Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad by Scarlett Rossi
Chapter 535 -

*Tallon*

"Fuck you. You're nothing but a liar," I hissed at Ivan, not allowing myself to even begin to believe his words.

"Oh I assure you, I would not lie about something like this," he said coolly. "After all, her mother will not be happy about this. I suspect I will have to spend the next many years apologizing to my sister for what I am about to do." My mind was racing. I glanced from face to face, trying to discern whether or not Ivan was telling the truth. Would he really stoop so low as to put his own niece in danger? I wasn't sure. I hated the fact that he had known that Natalia was my weak spot. Even knowing she'd betrayed me, I still didn't want her to be put in danger.

I looked at Vinny; his face was hardened, not showing any emotion. I knew he didn't want to influence my decisions, but I had a feeling his response would be to just walk away. Why should we even care whether or not Natalia was in danger? She was partially responsible for the deaths of our men. She was the one who had gotten us into this whole mess in the first place.

But I couldn't ignore the part of me that knew that she was just a victim of her own family. Sure, she had worked with them, but how could she have known any better?

"Prove it, then," I finally said.

I hadn't decided what I would do, but before I made a decision, I had to ensure that Ivan was even telling the truth. For all I knew this was just another elaborate scheme and Natalia was safe at home.

Ivan nodded at one of the blonde "waitresses" by his side. She moved forward and handed him a cell phone. I could see the outline of a gun against her hip as she stepped back. I wondered what part she played in all of this. There must be a reason why Ivan had chosen her to be the one who held the phone. Ivan dialed slowly. He seemed to enjoy the theatrics of the moment. I realized that he had planned out every single detail of this meeting, even down to the shitty vodka. I wondered how many years he had spent waiting for this. I suspected it was quite a few.

Ivan pressed a single button on the phone; it must have been directly connected to whatever place he was calling. I was disgusted to think about the effort he had gone to to kidnap his own niece. He was far worse than I had ever thought. Ivan raised the phone to his face and said simply, "Put her on."

The sinister tone of his voice sent chills down my spine. I had no doubt in my mind as I looked at his cold eyes that this man would not hesitate to put his own niece in danger. He looked more than willing to murder her if it would further his

own cause.

I felt sorry for Natalia as I imagined what it must have been like to grow up with a family like this. I had grown up with even the toughest of bodyguards doting on me, and my older cousins had always been kind and loving.

Ivan handed the phone to me and I slowly raised it to my ear, steeling myself for whatever might be on the other end. For all I knew, this was still an elaborate trick, but I had to admit to myself that the most likely scenario was that Ivan was telling the truth.

"Hello?" I asked, praying that I wouldn't hear Natalia's voice on the other end.

What I did hear was far worse than I could have ever imagined. I had to pull it away from my ear slightly as I was immediately greeted by screaming sobs. "Tallon! Tallon, please help me," Natalia pleaded, her voice hoarse as though she had been screaming for hours. "They're going to hurt me! Please, they've already hurt me. Tallon, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for everything. Just please don't let them hurt me. Please! I never meant for any of this to happen!"

My heart broke into a million pieces. No matter how hard I tried to tell myself differently, this was the woman I loved. I didn't care what she had done to me or how many mistakes she had made. All I wanted was for her to be with me. And now she was in pain and begging me for help, but I had no idea what I could do for her or where she even was. I was fucking powerless and it killed me. I forced myself to calm down so that I could at least provide her with some comfort. I was worried that she would go into shock if she didn't manage to get control of her breathing.

"Natalia, listen to me, you need to take a deep breath, okay?" I said in a calm, steady voice.

I ignored my racing heart and the way every single instinct in my body screamed for me to kill Ivan with my bare hands for hurting her. For Natalia, I could be calm. I breathed deeply and loudly so that she could match me. I heard her try to slow her sobs and take a few shuddering breaths.

"Good girl, just keep breathing. Don't be afraid, it's all going to be okay. You just need to keep breathing."

