Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad by Scarlett Rossi
Chapter 630 -

*Caterina*

I finished my oatmeal while Elio made a few phone calls. I noticed the fact that he had walked into his bedroom and shut the door so that I couldn't listen in.

In spite of my best efforts to keep my temper in check, the fact that he was continuing to keep things from me was starting to seriously infuriate me.

I brought my bowl over to the kitchen and slammed it roughly in the sink, not bothering to clean it off. I knew I was being petty, but I didn't care. I had let myself be so vulnerable in front of him. I had told him that I was trying so hard to be different, and all he did was push me away and tell me what to do. It was a slap in the face, and it made me feel incredibly disrespected.

It was exactly like how he used to treat me, just making demands and expecting me to follow along. But there was no way in hell I was going to let him think that his age meant he had the right to tell me what to do.

I shoved into his bedroom, not caring that the door banged open and interrupted his phone call. He asked the person on the phone to hold on and pressed the mute button so he could talk to me.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked, obviously noting the way I was angrily gathering my things.

"You're hiding shit from me, and I don't like it. I'm going to see Anna," I said tersely.

"Please, will you just head to your house? I'll follow you and then we can talk more about this."

I hated the way he sounded so appeasing, like he was just trying to calm me down but didn't really care how I felt. I wanted him to fight back and stop treating me like I just needed to follow whatever he wanted. "I'll get home later," I said vaguely, unwilling to clarify any more than that.

I turned on my heel before he could say another word and hurried out of his house. I had parked a block away so that I could surprise him the night before, a decision that I was quickly coming to regret. How could it be that the same man who had held me so sweetly all night was also the one who turned around and acted like a fucking dictator?

I got to Anna's apartment and knocked on the door, hoping she wasn't out. Thankfully, she answered wearing sweatpants. Her TV was blaring old reruns of her favorite show, making it obvious that she had planned on spending the next few hours at home. I felt guilty for interrupting her relaxation time, but I needed her.

"What's wrong?" she asked, reading my emotions all over my face.

"Everything." I sighed, walking past her to flop down on her couch.

My phone went off and I pulled it out of my pocket, seeing a text from Elio flash across the screen.

"When are you coming back?" he asked.

I rolled my eyes and ignored it. If he thought he could keep tabs on me, he had another thing coming. I might be happy to call him my boyfriend, but that did not give him the right to know where I was and what I was doing all the time. Anna sat next to me on the couch. With our feet curled up together, I explained to her everything that had happened since Elio and I had woken up that morning, including our discussion of our relationship, which made her squeal and clap her hands excitedly. I loved that she was so happy for me, but I had to immediately burst her bubble by going on to explain everything that Elio had done to piss me off the rest of the day.

She sat and thought for a minute, mulling over what I'd told her. "I definitely agree that something weird is going on," she finally said. "But is it possible that the whole Paul fiasco is what's making him extra cautious? Maybe he's not hiding anything from you. Maybe he's just worried like he said."

"I don't know," I said, feeling like there was a lot more to it than that. "You didn't see the way he was acting when he was talking to Alessandro. It was so weird."

"Yeah, I get that, I just think maybe him bossing you around is a sore spot for you, and it might have made you jump to conclusions a little bit."

She had a point. It was obvious that my history with Elio made me feel touchy about the way he talked to me. Even if he was just trying to keep me safe, I couldn't stand it when he told me what to do. And I especially hated it when he acted like he could just override my decisions.

"Maybe you're right," I admitted.

I realized that I desperately hoped she was right. The idea that Elio was just being overly cautious was a lot more palatable than my sneaking suspicion that there was something huge that he was hiding from me. I sighed, trying to convince myself that I was overreacting, but feeling uncertain.

"Alright, well I better head home. I know he's worried right now," I said.

Anna followed me to the door and gave me a hug goodbye.

"Alright, go see your boyfriend," she teased.

I couldn't help but smile at the word.

