Filed to story: Submitting to My Bestie’s Daddy Read Online >>???
They could very well be taking me to meet with Mrs. Morton or for another exhaustive round of questioning with those damned detectives.
It wasn’t until we stepped out into the courtyard, and I saw Natalia sitting on that stone bench in a pretty sundress with her hands clasped nervously in her lap, that I knew it was real.
Her beauty froze me in place. It wasn’t that I had forgotten how beautiful Natalia was, but rather that a part of me had started to believe that I wasn’t going to see her again.
While I stood frozen, she looked up and saw me. Her eyes widened slightly as she stood and rushed to me.
I caught her in my arms and bent to kiss her. I held her tight to my chest, and she hung from my shoulders almost desperately as our lips met.
I don’t know how much time passed before the guard cleared his throat.
“Fifteen minutes,” he said. “That’s all I can give you.”
He turned and went back through the door, leaving Natalia and me alone in the courtyard.
I sat her back on her feet slowly, but I found it hard to let her go. She wasn’t arguing. She leaned heavily against me and turned her head so that she could rest her cheek on my chest.
“I don’t know how you arranged this, but I’m so glad that you did,” she said softly.
“So am I,” I replied. “I’m glad to see that you’re well.”
“As well as I can be,” she said with a sigh. “I feel like we’re no closer to getting you home. It’s so frustrating.”
She pulled away from my embrace and looked up at me with concern clear in her blue eyes.
I wanted to comfort her, but I wasn’t sure what I could say. Platitudes wouldn’t be helpful for either of us.
“Vinny tells me that you’ve been incredible at dealing with the family in my absence. It makes me proud.” I smiled at her as her eyes went wide at my words.
Vinny had nothing but praise for Natalia. She had surpassed expectations both in her proficiency at managing the family and in her approach to dealing with our killer problem.
He told me that she had even managed to keep the story out of the press somehow. It was only being reported in gossip rags that most people didn’t pay any attention to.
I wanted to ask her how she had pulled off that miracle, but we didn’t have much time.
Her cheeks flushed at my words, and she shrugged slightly. “It’s my place, isn’t it?”
“It is,” I agreed. “But it isn’t an easy place to be.”
She nodded emphatically. “I have a lot of respect for how stressful your role is,” she said. “How are you holding up in here?”
“It’s not exactly a vacation,” I said. “But I’m doing just fine.”
“I find that hard to believe, but I’m glad to hear it,” she said.
We walked together to the table and sat down.
I took her hand as we sat, and she held onto me. We were both desperate for touch, but this wasn’t the place for it.
“I’m going to have you home soon,” she said matter-of-factly.
“You’re very determined about that,” I said with a grin. “I like seeing this protective side of you.”
“Of course, I’m protective,” she scoffed. “What kind of wife would I be if I wasn’t?”
Hearing her call herself my wife sent a jolt through me. My dreams of her in a white dress flashed through my mind as I looked at her and I had to take a second to reorient myself.
I reminded myself that this was a business meeting and that we had very little time.
“Tell me what you’ve learned so far,” I said.
“It’s not enough,” she muttered.
I listened as she started to go over all the actions she had taken since the morning of my arrest. Most of the information she detailed, Vinny had already gone over with me. I found myself struggling to focus on her words. I was so distracted by looking at her and feeling her hand in mine.
I felt a little childish for how strongly her presence was impacting me. I hadn’t been locked up for that long, really.
“It sounds like you’re covering all of your bases,” I said when she stopped speaking.
“I’m trying to be as thorough as possible,” she said. “I feel so awful that you’re still stuck here.”
“Darling,” I said sternly, “don’t for one second blame yourself for any of this. This was a setup, and the person responsible is going to pay dearly for it.”
“I know,” she agreed. “I just–”
The door opened and the guard who had escorted me out appeared along with another guard that I knew was on our payroll.
“Time’s up,” the first guard said in a tone that was almost apologetic.
Natalia looked at me sadly as we stood.
“I’ll escort you out, ma’am,” the second guard said.
I pulled her into a quick kiss. There were tears in her eyes when she pulled back, and it broke my heart to see it. She walked to the door, glancing over her shoulder at me when she reached it.
She didn’t have to repeat her promise to get me out. I knew that she was a woman of her word.
If I needed the reminder that I had chosen the right woman to marry.
Natalia’s strength and ability left no room for doubt.
*Natalia*
I wept the entire drive home after my all-too-brief meeting with Tallon. I managed to hold it together until I got to the car because I didn’t want the guards to see me so vulnerable, but the moment I was safe in the back seat, I fell apart.
I was thankful that my driver pretended not to notice. I don’t know how I would have reacted if he asked me if I was okay.
How could I be okay after seeing Tallon under these conditions?
Seeing him in that damned prison uniform was almost too much for me to stomach. They were treating him like some common criminal, and he was anything but. It was like a bad dream that had leaked into reality. I thought that seeing him in person would bring me comfort, but it only made my loneliness stronger.
I hated it.
I hated this entire situation, and the longer it went on, the more I wanted to make the person responsible pay for it. By the time we got back to the house, my tears had dried up and were replaced with angry determination.
