Filed to story: Submitting to My Bestie’s Daddy Read Online >>???
“You seriously don’t want me to go find Antonio myself?” I asked her incredulously.
“No, I really don’t. It’s way too dangerous. Everything Alessandro said is true. I can’t lose another man to Antonio. I just can’t.”
The grief in her voice was palpable as she remembered the loss of her father. My stomach twisted as I realized again how difficult this entire trip must have been for her. Coming back to the place where she’d lost him had brought up a lot of hard memories. I squeezed her waist gently, reminding her that I was here, and that I would never leave her side.
“I know why you’re afraid,” I said, working to keep my voice measured. “But I’ve been searching for Antonio for so long. I hate the idea of leaving without seeing him for myself. We’re so close to finally ending this.”
“I know,” she said. “And I agree, we do need to see him. Trust me, I want to see just as much as you do, probably more.”
“What’s your plan?” Alessandro asked, now knowing as well as I did that she always had something spinning in her mind.
I had begun to suspect that Caterina was far more calculating and intelligent than all the rest of us combined.
“We need your man to send a video,” she said, “something that will prove that he really saw Antonio and that can give Elio and me a bit of relief. And we need the exact details of how they’re going to keep an eye on him. I don’t want to go back to the States only to have your guys fuck up and lose track of Antonio. I won’t be able to stand it if he gets away again.”
Alessandro nodded, his respect for Cat’s commanding nature visible on his face. I knew how he felt. She might be young, but she spoke and behaved like someone with years of experience. It was hard for me to believe that she had known about this life for far less than I had.
She was a natural.
“Alright, I’m going to go get dressed. You ask your guy for a video and his game plan,” Cat said before turning on her heel and heading to the bathroom.
The duvet trailed behind her like a wedding dress. I couldn’t lie to myself… it was nice to imagine her walking down the aisle….
Before I could get lost in the fantasy, I turned back to Alessandro and invited him to come into our room and sit down. We sat in the armchairs that had been arranged to loosely face each other. He was furiously texting his men, attempting to meet Caterina’s demands.
I knew he had a reputation for being a hard ass, but seeing the way Cat easily wrapped him around her finger showed a different side of him that I appreciated. It was obvious how much he cared about making her happy.
I suspected his relationship with her dad played a part in that. I had never known Vinny that well, but I remembered from the few times I was around him that he had often been a buffer between Tallon and Alessandro, keeping the two brothers from chafing too hard at each other. It was obvious that losing him had been a horrible blow to the entire family.
Alessandro received a phone call right as Caterina walked out of the bathroom, dressed in jeans and a simple T-shirt. She had run her fingers through her hair, but I could still see the places where it had been tangled by our lovemaking. It made me smile to see the reminder. She was so beautiful, it damn near made my heart hurt just to look at her.
“Yeah, just send the video over. It’s encrypted on my end. It’ll be fine,” Alessandro was saying to whoever had called him. They must have agreed quickly because he hung up without another word.
“Well?” Caterina asked, “Do you have the video?”
Alessandro nodded. “My guy’s sending it now. He took it earlier tonight. He said it’s shitty quality, but you can tell who’s in it.”
“And they’re sure it’s Antonio?” Caterina demanded.
I was so goddamn proud of the way she carried herself.
“Yeah, they know it was him. I promise, my men are good. They wouldn’t work for me if they weren’t the best.”
Cat nodded and sat down in my lap, wrapping her arm around the back of my neck for balance. I rubbed her back as we waited for the video to come in on Alessandro’s phone. The tension in the room was thick. It felt like any moment something could go terribly wrong.
I knew it was just our desire to see this through that had all of us on edge. We were desperate for success.
Finally, Alessandro’s phone buzzed with the arrival of the video. I could feel Caterina holding her breath. I poked her side slightly to get her to relax.
She jumped and leaned away from me as she shot me a dirty look, but she had started to breathe normally again. My distraction worked perfectly. Alessandro held his phone out to me, and I grabbed it, hitting play on the video and holding it so Cat could see as well.
