Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad by Scarlett Rossi
Chapter 462 -

*Giovani*

"Un altro!" the chorus of a dozen rowdy men yelled as they slammed their empty beer bottles onto the table.

I watched it rattle under my hand with an unimpressed look, the dishes clinking and clattering together from the sheer force of the slam.

"Idiots," I said under my breath as I watched one of the men grab another by the head and give him a noogie, boisterous laughter ringing throughout the private room I'd paid for. Good thing too, otherwise, we'd have definitely gotten some complaints.

The poor terrified server girl stared at us from the corner with an open mouth, taking in a dozen men in their twenties to fifties and drinking like there was no tomorrow.

"Remind me to give her a huge tip." I sighed, glancing to my right as Gabriele was currently counting the nearly thousand dollars he'd just won from the men on a rigged bet with a cunning smirk on his face. "Or better yet, you pay for it." "No way," He glared at me, holding the money to his chest like it was precious. "This is going for my vacation fund."

"Please, if you really wanted a vacation, you could take one at any time." I rolled my eyes, grabbing the iced tea I'd so delicately ordered and taking a sip. Like Olivia, I'd been keeping the alcohol to a minimum so we could both stay sober for Elio. I could protect my family better with a clear head. The tea wasn't great, but what could I expect from a place that specialized in bar food and alcohol?

"It's about the principle," Gabriele said arrogantly, then smirked at the sour look on my face.

I sneered down at the relatively untouched plate of flatbread in front of me. I reluctantly took a bite of the flatbread, the cold food not appetizing in the least and the taste even worse-boring and bland. Even the food here was mediocre. Whoever chose this miserable restaurant was getting fired tomorrow.

I swallowed, chasing it down with the iced tea and finally giving up on the meal. As I did, Gabriele glanced at me with an amused look.

"I told you you should've gotten their spicy vodka rigatoni. It's a homemade specialty," Gabriele boasted, gesturing to his plate that looked like it had been licked clean by a dog. "Delicious."

"That's alright." I glared at him. Even the house special in that place was suspect.

"Suit yourself." He shrugged. "But you can stop glaring at everyone as if we all dragged you here without your consent. It's not our fault you're sober, old man."

"You're the same age as me," I bit out, crossing my arms.

He grinned, slicking his hair back from his face, "But I'm in better shape."

"Sei un idiota," I huffed, turning back to the men.

"E tu sei un demone," Gabriel retorted without a conscience.

I snorted, making a mental note to dock his pay for that one.

"You're both idiotas," Alessandro said, sliding into the seat across from me.

He had a rather relaxed look on him, and I noticed the ripped piece of paper he subtly shoved into his pockets. Considering the obvious looks and slight blush that the female server was throwing at him as she cleaned up the empty dishes, I could put two and two together.

"And you're still twenty years too young to be playing with us," Gabriele shot back with a glare.

"Please, I'd kick your ass if you weren't senior citizens," Alessandro grinned, smugly.

The two of us shot him identical murderous looks and he backed down with a roll of his eyes. "Jeez, touchy," he grumbled.

"Did you replace anything else about Salvatore?" I asked, eyeing Gabriele from the corner of my eye as the men continued to run wild. They were distracting enough that I'd forgotten my real purpose for coming here. "Olivia's sperm donor?" Alessandro asked, turning to me with a pissed look, "What about that asshole?"

"I was having Gabriele look into him to see if his story holds up," I explained, then I turned expectantly to Gabriele.

"Well, I did," Gabriel nodded slowly, tucking his newly won cash into his breast pocket. He gave me a serious look. "That mob he said he got involved with, I'm ninety-nine percent sure it was the Zaytsevs."

I stiffened, giving him a stern glance.

"Fuck that bastard." Alessandro clenched his fists together, just as angry as I felt by the news.

It wasn't unexpectant though. I'd had my doubts from the moment he'd said he got involved with a mob, especially in James' territory.

"How do you know?" I demanded.

"Well, I asked around but since Dmitri got taken down, nobody has been willing to step up to the plate. They're all terrified we'll go after them for revenge."

They should be, i thought.

"I did manage to track down a few former members, though," Gabriele said casually. "A few drinks later, they were spilling everything. Apparently, Dmitri started his revenge down in Florida where Olivia grew up. He was trying to get to James, I suspect, and rebuilding undercover. He ended up recruiting hundreds of cannon fodder goons-people who had no real idea of what they were getting into... disposable, I guess. The former member recognized Salvatore, though he went by Calamity back then."

"Calamity?" I snorted, half in disbelief and half in humor at the ridiculous name... like something a middle schooler pretending to be a supervillain would choose. "Figures he'd pick something that stupid." Alessandro crossed his arms unhappily and I silently agreed with him. Salvatore did not seem like a very intelligent man.

