Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad by Scarlett Rossi
Chapter 198 -

James.

Dealing with Allegra getting into my business right now wasn't ideal, and I almost didn't bother to answer the phone. However, with Becca up in arms about going back to Italy, I assumed this would be something I needed to handle, whatever it was.

Allegra said, "Look. Becca wouldn't listen to me, but you should know. Layla isn't who she says she is. She worked with the people who captured me and thought Becca owed them money. She said she was lied to, but either way, she may be a danger to your kids."

I snorted, wondering if they got into some sort of argument, and now she was trying to drag it to me. "You really expect me to believe that?" I snapped, then let out an annoyed sigh. "I'll look into it," I said finally, wanting to get her off of my back.

"Good," she said. With that, she bid me a short farewell, her tone none too kind, and mine hadn't been either. She wasn't exactly the person I was ecstatic to talk to by any means. I reached up and placed a hand on my forehead, frustrated that yet another thing came up.

Allegra couldn't be serious, could she?

It was too absurd to be reality. Why she came up with something like that, I didn't know.

Though, after a while, I sent out a few texts to those in my circle, wanting to replace out more.

The situation with Becca hadn't returned to being pleasant. I was sure she just said she'd think about it to get me off of her back about going to Italy.

We'd be safe there, and I was sick of running around. I didn't want to run to someplace else that was likely temporary.

After all, before I 'died,' I'd had a successful business, and the opportunity there was immense. I wanted the power I had before back, and I couldn't do that with any sort of 'fresh start.' I wanted this family to be successful, with as many opportunities as I'd had before.

I wasn't sure why Becca didn't understand that. She kept saying it wouldn't be safe, with the mafia issue, but I would make sure it was. I had so many strings I could pull and intended on expressing that in Italy.

While I waited for people to get back to me on the Layla issue, I got on the computer myself to do some research and check in. Tony said things were fine back in Italy so far, without much issue to report. At least there was that.

It was drilled into my head, over and over, that my past would follow me, something bothersome. The more I thought about it, though, the more I realized even if it were true, I could handle it, and Becca needed to understand that. Things wouldn't end up like they had in Miami. I winced, thinking of Tally but reminding myself that no matter what happened, we wouldn't end up in a situation like that again. My daughter would be remembered, and we would play things as safe as we could.

It didn't mean we should keep running and hiding, though. I shook my head, typing things out and setting up meetings that would get things going. I intended on returning to Italy, and Becca would eventually just have to get over her problems and come along.

To get my mind off of things, I went into the other room to make dinner. I set up the oven so that I could bake some chicken spaghetti for the whole family.

I heard the door open nearby and turned to see Becca walking into the living room, heading over to the fridge to get something to drink. I studied her as she came closer, noting the focused gleam to her eye. What was she thinking about? When her eyes met mine, she scowled a bit, turning up her nose. Oh, she was having an attitude again. Wonderful. I returned that expression, asking in a cold tone, "I assume you've thought more about going to Italy?"

"A bit," Becca said, opening the fridge and getting herself a bottle of water. "We can talk about it later. I'm still doing some research."

"Research?" I muttered. "Becca," I said flatly. "I'm tired of moving around. For the good of the family, we should settle in. Moving all of the time is stressful for the kids. We have so many opportunities in Italy we can take. The mafia won't be an issue."

"I said I don't want that for our family, James," she snapped. Her grip tightened on the bottle of water, but she wasn't going to hear anything more about this now. She stomped back off into a separate room, ending the argument early for now. Feeling my face redden in anger, I cursed under my breath and wondered how I was going to get through to her that Italy would be the best place to settle down not only to avoid moving around as much but because of the opportunities there. Sighing, I finished cooking and grabbed myself a plate, sitting down and eating slowly. I could hear Layla playing with the kids in the nursery, and my lips twitched a bit. Allegra's words came to my mind, causing a pang in my stomach. Could there be some merit to what Allegra was saying, or was she trying to cause issues because of some conflict she had with Layla? I was sick of her getting into my business, but I wasn't sure if she would go that far.

