Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad by Scarlett Rossi
Chapter 332 -

*Olivia*

Dahlia left me to get dressed, practically bouncing with excitement on her way out. I wondered how she had known that she'd be able to convince me to go out. It seemed like she could damn near convince me to do anything. But if I was being honest with myself, I kind of loved it. Her carefree attitude and determination to keep living her life no matter what happened was a good reminder that I couldn't spend the rest of my life being so scared, especially if I hoped to have any kind of future with Giovani. Danger was just going to be a part of my life. I hoped it would be a small part, but I had already learned that there were no guarantees.

I pulled on the little black dress that Dahlia had picked for me and looked at myself in amazement. Somehow she had managed to replace a dress that hugged my body so well it looked like it had been tailored to my exact measurements. It had a structured bodice that pushed my boobs up just enough to make them look phenomenal, and it came down to the middle of my thighs, just short enough to be sexy but not so short as to look inappropriate. I had no idea how a simple black dress could make me look so good, but Dahlia had always had a shopping superpower. She was amazing at spotting gorgeous clothes that she knew I'd love, and this dress was no exception. The fabric was clearly extremely expensive with a lace overlay that looked to be handmade.

I did a slow spin in front of the mirror to admire myself and make sure that I looked how I wanted. I had decided to pull my hair up into a simple twist with just a few strands framing my face. My makeup was a classic smokey eye that complimented the dress perfectly. I wasn't usually one to get caught up in my looks, but I really did feel exceptionally beautiful.

I just wished that I was going to dinner with Gio instead of Alessandro.

I completed my look with a simple chain necklace that matched the bracelet Tallon had given me, then headed downstairs to replace Dahlia. I realized that she might need help getting her hair done. I wasn't sure how well she could raise her arms with her injury.

On my way to Dahlia's room, I glanced into the kitchen and realized Giovani was standing right there, just staring at me. I desperately wanted to know what he thought about my outfit, but I walked past as if I hadn't even noticed him there. If he wanted us to be a secret, then we'd be a secret.

I wasn't truly angry with him anymore, but I wasn't happy either. If he had agreed that we could just out our relationship, he could be coming to dinner with us right now.

I peeked into Dahlia's room and saw that I had been right; she was struggling to get her hair done. I could tell she was frustrated as she kept having to take breaks to give her ribs a rest from stretching. "You need some help in here?" I asked.

She turned back toward me, an expression of relief on her face.

"Ugh, yes," she said. "My stupid ribs are almost healed, but it just hurts to hold my hands up for too long."

"That's what friends are for," I said, brushing my hand through her silky hair. Then I added, "Maybe if you'd stop jumping on beds." She narrowed her gaze at me, and we both laughed.

She had almost finished putting her hair into a half-up, half-down style, so I was able to complete what she had started in only a few minutes. As I worked, she finished putting on her makeup. She had gone with a bright pink lipstick that matched the sequins on her dress.

When I was finished with her hair, she stood up so I could get the full effect of her outfit. As always, she was stunning. She wore a multi-colored sequined dress that would have looked gaudy on someone else, but on her it complimented her sun-kissed skin beautifully. She completed the outfit with a pair of shoes in the same pink as her lipstick. I loved that our outfits perfectly matched our personalities-hers bold and outgoing, and mine simple but lovely. "Alright, you ready?" she asked, once again filled with excitement now that we had managed to get her hair under control.

"Definitely!" We linked arms and wandered out to the kitchen, looking for Tallon and Alessandro.

Alessandro was in the middle of talking to Giovani when we walked out. I wondered if I would ever feel comfortable to see the two of them interacting. There was just so much bad history between the two of them at this point. It was hard to imagine we could ever go back to all being friends.

"Don't worry, we'll keep them safe," Alessandro had been saying when we walked up.

"Oh, I know you will," Gio responded, sounding a little irritated. "There's no other option."

"My team's going to shadow us all night, and you know they're the best." Alessandro seemed to be ignoring Giovani's irritable attitude. I hoped that was a good sign for how the evening was going to go.

"They better be. We certainly pay them enough." Gio turned toward me and Dahlia. His eyes lingered on me, but only for a moment. He was keeping up the facade even though Dahlia was the only one in the room who didn't know about us. I didn't understand why he was so determined to keep us a secret, but I supposed I had to respect his wishes. After all, he had put up with a lot of shit from Alessandro just because I had wanted to keep things quiet about us. "You girls look beautiful," Gio said, then looked at me meaningfully.

I smiled back at him, hoping he'd come visit me later.

"You really do," Alessandro added.

I wanted to roll my eyes, but I forced myself not to. It wouldn't be a fun night if Alessandro and I were at each other's throats the whole time. For Dahlia's sake, I could play nice.

