Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad by Scarlett Rossi
Chapter 581 -

*Natalia*

Last night had been a bit of a mixed bag. I was so happy that I got to spend time with Tallon working on our wedding plans, but we weren't able to spend more time together after that. Tallon had ended up working for the rest of the night. He even missed dinner. I understood and I didn't hold it against him. He was still dealing with the fallout of his arrest, and it was going to take a lot of time and effort for us to get things back to normal.

He must have felt pretty bad about it though, because when I woke up the next day, he had a surprise for me. I had walked downstairs to replace a lavish breakfast prepared and a bouquet of roses in the center of the table. Tallon had been sitting at the table and he smiled brightly at me when I walked in.

"Good morning," he said. "How did you sleep?"

"Fine," I said. "What's all this?"

"A good breakfast to start your day," he said. "I hope you don't mind, but I have a surprise activity for you. I've scheduled a limousine to pick up Mia and take the two of you for a spa day."

I was wildly excited by what he told me. I really enjoy spending time with Mia, and a spa day sounded like a great way for us to continue to bond and to shake off the residual stress and tension from the long ordeal of Tallon's incarceration. We had shared a pleasant breakfast together, then Tallon walked me out to the limo. He held the door for me as I slid inside next to Mia.

"Have fun ladies," he said.

"We will," I promised.

"This is a nice surprise," Mia said, as the limo pulled out of the drive.

"I know," I said with a smile. "I hope it wasn't too last minute."

"Not at all," she assured me.

The spa that we ended up at was one that I had never been to, but it was obvious from the moment we stepped inside that it was the height of luxury. We were greeted by a vibrant and pretty older woman who checked us in and took us into a suite where we could change into plush robes.

Mia was bubbling with excitement as we stepped out of the room and were met by a man in a light blue uniform.

"Ladies," he said in greeting. "Are you ready to be pampered?"

"So ready," Mia said happily.

"We're going to start with a deep tissue massage, then a hot stone treatment, and finally a relaxing trip to our mud baths. Do you have any questions?"

We both shook our heads and grinned at each other in excitement.

The massage was the most relaxing that I could remember having. That might be because I had so much tension to work out after everything. I had no doubt that by tomorrow I was going to be too sore to move, but I didn't mind. The hot stones were calming enough to neutralize any of the pain that was already present. By the time we were led to the mud baths I felt like I was ready to just melt.

I slid into the warm mud with a content sigh and let my head fall back onto the cushioned headrest.

Mia made a similar sound of enjoyment from beside me.

We sat there in comfortable silence and just let the mineral mud soak into us. I was aware that there was likely no real benefit to this treatment, but it was relaxing and that was all that it really had to be for me to be satisfied with it. I was here to relax and feel pampered after all, not because I believed in some weird new age medical treatment.

I wasn't sure how long it was before my thoughts started to wander to less pleasant topics.

I felt myself frowning as I thought about Bianca's little run in with Tallon. There was no way that it was an accident. She had to be replaceing this information out about us somehow, but I couldn't imagine how. She was showing up at places that we didn't plan on going to until just before arriving. How could she know where we were?

"We're supposed to be relaxing," Mia pointed out.

"I know," I groaned. I opened my eyes to replace her staring at me with a slight frown. "I'm trying, but I just can't stop dwelling on this Bianca mess."

"Are you talking about the dress?" she asked. "Because we're going to replace one for you that's at least a hundred times better."

I smiled. "I know. It's not just that she bought the dress. She approached Tallon about it when he was out with Vinny yesterday. He said that she was bragging about stealing the dress from me. It just makes my blood boil."

"I can see why," she said. "If one of Alessandro's exes was acting like that I would... well, I probably shouldn't say what I would do."

I raised my eyebrows at her. I wouldn't expect Mia to have a dark or violent side, but that's definitely what she was implying. She noticed the look on my face and grinned.

"Do you want me to take care of Bianca for you?"

My eyes went wide, then I laughed. I couldn't help myself. Mia was laughing too, and for a few minutes it seemed like our laughter was feeding into each other's. After a while, there were tears in my eyes and I struggled to control my laughter and breathe. When I looked at Mia, she was bent over and holding her ribs while she wheezed out laughter.

