Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad by Scarlett Rossi
Chapter 278 -

*Giovani*

"The Russians finally reached out."

Gabriele's words were not reassuring. I knew from experience that the Zaytsevs were not forgiving people, nor were they patient. Nothing those bastards said was going to be good. "What did they say?" I ground my teeth together, glaring at Gabriele.

If they reached out, it was only out of arrogance. They thought they had won already, and now they were taunting us.

He sighed, crossing his arms. "They said there's no getting Dahlia back alive, but they're willing to allow us to pay for the return of her body."

I was fucking right.

Pay for her body?

What kind of arrogant bullshit was this?

Dahlia wasn't a bargaining piece. She was family. I wasn't supposed to allow anything to happen to her, and now I couldn't even confirm if she was alive.

I could only imagine what Dahlia was going through right now. She was strong. James and Becca had raised her that way, but being kidnapped for nearly two days now was bound to take its toll.

I had no idea what they were saying to her or threatening her with, but I had no doubt it was going to haunt her for a long while. I should've protected her better, should've kept her locked in the compound, even if it made her hate me. At least then she would be safe.

Silence settled between us like an unwanted stare. It was both uncomfortable and necessary. My thoughts whirled at a hundred per second, plans both forming and falling apart at record speed.

I could only stare blankly at my desk, wondering what I should do. If we got close, I had no doubt they would kill Dahlia just to spite us.

We had to make sure this was foolproof before we did anything, or else, Dahlia would be paying for our mistakes.

This was proving to be more of a headache than I'd first thought.

"Who is bold enough to act like this?" I asked coldly.

"I've had people looking into it. There's no concrete evidence, but we do have one lead." Gabriele said, leaning against the wall as he stared at me. "A man by the name of Dmitri Zyatsev."

I paused at the name, glancing up at Gabriele as my anger grew. Just the name Zyatsev was enough to have my blood run cold. Mikhail had been a bad enough son of a bitch, but I thought we had killed him years ago.

Now, there was another one?

"Any relation to Mikhail?"

"His cousin. Much younger, but it seems he's taken control over the family business," Gabriele told me, a dangerous look in his eye. "He's inexperienced, but he has a lot of connections. So far, we've tracked him to three different aliases. He's not going to go down easily."

I didn't expect anything less. Anyone related to Mikhail was a headache. That's why we made sure to wipe out all of the Russians years ago. James knew they would never stop until they got their revenge. Looks like he was right. Old haunts weren't just rising from the dead; they had only pretended to be defeated.

I growled, slamming my hand on the table. "I knew this was related to that bastard. They just couldn't stay dead, could they? Is this revenge for what James and I did? But why wait all this time?"

"So far, we've got nothing on him," Gabriele sighed. "He's more slippery than a snake, and he has connections in high places. Somebody's protecting him, somebody with a lot of power. Considering the message he left, though, I'm pretty sure he's got a grudge against us. Maybe it was what you and James did Mikhail and the other brothers. Who knows? But he's not willing to let this go."

This was more troubling than I had first thought. Who the fuck could be backing him? There were countless names who wanted to destroy our family, but none of them had the resources to keep Dmitri hidden.

It'd have to be someone at the very top, with money, power, and connections all within their hands, someone we wouldn't be able to touch. Honestly, I could go through a list and still never replace the right name.

It didn't even matter now anyway. Fixing this mess was going to take more than digging old grudges to the surface.

I got to my feet, ignoring Gabriele as I headed straight for the liquor cabinet. I grabbed my heaviest scotch and two glasses, pouring out the scotch, ignoring the slight splash of the expensive alcohol, and handing the full glass to Gabriele. He took it gratefully and watched me silently as I poured myself a glass, taking the bottle with me as I sat back down at my desk.

I downed the glass of scotch, the smooth liquid falling down my throat in a burn I was used to. Maybe it was too early to be drinking, but I was pissed.

It was much easier to handle this conversation with alcohol.

Once the glass was empty, I spared no time in refilling it. Gabriele had only taken a sip of his own, and I sighed, slamming the bottle of scotch onto the desk.

"Do we know what he wants?" I glanced at him expectantly.

Gabriele hesitated and then sighed. "It seems from his actions that he isn't just trying to get revenge. He's been planning this for a long time. He's been recklessly using everything he has near him to get to us, but we aren't the only ones he's caught the attention of."

