Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad by Scarlett Rossi
Chapter 453 -

*Olivia*

*Two weeks later*

I stared down at the envelope sitting innocently on top of the coffee table. Elio's giggles as he played in his little baby-proofed corner of the living room reached my ears, mixing with the sound of the cartoon playing in the background. I wasn't sure what I was supposed to feel exactly. The unopened letter was like a huge neon sign screaming at me to open it and reveal the results of what I wanted to know so badly.

But I just couldn't. Every time I reached for it, my chest squeezed until I couldn't breathe, and I had to move away from the letter. Maybe it was possessed, I thought, a bit hysterically as the third hour of staring at this damn letter passed by. But I couldn't procrastinate forever.

I heaved a sigh as I lifted Elio from his little corner. He brought his favorite stuffed animal with him-a plush narwhal with a rainbow horn that Dahlia had gotten him, one of the dozens that now littered his room.

I'd had a rabbit when I was a kid, but Flopsy had long been retired due to his old age. I still had him though, tucked away somewhere safe where he couldn't get hurt.

"You like Narwhal, don't you?" I cooed to my son, watching as he stuffed the horn into his mouth with a grin. He liked chewing on the end of it, which I couldn't blame him for. His teeth were coming in all at once now, and there were a lot of long nights I spent up with him trying to soothe the fever and aches.

I sat on the couch, leaning back as I held Elio in my lap with his little plush. He stared at the random cartoon, giggling when the cartoon physics got a little crazy.

"Promise me you won't drop an anvil on anyone's head, all right?" I told him with a frown. Elio didn't answer, just reaching his little hands out toward the TV, mimicking the sound of the birds flying around the character's head. "Good job, that's what a bird says. Tweet, tweet," I praised him happily. I kissed him on the top of his head and he laughed, bubbly and bright just like he should. Cartoon physics wrong or not, I was sure the show was harmless. Tallon and Alessandro had been big fans of this cartoon, and they turned out just fine.

Well... sorta.

As I gently rubbed Elio's back as he fixated on the cartoon, I finally grabbed the letter I had been dreading so much. A part of me wanted to throw it away, pretend that it never came, and be done with all of this.

But another part of me needed to know. The broken little girl who had the world on her shoulders, who spent her nights learning how to cook when she was too young to be using the oven because Mom had forgotten again and I didn't want to impose on Dahlia's family. The part I had locked away, she needed an answer, even if it wasn't one I was going to like.

My fingers trembled as I purposefully and slowly picked at the seam of the letter. It ripped in a few places due to me carrying a baby on my lap.

I pulled the folded letter from the envelope, a nervous knot tightening in my stomach as I prepared myself for whatever it might say, even if it was going to hurt.

I opened up the crease and read the letter. I skipped through the formalities and straight to the definite answer, my eyes going wide at the result.

I swallowed, nodding to myself as I folded up the letter and tucked it back into the envelope.

What was I supposed to feel right now? I didn't know. There was a surprise, but not as much as I had expected. Maybe a part of me had already guessed the truth and this was just confirmation.

My heart was pounding in my chest, but I was in such a complicated tangle of emotions that I wasn't sure why.

But I wasn't the only one who needed these results. Reluctantly, I picked up my phone, hearing it ring once and then twice.

On the third ring, I half expected it to go to voice mail but they picked up. The excited voice picked up with a light, "Olivia! I'm so glad you called me. Did the results come in yet?" "Yeah," I said numbly. "They were positive."

I stared down at the letter again, remembering that ninety-nine percent figure written beside both of our DNA results. Gio had paid for the best testing and for it to be expedited because he knew how impatient I was to replace out the truth. I was so thankful for that.

"Of course they did!" Sal boasted proudly. "I wasn't worried in the slightest. You're my girl alright, I could tell at just a glance. You look so much like Amanda and me. You've got my eyes and my chin."

"Right," I said awkwardly, not sure how I felt about being compared to him. "Well, would you like to have dinner tonight? I'll pay for wherever. I promised to give you a chance to explain and you were telling the truth. You are my... father." The word tasted wrong in my mouthm like a sour note of a lie mixed. It felt weird to call him that after twenty years of only having my mom.

"That sounds wonderful. How about Trattoria Nerone? I heard their pizzas are delicious!" he said excitedly.

"Uh, yeah, sure," I nodded, smiling a bit. Of course, my father would have the option to choose anywhere and he went for pizza. That sounded exactly like something I would do. "I'll have to come with about two or three guards, though, if you don't mind. They won't hover around us, but Gio won't let me go otherwise."

"Gio is your husband?" Sal asked a cautious note to his voice.

"Yeah." I smiled. "We got married last year before we had Elio. He's a wonderful man and he takes care of us."

"Hm," was all he said.

My smile dropped, uncomfortable at the way he had said that, like he was disapproving.

"Is something the matter?" I asked, narrowing my eyes dangerously at the stupid duck in the cartoon who kept putting his face on the end of a gun and getting his beak blown off. "No, of course not." Sal laughed, a bit strained. "It's just... I didn't know your husband was so... protective."

