Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad by Scarlett Rossi
Chapter 601 -

*Six Months Later* *Tallon*

"Italian-Russian fusion?" Vinny raised an eyebrow at me as we walked down the new boulevard. New restaurants and shops, some brand new and some familiar, were opening in just a few weeks, and there was a rush of workers as they finished the last few touches.

Signs on glass windows were installed in a hurry. It was a busy location, and one that I was proud to have had a hand in building.

"I was inspired," I said with a grin, "from my mother-in-law's wonderful menu at our wedding. Plus, the chef is a rather unusual sort who wanted to build a new restaurant here to 'unleash their creative spirit.' I figured you'd appreciate their enthusiasm."

"Oh, joy." Vinny rolled his eyes. "Are you even sure this guy knows what he's doing?"

"Well, the chef is a graduate of the Italian Culinary Institute and the Novikov School in Russia, where they got top marks for making doctor's sausage pelmeni with Bolognese sauce. They're the real deal alright, and probably one of the only chefs who knows how to combine Russian and Italian dishes into something edible."

"None of that means anything to me," Vinny sighed. "But I trust your judgment. Though, I'm very curious. What the hell is a doctor's sausage?"

I laughed, not giving him an answer as we arrived in front of the restaurant. The building was rather unusual, shaped like a semi-circle. From the top to the bottom were reinforced glass windows with light pouring in from every angle. Though we could barely see the second floor from where we were, the main floor had a very delicate atmosphere.

The chairs and tables had yet to be set up. For now, they were leaning against the windows, but I could already see booths made with Italian leather in the corners, some long and some short. In the back was a very fancy-looking bar with barstools bolted to the floor.

I nodded in approval at that. We could never underestimate a drunk's ability to throw a bar stool out of a window... or on rarer occasions, people.

But at least we could prevent the bar stools from going through the windows. As soon as we entered the building, the heavy scent of fresh paint and sawdust met our noses. Underneath was an alluring aroma, one very familiar but also unusual.

"Hello?" I called out.

I felt a bit strange, standing in the very well-lit lobby of an unfinished restaurant. There were heavy-duty lights above that had yet to be turned on, but I could tell they had been inspired by stage lights. The floor was made of wood panels and very muted in color compared to everything else, but the view was amazing outside.

"Hey there!"

A head popped out from around the corner, with a few dishes on very colorful bowls and plates on a tray. The very beautiful woman grinned at us with a bright look, her hair pulled back professionally into a bun. She was dressed in a white coat that we immediately recognized as the head chef's uniform.

"You must Miss Barbieri?" I asked with a smile, glancing at Vinny with a smug look from the corner of my eye.

His jaw had dropped, and he peeled his eyes from the chef I had hired to me with a betrayed look.

"You didn't say she was a woman," he hissed quietly to me.

"Does that matter?" I raised an eyebrow and he faltered, shutting his mouth with a pout.

"You could've told me at least," he huffed. "I figured it was an old guy who was bored with life and just wanted to do something crazy."

"Old guy who's bored with life? No. But she is a bit crazy," I admitted thoughtfully.

"Mr. Valentino!" Our chef, Beatrice Barbieri, grinned widely, setting the tray of dishes onto one of the only tables flipped on its right side. "I was just making some of the dishes I wanted to serve in the restaurant. Would you mind giving them a try?"

"Of course," I replied politely, holding back a laugh as Vinny's face went pure white at the sight of the Russian-Italian fusion dishes.

Much to my delight, Vinny got to do most of the taste-testing.

I got to pass by with a little taste of each dish, but Chef Barbieri was intent on impressing Vinny once she knew he was also funding the restaurant. She made him try everything from a vodka sauce alfredo to Russian Shashlik on fire oven pizza pies.

By the end of it, Vinny had collapsed onto the table, looking quite green as I finished closing the deal with Beatrice.

"These are delicious. We'll visit again in a week or two for the whole menu if you can have it ready by then," I told her with a friendly smile.

"Yes! Yes! I can be ready by then. Thank you so much, Mr. Valentino!" Beatrice gushed, her cheeks turning red in pure bliss as she excitedly hopped around like the twenty-something fresh culinary graduate she was.

I knew from her background that no one had been willing to give her a chance, especially in such an old and traditional city like Florence. But as I had learned with everything I'd experienced with Natalia, change could be good sometimes. "Alright, ready to go, bud?" I grinned at my best friend, crossing my arms as he slowly dragged himself up from the table.

He gave a loud burp, which I could only imagine smelled as bad as it sounded.

He grimaced, sending me a death glare. "I hate you."

"Love you too, Vin," I smirked, finally taking pity on him as I threw his arm around me and helped me out onto the sidewalk. "So, what was your favorite dish?" "Fuck you."

"Personally, I liked the pizza."

He just groaned in response. It took a while before he gained his footing again, and we headed down the street, intent on heading home. But just as we turned the corner, we nearly ran straight into a hooded figure in a jacket.

I frowned at him. A simple black mask on his face obscured his features, but I could see his eyes, dark and utterly pinned on me. A bad feeling welled up in my chest and I sidestepped to the right, intending to go past him, when from underneath his coat he pulled out a shiny pistol and narrowed it straight at my head.

"Who the fuck are you?" I said, holding back my real rage as I glared at the unknown assailant. "Do you want money? Cause you fucked with the wrong person, asshole."

