Filed to story: Submitting to My Bestie’s Daddy Read Online >>???
I was often reminded of how much of a monster I was as a child, so I hoped they took after Becca as opposed to me. If Becca was an angel as a child, come to think of it. I would ask her father that, but he was still close-minded to the idea of me being a good person.
I felt my heart clench at that but shook my head. Best not to dwell on things. Some people never actually came around, and that was alright.
There wasn nothing I could do about it now, anyway. I couldn’t change the past.
After giving both Alessandro and Dahlia a hug, I bid Madeline farewell. I would see her in the nursery later and hang out with the kids again. For now, I eyed my phone. The inner-family news network had been going off like crazy lately. What was it this time? I had handed off most of my Don work to Giovani, who accepted the burden happily.
That didn’t mean all of it. I was stuck practically herding cats still with the position I had in the family. When I got home and parked the car in the garage, I greeted security quickly and let myself inside. Becca would still be at the hall for another half hour, approving some final touches.
Sitting in my office, I got set up in front of my computer, gazing at the various articles accessible to the public and growing. One of the headlines read ‘Organized Crime Violence on the Rise in Florence’ and ‘Heist Breaks Bank of Over a Million.’ The mafia was being blamed for that, no doubt.
My family, rather. Even though I knew we hadn’t planned a heist for ages, and never under my order. We dealt in a lot of shady businesses, but bank robbing wasn’t one of them. That, or money laundering. I’d already spoken to Giovani about the possibility of cleaning our hands, slowly.
We could be plenty rich with proper investments, especially given the old money we had flowing in the family. My attempt to convince people was going well, but the general public perception would never fade away. Sure, the mafia didn’t have the power it once did.
General fear and conspiracy, along with past crimes, didn’t help the perception at all, and made it easy for copycats trying to rise up to lay the blame on us. Which consequently led to violence from us. The Valentinos didn’t sit there and take it.
Giovani covered most of that aspect, but I had to approve of his plans. I went through some of them, sighing at the violence on display. I was perfectly capable of handling it but getting frustrated with having to constantly do so.
The feeling of ‘being watched’ applied here too, though in a different sort of manner than what I’d told Giovani about. This dread of constantly having it all hang over me because I was now Don took its toll.
My thoughts went to Tally for a moment, which caused a tear to trickle down my cheek. I shook my head, wiping that away quickly and telling myself to focus on the positive future we had ahead. Becca and I were going to be married tomorrow, and it was going to be wonderful.
A notification came up on my screen, causing me to furrow my brow. Someone had attempted to access one of my many bank accounts but failed. I began looking into it, sending the situation to security and furrowing my brow.
How could I be happy with all of these odd going-ons? I swallowed, satisfied that everything was being handled, but still feeling my emotions start to billow into negativity once more. Little things like this, though I knew no one had the power to get away with it, poked at my subconscious.
A few minutes later, security got back to me that all was well. My funds were in no danger. I let out a sigh of relief even though I knew this would be the outcome. Shaking my head, I sent Giovani a text explaining what just happened.
‘Not good, but not a problem,’ Giovani sent back. That text was followed by another. ‘Don’t stress about it, James. I have it covered. Is your tux squared away? I know there were delays on that end, and I tried to get it situated.’
‘Yes, it was taken care of. Thank you, as usual, Giovani,’ I sent. That had been a headache once again avoided by my cousin. The tuxedo in question was of unique design, with black roses that would shine into view when the light hit it just right.
The tux was very pristine and made of incredibly expensive material. Everything had been squared away until some delays came up, which no one could explain to me completely. I wanted that tuxedo to surprise Becca because I knew she’d love it.
Delays like that were a constant. First the tux, then the cake. The bakery had been having some sort of issue I hadn’t heard the details about. Some decorations that had been there before were no longer in place. Some chairs went missing; some people didn’t get their invites. It was all very suspicious, but so far, everything had been corrected as it came up.
I sighed, stress weighing me down. Becca, at least, was happy. Speaking of which, I heard her enter the compound and got up from my chair to leave my office and greet her. Unlike me, she was a ray of sunshine, a huge smile plastered across her face.
“James!” she said, rushing over to give me a huge hug. I swept her into my arms and left a soft kiss on her lips, holding it for a moment before pulling away and smiling at her. “Everything is going so well. All of the details are finally falling into place.”
She began to tear up, and I reached up to wipe away one of them, giving a wide smile. “That is wonderful to hear, love,” I said, giving her a squeeze before putting her down. “Want to get some lunch? We can talk about the final touches for tomorrow over some food.”
“That would be lovely!” Becca said, causing my smile to widen. She studied me for a moment, however, and tilted her head. “Have you been alright? Giovani mentioned you were a little bit stressed, so I got worried. You’re doing a wonderful job, James.”
“Oh, you know how it goes,” I said softly. “Weddings can be both wonderful and stressful. I want our day to be perfect.” Granted, most weddings didn’t include having to worry about the family as the Don and their mafia dealings, but Becca didn’t need to worry about that.
“You definitely should relax too, though,” Becca said, giving me another kiss before going to sit at the table. I wished I could take her advice seriously, that was for sure. Relaxing at a time like this, with all of the odd going-ons piling up, was difficult.
Still, I nodded and went to the kitchen to ask the chefs to prepare some lunch for us. The smell of tomato-based sauces filled the air, making my mouth water and distracting me from the many woes weighing me down.
