Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad by Scarlett Rossi
Chapter 632 -

*Caterina*

I slowly turned off the ignition to my car the second I pulled into the driveway. I was both mentally and physically exhausted from my day of mulling over all the secrets and lies that have been running my life. My eyes lifted from my lap to the front door. My stomach churned at the thought of walking back into that house, knowing fully well that I was going to be bombarded by Elio and my mother.

What I truly wanted the most was some real peace and quiet-a nice, hot shower and a chance to rest my aching head were all that I cared for.

But no.

I knew I had to go back in there and deal with the mess I'd left behind. At least my earlier talk with Anna helped me open my mind up a bit to the situation. I was sure they had their reasons for keeping me in the dark when I was younger-but why not tell me about everything now?

'They could have eased me into the truth, even if it was a bit too much to take in all at once,' I thought bitterly. 'Instead, they kept me in the dark and proceeded to treat me like some immature child.' Apart from not ever knowing the real truth about my father, 'this' was what upset me all the more.

With one big breath in, I grabbed my bag and got out of the car. And just as I expected, the sound of my entering the front door caused an instant chain reaction of frantic emotions and rushed questions.

Both Elio and my mother jumped up from their spots in the living room the second I came into view. My mother's expression was painted with worry, while Elio looked distressed and slightly tense about my leaving. "Caterina!" She reached out to grab my arms as though to double check that it was really me. "Oh, thank God you're home."

"Care to explain to me why you refused to answer any of my phone calls?" Elio questioned sharply.

I shot him a daring look through narrowed eyes which immediately made him drop the topic. Mom proceeded to try to pull me over to one of the couches to get me to at least sit down.

"Look, Cat. About what happened earlier... honey, you need to understand that there was a very good reason why we chose to keep this from you," my mom said.

"This is not information to be taken lightly," Elio added firmly. "We were trying to keep you safe from it. Nothing good has ever come from knowing the truth about the real work that goes on in the family." My brows pulled together in frustration.

"Oh, so purposely keeping me in the dark and treating me like a child was your way of handling me with all of this, was that it?" I asked bitterly. "Was that your idea of keeping me safe?"

For a split second, they both fell silent before Elio and my mom tried speaking to me at the same time. One of them tried a sensitive, motherly approach, whereas the other chose to stand his ground and speak with a sense of authority in his voice.

I could hardly make out what either of them were saying. The pain in my head grew worse with every passing second. This was not how I was going to let this issue end. Knowing the two of them, they would try to brush over everything and force me back into the dark they'd put me in since the very beginning, I thought.

Well, there was no way I was going to let that happen.

The rambling went on for another half a minute before I lifted my hands up and shouted.

"Enough!"

I let out a long, exhausted breath and rubbed the sore spot between my eyes in hopes of alleviating some of the pent-up pressure. At least the two of them were generous enough not to try to start up again.

"You both had your chances to explain yourselves in all of this, but now it's my turn to speak, alright?"

My mom nodded her head while Elio sat back in his chair.

I tried to gather my thoughts as best as I could. On my way back from Anna's place, I had actually mapped out what I'd initially planned to say if given the chance. Of course, that was before I was blasted with a bunch of nonsense and excuses as to why they'd been hiding everything from me.

Yet the feelings I had back in the car still stood at the forefront of my mind.

"You know, I did a lot of thinking when I left this house earlier," I started. "Do you know that among everything the two of you tried to throw at me today, there is one major issue that I cannot seem to move past?" Neither one of them tried to speak. But I could easily tell that I'd captured both of their attentions fully and without fail.

I turned my head to glance at Elio. "I am not looking for a lecture about how dangerous the 'family business' is," I told him. My head then turned to look at my mother. "I do not need to be convinced that my dad was still a decent person, considering the real work he was involved in."

I slowly shook my head and took in numerous deep breaths.

"Look, I understand the need to keep these sorts of things from me when I was younger. It was probably a wise decision to do so at the time. I know I wasn't the easiest person to deal with at times, so having one less thing bouncing around in my head was probably a blessing in disguise. However, what the two of you failed to realize is that I am older and a lot more understanding than I've been given credit for. I deserved to have been told the truth now more than ever, and neither of you believed that I could've handled it."

The two of them looked deflated at my explanation.

