Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad by Scarlett Rossi
Chapter 123 -

Neal.

The moment that I had picked Becca up from the hospital and seen Dalia in her arms, my heart swelled with pride and excitement at being able to bring the both of them home.

However, the last thing that I expected was the moment that we got home for Becca to be swooped away by Layla, who was explaining everything that she had done while Becca had been gone.

And to top everything off, somebody had decided to send her a package, and I knew very well who that somebody was, and seeing how excited she got over what they sent reminded me of what my place actually was. According to Allegra, I was jealous, and for the most part, I damn sure was. I was the one putting all the time and effort in, and even though she was nothing but grateful and showed me nothing but compassion, I couldn't get over the fact that I wasn't him.

Dalia should have been my daughter. She should have been all mine. And Lord knows that every time Becca and I did sleep together back then, part of me prayed that she would get pregnant with my child, not so much as to trap her, but just because the idea of her carrying my child was something that I relished in.

The only problem was she got pregnant by James and gave birth to a little girl who was absolutely wonderful in every way. And I was so grateful that I had been able to be there for her birth and that I will also get to continue to be part of her life as she grew.

James wasn't supposed to be sending gifts to Becca, nor was he supposed to be sending gifts to his daughter. It would create too many questions and too much confusion. And he was supposed to be under house arrest, witness protection, or whatever else he wanted to call it in Japan, minding his own business, trying to start a new life.

Whether he wanted to or not.

What he wasn't supposed to be doing was causing mass confusion. Confusion that I was not going to allow to progress any further than it currently was. I could make up a story about where it came from, perhaps one of those many mommy and me groups that she was a part of since she had moved to New Zealand. Whatever needed to happen in order to divert her attention from the possibility of James still being alive.

I wasn't being selfish, per se. I was thinking of her safety. Bringing that man back into everything was only going to complicate the situation even more.

Making my way outside through the back doors, I headed towards the water with the plan in mind, a phone call that I needed to make so that I could get my point across and hopefully the person on the other end of the phone wouldn't question exactly what it is I was trying to do.

I gazed around my surrounding area, and I made sure that nobody was present before I pulled out my phone. Quickly scrolling through it, I found his number that I had labeled under Lester, and I dialed it with the full expectation of him answering. Which of course, on the second ring, he did.

"Did she make it home okay with the baby?" he asked, causing me to clench my jaw. I gritted my teeth with irritation.

"Hello to you as well, James. I did make it home with her and the baby perfectly fine. However, I was not pleased to see that you had sent mail to the house. How did you even figure out where we lived?"

Amusement rolled through the phone line as James laughed at my question. "It isn't like you guys were exactly hard to replace. If you know the right information, it's quite easy to replace anything on the Internet nowadays."

Right. With technology being as it was, it was no longer difficult to replace people if you really wanted to. The problem was, it didn't mean that he had to reach out. "Be it as it may, that does not explain why you took it upon yourself to send something here to this house."

"Neil, is there going to be a problem? That is my daughter, and she is my girl. Of course, I'm going to send them something even though I can't tell them that it's me that sent it."

Pinching the bridge of my nose, I tried to calm myself so that I wouldn't start an argument with him again. The man could be infuriating, and even though I told him that I would keep him informed on how Becca and the baby were doing, I did not agree for him to turn around and send gifts.

"James, may I remind you that she is not your girl anymore? You are quite aware of this, and she hasn't been your girl for quite some time, even before this happened. So therefore, yes, that is your child. However, that is not your child. You are Lester Johnson. That child is the child of James Valentino, who is dead."

My words were a jab to him in general, and I didn't care how he took that. He would not be the father he thought he could be. His situation made everything more complicated. Not to mention, it put her in danger, and I was trying my best to protect her, to give her and the child the life they deserved. And I could not do that if James planned on interfering at every turn.

"Neil, what is the problem? I thought we had an agreement?"

"You're correct, we do have an agreement. However, the agreement was that I would give you the information you sought. It was not for you to take it upon yourself to dive deeper into the matter of things and cause further problems," I replied, making it very clear that I was not going to tolerate what it was he was doing.

I wasn't trying to be cruel, and most people might see it like that, but they also had to understand that there was a certain line I had to draw to ensure that Becca and the child would remain safe.

I couldn't do that if he didn't learn to stay on his side of the tracks, for the good of everybody.

"You're a complete asshole, you know that, right?" James grunted out. "All I wanted to do was to send a gift for my daughter so that she would have something from me, considering that I can't be there, and you're acting like this?" He was trying to be a good dad and I knew that, but someone was going to have to put their foot down with him to explain to him that he could not do the things that he wanted, because if he did, it was only going to cause heartache. "Stop trying to make me out to be a bad person, James. I'm trying to f*cking help you. I don't have to call you and fill you in on information. I don't have to sit there and send you text messages with photos of them like I have been doing for the past few weeks. Do you think that I enjoy any of this? I'm only doing that to help you. So that you weren't cut completely from their lives, but that is a one-sided road that will not be traveled down the other way."

On the verge of calling it all off, I sat there hoping and praying that James would get it together and understand what I was trying to explain to him. Instead, though, I heard the smashing of glass and knew that the conversation was about to escalate.

James didn't like being told no, and that was always a characteristic that he held, one that was very unlikable. "I don't know who you think you are, but you are not going to tell me what I can and can't do."

Strike one. James thought that he could sit here and dictate how this relationship would work, which was not the case. "I think you'll replace that I can, considering that you are supposed to be a dead man in witness protection." "Really. You're going to throw that card? Is that a threat, Neil? Are you going to go to Greg or any of the others and tell them what I'm doing? I'd like to see you try. It'd be the last thing you ever did," he snapped at me, and I couldn't help but laugh at what he was saying.

Strike two. Threatening me when all I was doing was trying to help him and make him understand that there's a certain degree of respect he had to give.

"No, I don't have to go to them in order to make sure you're doing what you need to do, you need to do that regardless. Be the man that you're supposed to be and not fall back on the ways that you used to operate."

Laughter echoed through the phone at my comment, and I knew that James was not going to have a proper conversation with me. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if currently he was absolutely drunk out of his mind because the last few times that I had spoken to him, he had been.

Supposedly, he had been doing well for himself there, creating a new life, making friends, helping people, or whatever else that he said he was doing. But he was always drunk, as if there was a part of his life that he couldn't let go, and I could understand that.

If I was in his place, I would be the same.

"You know, all I was trying to do was something nice for my daughter. I didn't even put a return address there. I could have turned around and told her who it was that was sending that, but I didn't. You are too insecure about yourself actually to let me do something like this, and that's not my problem."

And for the finale, strike three.

Of course, this was a comment that James had thrown out. Talking about how insecure I wasn't even the situation. It had nothing to do with insecurity. Was I jealous? Of course, I was.

It was natural to be jealous in this kind of situation. However, I definitely was not insecure because I knew at the end of the day she either was with me, or she wasn't. James, though, did not seem to understand that. "It's obvious that you're not going to listen are you?"

He scoffed before a chuckle came through the foam. "Go f*ck yourself, Neal."

His answer was the only one I needed as a smirk crossed my face once more. Looking out over the ocean in front of me, I shook my head and sighed. "Have it your way, James. Our communication is over for good."