Filed to story: Submitting to My Bestie’s Daddy Read Online >>???
“No, I’m sorry!” A pale girl with dark, curly hair and a thick Italian accent began scrambling for our books before we’d lose them in the crowd. She looked familiar, but I couldn’t quite place her. “I left my Art History textbook on my Vespa, and I have that next, so I was basically sprinting across campus to make it on time.”
Art History! She usually sat near the front, while I’d taken to sitting in the back to be closer to my bodyguards. I looked up at Dom and shook my head to tell him she wasn’t a threat as I scooped up the rest of the books.
“AH 102 with Orecchiette?” I asked, wanting to be certain.
She looked up at me with wide eyes. “Yes! You’re the girl who said the thing about the David being made out of poor-quality marble. Ophelia?”
I laughed. “Olivia. And you are….” I glanced down at the notebooks in my hands. “Caterina?”
She stuck out her hand. “At your service!”
I shook it, and we traded books back to their proper owners. Even with Dom at my back, I felt like a normal college student for the first time since the semester started.
She ran a hand through her hair and bit her lip. “So, I’m totally gonna be late if I try to make it to the bike lot now.” She gestured to the books in my arms. “And you clearly have your textbook. Mind if we share today?”
“Not at all! But if we don’t get going, we’re both going to miss the intro lecture.”
Class passed quickly with Caterina at my side. She took the most aggressive notes I’d ever seen, column after column of cramped Italian, but somehow had time to whisper comments to me when one of our fellow students said something silly.
I giggled through half the lecture but still managed to learn a lot about early Renaissance brushwork. When we were dismissed, she twisted in her seat to look at me.
“I like you,” she declared.
I smiled. This girl reminded me of how Dahlia always made new friends.
“I’m taking this as an elective, and honestly, I’m kind of drowning. All my pre-med training doesn’t leave a lot of space in the brain for art.” She laughed. “Can we trade numbers, maybe do a study-buddy thing? I’d be happy to come to wherever you and Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome back there are staying.”
I blanched, real life suddenly rocketing back in. I remembered the black bag I’d dreamt about over my head, the suffocation, and the fear. I had a bodyguard for a reason, and it was to prevent people from getting too close.
I didn’t even know this girl, and she wanted my phone number and my home address? Caterina could very easily be a Russian name, or just a straight-up cover identity. Had I ever even really seen her in class?
“Um…” I mumbled. “I’m so sorry, but my phone’s… gone. I’ve gotta go.”
I turned and raced up the steps to where Dom had been keeping a watchful eye on the whole encounter. Stoic as always, he simply moved to my side and left without a word.
I glanced over my shoulder as we left the classroom. Caterina was still sitting at her desk, looking after me with her eyebrows furrowed. I flushed brilliantly red when I met her gaze.
As we hurried through the hallways of the college, I couldn’t decide whether I felt stupider for blowing off a potential new friend or more worried about whether she could actually be a plant sent to get close to me.
Somebody had been in my biology class, somebody my bodyguards hadn’t noticed, and that meant the Russians had to have some people who could pass as college students, maybe even well enough to fly under my radar. Unless they’d paid someone off which was another possibility.
She took her notes in Italian, but that could just be so I couldn’t see what she was writing about me. My spoken Italian had gotten much better, but I still struggled with writing.
I wished I had somebody I could go to and ask if I was being paranoid, but after all my crying during the kidnappings, I couldn’t risk anybody seeing me as any weaker than they already thought I was. Gio would just add more bodyguards or promise I was safe, and Dahlia would tell me I shouldn’t worry about it all the time, or I’d drive myself crazy. Neither of those worked for me, not anymore.
I wasn’t crazy for worrying when the people I loved kept getting hurt. I could be next, or they could just be using me to get to Gio.
But could I live a life where every person I met needed to undergo a comprehensive background check before I gave them my phone number? Could I go to college, do group projects, and attend house parties when I couldn’t make it through a single conversation without freaking out?
Did I want to?
Dahlia and I had dreamed of our wild college days in Italy for years, a life full of boys and friends and excitement. Even if I didn’t love Gio so deeply my heart ached whenever I didn’t see him, I couldn’t imagine dating like Dahlia had been anymore. How could she trust those men enough to let them get her alone when I barely felt comfortable during a public conversation?
But god, in those moments when I forgot about the Russians and the mafia war I’d been dragged into, I’d really liked the feeling of making a friend again.
Dom left me to my silent contemplation as we made our way to the car. It was one of the rare days Dahlia and I got out at almost the same time, so I’d get to see her on the ride back to the compound. We reached the dark-tinted limo, and Dom opened the door for me.
I took a deep, steadying breath. I didn’t want to think about Caterina, or my future in this world. I didn’t know how I could go back to the compound if I did.
I stepped into the limo.
*Olivia*
Inside the limo, Dahlia straightened up from where she had been lounging across three seats. “Olive!”
I breathed a sigh of relief and collapsed next to her. “Dolly, pretty please tell me about the spoon thing?”
Dahlia’s eyes lit up, and she talked the rest of the way back to the compound. I relaxed into her chatter, pretending for a moment that we were only a couple of college girls. By the time we pulled up outside, I had even laughed at one of her jokes.
The limo rolled to a smooth stop, and I reached for the door handle, but she grabbed my arm.
“You seem different than you were at lunch. Did something happen?” Her eyebrows knitted in concern, and for a moment, I considered spilling my guts, just breaking down in the back of the car. Then, the door to the house swung open to reveal Gio standing just inside.
My breath caught in my throat. Even through the tinted windows, his expression seemed off. I thought somebody else might have been taken, but the anxious fury I’d seen on his face after Gabriele reported Alessandro missing wasn’t there.
He was just tired, I told myself. I couldn’t keep thinking something was wrong all the time.
And, as my heartbeat calmed for the umpteenth time that day, I realized I was tired, too.
I looked at Dahlia, trying to force enough brightness into my smile to convince her. “I’m all good, really. I just started stressing about something, but I think it’s a much smaller problem than I thought.”
She pursed her lips. I knew she didn’t believe me, but she released my arm, and I opened the door just before Dom could.
No matter what else was going on, no matter how angry and tired we were, my heart sang at the smile that lit Gio’s face when he saw me get out. I crossed the drive to him quickly, and he swept me up in a crushing hug. I pressed my face into his neck, inhaling the scent I’d grown so used to over the past few months.
“I missed you, carina,” he murmured. “Even when you’re only gone for a few hours, I feel empty.”
I leaned out of his neck and stared into his dark eyes. The exhaustion was still there but overpowering that was a deep and profound love.
He was worth fighting for, I reminded myself. We could figure this out somehow.
“I missed you, too.” I pressed my lips to his, drinking him in.
Dahlia cleared her throat behind us. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m glad everything is fine with you two, but some people would like to walk inside the house instead of watching a live sex show on the front steps.”
I broke away from Gio, my face flaming. I’d totally forgotten about her in my rush to be in Gio’s arms. But even as I tried to step away, he refused to let go of my waist. I blushed even brighter as I felt the effect that restraint had between my legs.
Focus, Olivia, I thought—communication problems now, sex after.
Dahlia swept past us with a laugh, and Gio led me inside.
“Do they feed you at that school, carina? Do you need something before dinner?” he asked.
“Are you offering to cook?” I answered with a smile.
