Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad by Scarlett Rossi
Chapter 493 -

*Giovani*

I couldn't explain the unrest I felt, even as I held my wife and son in my arms, or the way the chill of the autumn air permeated so deeply down to the bone tonight. Maybe it still hadn't sunk in that this wasn't a dream. The nightmare was finally over.

I gently threaded my fingers through the beautiful hair of my wife, pressing a lock to my lips as I breathed in the scent of her. She was sweet as always, a note of sugar in a world full of bitterness.

Normally, by now, I would've been soothed to sleep by her peaceful breaths as she dreamed away in my arms or by the feel of her soft, warm skin underneath my fingertips. Even just having Elio between us, safe as he gently snored on his tummy, curled into his mother's arms like he would never let her go again.

I watched the sleeping faces of my family a little longer, my eyes unwilling to close as I kept watch over them through the night.

Olivia and Elio... they weren't perfect beings. Elio slept with his mouth open, drooling all over my pillow and arm. Olivia had stolen most of the blankets, leaving me to shiver with only the fragment she hadn't stolen.

But despite these things that would annoy anyone else, they were only endearing to me. Olivia and Elio were more precious to me than anything else in this world, and now that they were here where they belonged, things were finally feeling okay again.

Of course, in the morning, it would be different. The world always looked different with the sun's rays upon it. I would have to pry them apart to get anything done, to face the next step before Lorenz and his gang had the time to retaliate once

more.

Getting Elio back was only the first step. There was always going to be more until I finally dealt with those Russian bastards.

Like a plague that just kept coming back year after year, it seemed like there was no end to the madness. I can't even remember how many times I had sworn that no one else would die, but that promise had been broken over and over. They were nothing but empty words now.

Regret was a funny feeling. Despite everyone that I lost, all the lives I swore to protect that I couldn't, my mind only went back to one.

It was Sal lying on the floor, blood pooling underneath him. There had been too much chaos-alarms blaring and Elio screaming-but I could still remember the way his eyes looked into mine, the deep brown that was identical to Olivia's and that resigned look he had when we turned to leave without him.

If he had been another man, we would've done everything in our power to get him out, but I couldn't, not after everything he had done.

He'd fallen behind, so why did it still leave a bitter taste in my mouth? Why did it itch in my chest like when I knew I'd left something unfinished? He was dead by now.

Wasn't he?

The thought settled into doubt that weighed heavily like a stone on my chest. Before I could think about it any further, however, the familiar buzz of my phone rattling on the nightstand caught my attention.

I gently pulled my arm out from under where Olivia and Elio were lying on it, and luckily they stayed asleep. I wiped the drool from my forearm, carefully sitting up in bed. I slid the bit of blanket I had left over Elio, tucking him in.

Olivia took a shuddering breath, stirring slightly, and I halted all my movements. I glared at the phone on the nightstand as it rang, hoping she wouldn't wake. She needed sleep. Luckily, she only shifted positions, laying on her back and holding Elio with one arm.

Her breath evened out and I knew she was fast asleep again. I sighed in relief, getting to my feet and grabbing my phone as I went. The floorboards creaked under my bare feet, and I ignored the slight chill across my bare legs as I carefully unlocked the door and slid out.

Once I was alone, I glanced at my phone with a frown. It was an unknown number, left blank with simply the words 'Call from Italy' under the number.

That bad feeling I'd had all night tripled.

I answered the phone with a rough, "Hello?" I already knew I wouldn't like who was going to be calling on the other end.

There was a deep ragged breath on the other end and a weak, "please."

I stiffened, recognizing the voice immediately.

Salvatore.

"You hear that, Giovani?" a new taunting voice called out, dark and chuckling like he was enjoying himself. I could hear the underlining anger though in every word he bit out. "That's your father-in-law begging for help." "What do you want, Lorenz?" I asked with a bored drawl, trying not to flinch as I heard a squelch and Sal's muffled screams in the background. I could only imagine what they were doing to him.

"I'm angry, Giovani," Lorenz spat out. "Do you know why?"

"Because you're jealous I killed your boss and not you?" I taunted him, boldly.

"No!" he screeched and I winced, moving the phone from my ear.

