Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad by Scarlett Rossi
Chapter 546 -

*Three Months Later* *Tallon*

I leaned toward the mirror and brushed a bit of lint off of my tie, then turned around so Natalia could evaluate me. I liked to think of myself as fairly well-versed in fashion, especially considering what my older sister did for a living, but I had

noticed that Natalia enjoyed dressing me.

She had a quirky sense of style that had resulted in me wearing a lot more color than I was used to. Today I had put on one of my usual charcoal suits, but added a light blue tie thanks to Natalia. I loved that the tie was almost the exact color of her eyes.

"What do you think?" I asked as she stood with her hands across her chest and looked me up and down.

"I think you just need one more thing, hold on."

She turned around and went to the vase on her nightstand that I kept filled with fresh bouquets every week. She pulled out a small white flower and handed it to me.

"I think you should wear this as a boutonniere. It'll elevate the whole look."

I examined the flower and looked back at her, skepticism written all over my face. "I really don't think it's that nice of a place," I explained. "It's just lunch with Vinny and Alessandro."

"Yeah, but it's been a while since the three of you have gotten together. And you told me you're going to Bon Vin. That place is fancy! When you took me there I wore an evening gown." She pouted her bottom lip out just slightly and I knew that I was going to lose this argument.

"Okay, that's a good point, but that was at night. I swear it's not nearly as nice for lunch." I tried to hand the flower back, but she refused to take it.

Instead, she fixed me with her icy stare that always sent an electric shock right to my heart. Fuck, she was beautiful. I started to consider canceling the lunch altogether and spending the afternoon with her instead.

I sat the flower on the vanity behind me, then reached out and grabbed her before she could move out of my reach. She squealed as I pulled her tight and tried to wriggle out of my grasp, but she was no match for me. I knew all of her tricks, and most importantly, I knew exactly where she was most ticklish.

I wrapped my arms around her to get better leverage, then tickled the soft spot just above her waist. Just as I'd known they would, her legs immediately went out from under her as she kicked and squirmed. I held her weight as she laughed and tried to get away. I stopped tickling her long enough to carry her to the bed and plopped her onto it, quickly climbing over her so that she couldn't escape.

Her giggles warmed my heart as she looked up at me and I thought about how serious she had been when I first met her. I loved how playful she had become in her time living with me, and I was dedicated to making her laugh every single day.

Before long, Natalia's movements became less about trying to get away and more about trying to get me to stay. She bit her lower lip slightly and I couldn't stop myself from leaning down and taking her mouth with mine. Even after months of living together, I couldn't believe that she was really mine.

Hating that I had to do it, I pulled away from our kiss.

"I really do need to go," I murmured. "But I expect to do more of this when I get back."

She smiled seductively and nodded, then bucked her hips against mine, forcing me to groan in pleasure. I had to leap off of her just to keep myself from tearing her clothes off.

"Okay, I'm leaving!" I laughed as I tried to straighten up my clothes.

I rushed out of the room before she could remember to pin her flower on me, then headed outside to meet my driver. Vinny and Alessandro were meeting me at the restaurant. They had both been insanely busy ever since our merger with Ivan.

Although his men were excited to learn about our business, they also needed a lot of training. It was obvious that Ivan hadn't really done much beyond showing them how to shoot a gun. None of them knew how to keep track of shipments or load pallets, which happened to be the majority of what we needed them for.

Luckily, Vinny and Alessandro had decades of experience between the two of them. I had no doubt in my mind that they would have Ivan's guys acting like naturals in no time.

When I arrived at the restaurant, I saw that Vinny and Alessandro were already seated. The hostess led me over to their table and I laughed to myself to see that both of them were dressed more casually than I was. I would have to tell Natalia that I would have looked especially ridiculous wearing a boutonniere next to the two of them. They were both wearing slacks and button-downs.

"How's it been going?" I asked as I sat down.

"Alessandro here was just enlightening me to your scheming," Vinny said. "And let me just say that I am outraged that I didn't know what was going on!"

I looked at Alessandro, trying to figure out what Vinny was talking about.

