Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad by Scarlett Rossi
Chapter 290 -

*Olivia*

Tallon swung his arm around me as we headed back to the waiting room. Dahlia was sleeping peacefully, and my own exhaustion was beginning to catch up with me... or maybe it was the alcohol I had drank earlier. Either way, I was about ready to crash. I leaned against Tallon as he maneuvered his way through the halls, practically dragging me along.

The moment we entered the waiting room, I felt Giovani's gaze on me. As we made our way across the room, I felt the unusual mood of the group.

Gabriele was complacent as usual, but Giovani was more serious than normal. I noticed his eyes flickering to Tallon and frowned to myself. I couldn't make out much from his face, his emotions cleverly hidden like they always were. He was a wall of stone and cool as ice, even though I could clearly see the dark bags under his eyes and how tired he looked.

Alessandro, on the other hand, was full of emotions. There was anger, which was expected, but something weird too. He glanced between me and Tallon with distaste. Maybe it was jealousy?

But why would he be jealous of his own brother? Or maybe he was jealous of me?

I glanced at Tallon's arm around my neck and then Alessandro's unhappy look. Did he want a hug or something from Tallon?

"Hey," Tallon said, removing his arm from around me.

I was too tired to speak, so I just let him talk.

"How's Dahlia?" Giovani asked first.

"She's on some pretty strong painkillers, so she isn't feeling much pain for now," Tallon told him, softly. "She's asleep."

"Is she doing any better?" Alessandro stepped forward, a frown on his lips.

"She seemed okay. Mom and Dad said they'll be arriving in the morning to help take care of her. Are we okay with security?" Tallon asked Giovani.

Giovani nodded. "I have my best guards on watch, especially around her room. Nobody will try anything."

"Shouldn't somebody stay with her?" Alessandro frowned. "I don't want to leave her alone."

"The doctor said she'll be asleep for a while, like all of us should be. We'll only hinder her healing if we stay with her any longer. Let the doctors do their job, Alex," Tallon retorted firmly. "We should all think about going back to the compound. I still need a shower."

"I'd like to get some sleep," I tuned in as I suppressed a yawn behind my hand.

"Home it is then," Giovani nodded as he got to his feet. He sent a firm glance to Alessandro as he finished. "Will you take Tallon back with you? We'll take Olivia."

The two of them stared at one another, a silent conversation being exchanged. I looked between them, confused and a little startled at how their attitudes had shifted. They clearly knew something I didn't.

Alessandro sighed and nodded. He turned to Tallon with a no-nonsense look in his eyes.

"Tallon, ride back with me, will you?" Alessandro asked, sticking his hands into his pants pockets. "I need to talk to you."

The two brothers looked at one another, and I saw Tallon seemed just as confused as I was. But then it dawned on him-though I still had no clue what about.

His face fell, a slightly sick and pale look to him, before he gave just the bare minuscule of a nod.

"Yeah, alright," he sighed, then he lowered his voice to a whisper so I was the only one who heard. "This is gonna be uncomfortable."

Alessandro wrapped an arm around Tallon's shoulder, gazing down at him with a strained smile, "Then we'd better get going, little brother."

"Can't I say goodbye to Gio and Livi?" Tallon gave a sheepish smile, swirling out of Alessandro's arms to head toward me, but a hand gripped onto his shirt, keeping him in place. He reached his hands out to me with his wide puppy dog eyes. "Sorry," I murmured for him to hear, a little guilty, though I wasn't sure what he was trying to get out of. Clearly, there was something nobody was telling me.

That wasn't anything new, though. I'd spent my whole life without knowing my mother's employers used to be part of the mafia. Clearly, they were experts at hiding things from me.

"No," Alessandro said firmly before dragging Tallon along by his shirt.

"Come on, Alex! This is humiliating!" Tallon protested.

As they passed by me, Alessandro smiled softly at me, but Tallon quickly mouthed something that I thought was supposed to be, 'Help me.'

Unfortunately for him, he was the weaker and younger of the brothers, and he couldn't fight back.

Once they were gone, Giovani turned to me with a small smile.

"Coming with us then?" he asked, that small tilt of his lips sending a warm fluttering feeling to the pit of my stomach.

But Gabriele's eyes were still on us, so I just nodded, letting him grab my hand. I glanced at Gabriele a bit warily, but he didn't even seem focused on us as he led the way out of the hospital.

