Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad by Scarlett Rossi
Chapter 348 -

*Olivia*

I yawned as I lounged across the long leather couch in the living room. Some random cartoon was playing entirely in Italian, and I was only catching a few words here and there as I stared blankly at the screen.

I didn't really get the cartoon about the human-like chickens. In fact, it was pretty creepy to watch, but it was mindless entertainment, and that was enough for now.

"Why does he still have the eggshell on his head?" Dahlia questioned, baffled, as she glanced up from her phone to see what we were watching.

My head lay on her lap like a pillow, my gaze focused on the TV as the baby chicken began to wash itself with soap, revealing it was a white chicken and not black.

"I dunno," I shrugged, suppressing a yawn. It was a lazy afternoon, and I felt like I finally understood cats who lazed about while sunbathing. Something about the light peering through the window, warming you up, just made you sleepy. "Where are Tallon and Alessandro?" I asked, attempting for some conversation so I wouldn't pass out right there.

"Dunno." She shrugged. "They went out and wouldn't tell me what for. Said they'd be back with a present." "Better be good," I remarked.

We didn't have to wait long because as the next episode of the same cartoon began, the front door opened and a loud sing-song voice called out, "Look what we got!"

"In the living room!" Dahlia shouted back, drowning the little chicken noises out with her loud mouth.

I tilted my head to see an upside-down Tallon enter, a huge grin on his face, though it looked more like a frown from where I was seeing it.

"Why's that chick got an eggshell on its head?" he asked, confused, as soon as he stepped in.

"Thank you!" Dahlia threw her arms up.

"Just go with it." I rolled my eyes, heaving with effort as I pulled myself into a sitting position. I stretched my back, moving back and forth until I heard my bones cracking with satisfaction.

"What's the surprise?" I asked, sliding on the couch until I was facing them. My eyes went to Tallon's hands, but they were empty.

"Alessandro's got it," Tallon grinned. "He wanted to make amends, so he got a present for you."

"Permission to enter?" Alessandro called out from the hallway, and I rolled my eyes at the hesitance in his voice. After figuring out he had been a major asshole to everybody for weeks, Alessandro had thankfully come to his senses after his kidnapping.

Not only had he apologized, but he had done it nearly a dozen times despite everybody having forgiven him.

Well, Dahlia was still keeping him on the hook. But I suspected that was more of her getting to use him as a slave than actually being mad still.

"I told you we already forgave you," I reminded him firmly. "There's no need to keep apologizing."

His head poked into the room, a grin on his face as he looked at me and then Dahlia, "One last time, I swear."

"Olive said no," Dahlia said firmly. "So get out!"

Alessandro pouted, stepping fully on the edge of the room and revealing a tray full of cups of goodness in his hands. I saw the logo on the pink and white cups and I froze in disbelief. Was that....

"I bought gelato," he said, sadly like a kicked puppy.

"Apology accepted!" Dahlia grinned. "Now, gimme!"

I hesitated as Alessandro stepped inside, unsure of how to feel. The last time I'd had gelato, it hadn't gone well. I wasn't sure if I had the stomach for it anymore.

I could still smell the blood sometimes, lingering in my nightmares.

Alessandro handed over a cup full of a red and white swirled gelato to Dahlia, nearly losing a finger in the process as she snatched it with a hungry look.

She would have been drooling right then if she didn't have some class left in her. She took a huge spoonful, shoveled it into her mouth, and moaned in delight. "God's gift to humankind," Dahlia said, wiping away a pretend tear from the corner of her eye.

"Livi." Alessandro gave me a smile that was a bit strained as he handed me a different cup.

I flinched, avoiding looking directly at it for fear that I'd see just red, but I knew how utterly ridiculous that sounded.

I was not going to let those fucking Russians ruin this for me.

I took a deep breath, finally taking the cup, and I blinked in surprise as I stared down at the gelato. It wasn't red.

It was green, with little black dots sprinkled in.

My eyes lit up as I realized exactly what holy grail I was holding.

"Mint chocolate chip, your favorite," Alessandro grinned.

"Thank you." I smiled up at him sincerely, my whole body bubbling with excitement as I scooped up a huge bite of the gelato.

The flavor burst onto my tongue, the minty chocolatey goodness exploding into my every taste bud. It was so good, I felt my eyes watering from the sheer happiness I felt tasting the real Italian gelato in my favorite flavor. My life was now complete.

