Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad by Scarlett Rossi
Chapter 511 -

*Tallon*

"The armory is running low on supplies, so Tino is requesting new updates for both the weaponry and armor stores. Our shipment from Guam is running behind due to the tropical storm, so Manuel is requesting that we delay the products we do have." I sighed, balancing my pencil on the edge of my pointer finger. I was only half paying attention as Vinny went on and on about things I couldn't give a rat's ass about. I stared down at my desk, the one I'd inherited from Giovani, and the slip of paper sitting innocently beneath my fingertips.

Her handwriting stared up at me, taunting me, but I couldn't look away. After studying it for hours on end, I had begun to notice the little details like how she drew a tiny heart above the I in her name, the way she flourished her M's, and how the line of 'Call Me' was drawn thicker than the rest of the note.

It was just a ripped-up piece of notebook paper but somehow, it had become invaluable to me, just like Natalia had.

She was an enigma, a siren who only I could hear as she sang just for me. She was too alluring to ignore, drawing me into her with every moment she made. Despite how vulnerable, thin, and breakable she seemed, she held an iron will that held up against anything I could throw at her.

I hadn't known her for that long, had barely spent more than a few hours together, but there was just something about her that kept me coming back to her. I just couldn't stop thinking about her and all the stolen moments we had shared. In my head, I kept running back to our last conversation-the way her face fell, hesitation in her eyes as she stepped away from me, and those cold, biting words she'd said before leaving the dance floor and me.

Most men would've given up by now. They would have gone on with their daily lives and forgotten about the woman who rejected them so brutally. But that wasn't the kind of man I was.

No, the vision of her back as she left me alone on the dance floor had only fuelled the flames of desire within me. But the more days that passed with no sign of her returning, the more bitter my heart grew with longing, leading me to grasp the only thing I had of her in my possession-the damn number that she never answered.

"Tallon!"

I snapped to attention, glancing up at Vinny, who gave me a cross look. "What is it?"

"You're not even paying attention!" He threw his hands up exasperated, beginning to pace in front of my desk with a heated passion. "You're so distracted these days that we've got a whole backlog of internal affairs to sort out, and you're just staring at the stupid piece of paper like some lovesick hopeless romantic idiot!"

I crossed my arms, giving him a pointed look. "Update the armor and have the shipment marked express. We just got new weapons, so no to that. Tell Manuel that we're not delaying anything. We give the product we have, and if they have any complaints, just tell them we don't control the fucking weather. Anything else?"

There was a lasting moment of silence as Vinny and I stared at each other, neither backing down from our defensive sides. Finally, he sighed, giving me a narrowed look like he hated me and everything I stood for.

"You are the bane of my existence," Vinny grumbled unhappily.

"Love you too," I shot back with a grin, then I turned back to the number on my desk, laying my head on my fist. "Now, if only I could solve this issue as easily."

Vinny collapsed onto the leather recliner on the other side of the desk, propping his feet up on the mahogany desk without a care in the world for its preciousness. If Giovani-or worse, my father-had seen what he was doing to their precious desk, there would be hell to pay.

Luckily for him, Vinny knew I just couldn't give a damn.

He rolled his eyes. "Just fucking call her, you idiot. There, solved."

"I have," I shot back, my annoyance creeping up on me. "I've called her a dozen times and she isn't answering... not my calls, not my messages or texts, just nothing. It's like she's disappeared off the face of the planet."

I could still hear the faint ringing of the phone in my ear, the non-stop tone of her voicemail as I left message after message, growing more desperate by the day. I felt like I was losing my mind, that maybe I'd scared her off so badly that she would never want to talk to me again.

Because wasn't that what she said?

'I can't do this.'

Her words followed me like a ghost.

If I could just know why, I thought that maybe I could give up on this borderline obsession and put these feelings to rest. I knew I had to replace her somehow, to give me another chance to explain myself or at least to put me out of my fucking misery. But how?

I was interrupted from my thoughts by the annoying ringing of Vinny's cell phone. The high-pitched song from the radio was one that I detested, and I glared at my right-hand man as he took out his phone, answering it with a cheeky, "Hello?" He'd only made it his ringtone to annoy the shit out of me, and I hated that it worked every time. I glared at the piece of shit plastic, wishing I could take a hammer to it or drop it off a ledge, but Vinny loved that thing more than any girlfriend he'd ever had.

Which was why he was single.

'And happy to be,' he always said smugly whenever I brought it up.

Plus, he did need the phone for micro-managing our warehouse, and supplies, and even investigating or replaceing the location of suspicious-

An idea struck me over the head, and I couldn't believe that I hadn't considered it before. I was the Don of the Italian Mafia, the leader of the Valentinos. I had unlimited money and resources at my fingertips and sure, someone better than me might lecture that it should only be used for the family's well-being and not for personal escapades, but fuck all that.

My mental well-being was important to the family, so I could lead them properly, right? And I was certainly being driven mad because of this woman. So replaceing her was in the interest of the family.

