Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad by Scarlett Rossi
Chapter 328 -

*Olivia*

It was the moment of truth. Was Tallon going to turn out to be as sleazy as Alessandro, or was he the nice guy that I truly believed him to be? My heart was pounding as I waited to replace out. "Hey, just so you know, I know about you and Giovani," Tallon said.

Where was he going with this? I was so terrified, I could feel my mouth going dry and my palms getting damp with sweat.

"Oh, yeah?" I asked, wanting him to reveal what he was thinking before I said anything more.

"And I wanted to tell you that your secret is safe with me. I know it's a delicate situation, and I'll give you as much time as you need to tell everyone, especially Dahlia. I know you're worried about what she might think, even though I don't think you really need to be. You know she cares about your happiness just as much as I do."

I sighed and felt like I was about to fall over with how relieved I was.

"Oh thank God," I said. "I was so scared you would be mad at me. I didn't know what I would do if both you AND Alessandro were pissed."

"Olivia, you're like a sister to me. I just want to see you happy. Does he make you happy?"

I nodded and grinned before rushing over to give him a huge hug. I couldn't believe I had ever doubted that he would be anything but kind about me and Gio being together. I should have known that I could trust that he really was a sweet guy. The bracelet he had bought me was glittering on my wrist; reminding me just how much he cared about my happiness.

He pulled back from the hug, the smile on his face mirroring my own. It felt so good to have someone who knew my secret but was on my side about it. I hadn't realized just how much Alessandro's actions had been stressing me out until this moment.

"You know, you make him happy too," Tallon said.

My heart leaped for joy. I didn't know how it was possible that a man so much more experienced in life would be happy with someone young and inexperienced like me, but hearing Tallon say I made Gio happy made me feel so much more secure in our relationship.

"You really think so?" I asked, realizing that for the first time, I could actually talk to a friend about my relationship and get good advice.

"Yeah, I can tell. He wouldn't put up with this shit from Alessandro for just anyone. And he's been in a really good mood these past few weeks. I was wondering why, and now that I know about you two, that explains it."

At a loss for words, I just reached out and hugged Tallon again.

"Thank you, Tallon. This means more than I could ever explain."

He patted my back and let me squeeze him for as long as I wanted. I had a feeling he could sense just how much I had needed a friend's approval over my relationship. I realized that a part of me had been feeling dirty about being with Gio because I had been so focused on hiding it. Now that Tallon knew about us and approved, I felt like we were one step closer to being a regular couple, and that's all I wanted.

I pulled away from Tallon as I heard Dahlia calling for me from her room. Tallon laughed. We had both noticed that she really enjoyed being able to sit in her room and yell for help. And because we were just happy she was safe and healthy, everyone had been accommodating her.

"You better go see what the principessa wants," he said, then patted me on the shoulder before going on his way.

I felt like a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders as I walked toward Dahlia's room. Tallon's acceptance of me and Gio made me wonder if I should just tell Dahlia about us. At this point, she was really the only one left who didn't know, and it sure would make Alessandro less annoying if he couldn't pull his blackmail shit anymore.

When I walked into Dahlia's room, she was sitting on her butt on the floor with a pile of colorful bikinis thrown all around her. She had obviously been in the middle of undressing when she started to look for the bikini she wanted, because her shirt was pulled up over one shoulder as if she had started to take it off and then got distracted. It was a hilarious sight to see.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

She turned toward me, looking frustrated. "I want to go out to the hot tub, but I can't replace my swimsuit."

"It looks like you've found dozens of swimsuits," I laughed.

"No, I'm looking for my strapless top. I don't want tan lines. And then I have a certain pair of bottoms that tie so they're easy to get on."

I just smiled and kneeled down beside her to help her search. It was no use arguing with her when she got like this; it was easier to just go along. After a few minutes of digging, I found the top she was looking for.

"Yay!" she clapped her hands together. "Well, at least I won't have tan lines. I guess I can just wear these bottoms. I have no idea what happened to the other ones. Do you want to come out with me?"