Alessandro walked toward me and held out the crook of his arm, encouraging me to unlink myself from Dahlia and grab his arm instead. Now the asshole was pushing it. I clenched my jaw, then forced a smile back onto my face and took his arm. 'This is for Dahlia,' I reminded myself.

We said our goodbyes to Giovani, then Tallon and Alessandro escorted Dahlia and me to the black SUV that was waiting for us in the driveway. Alessandro drove and his team of men followed behind us in another SUV. I knew that the protection detail should have made me feel safer, but instead, it just reminded me that it really was dangerous for us to be going out.

We arrived at a small restaurant with lights strung up around a courtyard. There was a small fountain in the middle of the tables and a string quartet played in the corner. I was enchanted by the whole scene. This was exactly the kind of place I had envisioned having dinners with Dahlia when we had been planning our big move to Italy.

The owner of the restaurant had been expecting us and came out to greet us and lead us to our table. I felt like royalty as he helped us to our seats then asked Alessandro what wine we'd like to start with. Alessandro looked around the table expectantly, but we were all content to drink whatever the owner thought would taste the best. He ended up bringing out a bottle of cabernet that I was sure had a shocking price tag. After giving Alessandro a taste, he poured a glass for all of

us.

"Remember that time we broke into Mom's wine cellar and drank like two thousand dollars worth of wine?" Alessandro said before taking a small sip.

Dahlia chuckled at the memory. "The worst part was we didn't even like how it tasted," she laughed. "What teenagers want to drink red wine?"

"I can't believe you two," Tallon chastised them mockingly.

"Yeah right. You just can't believe they didn't invite you along," I said.

Tallon grinned. "Well, that's true, but I remember when they got in trouble for that, and I can say that I'm very glad I didn't get involved."

"What did she do?" I asked. I was surprised I didn't know this story. I had been around for so much of their childhood, it often felt like I had been a part of their household.

"Let's just say, that wine cellar had never been so clean," Dahlia said.

"She made us clean the dust off of every single bottle with nothing more than a couple of toothbrushes!" Alessandro said, "It took us hours!"

"Hm, that sounds like a small price to pay," I laughed. I knew how wild they had been as teenagers.

"You don't know how bad that wine tasted! It got us drunk, but it was NOT worth hours of manual labor, let me tell you that!" Dahlia exclaimed.

We all cracked up at that. I'd had a few sips of wine and could feel my entire body relaxing into the evening. We ordered, and then I glanced over at Dahlia seeing that her cheeks were turning pink, and I realized that she had already downed her entire glass of wine. Our waiter materialized and poured her a fresh glass as if he had just been standing in the shadows waiting. I supposed that probably was exactly what he had been doing. One thing I had learned from my mom was that when wealthy people pay you to do something, you do that thing exceptionally well.

Before we could get too hungry, our food arrived. It smelled heavenly and looked even better. I dug in as soon as everyone had been served, not caring whether or not I looked ladylike as I shoveled pasta into my mouth. Everyone else seemed to feel the same way as the table fell into silence, and only the sound of scraping silverware filled the air.

"I think this is the best pasta I've ever had in my life," Tallon interrupted the silence.

He slurred the 'S' in pasta, and I giggled when I realized he was drunk. His cheeks were pink, and his eyes were slightly glazed over. I turned to Dahlia to laugh about how drunk Tallon already was, then realized that she looked just as trashed. "It really is," she responded to Tallon enthusiastically, nodding her head so wildly that one of her bobby pins fell out, and a few strands of hair shook loose.

I turned to Alessandro and realized that he was just as amused as I was over their drunken states. We shared knowing grins, and I half expected him to say something snarky, but he didn't. He just smiled and looked back down at his food. It was such a relief to see this side of Alessandro again, the side of him that I had known growing up. I wondered if maybe he would get back to his old self now that he realized that I was totally off the market. I looked up and smiled at him again.

"It's been a nice night," he said, and I could tell he was being genuine.

"Yeah, it really has," I responded. Happiness warmed me from the inside out.

"Oh, just kiss already," Dahlia slurred.

I saw Alessandro's shoulders stiffen at her words, but Tallon just clapped a hand over his mouth and began laughing so hard he nearly fell out of his chair. His laughter kept me from taking what Dahlia had said too seriously, and before long, I found myself laughing too. Alessandro relaxed a bit, and I could see he wanted to just ignore what Dahlia had said, but he managed to let out a chuckle.

It was almost a perfect night. The only thing that would have made it better would be to have Gio at my side. I wondered if we would ever be able to openly go on dates.

I really hoped so.