This only made me laugh harder.

It felt like an eternity passed before we were both able to calm ourselves down and breathe normally.

"I don't like this girl messing with my friend," she said. "I know that you don't need any help taking care of yourself, but just know that if you need me, I'm here for you."

I stared at her for a long time before muttering a soft, "Thank you."

"Any time," she said with a bright smile.

"So, how are things with Alessandro?" I asked. It was a clumsy segue, but she didn't draw attention to it.

She smiled dreamily and leaned back, relaxing into the mud. "We're great," she said. "Things are going so well that I keep expecting to uncover some deep dark secret of his. He's just too good to be true."

I chuckled and shook my head. "Wouldn't the dark secret be that he's a Valentino?" I asked. Most people would consider dating a member of the most well-known mafia family in the country to be dangerous. Mia didn't seem bothered by it in the least. It made me wonder about her own background, but it seemed like too personal a question to ask her at this point.

"That doesn't bother me," she said dismissively. "But I guess you're right."

"I'm glad things are going so well. Is it getting very serious then?" I asked.

It really seemed like they were falling for each other very fast, but I didn't hold that against them at all. I fell for Tallon so quickly, so I would have been a hypocrite to hold it against them.

"Well, it might just be my imagination, but I get the feeling he's going to ask me to move in with him." She had a hopeful look on her face as she said it.

"That is a big step," I agreed. Honestly, I had assumed they were already living together. After all, she had moved to Florence for him. "What makes you think that?"

"He keeps making comments about my apartment being too far away and it being inconvenient for me to go home so late at night," she explained. Her voice was so full of hope. If Alessandro wasn't going to ask her to move in, I was going to kick his ass.

"I can see why you'd think that," I said.

"It may be wishful thinking, but what's wrong with that?" she added with a dreamy sigh. "Alessandro is the best guy I've ever been with."

I smiled at her. I knew how she was feeling, and I liked this romantic side of her. It was a gentler and more innocent side than I had seen before.

"I feel the same way about Tallon," I said.

"I'm glad that we get along," she said as she sat forward to look me in the eye. "I don't think there are many women out there that would be able to relate. It's nice to have someone to talk to."

"I feel the same way," I agreed.

It was exactly the reason that I kept inviting Mia out. Now that we were really getting to know each other, I knew that my gut feeling about her had been right.

We chatted happily for the rest of our spa time.

After we had showered and gotten dressed, my driver took Mia home. I could see Alessandro's car parked out front as we pulled up.

I waggled my eyebrows at her, and she laughed as her cheeks turned a little pink.

"Wish me luck," she said.

"You don't need it," I said. "But good luck."

We waited until she was safely in the door before pulling away and heading home.

If things with Mia and Alessandro stayed on this trajectory, we were going to have another Valentino wedding on the horizon. Just the thought made me smile.

I wondered if Mia's excitement about looking at wedding dresses was a sign that marriage was on her mind, too.

I kind of hoped that it was. Getting to be part of a wedding that I wasn't planning sounded pretty nice.

When I arrived home, Tallon was there. I had expected him to be out at meetings all day, so I was pleasantly surprised to see him. I walked straight to him and greeted him with a kiss.

He smiled at me suggestively. "So, I take it you had fun?" he asked.

"Yes," I answered with a wide smile. "The spa was wonderful, and I always have a good time hanging out with Mia. Thank you."

"I'm very happy to hear it," he said. He leaned down and placed a quick kiss to my lips that made me grin like a fool. "And I have good news. I was able to book tours of three of our venue options for tomorrow." "So soon?" I said in excitement. "How did you manage that?"

"Luck," he said.

There was a twinkle in his eye that told me he had pulled some strings. I was so excited that I didn't want to question it, though.

The sooner we chose a venue, the sooner we could secure our wedding date. Every decision we made and every step we took to make our wedding a reality filled me with so much joy.

We were really going to be married, and nothing in my life had ever meant more to me.