Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad by Scarlett Rossi
Chapter 365 -

*Olivia*

The only thing standing between me and a week of bliss was the last fifteen minutes of my art lecture. The entire day had been torturously long, but this particular class was the worst of them all simply because I knew how close I was to being finished. I tried to force myself to take notes, especially since this was normally one of my favorite courses, but I couldn't stop daydreaming about the trip Gio was taking me on. I only caught every third sentence that my professor was saying, but I didn't care.

All I cared about was me and Gio getting alone time for an entire week. I had no idea where he might take me, and it was making it even more difficult to focus on anything other than the trip because I kept running all of the possibilities through my head. And there were a ton of possiblities. We were in Italy, after all, so the majority of Europe was just a short plane ride away. Hell, Giovani had connections all over the world. Maybe limiting my ideas to Europe was too small.... Finally, I gave up on trying to pay attention at all and just decided to try to figure out where in the world Giovani was taking me. I was practically giddy as I stopped note taking and started writing out a list of possible trip locations. As I was writing, I felt the back of my neck prickle as though someone was watching me from behind. My first instinct was to freeze, but I didn't want to be that person who froze in fear every time a little danger came my way. I glanced around, trying to play it off as a stretch.

'Oh thank god,' I thought as my whole body relaxed.

It was Caterina, just the girl who had run into me yesterday, staring at me. When she saw that I was looking back at her, she quickly dropped her eyes to her paper. Her cheeks flushed slightly with the embarrassment of being caught. I had noticed at the beginning of class that she had been actively avoiding me, going so far as to sit three rows behind her usual seat just to get farther away. Anxiety formed a small knot in my stomach; I hated being on bad terms with anyone, but it was probably for the best that I didn't form any close friendships with anyone right now. I couldn't afford to let my guard down until I knew exactly who was posing a threat to me.

Finally, the lecture ended. I quickly gathered my things and nodded at my bodyguard to let him know I was ready to go. I practically ran out to the car waiting to pick Dahlia and me up.

I giggled to myself; I hadn't been this excited in a very long time. It was nice to feel something other than a creeping sense of dread.

Somehow Dahlia was already in the car by the time I got there. I swore she could teleport the way she zoomed from place to place. She insisted she was just great at replaceing shortcuts.

"So... where are you and Gio going next week?" she asked as soon as I had shut the door behind me.

"I have no idea, and it's killing me!" I replied. "It could be anywhere. He didn't even tell me what to pack or anything, so I have no clues to go off of. He just keeps looking at me with that little secretive smile of his."

I tugged at a piece of thread hanging off of my backpack and spun it through my fingers, trying to burn some of my excited energy. Although Gio and I had moved past the point of needing to put on any kind of front for each other, I still wanted to seem sexy and sophisticated for him, especially now that we were going on our first trip together. I didn't think giggling and bouncing up and down like a kid on Christmas morning was particularly sexy or sophisticated. "This is a big step in your relationship, you know," Dahlia said while glancing at me sideways.

She was more experienced than me, but mostly because of the sheer number of men that she dated, not because she had really been in anything long-term. Even still, that wouldn't stop her from giving me advice as if she was an old married

woman.

"Why's that?" I asked, although I did agree with her that this was a big step.

"Because you know what they say about traveling with someone," she explained. "It's how you figure out if you really like them or not. You see them in the most stressful of circumstances while also being with them in the most fun ones as well. You and Gio are about to see the total spectrum of your emotions."

I nodded, knowing Dahlia well enough to wait a few seconds to make sure she was totally finished with what she was saying. Just as I thought she would, she took a breath before continuing to talk.

"And I know what you're about to say-Dolly, we've already seen each other in the best and worst of times. And I'll admit, having to get through multiple kidnappings together is definitely stressful, but that's nothing compared to the stress of traveling somewhere and getting food poisoning but only having one bathroom in the hotel room!"

