Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad by Scarlett Rossi
Chapter 566 -

*Tallon*

I had been held in custody a few times in my life, but never for any significant length of time. I could be reckless when I was young, but the family was well prepared to deal with any minor run-ins with the law, and most detectives were too smart to pick a fight with us. It was very likely that I had become jaded by those early experiences.

I felt like I was untouchable. I was always careful about what my men did, and I made sure to take precautions to protect the family, but when it came to my own legal jeopardy, I was never worried about serving time. I thought I'd get killed before I ever ended up in a cell.

I was wrong.

I was accustomed to a certain lifestyle and, as much as I liked to pretend that I wasn't spoiled, I was quickly learning differently. I wanted nothing more than to go home, and I felt ridiculous for feeling that way.

The only thing keeping me levelheaded through this ridiculous ordeal was Natalia. I knew that if I couldn't hear her voice every day, I would go crazy. Hearing her determination to resolve the problem and her confidence that I would be exonerated gave me hope.

It did nothing to alleviate my anger, which was growing every hour that I spent here.

Being locked up might not have pissed me off so badly if I'd been there for something I had actually done. There were plenty of crimes that I was guilty of, and were I there because of any one of them, I wouldn't have felt so bitter.

The fact that I was there because of a setup filled me with rage. If I focused on it for too long, my hands would shake with the force of my anger.

I tried to keep my mind focused on other things, but there wasn't much else to think about.

I thought about Natalia a lot. I thought about our wedding and tried to picture her in a white gown. The thought made me smile. I had no idea what kind of dress she wanted, and I wanted to keep it a surprise, but picturing her in a variety of dresses was oddly comforting to me.

As soon as I was out, I was hiring the best fashion designer available to make her a custom dress. It would be a thousand times better than the dress that Bianca had swiped from her.

She deserved at least that much for putting up with all of this.

Fantasizing about Natalia was the only thing that brought me any relief in this pit. I dreaded every time I had to step outside of this cell.

It wasn't that anyone was giving me a hard time here. It would be suicidally stupid to do that. There were enough of my guys on the inside that I could be confident that someone was always watching my back.

When a member of the family got into legal trouble, I couldn't always get charges dropped, but I did always make sure to provide for those who were loyal to me. I made sure that they had all the money they needed for their legal team and enough to keep them as comfortable as possible.

It was paying off for me now. I didn't have to worry about anyone trying to make a move against me to bolster their own reputations or to get some kind of revenge.

That wasn't the only thing that was working in my favor. There were a few guards here that were sympathetic to my situation. I was able to learn from my men who I could talk to about getting a little help from the guards.

It was a tricky negotiation and cost me more than I would have liked, but I was able to offer a couple of the guards some compensation in exchange for bending the rules a bit.

I knew it was worth every penny if they followed through with their end of the deal.

I was informed by my men that there was an area of the yard that is a blind spot for the security cameras. It was in the seating area of the yard where several stone tables and benches were located. If you were to sit at the furthest table from

the door, you would be just out of frame of the cameras. There was a side entrance that the guards had access to, and there was usually a guard or two standing near it in case they needed to rush someone inside for any reason. That entrance was just a few feet from that table. That was probably why they'd never bothered to address the camera issue.

If someone were to enter and exit through that door and not pass beyond the table, the cameras would never see them.

It took some convincing and a lot of financial compensation, but we finally got one of the guards to agree to sneak Natalia out of that door so that I could see her out of sight of the cameras and guards.

I had to see Natalia in person. I wanted to see that she was safe, and I wanted to hold her again. More seriously, I needed to speak to her openly about what was going on.

Her stubborn insistence on being actively involved in the hunt for the real killer put her in harm's way, and I feared every day that Mrs. Morton was going to arrive with bad news.

When the guards came to my cell to get me, I was hopeful, but I didn't dare show it. I had no idea if or when they would follow through on our deal. It wasn't as though I could do much about it if they didn't. They could very well be taking me to meet with Mrs. Morton or for another exhaustive round of questioning with those damned detectives.