I ran my fingers through my hair and entered my room again, noting several messages from people I had set on doing more research. First, I looked through my phone, which had a number of rather damning texts from Layla. My jaw dropped. Plus, there was more?! I looked through my emails, noting how they confirmed what Allegra had said about how Layla was lied to. Something about Becca having stolen money, or something. That didn't matter, at the moment, we had a snake in our nest.

I slammed my fist down onto my desk, letting out a low growl. This wasn't good. What Allegra said was starting to make sense, and I didn't want to believe her, but here we were. The connections I had wouldn't send false information. Resisting the urge to throw my phone across the room, I stood up, my computer chair rolling toward my bed from the force of me doing so. Clenching my fist, I stomped toward the door and headed toward the nursery. When I got there, I threw the door open, my eyes locking on a startled Layla. She'd been walking away from Alessandro, who she'd put to bed for a nap. Her jaw dropped as she no doubt saw my lips drawn into a tight line. "What the F*CK, Layla!" I shouted, startling both kids awake. At the moment, I didn't care. I was overcome with rage. How could she do this? This entire time, she was here getting information on us for some outside party, using this nanny work as a guise?

"I'm sorry!" she squeaked immediately, running over to the other side of the room and pressing her back against the wall. Her eyes were wide with fear, though I wasn't going to raise a hand against her. Yelling though? Yes. I was pissed. "You worked for those assholes, and for what? Was this all a lie, then, huh?!" I approached her, my eyes narrowed as I went to continue my ranting. I was beyond angry now, because such a betrayal had me very worried about the kids. Suddenly, however, a voice came from behind me. "James! What the hell is going on?!" Becca's voice, caused me to inwardly groan. Allegra had said that Becca didn't listen to her, so of course she wasn't enlightened to the situation. In the meantime, Layla had a burst of courage and pushed off of the wall, shoving past me. Tears were streaming down her face, cries of fear and sadness erupting from her. She hit her shoulder on the doorframe after pushing past Becca, letting out a gasp of pain.

With that, she was gone, and Becca was standing there as red in the face as I was. I turned to face her, feeling a jolt of embarrassment at my loss of temper. Both children were sitting up and staring at me in confusion. Alessandro said, "Dada?" I groaned, then let out a sigh. "Becca," I began. "Look. Allegra called me, and-"

"Oh, she called you too?! If this is her being angry over my response to Neal, I'm going to lose my mind. Now she's saying things about Layla?!" Becca snapped, causing me to reach up and rub my temples. She didn't listen with Italy, now she wasn't listening with Layla.

"I don't know anything about Neal in this situation. She called, talking about how Layla was working with the people who captured her because she thought you stole money," I replied, keeping a steady glare on the angry woman. She kept her eyes locked with me and shook her head. "You're something else, James," she said, storming past me to comfort Alessandro. To the child, she cooed, "It's okay, Alessandro. Mommy's here. Sleep time, okay?"

I let her take care of the kids, knowing my presence would only cause even more stress. Numbly, I sat on the couch, burying my face into my hands. Maybe running in there and yelling wasn't wise, but I couldn't control my temper in cases like this.

Layla, given who she was working for, posed a real threat to our children. Especially if she was lied to regarding Becca. I let out a soft groan while I waited for the angry woman to come storming out again. She probably wouldn't listen this time either.

After several minutes, Becca emerged from the room and approached me on the couch. I looked up, my cold stare fastening on her. At the moment, she was still fired up, with a clenched jaw matching her clenched fists. It was hard to tell which of us was angrier at the other.

"My people checked into this, Becca. They confirmed it," I said. "They are trustworthy. It's why I went in shouting at Layla."

"You woke up the kids by losing your temper. They were terrified! Layla, too. I don't know what this is about, and frankly, I don't believe you. I'm going to go see what's going on myself and ask her," she said.

"She may lie to you," I snapped, reaching up to pinch the bridge of my nose. My words fell on deaf ears, however, as she whirled and stormed toward the front door, phone in hand. She was likely calling Layla.

Right before she was out the door, she said, "Stay here with the kids, I'll handle this since you're not capable of doing so." SLAM! With that, she was gone. So much for letting the kids nap. I shook my head and entered the nursery, not bothering to try and call to convince her otherwise.

Becca was letting her temper get the better of her, just like how I had. She didn't believe me, but hopefully, Layla would tell her the truth, or we'd have yet another problem spiraling out of control.