Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad by Scarlett Rossi
Chapter 288 -

*Olivia*

I glanced unsurely at Alessandro. There was something in his expression that I didn't like, something that told me I shouldn't leave him alone with Giovani right now.

His behavior earlier had shocked me. I'd never heard him yell at someone with so much malice before. It sounded like he really hated Giovani for some reason, which didn't make much sense to me. Giovani caught my eye and nodded at me with a small smile. "Tell her I'm glad she's okay," he said softly. I heard the unspoken words underneath it-it's okay, you can go, his eyes shouted at me. I bit my bottom lip before nodding.

Gabriele was still here. He would stop anything bad from happening between the two. Alessandro wasn't stupid enough to start a fight here, was he?

Gabriele nodded to me as I passed, and I pushed past the doors before realizing I hadn't gotten her room number.

I didn't have to walk too far before I caught the familiar face of the doctor we'd spoken to earlier. She smiled at me as I approached.

"Hello. You're here to see Miss Valentino?" she asked in a friendly tone.

I relaxed at how welcoming she seemed, and I nodded with a smile.

"Room 106, not too far." She pointed down the hall.

"Thank you," I told her as she left, probably to check on some other patient. I glanced at the room numbers as I passed by until I found 106.

I took a deep breath as I stood outside of the room and then gently pushed on the handle to open it. The room was just like any other hospital room-white everything. A curtain was pulled around the bed, but I could hear low voices speaking as I took a step inside.

A TV mounted to the wall played some random Italian cartoon. I smiled at the thought. Most likely they wouldn't have any of the dramas she liked.

I stepped past the curtain hesitantly, and I caught my first glance of Dahlia.

The bed was pulled up so it looked like she was nearly sitting up despite actually laying down. There were tubes hooked up to her, a bag of some clear fluid and other beeping monitors.

I glanced at the heart monitor, one that kept its steady beeping. Where she wasn't covered by the hospital gown, I spotted bruises along the side of her face and the cast on her arm. Tears shot to my eyes as I realized how fragile she really looked.

Tallon grinned, sitting in the chair beside her bed holding her hand, and the two of them turned to me as I entered.

"Olive." Dahlia beamed with a huge smile.

And that simple word was like TNT hitting the dam, an explosion that broke open the waterworks. I sobbed, tears pouring out of my eyes.

"D-Dol-Dolly," I wailed through my sobs, my vision going blurry as I broke down standing in the middle of her hospital room.

"Come on, now." I heard Dahlia's voice through my tears. "If you start crying, then you know I'm going to start crying, and then it'll just be a whole mess."

"Sorry," I whispered, swallowing my emotions as I wiped the tears from my face. I gently hugged her and then found my way to the chair next to her bed and sat down heavily, still sniffling as I tried to calm down.

"Hey." Dahlia smiled, her eyes a bit wet as she reached her casted arm out for me. I grabbed onto the bright pink cast, her fingers closing around mine as much as they could.

"I'm so sorry," I sobbed, my eyes on the cast and bruises around her other wrist. "If I hadn't left you there-if I had just-"

"Don't you dare, Olivia," Dahlia said sharply. Her voice was so harsh that a hiccup fell out of my mouth. I glanced at her, stunned.

"You listen to me," Dahlia said angrily, pulling my hand into her lap so I was forced to move closer. "I don't care what anyone says, including you. This is not your fault. I'm glad you weren't there. I'm glad you went home when you did, because the only thing worse than getting kidnapped would be if you had been kidnapped with me."

"But-" I started.

"No buts!" she scolded me, firmly. "If you had been there, and we'd both gotten taken, then your skinny ass would have started crying, and they'd have hit you to shut you up, and I'd have to try to kill them for hurting you, and we'd both ended up shot and dead before they could come rescue us. A few bruises and some broken ribs are nothing compared to you getting hurt. The gunshot wound isn't that bad."

"Dolly." My lower lip wobbled as I tried with all my might not to cry.

She grinned. "Besides, I wasn't going to let you pay for my family's alleged crimes," Dahlia said firmly. "So no more apologizing, okay? You do it again and I'll call your mom and my mom to talk some sense into you." "Okay." I laughed wetly, brushing the tears from my eyes.

She'd follow through with it, too. She didn't blame me, and deep down, I'd known she wouldn't.

All I wanted was to pull her into a tight hug, but I glanced at the wires and injuries she carried hesitantly. Dahlia glanced at me and then huffed.

"I know this is impossible for you, but the doctor said no real hugs until the stitches are out." Dahlia sent me a grin.

Damn. I pouted, itching to throw my arms around her again, but if I ended up hurting her, I'd never forgive myself. I settled with squeezing her hand, sending her a teary smile.