By my side, Vinny had already drawn his gun, though he didn't pull the trigger yet with the stranger's pistol trained on me. I hoped it was still possible to disarm this man, especially if he was inexperienced.

But my confidence quickly dissipated as the man chuckled and lifted off his mask, the aged, hatred-soaked face of Antonio leering out beneath the hood.

"Antonio," Vinny growled, as pissed as I was.

We both had thought he'd disappeared for good after getting caught for trying to frame me. It had been a long time since either of us had even heard his name, much less caught sight of him. In truth, I had thought he had fled, finally given up on his vendetta.

But we should've known better.

Antonio was older, and he didn't get to his age in the business without being very good at what he did. He'd almost ruined my life for nothing but a grudge, and I had no doubt that was why he was in front of me today.

"I don't think so, Tallon," Antonio sneered as he caught the twitch of my fingers toward my holster. "One wrong move and I'll put a bullet through your fucking skull. It doesn't matter to me whether you die here or not, so long as you suffer." I grit my teeth, feeling cold down to my fingertips. He really would do it. I had no doubt. But I also knew that soon enough Dom or Tino would notice we were missing and come looking. I just had to buy time.

But a part of me couldn't help but wonder why he was doing all this. I could see we had attracted the attention of a few onlookers at this point, who had noticed that something was wrong but hadn't quite noticed the weapons. The gun had been cleverly disguised by his sleeve, only the silver muzzle pointing out and from a long distance, the scene looked odd but not concerning, not yet.

"What's your plan here, Antonio? Are you going to shoot me in broad daylight in front of all these people?" I shrugged, stepping forward full of bravado.

Vinny's hand immediately grabbed my wrist to pull me back, but I sent him a sharp look, especially when Antonio's gun moved from me to him.

"Even if you kill me, you'll gain nothing from it," I said, smirking with more confidence than I felt. "You think you can take on the Valentinos and the Russians together? You can't and you know it."

My smirk fell when Antonio burst into laughter, his whole body shaking with the effort. But he never took his eyes off of me and Vinny.

"You think this is about those Russian bastards?" Antonio sent me a grin, a glint of madness in his eyes now as he stepped forward, now holding the gun straight to my chest. "This is for Lain, for Mattia and Tommaso, for Nicola and Renato... for all the men who were brutally slaughtered."

I eyed the pistol on my chest, then stared Antonio straight in the eye. "I know that you're angry-"

"You know nothing!" Antonio screamed, a snarl on his lips like a rabid dog.

The bystanders had finally noticed something was going on, watching intently and unsurely. I noticed one of them had pulled out their phone, no doubt calling the police, and I felt a twinge of relief.

"They died fighting for us, for what they believed was right, because you and your family told us that it was the right thing to do!" Antonio had completely lost it at this point, eyes full of loathing like he couldn't stand my entire being. "You take in these fucking kids, teach them to do your dirty work, and then throw them away like they're garbage! Family? Don't make me fucking laugh. You're working with the very people who killed them in cold blood! You've spit on their graves, and you have the fucking nerve to stand here and say you know what I feel?"

"He only did it to keep more of our men from dying!" Vinny shouted back, anger burning in his face. "Don't act like you're some righteous hand of God!"

I watched as Antonio glanced at him with fury before it melted away like snow on a summer day.

Suddenly, he was very calm.

"Antonio-"A bad feeling welled up in my gut as Antonio smirked at me.

"No more, Tallon. You're going to feel how I have for the past thirty years," Antonio said.

The mad gleam in his eyes hit its peak, and I rushed forward to grab the gun right as Antonio leveled it at Vinny.

A shot rang out, and screams filled the area.

Antonio smirked, and I watched in horror as Vinny collapsed to the ground, a spray of red hitting both me and Antonio.

"Fucking bastard!" I snarled, grabbing my gun as Antonio simply holstered his gun and turned away.

I aimed at his back and fired, but he dodged around the corner. I cursed, starting to run after him, revenge filling every corner of my mind... until there was a soft groan from behind me.

I had barely made it five steps before I turned around, kneeling on the ground next to Vinny. I propped his head up, pulling his clothes away to see the wound. Dark red blood was bubbling up from the hole right in the middle of his chest. From his labored breathing and the coughs that wracked him, I immediately knew that it had hit a lung.

"Fuck," I swore, my eyes misting up as I put both my hands on the wound, intending to stop the bleeding with pressure.

Vinny groaned, a little dribble of blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.

"Come on, don't do this Vin-"

"Tallon." Vinny struggled to get the word out, his face going pale as blood began to pool around my feet.

The exit wound was bleeding as well, and I fucking knew right then and there, there was nothing I could do.

"Don't do this. You fucking asshole," I sobbed, tears pouring out of my eyes as I watched my best friend begin to fade away.

"Tallon," Vinny gasped, "I-I need you to take care of her. My... my Caterina... my daughter."

This hit me like a brick, and I stared at him wide-eyed in disbelief. "You have a daughter?"

"I... I should've married her... should've... told you," Vinny said with a shaky smile. "But... but... I was... scared. I wanted to... keep them safe from this life. But... their address is on... my phone. Call Matilde... take care of them... for me." "I will, I swear, just don't leave "

But before I could finish my words, Vinny let out a shaky, rattling gasp, and I was staring into his unseeing glassy eyes.

My best friend was dead.