Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad by Scarlett Rossi
Chapter 561 -

*Tallon*

When I returned, I wasn't surprised to replace that Natalia wasn't home. There was a hastily written addendum to my note telling me that she went to dinner with Mia.

I was glad that the two of them were becoming fast friends, but given the circumstances, I was very worried that she had left.

She had her driver nearby and she was being monitored to keep her safe, but I had already decided that I would need to step up her personal security. We had no idea what was going on, and it was possible that, given her family ties to the Russians, Natalia could be targeted by this killer.

Just the thought was enough to make my stomach turn. I thought that the fact that she was no longer part of the Russian family may not matter to whoever was responsible for these killings. She was still Russian and the granddaughter of Dimitri. If someone was trying to piss off the leadership, hurting Natalia might just do it.

This killer was bold and might not care that she was under my protection.

It would be the last mistake they ever made.

I debated with myself for a long time about whether I should go get her, but I didn't want to ruin her night and I didn't want to start another fight with her. Besides, I had no reason to believe that she was actually in danger.

I decided that I would just have to wait for her to return. I called her driver and told him that he wasn't to let Natalia out of his sight and that he should let me know the moment anything out of the ordinary happened, even if it seemed insignificant.

He knew better than to ask questions, but I knew that he was alarmed, as he should have been. I was going to have to put the entire family on alert, and the thought of it filled me with dread.

This entire situation had me on edge. I had a few drinks to take the edge off while I waited for Natalia to get home, but as the night wore on, I realized that I was being ridiculous.

There had been no move made against us. There was no reason to believe that we were being targeted. I was not going to upset Natalia or frighten her by rushing her home.

I showered and got ready for bed, trying all the while to reassure myself that Natalia was safe and would be home soon.

The sound of Natalia coming up the stairs filled me with relief.

She was wearing a nice dress, and I could tell by the way she was walking that she was a little tipsy. She must have had fun with Mia.

"You're still up," she said with relief. "I lost track of time. I was worried that you'd be asleep before I got home."

"I was waiting up," I admitted. "I wanted to apologize to you for how things went earlier. I didn't mean to be dismissive of your concerns about Bianca."

"I'm sorry too," she said. "I know that I was being dramatic. I'm just so freaked out by the whole situation. It's so eerie the way she keeps showing up." There was a sour look on Natalia's face that made it clear just how distasteful she found the entire situation.

I nodded my agreement. It was bizarre that Bianca kept showing up. "You're right," I said. "I'll look into it. It's too much of a coincidence." I figured that it couldn't hurt to check up on Bianca and make sure that she wasn't up to anything underhanded.

"Thank you," she said.

She looked relieved. I felt stupid for not making her this promise earlier. All she needed was for me to take her worries seriously, and I had been too distracted by my own concerns about Bianca to do that.

I couldn't resist pulling Natalia into my arms and kissing her. I was so relieved to have that silly argument behind us and to have her home safely. She reacted to the kiss immediately, and it would have been so easy to fall into the moment. I forced myself to pull away.

I had to tell her what was happening.

"Is something wrong?" she asked.

I nodded. "Vinny called me. That's why I had to leave so suddenly."

She was visibly tense. "What's wrong?"

"We don't know exactly what's going on," I said. "But someone is hitting the Russians. There have been multiple deaths, and it isn't clear who is behind them."

Her eyes went wide with fear, but she didn't move otherwise. After a few seconds, she walked to the bed and sat down on the edge.

"Is this about me?" she asked softly.

I hated that I didn't have answers for her almost as much as I hated the fear in her eyes. I knelt before her and gently placed my hand on her knee.

"I don't know, but I doubt it," I said calmly. "We will need to step up security, just to be safe. You shouldn't leave the house without security for the time being."

"I thought that this was all behind us," she said sadly.

"I know," I replied. "But feuds don't die easily, and the Russians have other enemies. We don't know who is behind this or what their goals are. We just have to take precautions."

"I understand," she said with a forced smile.

