Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad by Scarlett Rossi
Chapter 136 -

Neal.

The moment that I hung up with James, I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do. One thing was for sure though, I needed to speak with Beck and replace out exactly who this person was and what they looked like. The only problem was that Becca had no interest in really speaking to me about anything unless I came forward and told her what I had been up to.

Taking a deep breath, I mustered up the courage to get up from where I had currently been sitting and make my way out into the main part of the living room. The moment that I walked down the hallway, I felt my pulse racing, my heart beating rapidly out of my chest as I turned the corner and saw Becca in the kitchen, currently unpacking whatever it was that she had purchased during the day.

There was a determination and frustration in the way that she moved as she slammed things down onto the counter and let out a heavy sigh. I instantly regretted my decision to try to come and speak to her, but before I could turn and go back to my room, she looked over her shoulder and stared at me.

She was just as beautiful as she was the first day I met her, and even with the thin lipped smile and a raised brow, I knew without a doubt that there was no way I could ever be mad at this woman, nor would there ever be any way that I would ever be able to stop caring about her.

Even if she did currently despise me for the shit that I had done.

"Was there something that you needed?" she asked in a very short, clipped tone that made me realize the last thing she wanted to do was speak to me.

"Actually, Allegra came and spoke to me, and I think you and I need to have a discussion." I wasn't going to tell her anything about James, but what I could do is let her in on a little bit of information, and hopefully she would see that that was the reason why I was upset, even though it wasn't entirely the truth and would forgive me in some kind of way.

Placing down the vegetable that she currently had in her hand, she turned to me full body and waited for me to continue speaking. When I was hesitant for far too long, she sighed. "Are you gonna talk or not?"

I was quite taken aback by her brash response in the way that she was acting, but at the same time, I could see why she would have a hostile tone towards me, considering everything that had transpired over the last few weeks.

"So I want to explain why I have been acting the way I have been lately." I started to say as she crossed her arms over her chest and stood leaning against the kitchen island, waiting for me to continue talking. "I've been looking into some people who have been looking into you, and I didn't want to tell you anything yet because I wanted to wait until I had all of the information."

"There are people looking into me, and you thought it would be best waiting to tell me?"

“Well, when you say it like that, you make it sound even worse," I muttered, running my hand through my hair before letting it slide over my face, pinching the bridge of my nose. "Look, when you came home from the hospital, you were so happy with Dahlia. The last thing that I wanted to do was burden you with all of this stuff and take away that time that you were supposed to be spending with her."

Part of that was true. I did not want to bother her with any of this stuff because she was spending time with Dalia, but at the same time, it also wasn't true because it had nothing to do with people following her and had everything to do with James.

"As sweet as that is, you chose wrong. I would have rather had you told me the truth. So who is this guy that was following me today? The one that helped me put the stroller in the car? Is this somebody that I need to be worried about? Somebody that is going to be a danger to my children?"

Taking a moment to ponder over exactly what she was asking me, I shrugged my shoulders and tilted my head back and forth. "Honestly, it's hard to say. It could have been someone who was genuinely just trying to be nice, but it also could have been someone that was dangerous, and James had a long list of people who didn't like him. I highly doubt that it was Sergie's son, but I mean, that can't be ruled out."

"I thought you said that moving here, we would be fine." Because she was using her hands to talk, I could tell that she was getting angry. The only time that she used her hands when she spoke was when she was frustrated or explaining something with it was super exciting.

"No, I said that moving here would be a fresh start and harder for anybody else to replace us, which it has been. We've been here for months with no issues, and then this guy just happens to appear today. I mean, I need to know exactly what he looked like, anything that could help me figure out who he was."

As her hand rested upon her chin, she stood there, staring at me as if she was lost in thought and thought I was trying to deceive her. She was trying to discern whether or not I was being honest, or perhaps that was just me being paranoid. Regardless, though, the look that she was giving me was completely unsettling.

"He was tall, about your height, and he had blond hair. He did have an accent, but I didn't recognize it. No, it wasn't Russian. It was something else. He had sunglasses on, so I have no clue what his eye color was, and he wore a hoodie and a pair of jeans. He literally looked like anybody else out there. He had no identifying marks. I didn't see any tattoos that I could remember, and his behavior when I met him up close was completely normal."

She rambled off a list of things that she could remember from her interaction with this person, and every single one of them left me completely empty handed and without a clue as to who this person could have been.

I was frustrated, beyond frustrated, and more so annoyed because once again, I was going to have to be on high alert. Which also meant micromanaging her. "Until we know who this person was, and we know that the area is safe, I hate to say this, but I really don't think that you should go out."

"Hide?" She stared at me before giving a maniacal laugh that was absolutely sinister. "My father and his new wife are here. They just got here a couple of days ago, and they're coming over for breakfast tomorrow. And then we were supposed to be going out, and now you're telling me that you want me to not go into town until you mysteriously figure out what the issues are?"

That was precisely what I was telling her. But when she said it the way she said it, of course, it sounded even worse than when I had actually said it. How was I supposed to tell her that she had to do this for her own safety, and that it was probably best her father and his new wife didn't go out either? I mean, they could end up being used to get to her, which wouldn't be a good thing because Becca would be the type of person who would go straight into battle rather than to give them what they wanted.

"Look, can I at least make a deal with you?" I asked her as my my shoulders sagged. I did not want to continue arguing with her because, honestly, it was absolutely draining having these conversations with her.

She had become a firm believer in getting what she wanted, and she did not take no well at all, which was good. But at the same time, her extreme, heightened new sense of independence was absolutely irritating. Admirable, but still irritating. "What kind of deal are you looking to make?" she asked after a moment of pondering the question, her body turning back towards the island as she continued grabbing the last few things out of the cloth bags that she had carried, placing them in the fridge.

"Just give me forty-eight hours to try and figure out who's behind this. Make something up. Have your dad and his new wife stay here. Do stuff around the house, whatever it is that you need to do. Until I can replace this person, and if in forty- eight hours I haven't found anything, you are free to continue doing as you please."

I wasn't asking much. I was literally asking for two days. And even Becca knew that that was a reasonable request under the specific circumstances. There were plenty of things that she could do with the kids and her parents. The last thing I wanted was for anybody to get hurt, and I hoped more than anything that she could see that.

"Okay, fine. You have forty-eight hours. Don't make me regret this. And I better not replace out that you're hiding anything else. So help me God, Neal. Things will not end well for you if you continue acting the way you have." Her threat did not go unnoticed, and as I nodded my head, she gestured with her hand for me to basically get lost, or disappear out of her hair, whatever it was that she wanted to call it.

I wasn't going to have her tell me twice, so turning quite quickly, I made my way towards the front door, prepared to go search her car for anything that this person could have left. Maybe I should call a detective friend or somebody with the expertise at dusting for fingerprints. He had obviously touched the stroller, and it made me wonder if there was anything else he had touched that I could use to figure out who he was.

I was no detective myself. I was a real estate agent with a very bad past, and my investigating skills were limited. This kind of stuff, it was James's forte, and as soon as I stepped out the front door, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and called him.

He needed to be updated.

"Hello?" James said quite quickly. "What did you replace?"

"I found us forty-eight hours because that's all that Becca is going to give us, so I hope your skills are as good as you claim them to be."

If I was going to be warned, so was he. He had to get his shit together, because if we didn't get this crap done in time, there was no telling what would end up happening to her.