Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad by Scarlett Rossi
Chapter 431 -

*Olivia*

"Home."

I breathed in happily as we stepped foot into the compound. It had been a long flight back to Florence, and I was still feeling the haze of the vacation. Tuscany had been magical and filled with joyful memories that I would never forget. But it was still a relief to be home.

Gio headed for the office as soon as we got home, having to deal with the affairs he had put off due to the trip. I was thankful he had taken the time to go with me even though he was still busy.

I carried my luggage back to our room, happy to see it cleaned up after being gone. One of the maids must have come in and tidied up. Our bed was made, and there was a fresh scent of lemon circulating the room.

I lugged my suitcase onto the bed, opened it up, and began to sort out my belongings. I hummed, completely relaxed as I heard the sound of footsteps behind me.

"Gio?" I asked, a bit confused as I turned to face them, but it wasn't my husband.

"Not quite," Dahlia grinned, rushing forward to crush me into a hug. "I missed you so much, Olive! Did you guys have a good time? What did you see? You'd better have photos for me."

I laughed, embracing her back. "I missed you too, and I do have photos. Tuscany was beautiful. We needed some time to ourselves, to get back on the same page."

"And he treated you right?" Dahlia asked, giving me a surveying look.

I knew if I told her no right here, she'd take her ass straight to Gio and yell his ear off. She really was the best friend I could hope for.

"Yes, he did," I smiled. "He was amazing. As usual."

Even just thinking about how much he showed he appreciated me had my cheeks heating up. He was more than amazing; he was perfect. I felt so much closer to him than I had before the trip. Not everything was solved because life didn't work that way, but I remembered that we were a team.

We loved one another, and that was enough.

"Good," she nodded happily. "You're looking much better, more relaxed."

"I'm feeling more relaxed." I giggled, taking a seat on the bed.

Dahlia took the chair, smiling at me as I told her all about the trip. I avoided a few of the more lascivious details, but by her wiggling eyebrows and saucy grin, she knew exactly what I had purposely not mentioned.

"So, how were things here? Did you do anything fun?" I asked, wanting to hear about things here. I had felt a little bad leaving things so suddenly, but it had been necessary for us.

"Eh, the usual," she shrugged. "Clubbing, hooking up with hot Italian guys, you know, all the essentials."

I rolled my eyes. "The usual, huh?"

"Hey, not everybody can be a married woman with a baby on the way," she teased, and I laughed, feeling my usual self for the first time in weeks. Things were finally fitting together-the pieces falling into place and I felt better than ever... until Dahlia's smile faded.

She sighed, giving me that look, the look she used whenever she had a bit of information she knew I wouldn't want to hear, the look she had whenever she was hellbent on telling me something bad had happened... the same look she had used when she told me she was convinced Elena was after my husband.

"What now?" I asked apprehensively. "Did something happen with Elena?"

"Sort of." Dahlia grimaced. "It's kinda not looking good at the moment."

I took a deep breath, preparing myself mentally. Whatever Dahlia had to say, I would believe it this time. I had a family to protect, and if Elena was really trying to threaten that, I wouldn't be defending her to the death for it.

It was time to get to the bottom of all this. If she was innocent, then great. But if she wasn't, I had to stop her.

"What happened?" I asked calmly, keeping my mind open. I didn't need my emotions meddling in this; I needed logic.

"Well, it was the day after you left," Dahlia started with a frown. "Elena had come over without telling anyone. Maria let her in and then contacted me because it was odd, and I was glad she did because when I got home, I found Elena standing in your bedroom."

"My bedroom?" I repeated, alarm bells going off in the back of my mind. Why on earth would she be in my bedroom? "This bedroom?"

"Yeah," Dahlia nodded. "It was really odd too because we never even showed her where your room was. I don't even know how she found out."

I frowned, thinking back. When we had shown Elena around, we had avoided showing her the bedrooms, not even mentioning them unless she asked. From what I remembered, we'd avoided this whole hallway.

But then I remembered something else. A while ago, hadn't we caught her coming downstairs from this hallway? She'd said she was looking for the bathroom, but what if she hadn't been?

A shiver ran down my spine, and I glanced around my room, feeling a bit violated. This was our private bedroom. Elena had no reason to be in here, and I was honestly upset now. This wasn't something she could excuse away. "Did you tell her to leave?" I asked.