It wasn't until we stepped out into the courtyard, and I saw Natalia sitting on that stone bench in a pretty sundress with her hands clasped nervously in her lap, that I knew it was real.

Her beauty froze me in place. It wasn't that I had forgotten how beautiful Natalia was, but rather that a part of me had started to believe that I wasn't going to see her again.

While I stood frozen, she looked up and saw me. Her eyes widened slightly as she stood and rushed to me.

I caught her in my arms and bent to kiss her. I held her tight to my chest, and she hung from my shoulders almost desperately as our lips met.

I don't know how much time passed before the guard cleared his throat.

"Fifteen minutes," he said. "That's all I can give you."

He turned and went back through the door, leaving Natalia and me alone in the courtyard.

I sat her back on her feet slowly, but I found it hard to let her go. She wasn't arguing. She leaned heavily against me and turned her head so that she could rest her cheek on my chest. "I don't know how you arranged this, but I'm so glad that you did," she said softly.

"So am I," I replied. "I'm glad to see that you're well."

"As well as I can be," she said with a sigh. "I feel like we're no closer to getting you home. It's so frustrating."

She pulled away from my embrace and looked up at me with concern clear in her blue eyes.

I wanted to comfort her, but I wasn't sure what I could say. Platitudes wouldn't be helpful for either of us.

"Vinny tells me that you've been incredible at dealing with the family in my absence. It makes me proud." I smiled at her as her eyes went wide at my words.

Vinny had nothing but praise for Natalia. She had surpassed expectations both in her proficiency at managing the family and in her approach to dealing with our killer problem.

He told me that she had even managed to keep the story out of the press somehow. It was only being reported in gossip rags that most people didn't pay any attention to.

I wanted to ask her how she had pulled off that miracle, but we didn't have much time.

Her cheeks flushed at my words, and she shrugged slightly. "It's my place, isn't it?"

"It is," I agreed. "But it isn't an easy place to be."

She nodded emphatically. "I have a lot of respect for how stressful your role is," she said. "How are you holding up in here?"

"It's not exactly a vacation," I said. "But I'm doing just fine."

"I replace that hard to believe, but I'm glad to hear it," she said.

We walked together to the table and sat down.

I took her hand as we sat, and she held onto me. We were both desperate for touch, but this wasn't the place for it.

"I'm going to have you home soon," she said matter-of-factly.

"You're very determined about that," I said with a grin. "I like seeing this protective side of you."

"Of course, I'm protective," she scoffed. "What kind of wife would I be if I wasn't?"

Hearing her call herself my wife sent a jolt through me. My dreams of her in a white dress flashed through my mind as I looked at her and I had to take a second to reorient myself.

I reminded myself that this was a business meeting and that we had very little time.

"Tell me what you've learned so far," I said.

"It's not enough," she muttered.

I listened as she started to go over all the actions she had taken since the morning of my arrest. Most of the information she detailed, Vinny had already gone over with me. I found myself struggling to focus on her words. I was so distracted by looking at her and feeling her hand in mine.

I felt a little childish for how strongly her presence was impacting me. I hadn't been locked up for that long, really.

"It sounds like you're covering all of your bases," I said when she stopped speaking.

"I'm trying to be as thorough as possible," she said. "I feel so awful that you're still stuck here."

"Darling," I said sternly, "don't for one second blame yourself for any of this. This was a setup, and the person responsible is going to pay dearly for it."

"I know," she agreed. "I just-"

The door opened and the guard who had escorted me out appeared along with another guard that I knew was on our payroll.

"Time's up," the first guard said in a tone that was almost apologetic.

Natalia looked at me sadly as we stood.

"I'll escort you out, ma'am," the second guard said.

I pulled her into a quick kiss. There were tears in her eyes when she pulled back, and it broke my heart to see it. She walked to the door, glancing over her shoulder at me when she reached it.

She didn't have to repeat her promise to get me out. I knew that she was a woman of her word.

If I needed the reminder that I had chosen the right woman to marry.

Natalia's strength and ability left no room for doubt.