Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad by Scarlett Rossi
Chapter 124 -

Neal.

The moment I had hung up with James, I gripped my phone tightly in my hand and stared out at the ocean, trying to calm my nerves. Rage attempted to fill the voids of my heart as I thought about how James intruded upon my relationship with Becca.

I knew for a fact that even though James was supposed to technically be dead, if he really wanted to come back into Becca and the child's life, he would do so.

And I was going to have to step up my game to protect her.

Pinching the bridge of my nose, I closed my eyes, inhaling the sweet smell of the salty air just in time for Allegra's voice to come from the distance behind me, causing me to turn and look over my shoulder.

"Neal, what are you doing out here?" Her question was not misplaced. It was quite odd for me to be out here, considering Becca had only just gotten back with the baby, and I had been talking nonstop about spending time with them. "I just needed a moment to make a long-distance phone call."

Cocking her left eyebrow, she placed her hand on her hip and frowned "Long distance, that's interesting. You make a lot of long-distance phone calls over to Japan. Is there a reason behind that, Neal?"

Allegra wasn't stupid. She already had the answer to the question she asked me. This was simply a way of her trying to determine whether or not I was going to be honest. "You know who I was speaking to. I take it that you've been looking through my phone records?"

Shrugging her shoulders, she made her way towards the small little white bench that sat just near the edge of the backyard that dropped down towards the beach. It had become her favorite place since we moved here. She would sit there often, watching the sunset with Taliana's son in her arms.

The bond she had been forming with that child was sweet, but I only hoped she knew that he wasn't hers. I didn't want her to form an attachment in case something happened one day, and Becca no longer wanted us around. "You're not supposed to be speaking with him, but I assume that you informed him that the child was home." She asked as she rested her arms along the back of the bench, staring off into the distance. "Allegra, I don't like this any more than you do, but I promised him that I'd at least keep him informed. He's the child's father, for f*ck's sake. I'm trying to be a good man, and I'm replaceing it harder and harder every day." "I know you are," she replied as she looked over her shoulder at me before gesturing for me to take a seat next to her. "What did he say this time?"

Hesitating with my answer, I took a moment to ponder over the situation. I didn't want her to worry, but then again, if I was going to handle this properly, I would have to learn to trust my instincts and tell my sister like I knew I needed to. "The gift that Becca received while I was gone... he was the one that sent it. He's getting too brave, which wasn't part of the agreement. He wasn't supposed to be sending gifts, Allegra. Honestly, I'm concerned. It hasn't been long enough for his enemies to completely disappear."

Frustration filled me as I tried to contemplate the different angles of how I could approach the situation, but the problem was that with Becca and the baby home, I couldn't just up and leave at the drop of a dime to take care of James.

Not that I would want to. I left that part of my life behind, and the last time that I had to take any initiative to be that kind of person was when I'd dealt with Sara.

"It's days like today that I'm glad that we made the move. It's absolutely beautiful," she whispered, completely off-topic from what we originally were talking about.

"It is, and I am glad that Becca ended up choosing this place for us to make our home. However, I really am worried about what James is going to do. I can't have her replaceing out. It would completely destroy her."

The situation was more complicated than I wanted it to be, and honestly, I wished that things were easier, but there was no way to make the situation easier. At least not without somebody getting hurt. And the last person that I wanted to get hurt was Becca, especially after everything that she had recently gone through.

"Only one way that the situation is going to work out, Neal," Allegro said before turning to me completely. "You'll have to have somebody else speak to him about this. And perhaps it's time that you call his cousin."

"Ronaldo? Have you lost your mind? He doesn't even know that James is alive, and doing that will severely complicate things."

Laughter left her throat as she shook her head and gave me a perplexed look. "Do you honestly think Ronaldo doesn't know he's alive?"

"What are you talking about?"

There was no way that Ronaldo knew James was alive. It was completely top secret undercover. There was witness protection, for heaven's sake. For Ronaldo to know that James was alive meant that others could possibly know that he was too, which meant that Becca wasn't safe at all.