As Alessandro had said it would be, the video was horribly grainy. It had been taken inside a restaurant, and it was obvious that whoever had taken the video had been working hard not to be seen. They zoomed in on a man sitting on the other side of the room.
It was obvious that it must be Antonio, although it was difficult to really make out his face in the video. We’d have to take their word for it. It did look like him, though, and I trusted Alessandro when he said his men were the best.
Antonio was seated across from another person. They were laughing and talking, clearly oblivious to the fact that they were being watched. Good. Antonio had no idea what was coming his way. It was going to be horrible for him very soon.
The video soon ended, but Caterina and I were both satisfied to finally have laid eyes upon Antonio.
“So, what’s the plan?” Cat asked as I handed the phone back. “Because I don’t want your men to lose him.”
Alessandro nodded. “My tail put a tracker under his car. It’s real state-of-the-art stuff. He’ll never notice it, and it’s so accurate that we’ll always know exactly where his car is. As long as he stays with his car, which we believe that he will, we will know where he is.”
I looked at Caterina to see if she had any more questions. She glanced back at me and kept her mouth closed.
I nodded to Alessandro. “Thanks for all of the information.”
Alessandro nodded. “It’s the least I can do. Trust me, I want this fucker dead just as much as you two do. Whenever we get the opportunity, he will be taken care of.”
A shiver ran down my spine at the words. I was grateful that I wasn’t the man being tracked down. I knew that it was only a matter of time before Antonio met a horrible fate, and I knew that he would deserve every bit of it.
*Caterina*
After Alessandro left, Elio helped me undress and tucked me back into bed before doing the same for himself. We fell asleep in each other’s arms, both lost in thought as we considered what it meant for Alessandro’s men to be tracking Antonio. It felt like our biggest goal was going to finally be realized, and it made me wonder what we would do next.
I woke up the next morning to Elio kissing my cheek softly. I smiled and rolled over lazily, stretching so that my breasts arched out of the covers. Although we had just made love the night before, it was difficult to ever feel truly sated when I was with Elio.
The more I had him, the more I wanted him. He was like a terribly addictive drug.
“Well, good morning,” Elio murmured in my ear before kissing the soft spot behind my ear lobe and sending goosebumps down the back of my neck.
His hand trailed over my waist, clutching me closer to him.
“Good morning.”
I smiled as I rolled over so that I was on top of him, my legs straddling his thighs. He was already hard beneath me, and I rocked slightly back and forth.
He groaned and closed his eyes. “Why do you torture me like this? We have to meet with Alessandro before we leave.”
I giggled at the genuine concern on his face. I loved how much he loved my body. I felt the same way about his. But we would have plenty of time to enjoy each other’s bodies later. For now, we needed to get downstairs.
I leaned in for a quick kiss and then got out of the bed, swaying my hips dramatically on my way to the bathroom. Elio groaned again, and I knew he’d be counting the seconds until we were alone next.
Downstairs, Alessandro had catered in an incredible spread of handcrafted pastries. I stood in front of the counter, paralyzed with indecision, and thought to myself that Elio and I needed to start planning our next trip to Italy. The food alone was worth the trip.
Finally settling on a croissant that had been loaded with berries, I sat at the table with Alessandro, Elio, and Francesco from the dinner. I had been surprised to see Francesco, but I assumed Alessandro must have had a reason for wanting him there.
I had noticed that Alessandro was extremely particular about information. He didn’t let just anybody know whatever they wanted. He ensured that only certain men knew certain things, and always it was because they needed to know so they could help out.
“Cat, Elio, I want you to get comfortable with Francesco. He’s going to be heading to the States so that he can work closely with you and head the operation there for now. Of course, the eventual goal will be for you to be able to run things yourselves, but I’m not comfortable with setting you loose just yet.”
Elio nodded, but I could see the tension in his back at Alessandro’s words. I thought that Alessandro was making the right call, but I knew Elio felt ready to take over. I had no problem with waiting though. This was too important to mess up.
“I’m looking forward to working with you,” Francesco said between sips of coffee. He held up his mug in a semblance of a toast. “From what I’ve seen so far, you both make a great team. I know you’ll learn quickly.”