Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad by Scarlett Rossi
Chapter 501 -

*Olivia*

I rocked Elio to sleep, singing to him quietly. Since his return, he'd had trouble going to bed at night. I glanced at the window, moonlight streaming through the new bars across it, and wished I could explain to him all the security measures that we'd put in.

My singing faltered, and I swallowed. Elio clutched at my shirt. No, I didn't want that. I wished my son didn't have to fear going to sleep in case he woke up, drugged, in a strange location again.

I stroked his hand and picked up the song again before his eyes could open, an old folk-rock song my mother used to sing to me when I couldn't fall asleep at night.

As his tiny fist started to soften, the door creaked open. My head shot up, but it was only Gio, backlit by the light in the room. I put a finger to my lips and kept up the song.

Gio crept into the room and stroked Elio's small cheek. As though he was waiting for proof of his father as well, Elio's hand dropped off my shirt, and his head fell back.

I smiled and kept singing as I stood and walked to his crib. Gio trailed after us like he couldn't quite bear to be more than a few feet away. I eased Elio into his crib, and he only stirred enough to grab the blanket I placed over him and tuck it under his chin.

Gio wrapped his arm around my shoulders, and we stood in silence together. Elio had been back for days now, but his presence still felt bizarrely temporary, like he could disappear whenever I turned my back on him.

After a long moment, I sighed and turned to leave. Gio turned with me, and we snuck out together. I stared at the half-lit sitting room and our bedroom door behind it, wondering whether Gio wanted to have a couch conversation or a bed

one.

"I have news," he said.

Sometimes, it was like he could read my mind. I moved toward the couch, but he caught my wrist.

"It's late," he murmured. "Let's just talk as we get ready for bed."

I pursed my lips but nodded. I tried to keep mafia talk out of the bedroom wherever possible, but I couldn't deny the aching in my feet or the tiredness in my limbs. I wanted to get out of my clothes, even though I'd chosen a comfy T-shirt and loose shorts, and lay down.

Gio shut off all the lights in the sitting room, double-checked the door was locked, and headed into the bedroom. I allowed myself a moment in the dark, trying to feel sleepy instead of exhausted, calm instead of terrified. Then, I followed him. He had already shed his jacket and was unpinning his cufflinks when I entered the room. I walked automatically over to help him. He always struggled with the one on his right side.

He smiled. "We've got a plan to strike."

I nodded. Part of me hoped I could sleep a little easier with Lorenz off the streets, but I doubted it at this point.

"It's tomorrow." He shed his left cufflink and offered me his right arm. "We're going to hit all their major locations, then clean up in the weeks to come."

"Like you did with Dmitri?" I couldn't keep the exhaustion out of my voice as I freed his right cufflink and scooped them both up to carry into the closet.

He swallowed. "Well, yeah. We don't have the numbers to be confident on any kind of bigger operation."

I trudged into the closet and dropped his cufflinks in their drawer. "And are you part of this strike?"

He paused in the doorway, unbuttoning his shirt. "Yes."

A wave of numbness washed over me. Another day, another lethal risk for my husband to take. He said he didn't know when this would be over, and I was starting to think it never would be.

I pulled off my T-shirt, and when I turned to grab my pajamas, Gio stepped up behind me. The open sides of his shirt brushed against my back as he unhooked my bra with warm hands.

I leaned back against him, wishing the warmth of his skin against mine was enough to chase the chill of fear away. "Did you think at all about what I said?"

He eased my bra off my shoulders. "I did, actually, a lot."

There was a weightiness to his voice that kindled a small ember of hope in my chest. It didn't sound exactly like a 'no' voice, just the voice of someone working through a difficult decision. "And?" I asked breathlessly.

He pressed a kiss to my bare shoulder as my bra tumbled off. "When I was younger, I lived for the family. You have to in this business."

I turned to face him, that ember kindling into a flame as his eyes trailed down my bare chest. "But you're older now."

He nodded indulgently. "Older, and wiser, and I've got a new family to live for."

The flame burned brighter. I pressed my hands to his bare chest. "You mean...?"

He pulled me into him. "I mean this is my last operation. I will retire, and I will be happy to spend that retirement with my family."

I squealed and threw my arms around his neck. He kissed me, long and hard, the skin of our chests warming against one another. The blaze of hope burned away all my numbness, bringing me to life again.

When would this end? Tomorrow night... one more night, and then Gio would begin taking the steps to retire. I didn't know what that meant, and I didn't care right now. All that mattered to me was that my beautiful, wonderful husband and my beautiful, wonderful son would be safe moving forward.

His hands skimmed up my sides, cupping my breasts, and I shoved his shirt off his shoulders. He chuckled into my mouth and lifted me up. I wrapped my legs around his waist, his loosened belt buckle pressing into my thigh, and he carried me back into the bedroom.

