Filed to story: Submitting to My Bestie’s Daddy Read Online >>???
“We’ll let you know the moment we learn anything,” Vinny promised.
“Good,” I replied. “I’m not sure how much longer I’ll be able to stand this. Having Tallon locked up is hard enough. Not knowing who’s to blame for it is maddening.”
Alessandro frowned. “I know what you mean. I want to make whoever did this pay, but I don’t know who did it. It pisses me off.”
Vinny nodded his agreement but didn’t say anything.
“We’ll be in touch soon,” Alessandro said.
“Stay safe,” I replied. “Don’t take any unnecessary risks. We can’t afford to lose you, too.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” he assured me. “And I expect you to call if you need anything at all.”
“I will,” I said.
I would do my best not to have to lean on Alessandro, but it was nice to know that he was there if I needed him.
I watched them leave, and I couldn’t help but smile. They thought that I was doing what Tallon would do. That meant that I was on the right track.
My smile didn’t last long though. The moment I found myself alone, my dark thoughts reemerged.
Was it really possible for me to free Tallon?
The more time passed, the more I worried that I wasn’t going to pull it off. It had only been a few days, but it felt like months.
I could handle being away from Tallon if he was gone on business or something like that, but this was different. I couldn’t reach him where he was now. I couldn’t call him. I couldn’t go to him. He had been taken from me.
As much as I didn’t want to consider the possibility that all our efforts to find the true killer might fail, I couldn’t stop myself from wondering what would happen if I couldn’t prove Tallon innocent.
Without him, I felt like I didn’t have a place with the Valentino family. I certainly couldn’t go back, so what would I do?
It didn’t bear thinking about, but I couldn’t help it.
I had never lived a normal life, and I didn’t want to.
I wanted to be with Tallon. I would do everything that I could to make sure that we were reunited. I had to stay positive and believe that it was going to work.
If I let the doubts take over, then we were really going to be in trouble.
*Natalia*
After my meeting with Alessandro and Vinny, I found it difficult to relax. I was checking my phone every few seconds to make sure that I hadn’t missed a text or phone call from one of them.
I hated the fact that we had to look within the family for answers, but it would be foolish not to explore every possibility. We had to know for certain who was responsible.
It was the only way we were going to get Tallon home.
I had to find a way to clear my mind, or I was going to go crazy. Nothing that I tried was helping though. Showering only made my mind wander to Tallon, and that made me remember our stolen moments at the prison. I managed to keep myself from crying, but it wasn’t easy.
I tried listening to music and going for a walk in the garden. I even tried reading, but nothing took my mind off the situation.
I considered having another drink to take the edge off, but if something did come up, I needed a clear mind to deal with it.
I picked my phone up again to find that there were no notifications. As I was about to put it down, it occurred to me that I could probably call Mia. Alessandro was busy, so she was probably free. It was getting late, and I hadn’t eaten a bite.
Inviting her to dinner seemed like a pretty good way to keep busy and get out of my own head.
Mia answered after a few rings.
“Hello, Natalia,” she said with a sigh.
“Is this a bad time?” I asked.
“No,” she said. “I’m just feeling sorry for myself. Alessandro isn’t going to make it home for dinner tonight.”
“That’s my fault, I’m afraid,” I said. “He and Vinny are working on–”
“I know,” she said quickly. “Please, don’t feel the need to explain. Like I said, I’m just feeling sorry for myself.”
“Can I treat you to dinner?” I asked. “It won’t make up for missing out on a romantic night with Alessandro, but it could be fun.”
“That sounds great,” she answered. “I always have fun when we go out. I’ll get ready.”
“Great,” I said with relief. “I’ll see you in about an hour?”
Mia agreed and we hung up.
I let my driver know about my plans, then I started to get ready to leave.
I did feel bad that Mia was losing out on time with Alessandro because of this mess. But she seemed to understand the urgency of the situation, and she didn’t seem like the type to hold a grudge.
Wedding plans had been put on hold for the time being, and I had been hard at work managing the family, so I hadn’t seen Mia since the day we’d gone out to dinner.
I was looking forward to hanging out with her again. I checked my phone the entire drive to pick her up, fully expecting that something was going to happen to interrupt the evening. Nothing went wrong though. We picked Mia up and the two of us chatted politely as we made our way downtown.
We ended up at the same restaurant we’d eaten at last time. It was a comfort spot for me, and that feeling was very welcomed right now.
It had only been a few days since Tallon’s arrest, but it felt like a lifetime. Every second since then had been filled with fear and suspicion, so this was the first time I was really trying to let my guard down.
Things were a little awkward between us when we ordered our food. We both had a lot on our minds, and our attention kept wandering away from the conversation.
When our food arrived, Mia looked at me and smiled guiltily.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I haven’t been very good company.”
“I haven’t either,” I replied. “I just can’t stop worrying about this.”
“I can’t even imagine what you’re going through,” she said sympathetically.
“I know that we’re going to get Tallon out. It’s just a matter of time. The waiting is so difficult, though.” I poked at my food as I spoke. “I still get to hear his voice, but in a way that just makes the separation harder, you know?”
“I don’t know how I could cope if Alessandro were in that situation,” she said. “I would be so angry.”
“I am,” I agreed. “When I think about finding the person responsible I just….”
