Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad by Scarlett Rossi
Chapter 510 -

*Natalia*

I looked at the missed call that had made my phone go off in class, even though I already knew who it would be from. I sighed as I saw Tallon's name listed over and over on my call log. It had been three days since I kissed Tallon and then ran away from him, and he had called me every single day, sometimes more than once.

The messages he left me were ridiculously sweet, always respectful but also extremely obvious that he was desperate to hear back from me. I listened to the message he'd just left for me as I walked to my next class. "Natalia, it's me. I was thinking about you this morning because I was walking in my garden and I saw a bleeding heart plant. At first, I was annoyed, because I've told my groundskeeper so many times that I only want Italian plants in my gardens, but bleeding hearts are native to Korea. Italy has such beautiful plant life. There's no need to supplement with anything else. And so I'm standing there, annoyed at this gorgeous flower, when I started to think about you and how you are a gorgeous flower who refuses to be tamed, much like this bleeding heart. And now you've planted yourself in my life, and no matter what I do, I can't seem to stop thinking about you. That kiss was... well, to be honest, it was indescribable. And dancing with you was the most fun I've had in a long time. I've tried to play it cool with you so you wouldn't think I was an idiot, but I'll be honest, Natalia, it's impossible for me. You consume my thoughts, and I like it that way. Please call me back soon."

My heart twisted at the earnestness in his tone. A part of me was pleased that he was falling for me because if I was being honest with myself, I was falling for him too. But that just made me feel even more horrible about what I was doing. It was true that I was from America and was in Italy to study abroad, but what Tallon didn't know was that my family had ties to his... horrible ties, ties that would make him never want to speak to me again if he knew about them. It was my cousins who had kidnapped his sister Dahlia years ago, and my uncle who had started a years-long war between the Valentino family and the Russian mafia. Worst of all, it was my family that was currently picking up the pieces of what Tallon and his family had tried to destroy.

Tallon thought that they'd been successful in permanently removing all Russian influences from Italy, but he didn't know that for the past fifteen years, my family had been lying in wait for the perfect opportunity to infiltrate the Valentino family. It turned out that I was that opportunity.

When one of my uncles called my mother and asked if I would be willing to study abroad in Italy in order to help get closer to the Valentino family, my mother laughed at him. She thought it was an absurd plan that would never work. But Italy had always intrigued me after growing up hearing my cousins reminisce on their time here, so in spite of my mother, I had agreed to come. I had mostly planned to be a normal university student, but my uncle forced me to "bump into" Tallon. I knew that if I didn't seem loyal to the family they would stop funding my studies abroad, so I had to at least keep up the appearance that I was trying to infiltrate the Valentinos.

The first time I met Tallon, I hadn't intended to get him to fall in love with me. I thought the Don of the most powerful family in Italy would have dozens of women lining up to be with him. It wasn't until after we'd had a long conversation that I realized he was single, and I figured out exactly how I could gather intel for my family-by becoming Tallon's girlfriend.

After growing up hearing all about how he and his family had destroyed our wealth and forced us into hiding, it seemed like an easy way to get payback for my family, and I knew it would make my uncles happy.

What I hadn't been able to prepare for was how much I would enjoy Tallon's company. It turned out that he was far kinder than I had been led to believe, and it helped that he was one of the most attractive men that I had ever met. What had started out as a way to help my family gain back some of what they had lost had quickly turned into a horribly anxiety-inducing problem. Not only did I not want to use Tallon to put his men in danger, but I was also quickly falling for him in a way that was dangerous for me.

I took a deep breath. My feelings didn't matter. I needed to do this for my family. They weren't the best family a person could have, but they had always been there for me throughout the years, and my mother was wonderful. She was the real reason I had agreed to do this for my uncles. Even though she thought it was a silly plan, I was able to tell by the tone of her voice that she was excited at the idea of us finally regaining the power we had lost. I was too young to remember what it was like when my family had controlled the entire Russian black market, but my mother always spoke fondly about growing up in a gorgeous mansion filled with family and friends. They had servants who attended to their every need and never wanted for anything. It was difficult for me to imagine considering I had grown up in a small condo in the States, where it was mostly just my mother and me.