Maybe I had provoked him a little too far there, but it was nothing he and his dead boss didn't deserve. I should've killed him that night and buried him with Dmitri, burned them both together. Well, it wasn't too late to do at least half of that.

"I'm angry because you ruined my revenge, you filthy Dago," Lorenz growled, cursing in Russian before he continued with, "You broke into my base and killed my men."

"Did I?" I shot back, sarcastically. "My bad. But you know how it is with us mafiasos types... eye for an eye and all that, you know."

"Shut the fuck up," Lorenz snapped, finally losing all composure. "Salvatore isn't dead yet, but he will be soon if you don't do exactly what I tell you. Come to the pier and we will exchange your life for his. If not, I swear to god I will make him suffer before he-"

"Is that all?" I interrupted with a mocking laugh. "Go ahead and do it. Why should I care what happens to him? That bastard almost cost me my family. I don't care what happens to him from here on out. Keep him. Kill him. It's got nothing to do with me."

"Oh?" Lorenz hissed. "You think I'd really believe that? I know what he is to your little bitch. I bet you'd care when I put a fucking bullet in his skull right in front of her."

I clenched my fists by my side, barely keeping a stranglehold on my cool. I could hear my patience snapping, imagining Olivia's horror if he did what he said he would. No matter what she said, she was too kind to want him dead. And watching him die would destroy her.

But I couldn't let Lorenz know that.

"You're wasting your time," I said, emotionlessly. "You have no hold on me or my family, so go rot in hell for all I care."

"You will regret this!" Lorenz swore hatefully.

"I doubt that."

The phone line went dead and I let out the breath I had been holding. It used to be easier to hide my emotions, but now that I had something to lose....

Despite all my bravado, I knew Lorenz could make good on his threats, could make sure we see Sal's body. And no matter how much I hated the man, how much he disgusted me as a father and a husband, I still didn't wish him dead. At least, not when Olivia would know.

I sighed, rubbing the back of my neck as I pondered what to do. Ultimately though, this wasn't a decision I could make on my own, not when more than my life was at stake here. I grabbed my phone, dialing the one person I knew I could always count on in a crisis.

"What?" Gabriele answered, sounding groggy and very annoyed. "This better be good."

"I got a call from Lorenz," I told him bluntly, not wanting to beat around the bush for a matter this important. "Salvatore's still alive."

"How the fuck did he get your number?" Gabriele groaned. "I thought we had it secured?"

"Is that really the biggest concern right now?" I rolled my eyes. "Salvatore's alive."

"And?" Gabriele prompted, unconcerned. "He's a traitor. Why would you care what happens to him? He kidnapped your son."

"I know that," I snapped at the reminder, then I sighed. I also wondered why on earth I would care so much about a person who tried to have me killed, but Olivia... her eyes staring back from his face as we left him there, the devastation that remained there once she found out that her father hadn't come back for her, that he'd abandoned her once again.

No matter how much he tried to hide it, I knew her too well.

And despite everything he's done, she would care if he died. She would care and be hurt, and I couldn't let that happen. Even if she no longer wanted him in her life, she needed to see he was safe and unharmed. He was her father, after all, her blood.

At the very least, we had to try to give her some closure.

"Is it possible to get him back alive?" I asked somberly.

"Are you fucking serious?" Gabriele groaned. "The only way Lorenz is going to give him up is if he gets you in exchange! Are you really going to trade yourself for that bastard? Alessandro was one thing but that man-"

"No," I cut him off firmly. "I won't trade myself for him. No more trades, Gabriele. We have to replace another way."

There was a long pause of silence on the other end before I heard him give a deep sigh.

"At least you have some kernel of sense left in that brain of yours," Gabriele remarked, a hint of relief in his voice. "Their guard is going to be doubled after last time and we won't have the same opening as before, especially since we won't have an insider to lead us in. It'd practically be suicide to break in now."

"Our specialty," I smirked.

Gabriele laughed, "Yeah, yeah. I swear once this is all over I'm going to take two months of vacation off... all expenses paid."

"You help me pull this off, Gabe," I told him with a grin, "then I'll give you double your salary and free use of my bar tab." "Deal."