I was a bit out of it by now as Giovani led me to the car. He opened the door to the black sedan for me, and I got in as he went around. Gabriele got in the front seat, our designated driver, as I yawned.

The car rumbled to a start, and Giovani got in beside me. Once everyone was buckled, we pulled out of the parking lot and headed home.

When I yawned again, Giovani chuckled and grasped my hand. The moonlight and streetlights faded through the windows, zipping by as the car moved down the roads.

Now that I wasn't so stressed about Dahlia, I realized there was something nagging in the back of my head.

"I have a question," I muttered sleepily, turning to Giovani. "Why was Alessandro acting so weird?"

"Depends on what you mean by weird," he replied casually. "He's usually like that around me."

"But why? I don't get it," I frowned. "Why did it seem like he was taking this so personally with you?"

Giovani sighed, brushing his thumb against my hand as he gazed down at our intertwined hands. "Alessandro feels... robbed."

"Robbed?" I asked, bewildered. "Did you steal something from him?"

"In his eyes," he said with a chuckle, "he feels like I took something from him, and because Dahlia got hurt under my protection, he feels more vindicated now than ever. He's a real brat but he's still family."

I frowned. There was something fishy about the way he said that. I wanted to ask more, to press him for answers on what was between the two of them, but now didn't seem like the time.

I was exhausted, and I was betting he was too. Answers could wait until tomorrow.

"Should I be worried about you two?" I asked. "Is he going to start a fight or something?"

Giovani laughed and leaned over to grasp my chin. He pulled my gaze up to meet his, the humor in his eyes reflecting in mine.

"Of course not, carino." He purred the pet name, and I shivered at the look in his eyes. "He can try, but he's still too young to take me down. He's not dangerous to anyone but himself. I'll take care of it, so don't worry." "But how do you know?" I was breathless under his eyes, my whole body warming up as he kept me under a trance.

"It'll all be fine, I promise, carino," he said softly, a smile on his lips, before he leaned in. I was so entranced that our lips almost touched before I remembered there was another person in the car.

I darted my eyes to Gabriele, who was staring at the road, not even paying attention. But I knew he had most likely heard everything.

"It's fine," Giovani chuckled. "Gabriele is loyal, and he knows when to keep information to himself. Right, Gabe?"

Gabriele snorted but didn't say anything as he shifted in his seat. All of a sudden, a privacy screen began to roll up between the front and back seat, separating us.

"See? It's soundproof, too," he grinned. "So no excuses."

I laughed and met him halfway as I pressed my lips to his. I felt like it had been so long since I'd been with him, even though it had not even been a day. I relaxed into him, opening my mouth as he dove in like he was starving. One kiss turned into two and then three as we refused to break apart. My lungs screamed for air, and we finally broke apart, allowing me to take a huge gulp of oxygen.

With his hand on my waist, I wanted more. I glanced out the window as Gabriele stopped, I assumed at a red light.

I quickly unbuckled my seatbelt, and Giovani's eyes snapped to my waist as I pulled the restraint off.

"What are you doing?" he growled unhappily as I slid across the leather seats.

I felt his burning eyes on me, watching my every move as I lifted myself up and sat myself down in his lap.

I wiggled a bit, and I heard him growl as his hands went around my waist, holding me in place. His rock hard length was pressed against my ass.I leaned back against his muscled body as the car started moving again.

He held me in place, even without a seatbelt, and I was more than content to let him press me against him. With my legs spread wide and his in between them, we took up more than half the backseat.

"You should be buckled up," Giovani whispered in my ear, sending a delightful shiver down my spine.

I loved the feeling of his heated breath against my skin.

I giggled, leaning against his shoulder. "You can be my seatbelt then," I told him, laughing a bit from the absurd expression on his face.

He looked at me like I was a naughty kitten who'd escaped for the tenth time, but I could see the fondness buried in his eyes. He loved this just as much as I did.

He rolled his eyes, but I felt his hands clench even tighter around my waist. I settled into his arms happily. At the next stoplight, I felt him brush my hair over my shoulder, exposing my neck to him.

He laid soft kisses down my neck, and I shut my eyes, enjoying the feeling. I let the sensation of him all around me warm me up to the tips of my fingers, not caring about anything else for the moment. This is where I wanted to be. The exhaustion of everything else faded away around me until it was just me and him.

Only us.