When I considered how much it would change my mother's life to get some of that wealth and power back, it was obvious that I needed to continue with the plan. I made it to my next class and sat in the far back so I could text Tallon without the professor noticing.

"What are you doing today?" I smiled to myself, imagining how happy he would be to hear from me.

He responded almost immediately. "Mostly paperwork, unfortunately. How about you?"

"I'm in class. Learning about carbon-carbon double bonds."

"Yikes. That sounds terrifying."

"Only a bit."

"You must be some kind of genius."

"Not really, but you're welcome to keep thinking that." I smirked as I imagined his reaction to that.

"I think the world of you. I can't imagine you being bad at anything."

I frowned. He was right to think that I was usually pretty good at anything I set my mind to, but it made me feel guilty all over again to think of the ways in which I was going to betray him. I put my phone away, not wanting to think about it anymore.

The professor had moved on from carbon-carbon double bonds to talk about hybridized orbitals. I attempted to take notes on my laptop, but I kept getting distracted thinking about how Tallon had thought of me when he saw a bleeding heart flower. He had no idea how accurate his comparison had been. I was invading his life, and if my plan was successful, he would hate me forever.

I forced myself to think about my mother, about how sad she had been to grow up away from her family. I forced myself to remember the brother that she'd lost because of Tallon's men. She had never really gotten over her grief for him. I pulled my phone back out.

"What's your favorite flower?" I asked him, trying to steer the conversation away from any discussion of me and my supposedly good attributes.

"I like red lilies. I know the white lily is our national flower, but I replace the red so much more alluring."

I rolled my eyes. His flower metaphors were getting a little pointed. But honestly, I loved it. There was something so intriguing about a man who was happy to discuss his favorite flowers when I also happened to know he was a mafia Don. I could feel myself itching to pull back the layers of Tallon's personality to see what was underneath. He didn't have secrets the way I did, but I knew there were things that he wouldn't reveal to me until he was really comfortable. If I was going to be successful at this, I needed to get him really comfortable, even if that meant compromising my own morals.

"My grandmother used to call red lilies 'stained madonnas." I texted him back. It wasn't true. In fact, I never even knew my grandmother, but I hoped that if I mentioned something small about my family, then he might start talking about his

own.

"She sounds scary! I'd love to meet her someday. I love terrifying women."

His text made me laugh out loud and I quickly covered my mouth. The people around me turned to look at me, no doubt wondering what I found funny about an organic chemistry lecture. "Sorry!" I whispered.

I spent the rest of the class texting back and forth, trying to toe the line between doing something good for my family and not wanting to break Tallon's heart.

As I was walking out of class, I realized that there was no way to do this without breaking Tallon's heart, and that my own would likely be broken as well. I shoved my phone back into my pocket and vowed to stop talking to Tallon.

I would just tell my uncles that I had tried, but he had pushed me away. Surely they would believe me. Once again, guilt gnawed at me as I mentally prepared myself to lie to people I claimed to love. How could I ever choose between Tallon and my family?

Other than my mother, my family had never been great. My cousins were mostly rough boys being raised by angry men who had been chased out of their homes years ago. I grew up quickly learning how to fight, not because of bullies in the schoolyard, but because of my own family. My first fistfight was when I was nine, and my older cousin attacked me for calling him a cheater.

But tricking Tallon wouldn't only benefit my cousins and uncles; it would also help my mother. I chewed on my lip as I considered whether or not helping her was worth it.

I just couldn't decide what to do. My phone buzzed a few more times with messages from Tallon, but I didn't want to see them.

I needed to stop thinking about all of it for a little while.