"You know, you are my brother, and I love you dearly, but sometimes I contemplate what goes through your mind regularly. How can you be so naive to think that someone like Ronaldo doesn't know his own family member is alive?" Taking a moment, I thought back to every conversation I'd had with a man. He was older than James and came from a much more established branch of the family overseas. Him coming out of the blue, though, to buy James's company had been slightly odd because it hadn't been advertised that James was going to sell and get rid of the company.

Which meant that if Ronaldo had been aware and knew, he had literally been informed ahead of time. "So you're saying that I have been left in the dark this whole time?"

"Not necessarily left in the dark, Neal, I simply thought that you already knew. I'm familiar with the family that Ronaldo comes from. I ran across them many times in Paris and even over in Italy when we were dealing with Fashion Week. I honestly thought you knew."

As much as I had been trying to remain calm and this entire situation, I couldn't help but feel slightly angry over the fact that I had been left so easily in the dark. Clenching my fists together, I turned and headed back towards the house. Allegra, however, quickly followed behind me, and a firm grip on my arm spun me around to face her as she stared at me with a confused expression. "Why are you acting like this? What is the problem now?"

"The problem, Allegra, is that if he knows, other people know, which means she's not safe. I have to keep her safe and protected. I made that promise to her and James. I don't know why James is acting the way he is or what other shit his cousin has up his sleeve, but I'm not going to tolerate her and the baby getting hurt."

"Neal, who do you think has been protecting her beside you? You weren't the only person that he asked to look out for her," she replied, and as if I had been physically slapped in the face, I stood there with my lips parted. Finally, I realized what she was saying.

James had gone to his cousin to buy the company because he had already planned on selling it before he left Becca. James selling the company to Ronaldo ensured Becca was left with a large bit of inheritance of money. He had planned to do this before replaceing out she was pregnant.

He had planned to go out, however, was needed, and without being part of her life. However, her getting pregnant and having the baby was a complication he didn't foresee.

It was a complication that none of us foresaw.

"So all of this was planned, and you never once thought to go over it with me? To make sure that I knew. This entire time I talked to James, you never once thought to tell me what it was that was going on?!"

Raising my voice at her caused her to step back, shaking her head slightly before turning and storming off back towards the house. I didn't usually take a tone like that with her, and guilt instantly filled me with how I acted.

"Shit..." I muttered, running my hand over the back of my neck in frustration.

Now I was going to have to fix things with my sister as well as figure this shit out with James. Even if I had a right to be angry.

I was over here trying to do my best to protect Becca, thinking that I was doing everything I could to give her and this child a better life, and people were once again hiding information behind my back.

Everything I did was for nothing because he had already planned for her to be protected. Whether he had my help or not.

The situation made me feel useless as I stared at the beautiful home before me I attempted to figure out what I could do.

Part of me wanted to call Greg and tell him what was happening. That his witness violated everything, we had done to help keep him off-grid. Another part of me wanted to reach out to Sergie's crew and inform them of where they could replace James, but that would make me no better than the others.

I didn't want to be the man my jealous soul craved for me to be. I just wasn't sure what to do. Telling Becca would break her apart, and giving James up would make me an accomplice to murder if the crew found him.

There was a heavy decision that weighed on my mind, and every option seemed to lead to a dead end of heartache and misery that I didn't want to cross.

"Neal, come inside and watch a movie with me."

Becca's voice, drifting against the soft, gentle breezes that caressed our home pulled me from my conflicted thoughts. Turning my eyes towards the large french doors on the back of the house, I admired her standing there in leggings and an oversized T-shirt and couldn't help but think how beautiful she was in something so simple.

"I'm coming. I was just getting some fresh air."

It wasn't a lie per se, but as I walked toward her, I thought maybe I should just be honest. Maybe I could still have the life I wanted with her, and this heavyweight would be lifted off my shoulders in the process. Only time would tell if what I was doing was right or wrong.