Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad by Scarlett Rossi
Chapter 579 -

*Tallon*

Vinny was waiting for me at a nearby restaurant. I was annoyed that I had to walk away from Natalia so suddenly, but it couldn't be avoided. I did need to replace out how the talks with our Russian contacts had gone. Everything else that I did this week was going to hinge on how they reacted to the situation.

I didn't get the feeling from Vinny's tone that I needed to worry, but it was difficult not to dwell on the worst possible scenario.

Vinny was already seated and had ordered me a coffee. I sat across from him and took a swig of it immediately. It burned my throat, but I didn't mind. I was exhausted from the flight, and it helped to wake me up a bit.

"Sorry to call you out so suddenly," Vinny said. "Alessandro has been on my case to fill you in on this Russian thing because the family won't stop questioning him about it. Everyone is still pretty wound up and there's a lot of concern about what the Russians might do in response to this mess."

"I understand," I said. "So, fill me in. How did the meeting go?"

"Better than anticipated," he said. He was a little wide eyed, like he couldn't quite believe what he was about to tell me. "Everything is fine."

I stared at him mutely for several long moments.

"Fine?" I asked.

Vinny nodded. "I couldn't believe how amiable they were about it considering how many of their men Antonio killed. Our contact said that they completely understand that the killings were not sanctioned and that the man responsible has been dealt with. He said they trust us to deal with him if the police don't, and I assured him that we would." He shrugged his shoulders. "That was pretty much it."

I shook my head in disbelief. "That's too easy," I said.

"That's what I thought, too," Vinny said with a sigh. "But they seemed to really mean it. I didn't want to press too much and insult them."

"Did they give any indication of the reason they were being so accommodating?" I asked.

There had to be something more to it. I wouldn't be so forgiving if my men had been killed like that, even if the organization wasn't responsible. It would still be incredibly tempting to demand some kind of retribution.

"Alessandro asked if there was anything we could do to make things right," Vinny said. "He offered to pay the families, but they said it wasn't necessary. Our main contact was very clear. He said that nothing was needed. His exact words were, those men were causing us trouble anyway. In a way, you did us a favor. They just couldn't let it go."

I shook my head. That would explain it. There were bound to be people on their side that couldn't let go of the old war too. Antonio saved them the trouble of making the impossible choice to kill their own men. He would be furious to know that they were grateful for the killings.

"I see," I said softly.

It was a blessing that they accepted the situation. Too many lives had already been lost on both sides. If they had been angry, things could have gotten out of hand very quickly. I wouldn't have unnecessary bloodshed, not if there was any way to avoid it.

Besides, those were Natalia's people. In some small way, I felt that fighting them again would harm her.

I was glad to hear that it wasn't going to come to that.

"We really lucked out, didn't we?" Vinny asked with a nervous laugh.

"In so many ways," I agreed. "Not to discount the hard work you did to replace our traitor, but the fact that you solved the mystery so quickly is nothing short of miraculous." I sat back and crossed my arms over my chest. "I never thanked you, did I?" I asked with a frown.

Vinny shook his head slightly but held a hand up as if to deflect the words. "There's nothing to thank me for," he said. "I did what had to be done. We needed to get you out of there and deal with the person responsible for putting the family at risk like that." He frowned deeply and I saw disgust creep into his expression. "How that old fool could do something so reckless is beyond me. I can't decide if he was so blinded by his hatred that he couldn't understand the risks or if he really just didn't care."

"Probably a bit of both," I answered. "He was old school. He thought that being unforgiving was a sign of strength. All the old leaders were like that." I frowned down into my coffee.

We'd come a long way from those ruthless killers and brutal commanders. There were better ways to handle things now, and I was going to show the family that it worked. Dealing with Antonio was an important step in showing that, although I might not seem as strong as previous Dons, I was not a man to be trifled with.

I had some leg work to do. I knew that. It was going to take a lot more than my promises and the word of the Russians to calm the rest of the family. My arrest had shaken everyone.

Now that I was back from vacation, I needed to get serious about putting together contingency plans. I couldn't let something like this happen again. If I got sick or was out of commission for any other reason, there needed to be very clear instructions about how things were to be handled.

