Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad by Scarlett Rossi
Chapter 279 -

*Olivia* "Tallon?"

The name fell from my lips as I stared at the teenager in bewilderment and surprise.

Tallon was the youngest of Dahlia's brothers, but since the three were so close in age, it never felt like it. He was only a year younger than Dahlia and me, so we'd always gotten along.

It helped that Tallon had a very easy going personality. Alessandro, Dahlia's eldest brother, on the other hand, was a bit more high-strung. Tallon was a perfect mix of his parents' descent, though his looks leaned a bit more on his father's side with the Italian heritage.

With golden tan skin and dark curly, brown hair, Tallon had always been leaner than his brother and father, who were more muscular, and that made him look more approachable and boyish, like a pretty boy who was fit to be on the cover of a popstar magazine.

Dahlia used to joke that he could join a boy band and fit right in.

"What are you doing here?" I got to my feet, rushing over to him with a huge smile.

I threw my arms around his neck, and he laughed, bright and boisterous as he picked me up in his arms and swung me around. I laughed as he set me gently on my feet. He lifted the sunglasses from his eyes and onto the top of his head, revealing the baby blue he'd inherited from his mother.

"Am I not allowed to drop in for a visit, Livi?" Tallon grinned, throwing his arm around my shoulders as he walked me back to the kitchen island.

I took my seat, and he grabbed the one across from me, crossing his legs and leaning back like he was a model in a photo shoot.

I rolled my eyes at his dramaticism, grabbing my coffee. "I'm just surprised to see you. I thought you said you were on vacation with your friends. Bahamas, right?"

"Eh, it got a little boring. Once you've seen one beach, you've seen them all," Tallon shrugged, sending me a wink.

I shook my head fondly, a smile pulling at the corner of my lips. By just having him here, I felt a thousand times lighter already. By his disposition, I thought he must not know about his sister yet, and I didn't want to tell him.

He'd always been good at cheering others up. It was like he was just a ball of sunshine, and every time he stepped into a room, he infected everyone else with his light.

"What about James and Becca?" I asked. "Do they know you're here?"

"Of course they do. You think I'd fly to Italy without telling my parents?" Tallon scoffed, crossing his arms like he was offended at the very thought.

"Yes," I grinned. "You've done it before."

Tallon opened his mouth to respond but then shut it in defeat. "Okay, for the record, I did tell Dad, but he was the one who threw me under the bus for not telling Mom."

"She can be scary when she wants to be," I smirked. "Didn't she ground you for an entire summer and take away your allowance?"

"That's in the past," Tallon waved his hand dismissively at me then folded his hands together, leaning his head in the middle of them as he grinned at me. "Mom and Dad both know I'm here, and they supported it actually. They wanted to come too, considering the circumstances."

So he did know. My smile fell at the reminder, and I glanced down at my coffee. It was mostly lukewarm by now. I clenched my hands around it, grasping what little heat I could.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled. "I should've stopped her-"

"Hey," Tallon glanced at the wall, a distant and fond look in his eyes. "Do you remember that one time Dahlia tried to bring a raccoon inside as a pet? She thought it would be like a puppy and dragged me and you along with her." I did.

The memory was a fond one, though it hadn't been at the time. Dahlia had wanted a puppy more than anything, but after the disaster that happened when James had given her a rabbit, Becca had forbidden him from getting her one. Dahlia found the raccoon in the forest by the school. It was trapped in a cage. In all honesty, it had probably been caught by animal control or something, but Dahlia thought it was just like an extra fluffy puppy. She'd demanded we take him in to be his new pet, and we'd dragged the cage over a mile back to her house. We'd only been in elementary school, so we didn't really know any better.

"She tried to give it a bath," I laughed. "We all ended up getting bit and had to get rabies shots. Becca had been furious."

Tallon chuckled, glancing at me with a soft look. "You tried to stop her."

"I did?" I looked up in surprise.

Tallon nodded, seriously. "You told her it was a bad idea, but Dahlia is Dahlia. She doesn't listen to anybody. You couldn't stop her back then, and you couldn't stop her this time either. It's not your fault. That's just Dahlia."

I smiled, my eyes watering up as the hole in my chest began to fill up with softness. He was right. I still felt guilty about leaving her behind, but Dahlia did what she wanted.

Tallon reached to grab my hand, a rare serious look on his face. "You didn't kidnap Dahlia, nor did you pay the people who did. You are not responsible for this, Livi." "Agreed."

I nearly jumped out of my skin, spinning on the island stool as I pulled away from Tallon. Giovani was leaning against the kitchen entrance, and right behind him was Gabriele.

For a moment, I thought he might be angry and might misunderstand the closeness between me and Tallon, but there was a calm look in his eyes, sure and confident.

"Gio!" Tallon grinned widely as he got to his feet. "How's it hanging, cuz?" His emotions were hard to read-it was like it hadn't sunk in thath is sister was missing.