"Now that we've gotten that reunion taken care of," Tallon grinned mischievously, "where's Alessandro gone now?"

"He said he wanted to talk to Giovani," I told him.

"I'm surprised he went back so easily considering the scene he threw in the waiting room," Tallon laughed.

Dahlia groaned, throwing her head back. "That bad?"

"He cussed Giovani out in front of a bunch of kids." I frowned unhappily. "He was really upset."

"Upset? Try furious." Tallon rolled his eyes. "He needs to get a handle on his temper, cause damn."

"Try telling him that," Dahlia huffed, "I'd pay to see it."

"He won't try to start a fight with Giovani, will he?" I looked at Tallon worriedly.

"No way," Dahlia snorted. "Gabriele would have his ass on the floor if he tried. I bet they're just trying to figure out what to do now."

"Yeah," Tallon nodded in agreement. "They're talking about who to kill and how to bring the Russians down, normal mafia stuff... oh, and what to do with you now, Livi." "Me?" I gasped.

"Yeah. You know the family secret now. Can't have that getting out," Tallon smirked. "But don't worry. We like you, so we won't kill you for it."

Dahlia burst into laughter and then winced, laying a hand on her side. She grinned at me with sparkling eyes, her amusement clear as day. "You figured it out?" "Of course not," Tallon snorted. "We had to freaking spell it out for her."

"Hey." I blushed deeply.

"Oh, that's hilarious," Dahlia laughed. "I'm honestly surprised it took you this long to catch on."

"I'm not," Tallon smirked, "You're always been a little dense, Livi."

"Have not!" I gasped.

"Have too," Dahlia and Tallon responded in perfect unison, sending me matching grins.

It was times like these that I was reminded that they really were siblings.

"Alright, alright, sorry for teasing you, Livi," Tallon said in a baby voice, then he glanced at Dahlia with a small smile. "Mom and Dad are on their way."

"I was kinda expecting them to be here first," Dahlia said. "What took them so long?"

"Well, Dad kinda had to stop Mom from taking the first flight." Tallon rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "He didn't want her to do something rash and cause you to get hurt. Plus, they were still on that cruise thing, remember? It was for the charity. Took them a whole day just to get back to shore."

"Ah." Dahlia nodded in understanding.

"But once they get here, I doubt they'll leave you alone for a single second, so good luck with that," Tallon smirked.

"You're just jealous I get Mom's specialty care and you don't," Dahlia said proudly as she stuck out her tongue at him.

He rolled his eyes. "You do realize that they're never going to let you go abroad ever again, right? You'll be living with them until you're thirty."

"Oh." Dahlia froze in place, all the humor falling off of her face as she suddenly paled. "Oh shit."

"Oh, shit's right," Tallon grinned. "Sorry, but you're officially grounded, sis."

Dahlia sighed, "It could be worse, I guess. I kinda learned my lesson on hooking up with random guys anyway. It might be good to be celibate for a while, even if he was like an Adonis in human skin. God, I'm gonna miss his-" "Dahlia!" Tallon glared at her. "I don't want to hear about anything having to do with your sex life. In fact, I don't want to hear about you even having a sex life."

"Prude," Dahlia huffed.

"Nympho," Tallon stuck his tongue out at her.

"Virgin," Dahlia shot back.

"You so know I'm not-" Tallon snapped, but then he paused as he noticed Dahlia yawning into her hand.

"You okay, Dolly?" I asked worriedly as I noticed her eyes fluttering closed and then back open.

"They gave her some drugs. They said it might make her pass out," Tallon explained quietly. "I didn't think it'd take effect this soon."

"I'm fine," Dahlia waved her hand. "Just a bit sleepy. Getting shot takes a lot of out of you, y'know?"

"Not funny," I glared at her.

"Too soon?" She smiled, then yawned again.

"Alright, you better get some sleep," I told her firmly. I grasped the remote for the TV, turning it off, and then grabbed the remote for her bed.

"Nah, I wanna party still," Dahlia slurred, her eyes falling shut.

I lowered her bed, leaving it a bit high like she liked before turning to Tallon.

"Get her another pillow will you?" I asked him, and he nodded, heading straight for the closet. We were lucky she had been placed in one of the high-end, private rooms they had, probably due to Giovani pulling some strings, I supposed. Tallon handed me the pillow, and I fluffed it out before sticking it under her head. She sighed in relief, her eyes barely opening as she glanced at me softly.

"You'll leave me?" she asked, gently squeezing my hand.

"We'll come back to check on you soon, I promise," I told her. "So just-"

Her head fell to the side before I finished. She was completely out. I laughed quietly, glancing at Tallon, who smirked.

I held her hand a little longer, brushing my hands down her cast.

She was okay. We got her back.