"He didn't know that you were aware of my meetings with the Russians," Alessandro explained. "I was just telling him how I had met with you as soon as they approached me, and that we had agreed that I would string them along and see what information I could get."

"Oh yeah, sorry, Vin. I just wanted to keep it as quiet as possible. That was also when we were trying to figure out who the mole was. I knew it wasn't you, but I figured it would only confuse things if you also knew about what Alessandro was up to."

"Well, I think that's bullshit, but I forgive you," Vinny said with a smile.

Our waiter brought us our appetizer, some sort of French-Italian fusion dish with plenty of tomatoes. I took a bite as a comfortable silence fell over us. I was grateful that things had calmed down ever since our truce with Ivan. It was nice to be able to spend time with the two of them and not have to fill it with conversations about work.

"How's Natalia?" Alessandro asked. "I still feel guilty for telling you to just leave her in Ivan's hands. I hope she likes that dress I bought her. I asked Dahlia to pick it out."

"She's forgiven you," I assured him. "She gets it. She didn't want me to trade myself either, so really you all were in agreement."

"I'm just wondering when you're going to make this official!" Vinny interjected.

"Damn, Vinny, they've only been together for a few months. Give the man some time," Alessandro said.

I smiled and held my hand up to interrupt him. "Actually, I've been planning out my proposal."

"No shit?!" Alessandro reached over and clapped me on the shoulder. "I cannot believe my little brother is going to settle down."

"I knew it!" Vinny crowed, elbowing Alessandro. "Did I not tell you that as soon as everything settled down, he'd be proposing?"

Alessandro rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. We all knew he would ask eventually. I just didn't think it would be so soon."

"I know it's soon," I admitted. "But I just know she's the one for me. I mean, fuck, the idea of her ever moving out of the compound kills me."

"I get it, man," Alessandro said. "I think you should go for it. It's obvious that she feels the same way about you. The fact that she was willing to turn her back on her entire family for you says a lot. She's tough as hell, too. The perfect match for you. You need a tough woman to keep you in line."

"Yeah, yeah," I took another bite of our appetizer, thinking about what it would be like to marry Natalia. Alessandro was right; she was tough. She wouldn't take shit from anybody, I was sure about that.

"So what's your plan?" Vinny asked. "I know you're the king of romantic gestures."

"Yeah, give us a lesson on how to plan the perfect proposal," Alessandro teased.

Ignoring their jokes, I leaned in and told them my plan. "I'm going to take her to Tuscany. Our family seems to have good luck with proposals there. I haven't decided exactly what I'm going to do yet, but I know she'll be surprised. I just hope she says yes. You're right, Alessandro, it is really soon. And I know she's young. She might not be ready to take such a big step forward."

"Nah, I've seen the way she looks at you," Vinny argued. "She'll say yes. No doubt about it."

Alessandro nodded his agreement. "She's young but she's not stupid. She knows that what you two have is special."

"Either way," I added, "I'll stick with her. Even if she's not ready to get married yet, I'll stay by her side. She's not going to be able to get rid of me that easily."

Alessandro laughed. "Yeah, I don't think she's going to be trying to get rid of you. You'll flash her that 'I'm the baby of the family and get whatever I want' grin and she'll definitely say yes."

"Hey! I resent that. I don't always get whatever I want. Dahlia has definitely told me no a few times."

They both threw their heads back and laughed. It was a long-running joke in our family that I was the family favorite. I could hardly deny it; growing up as the youngest had its perks. But I had my doubts about whether or not my 'baby of the family' charm as Alessandro put it would work on her.

She had already been through so much in life and was forced to make so many difficult decisions. I wanted to make sure that being engaged to me would be the easiest decision she had ever made.

Our waiter brought out the entrees and set them down neatly in front of us. Our conversation paused as we all took a few bites. I was grateful for the pause. I was excited to propose to Natalia, but if I was being honest with myself, the whole thing scared me shitless. I really had no clue what she was going to say, and I wasn't sure what I would do if she said no.

All I knew was that I had to ask. I couldn't stand to go any longer without at least trying to get a ring on her finger.

I wanted her to know that I wanted her to be mine forever.