Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad by Scarlett Rossi
Chapter 465 -

*Giovani*

I should've brought my work with me.

I sighed, lamenting my lack of foresight as I stared blankly at the driver's wheel in front of me. The car was stationary and heating up with every passing moment, but I didn't dare to lower the tinted windows. I would never make such a rookie mistake.

But sitting here in a metal deathtrap in ninety-degree weather didn't seem like the best idea. I was bored, I was hot, and I was ready to call it quits after sitting here for two hours. If I had been in my usual car, this wouldn't have been a problem. Stake-outs were a usual thing, and we'd learned to include air conditioning that operated in a separate circuit from the car engine for just these occasions. Unfortunately for me, my usual car was too nice for a covert operation in this neighborhood.

I wiped the sweat from my forehead, cursing Alessandro for not being specific about times as I cast a moody glare to the old rickety door of the house across the street. It was run down, with paint peeling from the walls and overgrown grass. There was only a hint of a path leading to the door, completely overtaken by the vegetation. There were boards on the windows and part of the roof was damaged by the looks of it. But it did fit in with the rest of the neighborhood. Even in such a rich city as Florence, there were still areas where poverty struck hard and crime flourished in the absence of stability. In this part of town, my car was worth more than the houses and would've stuck out like a sore thumb, so I had to use one of the more discrete cars in our fleet.

Unfortunately for me, discrete in this case meant no fucking air conditioning while I waited for my target to show.

Fuck me.

Not for the first time, I wondered what Olivia was doing. She and Dahlia were probably still planning the dinner for tomorrow night. With how determined my wife looked as she marched off to the grocery store, I had no doubt they spent a fortune on this one meal.

I regretted not going with her. Instead of watching her face light up as she rambled on about all the dishes she was planning to have, arguing with Dahlia about which vegetables would be best for which dishes, and little Elio in the cart playing with the fruits, I was here in this hot fucking car with nothing to fucking do but wait.

Alessandro had assured me the target was at home and he also assured me that he had the same routine on this day, so why the fuck wasn't he coming out of the fucking house?

As if to answer my prayers, the front door opened, and out stepped a familiar shadow of an older man... Salvatore.

I breathed a sigh of relief, finally straightening in my seat as I watched Salvatore slip into his own car and start it up. He pulled out of his driveway and I silently started my own car, immediately flipping on the air conditioning full blast before I pulled out of the street and followed his car from a safe distance.

If Olivia had known that I was tailing her father, that I had specifically gone to the city for the day just for this purpose, she would have drowned in her disappointment and anger. I didn't want to start another fight, but despite what I told her about giving Salvatore a chance, I just couldn't.

From his ties to the Russians, his out-of-the-blue appearance after tracking down Olivia, and even just the sly comments he made to put doubt in Olivia's head about me, I couldn't let this go. Something was off about the man, no matter how well-intentioned he seemed.

His connections to the Zaytsevs were most alarming. Even if they were dead and Salvatore had only gone to them out of desperation, he had still gone to them.

There was no denying that fact, and he could put my entire family in danger. All of this was adding up to something Oivia didn't want to acknowledge, but I was going to replace out for sure today.

The drive was long and boring, but at least air conditioned, as Salvatore drove halfway across the city before finally pulling over near one of the nicer parks in the city. I followed him, frowning at his casual demeanor as he stepped out of his car, a black bag in his hand that I hadn't seen before.

Alarmed, I shut off the car, the rumble of the engine falling silent and I waited until he was heading down the path before I stepped out into the fresh air. It was a hot day, and there were no clouds to block the sun's agonizing heat as it beat down onto the pavement like lava.

I was no stranger to heat, but even the light poles were weeping as the sun rose higher into the sky and with it, the temperature. Cars could melt into molten puddles and drip down into the sewer system and I wouldn't have been surprised in the least.

But begrudgingly, I ignored the sweat falling down my back and the burn I would no doubt be left with after this and followed Salvatore into the public park. It wasn't very busy and I flipped my sunglasses on, keeping an eye on my target as I surveyed for any hidden threats-an old man feeding birds who wouldn't come down from their tree, or even two boys around twelve who had taken shade under the porch with sugary frozen treats from the nearby cart. A man selling portable gelato looked very happy as the few adults and children who lingered at the playset all had the sugary sweets in their hands.

