, and get yourself caught up in all this shit, God, what would happen then?”
“Don’t you think I know this?” I snapped with irritation. “Alessandra already lost one of his mothers. I’m not about to let him lose another, but I’m also not naive and as stupid as I once was.”
“I know you’re not,” she said softly as her eyes cast towards the ground, refusing to look at me once more. “I just want to make sure that you’re doing what’s best for you and the kids. I don’t mean to pry or try to tell you what you need to do. Just trying to advise you.”
As much as part of me wanted to correct her when she tried to advise me on things, considering everything that had happened lately, I didn’t wanna seem like more of a bitch than I really had been. She was genuinely trying to be nice, and I could see from the look on her face she wasn’t trying to overstep any boundaries.
“Look, I gave your brother forty-eight hours. He said he would figure out something, then see what was up, and if he hadn’t found anything out in forty-eight hours, I would be free to be able to continue doing as I was. I’m not trying to live forever in hiding Allegra. I want to be able to enjoy my life with my family. Can you understand that?”
Slowly, she nodded her head. She did understand what I was talking about, and I was grateful that she did because it would make things a lot less complicated. When the time came, that shit was going to have to change.
Which included Allegra and Neal moving on from my life.
Of course, I cared about them both dearly, and we’ve been friends for quite some time, and they had done so much for me. But I couldn’t keep living like this as a constant reminder of everything that happened. And then having Neal treat me like I’m his woman when I’m not telling me what I need to do for my protection.
He wasn’t my keeper, and neither was Allegra.
“Anyway, what’s your plans for today? Are you planning to take the kids out, or what were you going to do?” Allegra replied, changing the subject quite quickly. It was getting pretty tense and awkward between us, and the fidgeting that she kept doing with her coffee cup in her hands was becoming increasingly annoying.
So I was pleased, nonetheless, when she quickly changed the subject, and I let out a heavy sigh, sagging my shoulders as I looked around the kitchen. “Well, Alessandro’s first birthday is coming up, so I thought that this weekend we could throw a small little party for him, and I wanted to start out the weekend by doing different things every day. So tonight, I was thinking about a Disney movie marathon.”
“Oh, that sounds like fun. His favorite shows? The one with the orange and blue fish, right?”
Orange and blue fish? I could not understand for the life of me how this woman who had been living with me and these kids for God knows how long now didn’t know what the name of that damn movie was. It’s one of the best movies ever.
“Yes, the orange and blue fish,” I replied, nodding my head. “I picked up goldfish and blue jello and a couple of other things that he really likes to eat, and I figured we can set up a few cute things on the coffee table in the living room, put the movie on, and we can watch the movie while we eat before he goes to bed.”
Allegra seemed down to be able to help prepare everything that needed to be prepared before we had our big movie night. Of course, Layla was in charge of wrangling the children, my sweet baby girl, who was closing in on a month old, and of course Alessandro, who would soon be one and a handful. I could only wait until they hit their toddler phase, and I was able to treat both of them to so many different things.