That was definitely not the word he wanted to use.

"He has to be. He has a dangerous line of work," I told him firmly.

"And what kind of work would that be?"

I stiffened as I heard the door open and I ignored his question, not trusting him with that information yet. "I'll see you later tonight. Six-thirty, maybe?"

"Yeah, sure. I'll see you then, Li-Olivia." He corrected himself in a hurry. "Bye."

"Bye." I hung up just in time for Gio to appear around the corner with a tired look. Elio squealed as he saw his daddy, wiggling his legs as he held his arms out.

"Hey, little man," Gio laughed, immediately coming over to scoop Elio out of my arms and lift him up. "Did you have a good day? I missed you so much."

I smiled while watching them happily. No matter how tired Gio was, he always made time for me and Elio.

"What about me?" I huffed, pretending to be offended as Gio took the chair beside me, holding Elio in his lap. He grinned, blowing me a kiss.

"I missed you too, carina." He laughed.

I rolled my eyes, giving him the moment with his son. I glanced at the letter, handing it over to him with a nervous smile.

"The results came in today," I told him.

"And?" He grabbed the letter but didn't open it, only looking at me with soft, trusting eyes. He knew me by now, and I melted at his expectant look. "It was positive," I admitted.

"Like we thought." He nodded. "But it's good to have confirmation. At least you know now and don't have to keep wondering."

"Yeah," I said, fiddling with my phone as Gio grabbed the narwhal and pretended it was eating Elio. His shrieks rang through the living room, covering the sound of the cartoon.

"Nom nom nom," Gio repeated, playfully, teasing our one-year-old with the plush toy. Elio beamed like a ray of sunshine, happily playing along as he tried to push the narwhal away.

"Mama!" Elio reached his hands over to me, hanging upside down on Gio's lap as the narwhal attacked him. His little eyes screamed for help, though the smile on his face told a different story.

"Is Daddy bothering you?" I huffed, suppressing the smile at the corner of my mouth. "Huh? Want me to beat him up? I'll do it."

"Let me see you try!" Gio sent me a smirk.

"You're on!" I grinned, climbing over the couch and leaning over the armrest as I pressed my lips to his cheeks and then to wherever I could get.

"Ahh, no! She's got me, she's got me!" Gio flailed, pretending to be hurt by the kisses and I giggled, using the moment to grab Elio from him and hoist him into my arms. His giggles were contagious, eyes shining bright as he watched me attack his daddy with my love.

Before I could kiss his cheek, he turned his head at the last moment, meeting my lips with his and his fingers wound through my hair as he pressed us together. It was only a moment before we broke apart, the two of us grinning like love-sick loons.

"Want to have dinner tonight? Dahlia wants to kidnap Elio," Gio smirked, giving me a suggestive look.

I smiled, a yes on my lips before I remembered the dinner with Sal. I sighed, leaning back and curling back into my own seat.

"I can't," I told him with sad eyes. "I already called Sal and told him about the test results. I offered to go to dinner with him tonight."

"Okay, we can just go together, then. Where is it?" Gio shrugged casually.

I bit my bottom lip, unsure of how to break this to him without sounding like a complete bitch.

"Trattoria," I said hesitantly. "But if you don't mind, I'd like to go alone."

He tensed, sending me a careful glance, all of his emotions hidden behind a stone wall again, but I knew him better now. He was uncomfortable with the idea but didn't want to disappoint me.

"I already told him I'd have guards with me, two to three, and they'll be with me the entire time. I just-" I gave him a pleading look. "I just want to get to know him just him and me. Is that okay?"

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Of course, Olivia. I just... I don't know why but I have a bad feeling about all of this. Just be careful, okay?"

"I will," I said firmly. "He may be my father, but I don't trust him yet either. He's been gone for too long for that."

"All right, then." He smiled. "It'll just be the boys tonight. Right, Elio?"

Elio giggled, clapping his hands together at the rabbit in the cartoon.

Soon enough, six o'clock rolled around and I texted Sal that I would meet him outside the restaurant. I was dressed nice, but not too nice, just some simple dress pants and a top. I was nervous but a little excited as I said goodbye to Gio and Elio.

I was tempted to call off the whole thing and just stay home with them but the reservation had not been easy to get.

On the drive there with my two guards, I couldn't help feeling a little sick in the car. I went over all the questions I wanted to ask him, everything that I had been asking myself since I was a little girl without a father.

'Why did you leave me? Why didn't you get in contact with us until now? Did you ever love me?'

I sighed. Maybe I'd scratch that last one. It was a bit too heavy for a first meal, I thought. Once we arrived, I got out of the car, waiting for Ben as he locked up the car.

"Thanks, Tino," I told my second guard with a smile as he held open the door to the restaurant for me. I walked inside, my guards at my heels and I took a deep breath.

I caught sight of Sal sitting in one of the waiting rooms and I halted in place. There was an ache in my chest and a flame of anger that had yet to disappear. I wondered, not for the first time that night, whether I would ever be ready to forgive him for abandoning me.

For now, it seemed like an impossible task.

But I marched in to meet my long-lost father anyway.