"Of course I did," Dahlia said firmly. "She made up an excuse that she got lost, but I don't buy it. If she had just wandered into the sitting room, then maybe, but she got as far as the bedroom and still didn't turn around? Suspicious." She was right.

Even if I couldn't believe that she had just gotten lost. But what had she wanted with our bedroom? Nothing looked touched or out of the ordinary.

"As if that weren't bad enough, I ran into her at the university," Dahlia told me, this time with a truly pissed-off look burning in her eyes. "Her friends were talking about something. I wanted to say hi, and I overheard them talking about her being pregnant."

"That's not weird. They probably know she's a surrogate," I said reasonably.

"Except she wasn't saying she was a surrogate," Dahlia retorted angrily. "Not only was she telling them that she was going to move into the mansion, but she kept telling her friends that she was the mother of the baby."

An icy hand reached out from the abyss to grip my heart. Cold sweat trailed down my back as I stared at my best friend in complete disbelief. My heart sank to the floor, carried away by a sudden rush of ice.

There was a ringing noise in my ears, goosebumps along my skin, and I realized with a start that there was something very, very wrong. Comprehension of her words evaded me, however.

Elena was the mother?

But... that was a lie.

She was carrying my baby, and sure, it was growing in her womb, but it was my embryo made in my body... my DNA and Gio's in that little bean of life.

There was no world where Elena could be the mother of my baby.

The shock turned to ice-my blood freezing along its path-and despite how cold my whole body was, I didn't care. My anxiety and fear turned to something golden-fresh embers bursting into life-but this was a fire forged in blue. Flames that were cold to the touch burned in my chest.

She... was going too far.

My patience had snapped.

I pinned Dahlia with a narrowed stare.

"She said what?" I bit out, cold and unfeeling.

"Take a deep breath, Olive," Dahlia grasped my hands, a worried look in her eyes. "Don't lose it over this, okay? It's possible she was saying that stuff because she didn't want to tell her friends she was a surrogate. Maybe it was just easier." But I could see the doubt on her face. Even she didn't believe that. She was just trying to make me feel better.

I took in a few deep, calming breaths, reining in my temper under control as I thought about it a little more. Nothing was confirmed yet. We still didn't know if Elena truly had ulterior motives or not, and she deserved the benefit of the doubt at the very least.

But the fear for our future together-me, Gio, and our baby cradled in our arms-had taken residence in my heart. I doubted it would go away anytime soon either.

If my trust in Elena was misplaced, we could all be in danger.

"Are you okay?" Dahlia asked, worriedly.

"No," I replied calmly. "But I will be."

I had to be. The promise I had made to myself-of being the rock my family needed-was still fresh in my mind. I wouldn't fall to pieces over this. I wouldn't lose my mind and accuse Elena of things until I was absolutely sure she had bad intentions toward my husband and me.

Before we could talk any further, however, Maria appeared in the doorway with a confused look.

"Senora! Senorita Elena is here," Maria said, looking just as baffled as I was.

"What the fuck?" Dahlia burst out. "Did you call her here?"

"No," I answered with a frown. We rushed out of the room and down the hallway, and my mind went back to all the new information I had learned. My spine hardened like steel as I prepared myself for anything.

But I did not prepare myself for what I saw.

There in front of the door was Gio. That was normal. But what was not normal was the woman with brown hair who had wrapped herself around him in a shockingly affectionate embrace. Her head leaned on his chest, and though his arms were up and a frown on his lips like he didn't quite know what to do, that righteous ice-cold fury was back in my veins.

"Carina." Gio saw me, his expression melting, and he pulled Elena's arms away from him, stepping around her to head toward me. I put up my hand to halt him in his tracks, and he stopped, surprise and a bit of hurt flashing across his face. Instead, I turned to Elena with a cold smile.

"Olivia, I'm so happy to see you guys got back!"

She spun around to face us, beaming as usual like I didn't just come in to replace her having her hands all over my husband.

An idea toyed in my mind, and I stepped forward, opening up my arms for my own hug. Her smile faltered at the corners, so small I almost wouldn't have noticed it. But she opened her arms and hugged me as well.

But unlike the affection she had just shown my husband, she was incredibly stiff, uncomfortable when she had never been so before. She stepped back, holding her arms behind her back, even as she smiled.

I had come back to Florence in a bright mood, hoping to put all of the unease and apprehension to rest. But now, it had only increased.

I stared at Elena, doubt looming behind her.

Home sweet home.

With all the drama that came with it too.