Shit.

"The police or bigger?" I questioned angrily.

"Bigger," Gabriele scoffed. "He's taking this all the way to the top."

A show like this needed an audience, and he was practically begging for one. It wouldn't surprise me one bit if he had ulterior motives for taking Dahlia. If it wasn't for us, the disappearance of Dahlia would be in the headlines.

We'd already had to stop several publications from snooping around where they didn't belong. I guessed Dimitri had underestimated us. We controlled the press in Italy, and if we didn't want something on the front page, we had the money to keep it silent.

But it wouldn't work forever. The longer this dragged out, the harder it was to keep it under wraps. James and Becca knew the protocol, and I knew they could keep this secret, but I'd even had to talk to Olivia's mother.

Neither of them had been happy with the secrecy, but after working with James for so long, I was sure she knew more than she wewasre letting on. She demanded I send Olivia back to the States.

I told her it was up to Olivia, despite every atom in my body screaming not to let her out of my sight.

"Is he trying to take us all down?" I sighed, rubbing my forehead of the building headache.

"It seems like it." Gabriele nodded. "There's nothing more dangerous than a man with nothing to lose. He might be trying to destroy all of us in a last attempt to destroy the family."

This Dmitri was playing with fire, but he wasn't just playing to burn us. He was going to set himself aflame and take us down with him. I always knew the Zaytsevs were ticking time bombs but this was insane, even for the Russians.

I felt like I was walking on a tightrope. Any single movement could set him off. Then, he'd kill Dahlia and the entire family I'd worked so hard for. Everything could go up in flames, and there would be nothing I could do.

But first things first. We had to get Dahlia back, not as a body, but alive.

"Do we have any idea where she is?" I glanced at him expectantly.

"Yes," Gabriele nodded.

"Where?" I demanded.

"An empty two-story house near Signoria square," Gabriele responded, taking a drink of the scotch.

"So why haven't you gotten her back yet?" I demanded.

"I have a team working on it. They've surrounded the house. They're preparing for extraction as we speak," Gabriele sent me a glance. "But it's more complicated than we thought. Not only do we have no eyes into the building, but we have no clue how many are inside. It doesn't help that they chose such a populated area."

"Merde," I cursed, shutting my eyes tightly. "It'll be impossible to get in and out without getting noticed."

"Probably," Gabriele nodded.

I grabbed my drink and downed my second glass, slamming it back down on the desk. They'd really driven us into a corner this time.

"Keep pressure on them for now. If we cut off their resources, they'll have more difficulty listening to orders from above," I told him angrily. "I don't care what it takes, Gabriele. Bring Dahlia back unharmed."

"Easier said than done, boss," Gabriele scoffed. "Why do you always give me the hard missions?"

I snorted, glancing at him with a stern look. "Would you prefer to be in charge?"

"Cavolo, no," he shuddered, as he finished off his drink and placed the cup upside down on my desk. "I much prefer getting my hands dirty. It's no fun being the boss."

I smirked, shaking my head at his predictable answer. There was a reason Gabriele had become my second in command. Not only was he capable, but I trusted him with my life.

He had never wanted to be in charge of anything and was more easy-going than I was. I didn't like being told what to do, but Gabriele... he'd follow orders any day if it meant he wouldn't have to make the hard decisions. It was his best and worst trait.

Any humor in me faded away as I realized there was one last loose string to take care of.

"What about the body of the boy?" I asked, pouring myself a third drink of scotch. I didn't drink this one, just swirled the liquid around as I thought of the corpse.

"Accidental drowning while inebriated, apparently," Gabriele answered coldly. "Parents suspected nothing else. I kept a tab on them just in case, but they're oblivious. Didn't even have contact with him in the past two years." I sighed.

"Make sure Olivia doesn't replace out. Keep it out of the press," I growled.

The minute she found out her date was dead, I feared the repercussions. She was already struggling with Dahlia missing, but putting more stress on top of her... forget it.

There was no reason for her to grieve for someone so unimportant, no matter how callous it sounded.

"Yes, sir," Gabriele rolled his eyes.

The two of us were interrupted, however, by a sharp knock on the door.

"What is it?" I snapped.

The door cracked open, and one of the maids stepped inside, a nervous look on her face.

"Master Tallon is here, sir," she said, quietly. "He's eating with Signorina Olivia."