"Hm, lying to her, are we?" Ivan asked smugly. "I don't think you really have any idea about whether or not this is 'all going to be okay.""

Natalia could hear him on her end, and she gasped in fear. She still tried to breathe as I had told her to, but I could hear that she was crying quietly. I clenched my jaw hard enough to break a tooth in order to keep myself from telling him what I was about to do to him and every single one of his cronies who had dared to harm Natalia.

"How could you do this?" I demanded. "How could you hurt your own family?"

I kept my ear pressed to the phone so that I could hear that Natalia was still breathing and so that she could hear my voice. I could tell that it calmed her just to listen to me. Ivan glared at me, clearly unimpressed with my question. "Family doesn't betray family. She stopped being my niece the second she decided to tell you who she was," he snarled, sheer malice in his voice.

I wondered if Natalia's mother had any idea just how dangerous her brother was. Had she unknowingly sent her daughter to the wolves, or had she known and decided not to care?

"She was too late, asshole. I already knew who she was. She didn't say a word until after Alessandro told me." My muscles tensed as I remembered the horrible things I had said to her. I wished I could take it all back. I couldn't let those be my last words to her. I would never forgive myself.

"It does not matter. When one of your men betrays you, do you care when the betrayal happens, or do you care about the fact that they were willing to betray at all?" He looked at his fingernails, as though he was utterly bored with this entire conversation.

I still heard Natalia's breathing on the other end of the phone. I vowed to hold her in my arms again, if it was the last thing I did. And I would apologize for the horrible things I had said. She didn't deserve death for what she had done. She had just been trying her best with what she had.

"What do you want, Ivan?" I asked, determined to give him damn near anything if it would guarantee Natalia's safety.

I had faith that my family could recoup anything we lost to the Russians, and I was sick of the violence. If Ivan wanted money, I would give it to him. I didn't care if it ultimately made the Russians stronger, as long as it brought some sort of peace.

"Hmmm... what do I want?" He continued to pick at his nails, but I knew it was all a facade. He had planned every moment of this and he loved that it had gone as he expected. He turned to the "waitress" beside him with the gun on her hip. "What do I want, Vera?"

She smiled at me with nothing but malice in her icy eyes. "I think you want a person for a person, sir. After all, that's only fair."

I should have known that would be his request. He wanted to trade a hostage for a hostage. In my mind, I began to run through which Russians we were currently holding. Surely there was someone we could trade back to Ivan who wouldn't be particularly helpful to him. I knew we had at least three of his men in one of our warehouses, and so far they hadn't been particularly useful for gathering information.

"Deal. I can trade back one of your men and we get Natalia," I said easily. After all, it was only a matter of time before we took their entire organization down.

"Not so fast," Ivan said, clicking his tongue like a disappointed school teacher. "I already have one of my own. You seem to forget that Natalia is one of my own. I want to trade her for one of you. And she seems quite important, which makes me think that she should be traded with someone quite important. That's only fair, after all."

My mind raced. I couldn't ask Alessandro or Vinny to be the trade. I couldn't do that to them, no matter how much I wanted to. Ivan was right; family didn't betray family. Although I thought that his idea of family was sick and twisted, I knew that my own family deserved my protection.

"Who do you have in mind?" I asked, praying that he didn't ask for Alessandro or Vinny.

"You, of course! Do you think I would go to all this trouble for anyone less?" He looked genuinely astounded that it hadn't occurred to me. All I felt was relief as I realized that I could sacrifice myself to save Natalia.

"Done," I said without a second thought.

"Tallon, no!" Vinny roared next to me.

Alessandro looked as though he was about to physically restrain me.

"Uh oh, the big Italian mafia Don is losing control of his men," Ivan taunted.

"Shut the fuck up!" Alessandro yelled at him.

I raised my hands to silence all of them. "It is my decision to make. I'm taking the deal."

I hoped that I wasn't making the biggest mistake of my entire life, but if Natalia was safe, it would be worth it.