Eventually, one of the maids delivered a couple of plates to the table. We sat side by side, enjoying our pasta, and chatting about the wedding. Becca dived into the hall layout and what we’d gotten done today, which was quite a bit. I nodded along, letting her excitement take me away from my worries.
“Tomorrow is going to be so perfect,” Becca gushed. “We have an open bar during reception, too. The kids have their own little play area. Can you believe we even got a mini roller coaster for the older ones? Alessandro and Dahlia are too young, though.”
She went down her list, then said, “We also have a photo booth!” Looking up at me and grinning, she said, “I know we have a wedding photographer and everything, but booth pictures are fun for memories too. Less pristine, perfect, professional photos, too, you know?”
I nodded in agreement, saying, “Maybe you can start a scrapbook and put some of those in there.” Then, I said, “We can bring the kids in and take some really silly shots. Wonder if we can get Dahlia to stick her tongue out with us.”
“Maybe if we take away her pacifier, just for a moment, she will make a funny face,” Becca said, causing me to chuckle. She could be a bit dramatic when that was taken away, so there would be a lot of squawking from the booth.
As Becca went over more plans and activities for the reception following the wedding, I smiled at her, letting myself relax, just as she said to. Letting stress rule me right now would just make me miserable, and this was supposed to be a happy time.
I pushed my worries to the back of my mind, telling myself Giovani would indeed take care of everything. For now, my focus was the wedding and family. Everything would go perfectly, I was sure of it.
Becca.
“Mama! Mama! Mama!” Dahlia said, crawling over to me and sitting on her bum. She had a little dog plush in her hand and was waving it at me. I smiled at her and took the plush, hugging it close. Then, I leaned down and left a soft kiss on her forehead.
At the moment, I was visiting the kids. The night before the wedding had been pretty exciting. I wasn’t sure what was up with James, though, and felt a little bit worried. He was so stressed; I wished I could ease some of that from him.
Weddings could be a lot, though. I made the plush dance in front of my daughter, smiling at her and giggling right along with her keeling laughter. She tumbled about and kept playing, eventually joined by Alessandro. My family was so beautiful, I felt tears in my eyes.
Tears that slowly crawled down my cheeks from sheer happiness. James and I were going to be married tomorrow, I realized for the fifth time in the last few minutes. My heart was bursting with hope for the future, something I hadn’t felt for a long while when we were in the deep end of issues.
Madeline looked on, chatting away about the wedding. “Oh, it will be so beautiful, Becca! It’s wonderful how you’re including the kids. I don’t mind watching them one bit. They are little angels,” she said, causing my smile to widen.
“I am so happy about that,” I said, snatching Dahlia up and hugging her close. She let out several more giggles, causing me to chuckle. Alessandro made his way over to us and joined in on the hug, also laughing up a storm.
I added, “They really do adore you. I am so happy to have found a nanny who they can get along with so well.” After a final squeeze to Dahlia, I let go, standing up and stretching. After talking to James, I had come to play with the kids for a few hours.
Madeline said, “Oh, it really is an honor, darling. You look tired, though. Going to go get some sleep so you’re wide awake during your big day?” I nodded in response to her question, giving a soft smile.
Before leaving the nursery, I leaned down and gave the kids kisses on the forehead. Then, I made my way to James’ and my room in the compound. I entered the bathroom and took a look at myself, smiling at the relaxed expression.
“It’s so wonderful to be myself and just relax again,” I muttered aloud, grabbing a brush and running it through my hair. Then, I started up the shower, planning on taking a nice long one before turning it in early.
As Madeline said, I needed to be well-rested for the big day! I lathered the shampoo through my hair, the floral scent of it relaxing me further. I looked forward to snuggling up with James tonight. My stomach lurched somewhat, though, reminding me of the new baby on the way.
Now that I knew the reason for the sickness, I wasn’t worried. My hand flew toward my tummy and rubbed it. Slowly, it was starting to grow. Our family was growing, and I felt more tears flow down my face in happiness at that fact.
Eventually, I got out of the shower and dried my hair, putting on my night clothes and making my way into my room. James wasn’t in yet. He was probably taking care of last-minute preparation stuff. Hopefully not stressing too much!
When I looked over at my desk, I saw my phone light up. I blinked, walking over to check the texts I could have gotten. Curious. It was from Antionette. I frowned somewhat, knowing we were in good standings, but still feeling a flash of nervousness.
‘Hey Becca,’ I read. ‘Congratulations on the wedding. I hope it goes well for you. You deserve to be very happy,’ she said. I furrowed my brow, assuming this meant she wasn’t going to be able to come. I’d never heard back from her after I’d invited her.
‘Hello,’ I texted back. ‘Thank you. Wedding prep has gone very well. We’re a little stressed, but that’s to be expected. More happy than anything. How are you?’ I took a seat at my desk, intending on carrying on this conversation before bed.
‘I’m alright. The wives are a bit brutal, but I am holding up against them well. However, there’s some very weird gossip around the neighborhood pertaining to them. They seem very excited about your wedding, according to my sources.’
I frowned deeply at this news, feeling my stomach clench. That didn’t make any sense. The Stepford wives hated me deeply. They were the ones who chased me out of New York. Any chance of me staying there was crushed when they ambushed me.
Shuddering as I remembered that night, I clenched my jaw and put a hand on my forehead, feeling a bit dizzy. The rush of happiness I was having lately slowly began to fade away as those memories bombarded me. What could they possibly want?