A cunning one, yes, but on sheer intelligence? His brain was the size of a walnut by my standards, especially if he could leave Olivia and her mother, no matter the reason.

I would never abandon my family.

Gabriele shrugged. "Apparently, they all got to choose new names to go by and that's what he chose."

"So Dmitri was the boss he was running from?" I asked, twirling my straw in my drink with a cautious look.

"That would be a good assumption." He nodded but then gave me a side-eye. "But that's not all."

"Of course, it's not." I sighed. When would things ever be simple in our family?

"Turns out that two years ago, he was caught in a raid with two guys who worked under Lorenz. If he was on the run all those years like he said, it doesn't make sense for him to be right in the jaws of the second-in-command of his old boss, does it?" Gabriele said, calmly.

"No, it doesn't." I clenched my jaw.

"Olivia shouldn't be alone with him again," Alessandro said firmly. "He's a liability and a bad one at that. He was obviously lying to her about where he was the past twenty years, and that means he could've lied about everything."

I sighed, knowing he was right. But I also knew it would be incredibly difficult to separate Olivia from him at this point, if it was possible at all. We'd already had one fight about Salvatore. I didn't want to bring any more tension in our marriage. "As much as I hate to admit it," Gabriele said cooly, "I think Alessandro's right. It's likely that Salvatore is only back in her life to use her to get to you. If he's still in contact with Lorenz, that could explain everything. Whether he thought of it by himself or he was put up to it by Lorenz, nothing good is going to come of this. We have to get him out of here."

"Good luck with that," I snorted, rubbing my temples. I suddenly wanted a stiff drink instead of the iced tea in my cup. Vodka or bourbon would do. Even just a simple beer would help.

But I was a man of my word, and I had promised Olivia.

"Olivia's not going to give him up without a fight," I told them irritatedly, "She's too independent for that. Besides, she's convinced this is all a fairytale come true. If I say one bad word about him, she'll bite my head off." Alessando winced. "Oof. I've been there... not pretty."

"Then don't tell her," Gabriele said simply, a smirk crossing his lips as he stared at me meaningfully.

I caught on immediately.

"Good idea," I smirked back. "I don't have to tell her. He can do that himself. Give him a false sense of security, make him think I trust him, and then trap him into revealing his true motives."

"And how are you going to do that?" Alessandro rolled his eyes. "It's not like he'll just suddenly confess everything over a beer-Oh." His eyes went wide as he stared at us in realization.

"Every man's weakness," I smirked, downing the rest of my iced tea as I got to my feet.

"But I thought you were sober," Gabriele raised an eyebrow knowingly.

I shrugged. "if it's to save Olivia and our kid, then fuck sobriety!"

"Fuck sobriety!" A few of the men overheard and repeated me, half drunk out of their minds as they fell on one another and some collapsed face-first into the half-eaten dishes on the table. Laughter rang out from the few who quickly turned the phrase into a drunken ballad.

"Make sure they all get home all right." I sighed, glancing at my so-called superior men, who were all trained in a dozen combat styles and had successfully run heists on everyone from enemy gangs to political figures. So much for being sophisticated, I thought.

"Yeah, yeah," Gabriele waved his hand as I turned to leave.

"Make sure to follow the plan," Alessandro called out behind me. "Destroy that motherfucker!"

I paused by the wide-eyed and slightly pale server and reached into my pants to pull out a couple hundreds.

"Here." I dropped it onto her open hands and she stared open-mouthed and teary-eyed at me. "Thanks for cleaning up."

"Thank you!" she squeaked out moments later, but I was already halfway out the door.

The ride home was long and boring but I had time to gather my thoughts. The compound was dark, all the lights out, and considering it was past midnight, I hoped Olivia and Elio were asleep so I didn't have to explain where I was.

I snuck into our room, shoveling off my shoes in the sitting room before I headed for the bathroom. I didn't hear any movement as I changed and finally slipped into the bedroom.

I used my phone as a flashlight as I navigated through Elio's toys left sprawled out on the floor and finally sat down on the bed.

"Mm."

I heard a slight groan and rustling. Gently, I shined my light across the bed and my heart melted inside.

There was Olivia, fast asleep on her side. Laying beside her was Elio, tucked into her chest as he snored lightly, a habit I was sure he had developed from me.

I grinned at the peaceful sight and gently slipped my legs under the cover and lay down, careful of Elio. Gently, I wrapped my arm around Olivia, pulling her slightly toward me so Elio was between us.

A sigh left her lips and still asleep, she gravitated toward me, cuddling into my chest but still so careful of our son. She fell back asleep and I brushed my fingers through her hair, gently tugging out the tangles.

I sighed, both in relief at having my family back in my arms and in exasperation. I was not looking forward to convincing Olivia that she couldn't be alone with Salvatore. He was her father after all.

As I drifted off into dreamless sleep, I wondered what was going to happen if she said no.