I burst into horrified laughter at the thought of having to deal with food poisoning in a hotel room while Giovani was there. But even though the thought was horrible, I also knew that if something like that did happen, Gio would be amazing through it. He would hold my hair back and replace me medicine and do his best to not make me feel awkward about violently shitting in the same small space that we were sleeping in.

"Well, we might not have had to deal with food poisoning, but I can say that traveling here with you has solidified how much I appreciate our friendship," I told Dahlia.

She reached out and squeezed my hand.

"I'm so glad we're here together," she said quietly.

We both sat in silence for the rest of the ride home, lost in our thoughts about everything we had been through and wondering what was yet to come. By the time we pulled up to the compound, I had managed to get my jittery excitement out and was confident that I had managed to get to the sexy and sophisticated version of me that I wanted to be on this trip.

That was, until we pulled up and Giovani was waiting outside for us with my suitcases next to him and a glass of champagne in his hand.

As usual, he was dressed in a suit and tie that were tailored to fit him perfectly. No matter how many times I saw him naked, I couldn't get over how incredibly hot he was when he was dressed up like that. He looked like a powerful man who could take charge of any situation, and it was even better because he backed it up with his attitude. The fact that a man like that was holding me in his arms every night made me weak at the knees.

"Oh. My. God!" Dahlia exclaimed. "That is the most goddamn adorable thing I have ever seen."

I couldn't help it, I clapped my hands together in excitement. Sexy and sophisticated be damned, this was the most amazingly romantic thing that Giovani had done since we started seeing each other. I had no idea how he would even manage to top it.

Before I could open my door, Gio ran around the side of the car to open it for me.

"Hello, beautiful," he said before planting a kiss on my cheek. "I hope you're ready for the best week ever."

He handed me the champagne, but I didn't even need to take a sip in order to feel buzzed; the happiness of this moment alone was giving me a head rush.

"I can't wait!" I said, bouncing on the balls of my feet.

I moved a little too enthusiastically, and my champagne sloshed down the side of the glass. Giovani chuckled and pressed his hand on my cheek so that he could gaze into my eyes.

"I love seeing you so happy, carino. I will spend the rest of my days trying to always make you feel like this."

His words warmed my heart and left me speechless. I had no idea what I had done to deserve such a wonderful man in my life.

"Jesus, Giovani, you're going to make me cry." Dahlia interrupted my reverie. "But seriously, I hope you both have a wonderful time. I'm going home to go see my parents, so the compound will be a little empty this week. I think the staff will love getting a break."

"Safe travels," I said to Dahlia as I gave her a hug.

I loved her, but I was ready for her to get the hell out of here so Gio and I could get our trip started. I still had no idea where we were even going....

"Love you." Dahlia squeezed me tightly and turned to go get herself packed up. Not everyone had a Giovani to pack their bags for them.

"Drink your champagne so we can get going," Gio said with a smile. "Well, what's left in the glass anyway."

Without thinking, I lifted the glass to my lips and knocked the entire drink back. I didn't want anything else to be in my way. I was ready to spend this next week exploring somewhere new and making love to my incredibly sexy boyfriend. The champagne immediately went to my head, and I could feel myself getting giggly, but I didn't care. If anything, it would make the first leg of the trip that much more enjoyable. And I knew Gio didn't mind when I was just slightly tipsy. He always thought it was cute the way I would laugh at his absolute worst jokes.

"Alright, my love, are you ready to go?"

"Yes! But when are you going to tell me where we're going?!" I was literally bouncing up and down, the champagne making me unable to contain any of my excitement whatsoever.

"Oh, you didn't think I would tell you that easily, did you?" He laughed and started walking me to a car.

The suspense was killing me and making everything that much more exciting. I didn't really care where we went as long as we got to go together, but the fact that Gio had planned this entire trip and managed to keep it a surprise for me meant a lot.

I could tell that he was determined for this to be the exact break that we needed from all of the drama that had been happening in our lives lately. I just hoped that it went as perfectly as he was clearly hoping it would.