Sal ignored all of this, instead heading to one of the stands that was almost completely empty. The sign above said 'Caffe,' and I raised an eyebrow as he paid for a cup. Even the worker behind the stand looked surprised that he'd stopped there considering the heat.

But he made him the coffee anyway, passing it over with a chagrined look. Sal wasn't put off in the slightest, however, as he took his coffee and settled on a nearby bench. He set the bag next to him and unzipped it.

I tensed from behind the tree, my hand hovering over the concealed gun at my hip. I didn't know what he had in that bag but it was nothing good, I was sure... or so I thought, until he pulled out a paperback book and a pair of glasses. Sal slipped on the reading glasses, looking very much like a middle-aged man just trying to read in the park. He licked his thumb, searching through the pages, and set it on his lap as he began to read.

I relaxed, a bit of disappointment hitting me, much to my shame. I had been so sure that there was something nefarious going on, but it was just as Alessandro had said. Salvatore was just a boring man doing boring things. Refusing to believe that, I lingered behind the tree, watching him carefully. The minutes passed slowly, much too slowly for my taste. I was sweating like a dog even under the minimal shade the leaves above provided. Salvatore didn't move other than taking a drink of his coffee and turning the page every so often.

He even looked like the heat didn't bother him one bit.

Damn Floridians, I thought bitterly, wiping sweat from the back of my neck.

After an hour and a half of this, I was questioning my sanity. If Salvatore really was malicious, then he was the best damn actor I'd ever seen. I had finally caved and sat on the grass, leaning up against the tree bark as I watched Sal every so often.

Blades of grass had been plucked in my boredom and I had even turned them into a ring like I had learned when I was kid. Gabriele had always thought it was a useless skill but Vincent... he used to pretend they were made of gold and ask everyone around us to kiss them before speaking to him like from those old movies.

The reminder of Vincent and how his life had been cut so short was a blow to me. I resolved myself, glaring over at Salvatore-never again. Even if I was crazy and there truly was nothing wrong with Salvatore, I had to know for sure. I wasn't going to lose anyone else, not when I had the ability to stop it.

Sal got to his feet, stretching a bit as he tucked away his book and threw away his coffee cup. He hadn't spoken to another soul besides ordering from the coffee stand. I followed him discreetly.

At first, I thought something might finally be happening, that he would finally be showing his true colors as he took the nearby path, walking with purpose across the pavement, until I realized he was heading back to the parking lot. I begrudgingly watched as he got inside of his car and I followed, heading to my own. Sal's car took a few minutes to start up, and by the rust on the outside of it, I was surprised it started at all. Eventually, though he backed up and left the parking lot.

My disappointment was tripled as I realized he was just going back to his house with no stops on the way. I watched from across the street as he entered the house, the door shutting behind him and finally ending this goddamn torture. I waited an additional fifteen minutes, just in case he would come back out, but there was nothing.

The investigation was over. I sighed to myself for the colossal waste of time this was-I could've been done with all the paperwork Gabriele had needed from me. I could've spent this time with Olivia and my son. I could've watched that famous trilogy I had been meaning to watch instead of wasting my life here, watching a man doing absolutely nothing but reading for a day.

Alessandro had warned me, but I had refused to listen. I had to see it for myself, and now that I had, I was completely underwhelmed. Maybe Olivia was right and I was just being paranoid.

I started my engine, pulling out of the street as I headed back home to my wife and son. The streets were clear and empty, and it took an additional half an hour before I was pulling into my driveway. I left the car there, vowing never to use it again as I headed inside.

As soon as I threw open the door, I heard a loud squeal of "Dada!"

I glanced up in shock as Elio and Olivia appeared around the corner, both smiling brightly. They had more than the same color of eyes in common-their warmth never failed to lighten the burdens I carried with me. This time was no different.

I grinned, vowing to make up for my lost time with them somehow.

Maybe it was time to put my doubts and suspicions to the side and just let things unfold the way they would.

How bad could it be, after all?