Filed to story: Submitting to My Bestie’s Daddy Read Online >>???
Dahlia just lifted her hand and said, “Stop.”
She looked almost amused as she leaned back in the chair again, giving me a knowing smile, the kind she always wore whenever she knew something that I didn’t.
“You were overthinking, as you tend to do,” Dahlia said without hesitation, “just like you are now. I understand why you hid it, Olive. I don’t blame you. I would’ve done the same in your situation.”
“You wouldn’t though!” I cried, sitting down on my bed. “We tell each other everything.”
“Listen to me, Olivia,” Dahlia scowled, crossing her arms.
I flinched at the use of my full name, not the nickname she’d always called me.
“Stop fussing over things that don’t matter! As long as you’re happy, I’m happy.” Dahlia nodded, smiling proudly. “It’s as simple as that. And I don’t want to hear another apology out of your mouth, understand?”
“I understand.” I smiled, relieved and overjoyed to have such a good friend as Dahlia by my side. “Thanks.”
“I warn you, though,” Dahlia huffed. “If Giovani gets out of line, say the word and I’ll beat his ass to the curb. He does anything you don’t like, you come straight to me, alright?”
“I will,” I chuckled, getting out of my seat to pull her into a tight hug. My little tiny best friend was going to beat up a mob boss. Okay…. “How did I ever get such a wonderful best friend?”
“I’m amazing, I know.” She laughed, squeezing me just as tightly. “But I have been wondering about something if you wouldn’t mind answering a personal question for me.”
“Sure, anything,” I smiled, sitting on my bed across from her.
Dahlia nodded, a serious look on her face as she leaned forward like she was going to tell me something confidential. I leaned forward as well, so close I could feel her breath across my face.
“Is Gio as well-endowed as most Italian men? ‘Cause I’ve always wondered,” she whispered.
“Dolly!” I complained, reeling back from her, scandalized by the very thought.
“You said anything!” she pointed out, crossing her arms.
“I’m not going to betray his trust like that,” I said firmly and she pouted, huffing unhappily. The edges of my lips curled up as I glanced at the floor before saying, “But yes.”
“I knew it!” She burst into cackles.
“Come on, let’s get to breakfast,” I rolled my eyes, smiling as I headed for the door. “How do you even know about Italian’s being well endowed anyway?” To my knowledge, she’d only been out with one.
“I have an Itlain family,” she said with a shrug.
I was confused. Did I even want to ask anything else? I ddin’t have to.
Dahlia stretched, grinning at me as she followed me downstairs, “Do you know how many times I’ve walked in on my brothers flexing naked in the mirror? Discreet is somthing my brothers are not.”
“Gross,” I wrinkled my nose in disgust.
“They are boys,” Dahlia agreed. “But they’re also my brothers. Alessandro may be a pain, but I want him home, unharmed, so let’s get to it.”
“Okay,” I said determinedly.
The two of us headed downstairs together, ready to hear the rescue plan for Alessandro.
*Olivia*
My head was swirling with emotions. I felt like too much was happening all at once, and I couldn’t process any of it. Alessandro was missing. Dahlia knew about Gio and me and didn’t even care at all. Gio was about to sacrifice himself to try and save Alessandro–that was the part that hurt the most to think about.
I forced myself to stop thinking about it and instead focus on Dahlia knowing. I couldn’t believe I had spent so much time stressing myself out over trying to keep everything a secret. I felt like an idiot for letting Alessandro get away with blackmailing Gio.
Thinking about Alessandro made my stomach hurt. I was scared of what might be happening to him. Last night had been nice. It was the first time in a long time that I had been able to have a good time with him, and it reminded me who he really was underneath the person he had become in the past few weeks. He wasn’t just a smarmy asshole; he was the same funny guy I had known since I was a kid. And now he was possibly being hurt for information. I balled up my fist and pressed it against my chest, trying to force my heart to stop racing.
I wandered downstairs for breakfast and was shocked to see Gio, Gabriele, Dahlia, and Tallon all sitting around the table talking and eating as if nothing was wrong. How could they eat at a time like this? Just the thought of even taking a sip of coffee was enough to make my stomach flip over on itself. I didn’t think my anxiety would allow me to eat until both Alessandro and Giovani were back home safe.