I would start on those plans right away.

"You've got that look on your face," Vinny said with a wide smile.

I looked up at him and blinked in confusion. "What look?" I asked.

"That serious expression you get when you're overthinking," he answered.

I scoffed but returned his smile. He was probably right. I did need to deal with all these things, but it wasn't as though I was up against the clock. I could take my time with this. I needed Vinny to remind me to take a step back sometimes.

I frowned as I looked at Vinny. His smile froze, then slowly dropped away as his eyes fixed on something behind me. I turned and looked over my shoulder, expecting to see some kind of threat. I was not expecting to see Bianca swaying her hips as she sauntered toward me.

I felt the glare flash across my features. It was a struggle to reign it in, but I managed.

"Tallon," she cooed in greeting. "We just keep on running into each other, I guess we still share a lot of similar tastes."

"What do you want, Bianca?" I asked coldly.

Her smile remained in place, and she laughed softly. "Oh, I just wanted to catch up. It seems like you've had a lot going on lately, haven't you?"

I clenched my teeth to keep my face impassive.

"I mean, I saw the news about you getting arrested. Have you started wedding planning now that you're out?" She placed her hand on her hip and looked at me with an exaggerated expression of concern. "That must have made it pretty hard to focus on the wedding. I can't imagine how scared you must have been." There was a slightly mocking hint to her tone that made my skin crawl. I could hear Vinny's breath hitch at her words, and he shifted as if to stand. I shot him a warning look and he remained where he was, but there was anger on his face that was unmistakable. "Natalia didn't even buy that dress she wanted," Bianca added.

My head snapped toward her at those words. The argument I'd had with Natalia when she came back from the bridal shop flashed through my mind and a cold feeling washed over me.

"What are you talking about?" I demanded.

"Oh," she said innocently. "Didn't you know? I ran into her at the bridal shop. She tried on this really gorgeous dress, but it sounded like she couldn't afford the down payment." A halfcocked grin spread on her face at the implication. It was the kind of smirk you saw on people when they were feeling superior.

I wanted to wipe it off her face, but I needed to hear where she was going with this.

"Well, the dress was so beautiful, I just couldn't help myself," she said with a giggle. "I bought it right then and there. It looks absolutely perfect on me."

I stopped trying to control my facial expression and glared at her openly. She had intentionally taken Natalia's dress. It was just like Natalia had told me. I hated myself for not believing her immediately.

This woman had not only upset Natalia, but she had also caused an argument between us. Now she was bragging about it with that fake, mocking laugh and a smirk on her face. It filled me with rage.

"Get away from me," I said carefully.

Bianca's smile melted into fear, and she took two quick steps backward. "I'm just trying to be friendly," she said defensively. "I figured you could use a friendly face after spending so much time in prison."

She straightened up and rolled her shoulders, then smiled again. She let her eyes rove over me in a way that was so obvious it was almost obscene. She took a step forward and gently pressed her fingertips into my shoulder. "I guess you're not used to receiving a kind touch," she added. She did a half turn but didn't stop touching me. "Until we meet again," she said in a suggestive tone.

She dragged her fingers across me as she strolled away.

I had to close my eyes and focus all my energy on not losing my temper. She had the absolute gall to insult my Natalia, mock me, and make a pass at me all at once?

Had she forgotten completely who I was, or did she just have a death wish?

Vinny cleared his throat after a few moments, and I turned to face him.

"Is she going to be a problem?" he asked in a hushed tone.

I grimaced. Natalia may have been right about Bianca all along. She did seem to be taking joy in interfering in our wedding planning. It was possible that she was doing it all intentionally. If that was true, it was the least of my worries.

The wedding was going to be everything we dreamed of—I would make sure of that. Nothing would stop me from giving Natalia the day she wanted down to the smallest detail.

The bigger concern was that Bianca seemed to always know where we were going to be and what we were doing in regard to the wedding. How did she have all this information about us?

Was she actually stalking Natalia? It would be a completely foolish thing for her to do, but it was just possible that she was stupid enough to try it.

Was she going to be a problem? I looked up at Vinny and answered his question honestly.

"I'm afraid so."