I placed my hand gently on her cheek and waited for her to look me in the eyes. "I will keep you safe, darling, at any cost."

"I know," she said. "I trust you with my life."

The sincerity in her words made my heart ache. This was supposed to be a happy time for us, but it seemed that the universe simply wasn't going to cooperate.

I got up and sat beside her on the bed. Natalia leaned into my side and I wrapped my arm around her and kissed the top of her head. The way she melted into me with complete trust and comfort made me smile, despite myself. The world may try to keep us apart, but nothing was going to take Natalia from me.

I knew that she felt the same.

We sat in silence for a long while, just holding each other and thinking about the strange circumstances that we found ourselves in. It would be easy to give in to despair. It really felt like the universe was trying to put a damper on our wedding plans.

It was very late, and we were both exhausted. Without a word, I stood and held my hand out to her. She took my hand and together we walked to the dresser. I got out one of her nightgowns while she undressed. The sight of her beautiful body gave me plenty of ideas, but I knew Natalia was too tired and scared to have fun, and I didn't want her fear to get in the way of our intimacy.

Once she had changed, we shut off the light and climbed into bed together.

Having Natalia safe in my arms was the only thing that was going to allow me to relax today. She nuzzled into my chest and a soft, contented sigh escaped her. The alcohol in our systems was probably doing a lot to numb the fear of the situation.

It didn't take long for Natalia to drift into a peaceful and deep sleep. I kept my arms around her and gently stroked her dark hair with my fingers.

Possible explanations for this situation with the Russians kept running through my mind. It was pointless to speculate when I had so little information, but I couldn't help myself.

The more I thought about the killings, the less sense they made.

There was no calling card of any kind, and no one was taking responsibility.

Killings like these were usually carried out to send a message, that was why the bodies weren't concealed in any way. There was no attempt to hide the fact that a crime had been committed, or to hide the identities of the victims. It was like they wanted the Russians to know that their people had been killed.

Or like they wanted the police to replace them.

I wondered if this could be some kind of a setup. I wasn't aware of any evidence that had been gathered from the crime scenes, but it was possible that these killings were meant to draw police attention to the Russians. That didn't quite make sense either, though.

Sure, the police would know that something was up with the Russians, but in this case, they were the victims. It wasn't as though they would be arresting any Russian enforcers for this mess.

I frowned deeply as I thought about the circumstances of the killings.

Could it be that someone was trying to draw police attention to someone else? If that were the case, we could be in real trouble. Our old rivalry with the Russians was well known, and it was just possible that the cops would start poking around our business to see if we might be involved in these killings.

I would have to warn everyone to keep their noses clean for a while, and to keep their guard up. It wasn't going to be easy to do both.

I closed my heavy eyes and listened to Natalia's rhythmic breathing. I tried to quiet my mind. I was warm and comfortable, but sleep still wouldn't come. Despite how calm everything was at the moment, I just couldn't let my guard down. My men were monitoring the house, and my security system was state of the art, but the sensation of being watched from some dark corner overrode all of my logic. I felt the prickle of danger along my spine, and I couldn't convince myself that it was nothing to worry about.

The sudden buzzing of my phone broke the moment, and I reached out blindly and snatched it from the side table. The dim light of the screen was almost blinding in the darkness, and it took a moment for my eyes to adjust before I could see the screen.

All my anger and anxiety returned in full force as I read a text message from Vinny instructing me to come immediately to an address that I didn't immediately recognize.

I looked down at Natalia's peaceful, beautiful face and smiled softly. I was going to protect this peace for her.

I carefully slipped from beneath her and quickly dressed in the dark room.

She was sound asleep and grumbled slightly, but she didn't wake up.

I kissed her forehead lightly before I slipped out of the room.

If Vinny was contacting me this late at night, something was wrong. I wasted no time in hurrying out to my car and punching the address he had texted into my GPS. It wasn't far from the house.

I responded to his text that I was on my way, then I pulled out of the driveway.