As he lay me back gently on the edge of the bed and stared into my eyes, love overwhelmed me. I'd moved to Italy on this whirlwind adventure, fallen in love with a mob boss, tried to make myself part of his world, and in the end we both realized we'd be happier together than being anything else... just us and our son, our perfect family.

Gio stared down at me, his eyes burning like he was thinking all the same things. I cupped his cheek.

"I love you," I murmured.

He grinned. "I love you, always and forever."

I pulled him back down to kiss me, slow and languorous. We had all the time in the world. His mouth moved over mine, lazily familiar, and I wove my fingers into his hair.

He traced his fingers over my breasts in teasing circles, taunting my nipples but never quite lingering. Goose bumps broke out over my skin, and a low moan gathered in the back of my throat. I felt Gio smile against my lips.

As revenge, I ran my nails lightly over the ridges of his muscled body. They rippled under my touch, and he leaned forward, pressing me into the bed. I could feel his cock already starting to harden.

I pushed myself further onto the bed, hoping he would follow me and lay down, but he merely moved his mouth from mine, down the column of my throat, and onto my breasts. He kissed them with the same easy passion, and I loosened my hand in his hair. I didn't want to steer him. I just wanted to enjoy this moment, the first when I really believed things might again be quiet someday.

He teased my nipples to points, coaxing small moans out of my mouth in a ceaseless waterfall. When I was sure they couldn't get any harder, I pushed myself up the bed again, hoping he'd get the hint this time.

As before, he remained, kissing down the plane of my stomach to the hem of my shorts. He ran his hands up the outsides of my legs, grabbed the top of my shorts and my underwear, and eased them down my legs. I moaned as air met the wetness between my legs, and his lips never left my skin.

He merely kissed down over one hip bone, along the inside of my leg to almost my knee, back up, and across to cover the other leg. I writhed underneath him, the slow attention bringing every one of my senses into sharp focus.

I was achingly wet, desperate for touch, but when I met his blue gaze, I couldn't ask for anything more. He burned with that same love I'd seen when he laid me down, and he intended to take as long as he damn well pleased, showing that to

me.

I relaxed under him. He would touch me when the time was right. I trusted him completely.

Finally, his kisses lingered at the top of my pubic hair, and he spread my legs slightly wider with gentle hands. I bucked into his touch. He chuckled against my skin and pressed his mouth to the center of my heat.

I moaned.

He licked me slowly, teasing my bud but never applying direct pressure. His hands on my legs kept me from wrapping around him, forcing him closer, with the gentlest restraint. I could break it in a moment, but it was enough to know he wanted me to wait.

My arousal sharpened to a point of near pain as he dragged out minute after minute of pleasure. Gio knew exactly how to make me come, and that meant he knew how to keep me on the precipice, waiting for the moment of release. Every time it approached, he backed off without me having to say a word.

After the fifth time that I approached the edge and he backed away, he leaned his head against my thigh. His chin glistened in the low light.

"Well, carina, do you want this one by yourself or with me?" he asked.

I couldn't make him feel like this in the amount of time it would take me to sail over the edge, and I wanted him to feel as special, as known, as cared for. I glanced at the clock on the wall.

We had more than enough time for another few rounds.

I moved my hand in his hair to his cheek, regardless of the stickiness. "With you."

He kissed my palm and stood, shucking his pants and underwear in a single move. His cock stood at proud attention. I scooted up the bed one last time, laying back on our pillows, and beckoned him forward. He grinned and laid down on top of me.

I ran my hands from his shoulders down to his ass, memorizing every line of his body like I didn't already know it by heart. One more mission, and I'd stop having to worry about losing him in some drive-by nobody expected. One more mission, and I could be sure I had this forever.

He kissed me as he lined up, and I could taste myself on his lips. I burned for him.

Gio slid home in a single thrust, our hips meeting as we moaned in harmony. I wrapped my legs around his waist, holding him close, only letting him pull back a scant few inches. He dropped from holding himself up on his palms to his elbows, our chests pressed so close together I could nearly feel the weight of him.

I smiled softly and kissed him again as he set the same languorous pace with his cock. His mouth trailed over my lips, my cheeks, my throat. I kissed him back, his eyelids, his jawline. Even as my orgasm built to a fever pitch between my legs, I could only think about keeping him this close to me forever, safe and in my arms.

It didn't take much to push me over the edge. My vision turned white as pleasure, deepened by love, became my whole world. Distantly, I heard him call my name and tense, his orgasm on the heels of mine.

When we both trembled through the aftershocks, he wrapped an arm around my shoulder and rolled so I was on top, his cock still nestled inside me. I pillowed my head on his chest with a peaceful sigh.

He kissed my hair. "It's going to take a little while to actually make the transfer. Maybe a month or two."

I patted his chest. "I don't need to know that now. I only want to take a little nap before I make you feel as good as I just did."

A small laugh rumbled from his chest underneath me. "Alright, carina. Whatever you want."

I shut my eyes and let drowsiness fold over me like a blanket, feeling lighter than I had in a long time.