My mom let her shoulders drop as she let out a sigh. She reached out to take my hand between her own and rubbed little circles over the top of my palm.

"You're right," she said. "I should have told you the truth a lot sooner."

"I'm sorry too, Caterina," Elio stated.

"It wasn't right for you to replace out everything the way that you did," she added. "We should have all sat down like adults and explained to you what's really been going on."

I lowered my gaze to the small table in the center of the room. I wished their apologies were enough to make me feel even remotely better. But they weren't.

"Like I said, I understand why you did it. But I am still exceedingly upset, and I don't know when that'll stop," I informed them.

My mom nodded her head. Before either of them could get out another word, I stood up from the couch and headed toward the staircase. I desperately needed to lie down and clear my head.

But just as my hand reached out for the railing, I felt a strong hand pull me back. I had a feeling, deep within my gut, that Elio was going to try to stop me from locking myself away.

This was no longer something I wanted to deal with, at least not at the moment. I was angry. I was heartbroken and feeling betrayed. Most of all, I felt exhausted.

"Cat," he spoke sternly.

I turned my head to face him. Although I still sensed my anger beneath my surface, not a single ounce of it came out when I spoke back to him.

"Stop," I said softly.

Elio appeared as though I'd slapped him clear across the face. His entire body went stiff as stone and his brows raised in shock. Clearly, he was expecting to be on the receiving end of my naturally sharpened attitude. But I didn't have an ounce of lethalness left in me.

I pulled myself out of his grip and headed for my room. Without giving it too much thought, I kicked off my shoes and flopped onto the mattress of my bed. I welcomed the softness that embraced me as the ache inside of my chest waivered. A small part of me thought of texting Anna to at least let her know how everything went. But the thought of lifting my head up made me groan.

'I'll give her a call later,' I decided.

Without glancing at the clock, I knew that a good amount of time had passed. The sun was well below the horizon and my room grew significantly darker. I slowly lifted myself up and heard a sudden knock on the door. My mom slipped inside and gave me a small smile. "Just wanted to see how you were doing."

I shrugged my shoulders. "Fine, I guess. I really needed to lie down."

She nodded her head and came to join me on the bed. I noticed her glance across the room to see the small picture of my dad on my dresser. Her smile began to grow.

"I'm sure knowing about your father's actual background has come as a bit of an unexpected shock," she stated.

"That's a damn understatement," I snorted.

The two of us fell into a fit of laughs and giggles.

"But in all seriousness, Cat. When I first met your dad, he was just a regular man. He was just 'Vinny.""

I folded my legs under me and turned to better face her. "When did you realize that there was more to his life than what you thought you knew?"

"You mean, when did I realize that he was part of the Italian mafia?"

I nodded my head.

"It happened while we were still dating. At the time, he and I would be in the middle of a nice date and then suddenly he'd get a mysterious call, and everything was cut short. It happened far too many times for me not to become suspicious." "So, what did you do?" I asked.

"Well, one time, I ended up following him. I'd become too fed up and annoyed at being kept in the dark about things that were going on in his life that I took matters into my own hands."

I raised a brow and gave her a pointed look.

She sighed. "I know, I know. I shouldn't have kept you in the dark for so long." Small specs of tears dotted the corners of her eyes. "But I think that's part of the reason why I refrained from telling you. I didn't want the vision of how you viewed your father to change all because you knew about the darker parts of him."

My throat started to tighten with emotion.

"Cat, you need to know that the real side of your father-not the mafia part-was who he really was. He was a good man. He loved his family, and he loved us so much," she confessed through fallen tears.

"I wish he was still here," I said quietly. Soon my own tears were trailing down my cheeks.

My mother pulled me into a tight hug. "I know that if he were here, he'd be so proud of you for all that you've accomplished. He wouldn't want you to be upset like this. Cat, I promise that I won't ever keep anything from you again." I nodded my head and hugged her back. "Okay."

It felt good making up with my mom. It pained me more to try and stay mad at her. When she turned to leave me alone once more, I found that the sad emotions stayed back with me and lingered.

I laid my head back and allowed the tears to flow. I tried wiping my face and continuously sniffling, but it was no use. I missed my father, and I went on to wonder what he would be like now if he were still around. Suddenly my door cracked open, and I saw Elio trying to look in on me.

"I heard you sniffle. Can I come in?"