Back at home, I let myself in the side door. I could hear my mom and Elio talking, so I followed their voices to the study. They didn't hear me, and it was obvious they were discussing the events of the day. I decided to stay quiet and see if I could figure out what the hell was going on.

"Alessandro said it's definitely Antonio," Elio said.

I wondered who Antonio could be. Was that the competing real estate agent who had started the fire? Why in the world would Alessandro know the guy? And why would my mom care about that at all? "How can he be certain?" my mom asked.

"He said he has some guys who have been tracking Antonio for years, trying to get a solid lead on him," Elio said. "They have reason to believe he's come over here to stop our family from growing the mafia business." What the fuck? Did he just say mafia? Were Elio and Alessandro in the mafia?

"I hate that he's here. I've spent so long shielding Cat from that world. I thought after so long, we were safe from it all," my mom responded to Elio.

At that, I couldn't stand staying in the shadows any longer. My own mom had been hiding this from me?

I walked into the study, practically shaking with anger.

"What the hell is going on?" I demanded.

As I had expected, they both began stammering excuses, trying to cover up what they had been talking about.

"Just stop it!" I yelled, "I'm tired of all the lies! You're the two people I trusted most in the world, and you've been lying to me all this time! I knew something was going on, but you just treated me like I was stupid instead of trusting me enough to tell me the truth!"

"Caterina, calm down right now," my mother said sternly, but I was on a roll.

"I will not calm down until I get some goddamn answers! I am sick and tired of being treated like a child. This all ends right now. You both tell me what you know, right now!" I knew I was screaming, but I didn't care.

I stood in front of them, my chest heaving with emotion. I looked back and forth between the two of them and saw the way they exchanged a glance. My mother nodded at Elio, and he stood up.

"Cat, why don't you sit down? This is going to be a lot," he said in that maddeningly calm voice.

I sat down, even though what I really wanted to do was stomp my foot and cross my arms stubbornly. I knew that wouldn't help my case.

"You know your father was murdered. But you don't know who did it or why. We've kept the truth from you all these years, and I have to say, I'm so sorry for keeping it a secret, but we thought it would help you stay safe. We know exactly who killed your father, and we know why it happened. It's because my family, the Valentino family, runs the Italian mafia. They're extremely powerful, which has gained them the attention of a lot of power-hungry people. My dad was in charge of it in Italy, but he quit that life so my mom and I could lead a normal one. My cousin Tallon became the new Don, but he eventually quit, too. Alessandro is currently in charge."

He took a breath. "Your father Vinny was Tallon's best friend and most trusted advisor. He was a part of the mafia life, but he was killed because of his relationship with Tallon."

He paused, checking to see if I was taking it all in. I was stunned into silence. For a second, I wondered if I was going into shock. I could feel my heart beating abnormally fast and my hands were clammy. How could they have kept such a major part of my identity a secret all these years?

"Your dad was killed by a man named Antonio," he continued. "Now, the reason why this all matters is because Antonio was the one behind the warehouse fire that Alessandro called me about this morning. Antonio is back, and I'm terrified for your safety. Your mother and I have worked so hard to keep you safe all these years, but now I'm afraid that Antonio could be closing in, and you just might be his target."

A cold shot of fear went through my heart. No wonder Elio had been so desperate to get my mom and me to stay with him. But why hadn't he just told me the truth? Surely there was no reason to continue to keep it from me now that I was an adult.

Had Elio and my mom planned on keeping this all a secret for the rest of their lives? It felt like the only reason they had bothered to tell me was because I had backed them into a corner.

A complicated mix of betrayal, fear, and shock swirled through me. I stared up at Elio, then turned to see my mom. Tears were streaming silently down her face as she looked back at me.

At that moment, I realized that I had to get away from them. I just couldn't stand to look at either of them for one second longer, knowing what they had kept from me.

I stood up from the couch and ran out of the room, both of them calling out for me as I left.