Filed to story: Submitting to My Bestie’s Daddy Read Online >>???
“Bigger,” Gabriele scoffed. “He’s taking this all the way to the top.”
A show like this needed an audience, and he was practically begging for one. It wouldn’t surprise me one bit if he had ulterior motives for taking Dahlia. If it wasn’t for us, the disappearance of Dahlia would be in the headlines.
We’d already had to stop several publications from snooping around where they didn’t belong. I guessed Dimitri had underestimated us. We controlled the press in Italy, and if we didn’t want something on the front page, we had the money to keep it silent.
But it wouldn’t work forever. The longer this dragged out, the harder it was to keep it under wraps. James and Becca knew the protocol, and I knew they could keep this secret, but I’d even had to talk to Olivia’s mother.
Neither of them had been happy with the secrecy, but after working with James for so long, I was sure she knew more than she wewasre letting on. She demanded I send Olivia back to the States.
I told her it was up to Olivia, despite every atom in my body screaming not to let her out of my sight.
“Is he trying to take us all down?” I sighed, rubbing my forehead of the building headache.
“It seems like it.” Gabriele nodded. “There’s nothing more dangerous than a man with nothing to lose. He might be trying to destroy all of us in a last attempt to destroy the family.”
This Dmitri was playing with fire, but he wasn’t just playing to burn us. He was going to set himself aflame and take us down with him. I always knew the Zaytsevs were ticking time bombs but this was insane, even for the Russians.
I felt like I was walking on a tightrope. Any single movement could set him off. Then, he’d kill Dahlia and the entire family I’d worked so hard for. Everything could go up in flames, and there would be nothing I could do.
But first things first. We had to get Dahlia back, not as a body, but alive.
“Do we have any idea where she is?” I glanced at him expectantly.
“Yes,” Gabriele nodded.
“Where?” I demanded.
“An empty two-story house near Signoria square,” Gabriele responded, taking a drink of the scotch.
“So why haven’t you gotten her back yet?” I demanded.
“I have a team working on it. They’ve surrounded the house. They’re preparing for extraction as we speak,” Gabriele sent me a glance. “But it’s more complicated than we thought. Not only do we have no eyes into the building, but we have no clue how many are inside. It doesn’t help that they chose such a populated area.”
“Merde,” I cursed, shutting my eyes tightly. “It’ll be impossible to get in and out without getting noticed.”
“Probably,” Gabriele nodded.
I grabbed my drink and downed my second glass, slamming it back down on the desk. They’d really driven us into a corner this time.
“Keep pressure on them for now. If we cut off their resources, they’ll have more difficulty listening to orders from above,” I told him angrily. “I don’t care what it takes, Gabriele. Bring Dahlia back unharmed.”
“Easier said than done, boss,” Gabriele scoffed. “Why do you always give me the hard missions?”
I snorted, glancing at him with a stern look. “Would you prefer to be in charge?”
“Cavolo, no,” he shuddered, as he finished off his drink and placed the cup upside down on my desk. “I much prefer getting my hands dirty. It’s no fun being the boss.”
I smirked, shaking my head at his predictable answer. There was a reason Gabriele had become my second in command. Not only was he capable, but I trusted him with my life.
He had never wanted to be in charge of anything and was more easy-going than I was. I didn’t like being told what to do, but Gabriele… he’d follow orders any day if it meant he wouldn’t have to make the hard decisions.
It was his best and worst trait.
Any humor in me faded away as I realized there was one last loose string to take care of.
“What about the body of the boy?” I asked, pouring myself a third drink of scotch. I didn’t drink this one, just swirled the liquid around as I thought of the corpse.
“Accidental drowning while inebriated, apparently,” Gabriele answered coldly. “Parents suspected nothing else. I kept a tab on them just in case, but they’re oblivious. Didn’t even have contact with him in the past two years.”
I sighed.
“Make sure Olivia doesn’t find out. Keep it out of the press,” I growled.
The minute she found out her date was dead, I feared the repercussions. She was already struggling with Dahlia missing, but putting more stress on top of her… forget it.
There was no reason for her to grieve for someone so unimportant, no matter how callous it sounded.
“Yes, sir,” Gabriele rolled his eyes.
The two of us were interrupted, however, by a sharp knock on the door.
“What is it?” I snapped.
The door cracked open, and one of the maids stepped inside, a nervous look on her face.
“Master Tallon is here, sir,” she said, quietly. “He’s eating with Signorina Olivia.”
*Olivia*
“Tallon?”
The name fell from my lips as I stared at the teenager in bewilderment and surprise.
Tallon was the youngest of Dahlia’s brothers, but since the three were so close in age, it never felt like it. He was only a year younger than Dahlia and me, so we’d always gotten along.
It helped that Tallon had a very easy going personality. Alessandro, Dahlia’s eldest brother, on the other hand, was a bit more high-strung. Tallon was a perfect mix of his parents’ descent, though his looks leaned a bit more on his father’s side with the Italian heritage.
With golden tan skin and dark curly, brown hair, Tallon had always been leaner than his brother and father, who were more muscular, and that made him look more approachable and boyish, like a pretty boy who was fit to be on the cover of a popstar magazine.
Dahlia used to joke that he could join a boy band and fit right in.
“What are you doing here?” I got to my feet, rushing over to him with a huge smile.
I threw my arms around his neck, and he laughed, bright and boisterous as he picked me up in his arms and swung me around. I laughed as he set me gently on my feet. He lifted the sunglasses from his eyes and onto the top of his head, revealing the baby blue he’d inherited from his mother.
“Am I not allowed to drop in for a visit, Livi?” Tallon grinned, throwing his arm around my shoulders as he walked me back to the kitchen island.
I took my seat, and he grabbed the one across from me, crossing his legs and leaning back like he was a model in a photo shoot.
I rolled my eyes at his dramaticism, grabbing my coffee. “I’m just surprised to see you. I thought you said you were on vacation with your friends. Bahamas, right?”
“Eh, it got a little boring. Once you’ve seen one beach, you’ve seen them all,” Tallon shrugged, sending me a wink.
I shook my head fondly, a smile pulling at the corner of my lips. By just having him here, I felt a thousand times lighter already. By his disposition, I thought he must not know about his sister yet, and I didn’t want to tell him.