I ignored the flimsy excuse, sticking to my guns as I turned to Vinny with an excited but determined look. He hung up, turning to me with a serious look, but I was too preoccupied to notice.

"Vinny, I want you to replace Natalia. Use anything you have to," I told him firmly. "She's about fife-foot-five with gorgeous long brown hair and beautiful clear blue eyes. I don't have her last name, but she's a foreign exchange student from New York City. There shouldn't be too many of them with that name, so check every college in the area."

Vinny stared at me blankly then said in full disbelief, "You don't even know her last name?"

"Is that really important right now?" I shot back defensively.

It was a bit weird that she hadn't given me her last name but then again, I'd never given her mine either.

"Just replace her for me, okay?"

Vinny sighed, lounging in the leather chair across from me as he slammed his palm down his face, dragging it along his skin. I could see in his eyes he was not happy about this and he did not approve of her, but fuck him. Natalia was more important to me than his opinion right now.

"Look." He stared with a heavy sigh, looking me straight in the eye. "I'll replace your girl for you, but until I do, you gotta focus on work, right? Speaking of, you have to head over to Warehouse C, like right now."

I frowned at the urgency in his voice, unusual with Vinny's carefree attitude. "What's wrong? Did something happen?"

"Yeah." Vinny leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms unhappily. "There was a raid on our recent shipment. Dom is over there now and he needs to talk to you."

Well, fuck.

"Tell him I'll be there in ten," I said, tucking the paper with Natalia's number in my pocket as I grabbed my coat and rushed out of the door. As I left, I shouted out, "And replace Natalia!"

It made it to the warehouse in a record time of eight minutes.

As I drove up, however, it was clear this was no ordinary raid. My men were standing outside of the warehouse, looking worse for wear. Everywhere I looked there were gun casings and scattered pistols just tossed on the ground. Several cars had their whole windshield shattered, while others had holes in their chastise.

It looked like a warzone.

I got out of the car with a dark look, glancing around. I lightly kicked one of the bullet casings, hearing the jingle as It rattled across the pavement. I leaned down to grab it, surveying it. Normal brass, cheap quality, and by the looks of it, handmade.

I pocketed the casing for further research later, stepping over a few piles of blood as I headed to where I spotted Dom through the crowd.

"What the fuck happened?" I demanded as I got to them, surveying the few men leaning against the walls, covered in bloody clothing or being patched up for wounds. "Is anyone else hurt?"

"Most of it is superficial," Dom said firmly. "But two of our men are in the hospital and one is dead. Four of the enemy are dead, but there's nothing on them for an ID. They're ghosts, too." "Fuck," I rubbed the back of my neck, unable to believe this had happened. "Explain everything."

"I was on transport duty for the recent shipment by boat," Dom explained calmly. "We reached the harbor just fine but when we got here, there was already a battle going on. We left the shipment to engage the enemy, and that's when they pushed us back and raided the shipment. They took off soon after."

"They got all of it?" I asked in disbelief, glancing at the huge shipment container that was now riddled with holes and empty.

"Yes." Dom nodded. "They were efficient and highly trained. This wasn't any normal raid. They were prepared. They knew a shipment was coming, and they had enough vehicles and men to take four of them, but they only got one."

"So why didn't they get the rest of it?" I wondered, staring at the shipment container before I finally realized why. I turned to Dom with a shocked look and he nodded, grimly.

"They didn't realize that the rest of the shipment had been delayed due to the storm," Dom stated. "And that's not all."

A chill went down my spine as I glanced around at the chaos, taking it all in.

"What could be fucking worse than this?" I demanded.

Dom sighed, reaching into his back pocket and pulling out what looked like a pistol. I immediately grabbed it, checking the cartridge and the stamping. But there was no sign of a manufacturer, just like the casings. They were homemade or produced locally.

But then I noticed the unusual shape, and my whole body tensed.

"Is this a Tokarev?" I asked cooly, glancing at Dom with a sharp look.

He nodded grimly and my worst fears were realized. I glanced around at the battlefield, taking note of how many identical guns had just been thrown around without care.

Cheap and effortlessly replaced, it was no wonder they'd just thrown them out once they were done. We wouldn't replace fingerprints on them either, I was sure of that. They were too careful for that with the homemade casings of cheap brass, a Tokarev, and the raid on the shipment-this shipment.

"Dom, when was the last time this warehouse was raided?" I asked, quietly, not wanting to confirm my suspicions. But Dom was ready for the question, having already put it all together.

"Fifteen years ago," he answered knowingly, "when the Russians hit it."

Fucking shit.

It had been so long since we'd seen any hint of those fucking Russians that I'd begun to think they'd truly given up and had cut their losses, but I should've known better. Giovani had told me of Lorenz's last words, but I hadn't believed it. It was true though.

"The Russians are back in Italy," I said darkly. Before I had time to process any further, my phone began to ring and I groaned, answering with a rough, "Hello?"

"Well, you were right," Vinny said casually. "There weren't that many exchange students named Natalia."

"You found her?" My heart leaped to my throat, pounding at the thought.

"I found her."