Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad by Scarlett Rossi
Chapter 454 -

*Giovani*

"If you don't mind, I'd like to go alone." That was what my wife said to me as she prepared to have dinner with her father, a man who had abandoned her for twenty years and reappeared just as suddenly. Of course, I minded. And she knew it too.

I agreed not to go with her and I didn't. But I never agreed not to follow her.

I ran a hand through my hair, clenching the steering wheel of the car as I listened to the mic we'd placed on Ben rang out through my phone. She had no clue her guard had been bugged and she never would, hopefully. "This is fucked," Gabriele shook his head disapprovingly from the seat next to us.

I sent him a glare and he shut up, gazing out the window as we listened to the sounds of the restaurant ambiance-deep breaths from Ben and the clattering of forks and knives against the glass.

It was busy tonight.

"And did you have to bring the kid?" Gabriele huffed, looking over the seat into the backseat.

Elio cooed from his car seat, rattling one of the new toys I'd bought him happily. He had not been happy to watch Mommy leave and especially didn't like being driven around at night. Luckily, we had time to stop and let him pick out a new toy.

The plastic rattled behind us, a lever being pulled and a loud voice rang out "La mucca dice moo!"

"Moo!" Elio repeated, drawing it out. With his little front teeth not having come in, it sounded less like a cow and more like a weird no.

"You have got to be kidding me," Gabriele gazed at the ceiling in pure exasperation. "How is this my hell now? Where did my life go?"

"Shut up, Gabriele," I snapped, straining to hear the sounds from the mic.

"Hey, I'm glad you came out to meet me tonight." That was Sal, his voice giving me the creeps for some reason. "I'm glad you're giving me a chance again."

"Yeah."

She sounded curt, very unresponsive, and I frowned. I figured she would be more excited to meet her dad but considering all the baggage they had, it was no wonder she was having mixed feelings about it.

I sighed, leaning my head on the window. The door was locked to prevent me from running inside and ruining the meal, even though I could very easily just unlock the door right now.

But that would bring my wife's wrath upon my head, not only for following her but for bringing Elio out too.

"II gatto dice meow!" The toy spoke again from the back seat.

"Mau!" Elio giggled in response.

"I'm going insane," Gabriele muttered to himself. "Absolutely nuts."

"Shh," I hushed him as the conversation between my wife and Sal picked up from ordering food to actual conversation.

"So what are you going to school for?" Sal asked, eagerly.

"Art, actually. I'm taking a break since we have Elio but once he's old enough, I'm going to finish my degree. I have plenty of time, after all." Olivia answered, open and honest like she always was. She didn't seem the least bit bothered to be taking a break, and I smiled.

I had worried for a bit that she was forcing herself to stay home with Elio, to continue to put her own dream on the back burner for us, but I'm glad that this seemed like what she wanted.

"Art, huh?" Sal said, sounding amused, "Your Mom and I never got our degrees, so I'm glad you're doing better than we were at your age. You've got your life together."

"I guess so," Olivia responded quickly. "I'm just trying to do what's best for my family. They're the most important thing to me."

"Aww," Gabriele said, leaning his head against the window. "You lucky dog."

"Are you looking for a dock in pay?" I narrowed my eyes at him, not wanting to take his shit tonight.

"No, sir." He straightened immediately, sending me a resentful glance when he thought I wasn't looking.

As we listened to Sal and Olivia talk, I realized that all of it was incredibly mundane. He asked about her mother and even seemed happy and understanding when he heard about her new husband. "She's a good woman, your mom," he told her. "She deserved a man much better than me."

It was at that point that Olivia's icy politeness melted away. Her voice lightened, growing in excitement as she told him about growing up with Dahlia and how James and Becca had practically helped raised her.

He asked about her hobbies and interests and she quickly delved into the conversation of historical art pieces from the Renaissance period, and then somehow into how ancient paints were made from flowers and beans.

"Damn," Gabriele whistled. "She's certainly passionate about art. You should introduce her to Luce."

I nodded in agreement. Luce was a famous art collector who often went off on trips to other countries to preserve and attain historical art pieces. He had been the one to fill our house with various pieces of art-gifts from him over the years after we helped him with a job a while ago.

I could just imagine their conversation if the two of them met.

The conversation between Sal and Olivia continued to delve into mundane territories-nothing interesting or weird in the slightest. He asked about her goals in life and eventually about me and Elio.

I did replace it a bit gratifying to hear from Olivia's own mouth all the things she adored about me, but once he asked about what I did for a living, I was proud of her for dodging the question masterfully.

She spoke about Elio for a good twenty minutes, just gushing out how cute and adorable he was. Meanwhile, in the backseat, Elio had fallen asleep holding his new toy, snoring lightly as his mother practically told the whole restaurant how much she loved him.