"Definitely, I could use a bit of relaxation. Let me go get my swimsuit," I told her. A morning in the hot tub sounded heavenly after the stressful past few days we'd been having.

"Oh don't be silly, just grab one of these. We're the same size anyway."

I looked around at the skimpy bikinis scattered across the floor and raised my eyebrows. Dahlia and I might have similar fashion sense, but she was far more daring when it came to revealing skin than I was. At first, I thought about insisting on running to get my own suit, but then I thought, 'Fuck it. Who's going to see anyway?' I supposed that was the beauty of living in the compound. We had a lot more privacy than most people were used to having. Without worrying about it too much, I grabbed the top and bottoms nearest me and went to Dahlia's bathroom to put them on.

The top was definitely showing WAY more cleavage than I normally would, and the bottoms were nearly nonexistent, but I had to be honest, I looked pretty hot. The Italian sunshine had been doing wonders for my complexion, and all the croissants and gelato had given my ass a little more shape than it usually had. A little thrill went through me as I wondered if we would run into Gio on the way to the hot tub. If he saw me in this, he would definitely be thinking about me for the rest of the day. I made a mental note to buy a skimpy swimsuit like this for myself. Maybe one day Gio and I would be able to take a trip to the beach, just the two of us.

I left the bathroom to replace Dahlia in a suit just as revealing as the one she had given me, and we made our way to the hot tub. She hissed as she lowered herself into the water, and I worried that it was hurting her. It was a much cooler day than usual for it being summer, but I didn't want her to overheat.

"Are you alright?" I asked, ready to help her back out if needed.

"Yeah, this feels amazing actually. My ribs have been acting up all day, but this helps a lot."

She sank further into the water and laid her head back on the side. I got in carefully so I wouldn't splash her. The water really wasn't that warm at all. But she was right; the movement of the water did feel amazing. I followed her lead and laid my head back too, closing my eyes and just taking in the calming warmth of the water.

I started to daydream about going to the beach with Giovani and lying next to him on the sand. His olive-toned skin would look amazing with the sun shining down on him. I imagined how it would feel to have him rub sunscreen all over me and thought about how much I would enjoy rubbing sunscreen onto his muscled back, feeling it flex beneath my hands.

"Hey, Olive," Dahlia said, pulling me out of my meditative state.

I blinked and forced myself back to reality, looking at her. She had a strange expression on her face and my stomach sank, worried about what she was going to say. Had Tallon told her before I got the chance to? I didn't think he would lie to me like that.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"Do you have a thing for Alessandro?"

I was so surprised by what she was asking that I just sat there staring at her. Why in the world would she think I had a thing for Alessandro? Of all the people in the house, he was the one I was most annoyed with lately and had been trying to actively avoid.

"Alessandro?" I laughed, the thought so absurd that I couldn't take it seriously. "No, not at all. Not in a million years. Why are you asking?"

"I just... I've noticed the way he looks at you. And you've been acting kind of weird around him lately."

She narrowed her eyes at me as if she was trying to read my mind. I held her eye contact so she would know I wasn't lying to her.

"No, there's nothing between me and Alessandro. Honestly, I kind of just think of him as family," I told her, and it was the truth. Family that was currently annoying the absolute shit out of me-but she didn't need to hear that.

"Well, I wanted to let you know that it wouldn't bother me, if, you know, if you two wanted to get together. I know some people think that's weird, their friend dating their brother. But I don't. If you liked him, I wouldn't mind."

Her words resonated with me more than she realized. It wasn't a relationship with Alessandro that I was afraid she'd be angry about, but maybe what she was saying indicated that she would be okay with me and Giovanni too. I wondered if now was the time to come clean about us. She was relaxed, she was thinking about me dating her family members... maybe this was the perfect time.

"Dahlia, I'm not into Alessandro at all, but..." I trailed off, losing my courage.

"But what?" she asked, clearly curious about what I had been planning to say next.

"But I do really appreciate you being okay with it, if that was a thing. It means a lot to me that you'd understand."

I had chickened out. I didn't want to ruin our perfect morning by bringing up my relationship with Gio. But I had the feeling that the time to tell Dahlia the truth was coming soon.