I slipped into the chair in between Giovani and Tallon and tried to take comfort in Gio’s closeness. He turned and gave me a small smile. I forced myself to smile back, even though looking at his face and thinking about what might happen to him just made me want to cry. I loved him. How could I sit back and let him walk directly into danger?
Dahlia seemed to sense how I was feeling. She set a mug of steaming coffee in front of me and laid a gentle hand on my shoulder.
“Drink this. You need to get something in your stomach, even if it’s just coffee,” she said.
I nodded, not wanting to interrupt the conversation flowing around me. I could tell that Gabriele and Giovani were deep in their strategy discussion. I didn’t want to take even the smallest chance of distracting them.
“I think it’s a foolproof plan,” Gio said, turning to Tallon. “Gabriele will take me to the meeting location, and I’ll let them take me. We’ll act like we’ve been defeated, like we’re just a bunch of clueless idiots who never even thought of lying to them.”
“You won’t have to do much acting to convince them of that,” Tallon joked, nudging me with his elbow.
My mouth quirked up into a smile, but that was the best I could do. I appreciated the effort on Tallon’s part, but I just couldn’t do this like they could. I couldn’t sit here and pretend like this was a totally normal conversation to be having over the breakfast table.
“Yeah, yeah,” Gio said. “Anyways, there’s no way they’d want to kill me right away. They’ll be trying to get any bit of information out of me that they can. I’m way too valuable to just kill outright, and they know that. That’s why they asked for me specifically. They’re not looking for someone to just murder. They’re looking for a way to permanently destabilize our organization. They know that if they just killed me, we’d have my replacement ready to go within a few days.”
My breath caught in my throat. His replacement? How could he talk about this as if it wasn’t a big deal? It was a huge deal!
“Gabriele came up with the idea to put a tracking device in my shoe. That way, wherever they take me, you all will know. Then Gabriele’s and Alessandro’s teams will come in and rescue me, with the added bonus of destroying one of their safehouses. We’re going to make them wish they’d never set foot in Italy.”
“That’s all well and good,” Dahlia said, her eyes on me even though she was speaking to Gio, “But what happens if they panic when our men come crashing in and just decide to kill you right then and there? If they kill you, they could run, and nobody would even be able to identify them.”
I gasped, then covered my mouth with my hand in embarrassment. I hated that I couldn’t be as calm and collected as the rest of them were. But I also hated that it had to be Gio who was being put in the most danger.
Gio glanced toward me, then shrugged. “Our men will just have to work fast. Infiltrate, grab me, get the fuck out. It’s simple, really.”
“It’s not simple at all, actually,” I said, my voice shaking in terror. “One wrong move and you’re dead. What exactly is simple about that? That’s a huge amount of risk.”
Giovani took one look at me and abruptly stood up out of his chair and whipped my chair around so that my back was to the table. He fell to his knees dramatically and knelt in between my legs before taking my hands in his.
“Olivia, carino, my love, I swear to you on everything that is good to me that I will come back. I will come back safely and I will come back for you. I won’t put myself in any unnecessary danger. I’m only going to do what it takes to save Alessandro, and then I’m going to come back to you.”
My breath hitched as I stared deeply into his eyes, seeing how sincere he was. I knew he meant what he was saying, but it didn’t change the fact that he couldn’t control everything. There were so many unknown variables that would go into this rescue mission. The one guarantee was that Gio would be put in grave danger.
“Now wait just a minute, when the fuck did Dahlia find out about you two?” Tallon’s shocked voice interrupted my racing thoughts.
“What the fuck, Olivia, you told TALLON before telling me?!” Dahlia asked incredulously.
I knew I was in trouble with her since she had broken out my full name instead of calling me Olive. I turned my chair back around so I could face her.
The rest of the table burst into laughter.
“I’ll be honest, Dahlia,” Gabriele said in between fits of laughter, “you’re literally the last person in the compound to know.”