"Lucky kid," Gabriele snorted.

I had to silently agree there. No one was as doting and caring as Olivia was. Her gentle and patient approach to Elio was admirable and somehow worked wonders. Whether it was Elio's bubbly and cheerful personality or Olivia's kind hand, I didn't know, but the two of them were the sweetest human beings in the world.

A great departure from me.

I sighed, glancing at the window as I realized that maybe I truly was just being overprotective. Sal had done nothing but give the right answers all night. He seemed like a man truly trying to connect with his long-lost daughter. But I still couldn't shake the feeling in my gut that something was wrong. I'd gone against my instincts with Elena and I'd nearly torn my family apart. I wasn't going to make that mistake again. Something was up, and I had to get to the bottom of it.

"Sal." Olivia spoke up, her hesitance catching my attention. "Can I ask you about what happened when you left? Why did you run? Why didn't you at least leave a letter or contact us once you were somewhere safe? Why'd you abandon us?" He sighed, and I could just imagine the pitiful look on his face, just like when he'd crashed Elio's birthday party.

"I can't even begin to apologize to you, Olivia," he said quietly. "All I can try to give you is an answer to why it happened."

I pursed my lips in annoyance at how genuine he sounded. His answers seemed almost too perfect to hear, but I listened in closely for whatever damn excuse he was going to shoot out of his mouth.

"I was young and stupid, Olivia, and I got into some big trouble. They were a powerful family, people who weren't afraid of doing atrocious things, and they'd get away with it too. They'd bought off the police in our city and practically ruled it at the time."

"Mafia."

Her voice was sharp and carrying all the heavy weight of what that word contained. I tensed, and Gabriele sent me a concerned glance.

"Yeah," Sal confirmed. "I got recruited because I saw a chance to make money, to do whatever I wanted without consequences. But came back to bite me. I was just a low level and I saw something I shouldn't have seen, something that would've gotten the organization into a lot of trouble. They figured it would be easier to silence me than pay me off."

"So you ran," Olivia said bluntly.

"I'm not proud of it." Sal sighed. "But I was young and didn't know what else to do. I wasn't going to testify or go to the police, not when I knew they'd all just bury it with a bit of cash. But what I'd seen, the knowledge I had, it was enough to put me in danger but not just me, all of us. I ran, hoping they'd follow after me and leave you and Amanda alone. I was right, but I've been on the run ever since."

Olivia took in a deep breath, sounding a bit rattled.

"So why did you come back? If what you know is so dangerous, why'd you put us in danger again?" Olivia asked, steely.

"Because the boss was killed," Sal answered easily. "With him dead, the information I had was useless now. After twenty long years, I could finally be free and go home. But when I did, I found out you had moved. I spent weeks trying to replace you and Amanda, just hoping that now that I wasn't putting you in danger, I could be in your life."

There was a long pause of silence, only broken by the waitress as she came over to settle the bill. Olivia didn't speak for a long time and I was beginning to get worried until finally, she spoke.

"Okay," she said softly. "I believe you. I'll trust you for now, Sal, but that doesn't mean I'll forgive you. You still abandoned me for twenty years, and we can't just act like that time never happened. It hurt. I grew up believing that it was my fault that you left, that mom was so heartbroken all the time."

"No, Olivia." Sal rushed to assure her. "None of this was your fault, and I wish I could've been a better father to you. I never should've gotten involved with the boss like I did, and you and Amanda had to pay for my mistakes. I'm so, so sorry, Livi."

"Thanks." Olivia's voice was soft but relaxed, and I knew from her tone that she had believed him and that she had finally let part of her guard down.

I clenched my jaw, hearing the two discuss the wood-fired pizza and future plans and as dinner ended, I finally shut off the bug, leaving the car in silence.

"Well, this was a useless waste of time." Gabriele sent me an annoyed glance. "The only thing we learned was that he had been part of a mafia family for a time." "Which mafia family, though?" I sent him a meaningful look.

Gabriele opened his mouth and then paused, realization dawning on him. He'd finally caught what I did.

There was no family that ruled over southern Florida where Olivia grew up. James had made sure of that. It meant that either they'd lived somewhere else, there was a mafia family in Florida we'd never heard about, or, what was more likely, he was lying. "Look into it," I told him firmly as I started the car. Elio was still fast asleep in the backseat and if we wanted to make it home before Olvia, I knew we'd better start now.

As I pulled out of the driveway, I glanced at the recorded conversations on my phone. Something about Sal did not feel right, and if he was going to put my family in danger, I had to handle him quickly, even if it meant breaking my wife's heart.