"Tallon," Giovani nodded at him, a slight curve to his lips as Tallon walked right up to him and hugged him tightly. They did that guy thing where Giovani patted him on the back before breaking apart.

Gabriele, behind them, looked as cold as the first time I'd seen him, just bored and completely impassive.

I glanced at Giovani with a frown. "Have there been any updates from the police yet? Did they replace Dahlia or Lorenzo and Adrian?"

Giovani stiffened in place, his dark eyes meeting mine for a moment. I could see him wavering over something, pondering, though I didn't know what.

Gabriele just gave me a look like I was stupid. I would be offended if I hadn't seen him give the exact same look to Dahlia when she didn't know how to work the ice maker in the fridge, only to realize it wasn't an ice maker but a water dispenser.

The three men looked at one another with varying looks, like they knew something I didn't, and I frowned. Had I said something weird?

"Police?" Gabriele repeated like I'd just offended his ancestors. "What the fuck is she talking about?"

He glared at Giovani, demanding an explanation, but Giovani only sighed. Tallon, on the other hand, shook his head like he was disappointed, an amused glint in his eyes as he leaned against the wall. "Wow, so you still haven't figured it out, have you?" Tallon crossed his arms, but I could see the amused twinkle in his eyes. "You can be so oblivious sometimes, Livi."

"Excuse me?" I narrowed my eyes at Tallon, who only laughed in response.

"Olivia," Giovani finally stepped forward, glancing hesitantly at me as he asked very slowly and deliberately, "Do you know what James used to do for a living?"

"What's that got to do with anything?" I snapped, in a bad mood from how odd they were acting. I was stupid or oblivious, but they were clearly holding some vital information back from me. "Humor me," Giovani tilted his head, flashing me that charming smile of his.

My mouth dried up as I clasped my jaw shut tightly.

"Please?"

Shit. He looked so goddamn handsome as he stared at me like I was the only thing that mattered in the world.

I clenched my legs together, glancing away first, and I saw his smile turn into a smirk. That bastard knew what he was doing to me, and he did it anyway.

"He helps Becca run a charity in Guatemala," I sighed, finally relenting.

Giovani breathed in and slowly nodded, like he was talking to a child who wasn't getting a simple math problem. My temper was flaring up at this point, and I wanted to scream at them to get it over with. "Well, yes, that's true. And I guess you could consider what James used to do before that a charity of sorts," Giovani said amused.

Tallon burst into laughter behind him, and I glared at him. He slapped a hand over his mouth, muffling the giggles, but I could still hear them.

"Olivia," Giovani said, gaining my attention back to him. "Before any of that, do you know where James' money came from?"

Of course I did.

"Isn't it family money?" I asked, tilting my head confused. "I thought the Valentinos were just rich."

Giovani sighed. "Not quite. James made a lot of his money himself, though ther Italian side of the money also made a lot of money, but that's not where it came from."

Tallon was still chuckling in the background, enjoying every moment of this.

I frowned, thinking back for a moment. I felt stupid at this point, all the hints they'd been dropping not making a lick of sense. I still didn't even understand why this mattered in the first place.

"So he has a business?" I asked, tilting my head in confusion.

Tallon burst into howls of laughter, almost crying at this point as he leaned his hands on his knees.

I flushed, still not understanding, until Gabriele muttered, "Oh, for the love of God."

Gabriele stepped forward, pushing Giovani out of the way as he glared down at me.

"The police don't know anything about Dahlia or who took her. They don't even know she's missing. We didn't tell the police, and in fact, we actively hid that information to keep everyone in this room safe. We won't be letting them know anything, and neither will you, unless you want everyone in this room to end up in a body bag or behind bars."

My mouth fell open as I stared at the raving-mad man who'd just spouted out a speech I could barely follow.

"Enough, Gabriele!" Giovani snapped, pushing him away from me.

"The police don't know? Why not?" I whirled onto Giovani with a shocked and irritated look.

Giovani sighed, grasping my shoulders as he very seriously looked me in the eyes. "Gabriele's right, Olivia. The police can't know."

They can't?

Maybe I really was stupid because I felt like the kitchen had been turned upside down.

Dahlia was missing. If someone's missing, you go to the police and start a search. What on earth were they talking about?

But thinking back, something had always been odd about Dahlia's family-the fact that they had maids and servants who called them "sir" or "master" and "madam."

Also, there was the neverending pool of money that ended up in Dahlia's credit card, and the weird evasive answers to anything I asked about the family business. Something had always been fishy but since I'd grown up with these people, I never thought to question it before.

What did James do for a living? What did Giovani do? Why did this have anything to do with Dahlia being missing?

I opened my mouth, bewildered and annoyed and frustrated as I finally asked the burning question inside of me. "Why?"