Alessandro and Tallon took seats on the floor next to the coffee table, both grabbing their own cups of gelato. The TV show of the weird chicken was soon forgotten as Alessandro said, "I wanted to apologize for how I treated you and Giovani, Olivia, especially you. I probably made you uncomfortable, didn't I?"

Well, that was one way to put it.

"You were kind of an asshole," I said bluntly, but I smiled at him. "But you came around in the end, so it's okay."

He laughed, shuffling his spoon around in his cup. There was a melancholy look in his eyes, a regret that no assurances seemed to be able to heal.

"I still can't believe Giovani sacrificed himself the way he did, even after everything I put him through," Alessandro sighed regretfully. "He should've just let the Russians have me."

I frowned, not liking that thought one bit. I wished he could forgive himself as easily as we had, but I knew it would take time. He may have made a mistake, one that jeopardized his relationships with his friends and family, but he was still young, just like the rest of us.

I couldn't fault him for doing something stupid because we'd all done dumb shit. He just had to accept what he did and learn from it. I was already seeing some progress in how he was making amends, but he still had a long way to go. This wasn't the last time one of us would do something we would regret, I figured, but just like Alessandro, we had to have each other's backs when one of us fucked up.

That was what being family meant.

"Giovani would've done the same for any one of us," I said softly, smiling at him to break the self-deprecating cloud over his head. "You don't need to beat yourself up about it, so long as you know what kind of man he is now." "I tried to tell you Gio wasn't what you thought, but does anybody listen to Tallon?" Tallon remarked, rolling his eyes. "Nooo."

"I know. I see that now." Alessandro slumped, twirling his spoon in his slowly melting gelato. "I wish I hadn't been such an ass. I can't believe he's letting me stay and work for him after everything I've done."

"Of course he is," I beamed. "He's glad to have you on board. Besides, you still need to catch that bastard who kidnapped both you and Dolly. I don't want anyone else getting kidnapped or hurt." Alessandro smirked. "I'll make him pay for it. Don't worry about that."

"Well, I'm happy you're staying." Dahlia grinned, her spoon hanging out of her mouth. "I like being able to annoy you."

"And keep him as a slave," Tallon coughed into his hand.

"That too," Dahlia smirked.

Alessandro rolled his eyes, finally taking a bite of his melted gelato. I laughed at the warm atmosphere around us. I was glad all the tension was gone, that the awkwardness between us had dissipated, and it felt like we were back to like we were when we were kids again, when all of us were on the same page.

The bond between us was something I never wanted to lose.

"Knock, knock." A deep voice called out, and I glanced up from my gelato to see Giovani standing there, his arms crossed as he leaned on the doorway. He was smiling softly at the four of us, a soft content in his eyes. "Olivia, I need to borrow you for a moment," he said.

"Oooh, kissy time." Dahlia wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

"Please keep it PG in shared living spaces," Tallon said. "Otherwise, I might puke."

"Oh, you two, stop that," I said with a laugh. I could feel my face starting to turn red, but I looked up at Giovani anyway. "What is it?"

"I have something to show you." He smiled, holding out his arm like a proper gentleman.

I took it gladly, finishing the last bite of my gelato and throwing the cup into the trash can as we passed by the kitchen.

He took us down the hall of the ground floor, past where Dahlia's room was, and we came to a pair of gorgeous red double doors. He opened the door, and my jaw dropped.

Inside was a beautiful ensuite bedroom with multiple rooms connected. The section we had entered was a sitting place with a massive fireplace made of marble stone and large windows overlooking a garden of roses.

There were doors leading to other rooms, but just this one alone was the entire size of my bedroom upstairs.

"It's beautiful," I gushed, but then I turned to him with a frown. "But why are you showing this to me?"

He smirked, gently caressing my cheek before he turned me around, hugging me from behind. The warmth of his body bled into mine, and I leaned into him happily as I took in the room with awe.

"Well," Giovani whispered into my ear, "I was hoping it could be for us."

I stiffened, the shock hitting me as I turned in his arms to face him. He was smiling brightly at me, with such love in his eyes.

I realized exactly what he meant. "What?" I choked out, unable to believe my ears.

"I woke up with you today, Olivia, and I realized that I want to do that every day." He brushed my hair behind my ear, gentle as always. "I figured since you're staying, we could move into this room together, but only if you want to. The decision is yours."

In my absolutely flabbergasted shock, I forgot how to actually breathe. Giovani had promised things would be different, and he had delivered on that in a big way.

There was only one answer I could give him.

"Yes."