Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad by Scarlett Rossi
Chapter 647 -

*Elio*

'What a complete cluster fuck of a day,' I thought dryly.

How did we go from having a quiet night in with a home-cooked meal to all three of us standing in the center of Alessandro's team base?

Yet, there we all were. Paul had taken Matilde with high expectations of it originally being Caterina. I was happy to hear that she was alive and well, but knowing we couldn't reach her was nerve-wracking.

Also, learning that the psycho had set up some sort of tracking device on Cat's car made me wonder just how long he'd been able to know about her location. I knew Alessandro had taken great care to keep the safehouse location confidential. Few of his men even knew where it was, and they were all the most trusted associates.

When we moved Cat and her mom to the safe house, we'd been sure they were secure. Going to a store a block away shouldn't have been a problem.

'Who the hell was I trying to kid? Caterina was never truly safe,' I thought bitterly to myself.

I'd never given such an idea even a moment of my time to consider.

But there was a deeper level of fear for Cat when it came to Paul. It was awful watching how just the mere sound of his voice affected Cat when he spoke to her on the phone. I wished I could just go straight through the line and level the guy for daring to frighten her.

But I had to be careful because her mom was still in danger. Ironically, it was the same people who had killed her father who had her mother's life in their hands.

I couldn't let Cat lose another parent, not if I could help it.

He mentioned making a trade-Matilde for Alessandro.

I still had no idea how it could be done cleanly. But sure enough, Paul was calling Cat back to discuss further details about the exchange.

"Well, are you ready for the details of this exchange?" Paul asked with a sleazy tone.

Cat's lips pulled into a disgusted sneer.

"Just tell me," she hissed.

"Ooh, someone's a bit touchy." He chuckled. "We'll make the trade-off in exactly two hours' time. You and Alessandro are to come alone... no one else. I'm sending over the address as we speak."

Sure enough, her phone buzzed, and an address came up. Caterina showed the man holding the tablet the address to double-check that they were right all along about knowing the location of where they were keeping her mother.

I watched helplessly as her hands shook with fear. In all the years I'd watched out for her, there had never been a truly serious threat to her. It had been all about making sure she did her homework and helped her mom when she needed it, all the ordinary things kids and teenagers dealt with.

I'd always felt a tug at my heart knowing that her father had been killed in Tallon's branch of the mafia, which had been inherited from my own father. I never wanted anything like that to happen to Cat again, so I made sure to keep her mother safe as well as her. But there I was, standing there helpless while her mother was in the hands of the worst people we could imagine.

Alessandro's man glanced down at his device and quickly nodded his head. Cat let her shoulders drop for a second in ease, but the anger and bitter loathing still hung very heavily around her. Seeing her like that made it feel like my heart was ripped into pieces.

"Fine," she said. "Anything else you need to tell me?"

I was surprised at her tone, and proud of her for handling herself so well in such horrible circumstances.

"I'm looking forward to seeing you again, Kitty-Cat," he drawled out.

I felt like I wanted to puke. How the hell had Cat ever fallen for such an asshole like him? The sound of his disturbing voice made even my skin crawl. But I couldn't blame her. He'd been sent to worm his way into her life, so he had probably used every ounce of fake charm to get there. There was no way Antonio's son was going to take no for an answer. He would have kept trying to charm her no matter how long it took. “I'm afraid that I can't say the same," she said coldly.

Paul continued to laugh. I couldn't wait for the moment that I could put my hands on that guy. I was going to tear him up so slowly that he felt every ounce of pain he'd inflicted on Cat. "Well, either way, I'll be seeing you very soon, sweetie," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

The call ended.

I was just about ready to throw my fist into the nearest wall. Fucking hell... two hours?! In two hours, I was going to let both my girlfriend and Alessandro walk into the damn death trap. They had to go alone. How the hell had it come to this? Alessandro must have noticed my calm demeanor shift over the course of the three-minute phone call with Cat and Paul. "Elio." I glanced in his direction to replace him staring at me.

He jutted his chin to the side and signaled for me to follow him. I looked at Cat, not wanting to leave her side, but she seemed to be lost in her own world. She sat in a chair one of the men offered and stared off at the wall. Reluctantly, I walked toward Alessandro, and the two of us headed off to one of the smaller rooms across the hall.

Alessandro folded his arms over his chest and raised a brow at me. "Tell me what's on your mind," he said.

I practically scoffed. "Seriously?"

What was on my mind was the best way to kill Antonio Jr. in the slowest, most painful way possible.

He waited for me to speak. My mouth twisted into a vicious sneer until I took a long breath in and out.

"Alright. I'll tell you what's on my mind," I said. "I feel like I'm on the verge of losing my fucking sanity."

I curled my hands into tight fists to keep from hitting the wall next to me.

"One of the main reasons why I ever wanted to get involved again in all this was because of Cat. My purpose is to keep her safe."

"And you will," he stated.

"And just how the fuck am I supposed to do that when she is expected to show up to some disclosed location with you in less than two hours?" I fired back. "You two need to go alone. I won't even be there to protect her. I'm sure he'll have all his men there guarding her mom and protecting him. I don't like these odds, Alessandro. I feel like I'm practically handing her over to that psychopath."

How was I supposed to keep Cat safe now? The night I'd taken that gun from Alessandro was a lot more than just getting back into the family. It was a promise I'd made to myself. I'd promised that no matter what, I would always protect her. Being in this world was going to give me the resources I needed to always keep her safe. I was sure of that. But now, she was in danger again.

"Don't let your feelings toward Antonio Jr. keep you from focusing on the real goal here. It's going to be fine." I couldn't help but have a difficult time believing him. "I've made plenty of exchanges like this in the past. I know how to properly keep everyone safe."

An unexpected smile curved the corners of Alessandro's mouth. "Humor me for a moment, will you?"

I raised a brow.

"Do you actually know how to shoot that gun I gave you?" he asked.

My mouth pulled back into a knowing smirk. "Yes. I've known how to shoot long before I'd ever been given one."

This bit of news surprisingly lightened the mood between us. I hadn't realized how badly I needed it. He was right. I needed to focus my mind on what really mattered, which was getting both Matilde and Cat out of there as safely as possible. "Look, when it comes down to me and Caterina having to go in, I promise that I will do everything in my power to keep her safe," Alessandro promised.

My features softened. "You'd better."

He tilted his head back to the main room. "Come on. Let's figure out how we're going to outsmart Antonio and his dipshit son," he said.

***

The two hours were closing in quickly.

The moment Alessandro and I rejoined the group, we were hit with a multitude of ideas, but only one of them was put into action. Many of the others were trying to devise a plan where everyone would make it out safely. But something in Alessandro's old manner kept him from jumping at any of their suggestions.

"We can't make it appear that we have any sort of ulterior motive. The whole point of a tradeoff is to ensure that there isn't any type of foul play being made," he explained.

Caterina shook her head in disbelief. "So, you seriously intend on going with Paul when this happens?"

"Oh, not by any means," he told her. "But what's important is that we make Antonio believe otherwise."

The golden idea that struck the group as to how we were going to pull this stunt off was actually inspired by Cat's car, or more specifically, the tracking device that good ol' Paul had secretly placed on it.

Alessandro's team got to work by planting a small, unnoticeable tracking device within the lining of his coat so that we would be able to replace him during the time of the exchange.

I glanced down at my watch and grimaced. "It's time."

Alessandro slid into the bugged coat and instructed everyone to get into position. I slid my hand into Cat's and we both walked out to the car.

Her breathing was already hitched. She reached out to open the door, but I quickly slid my arm around her waist to stop her. I turned her around and captured her lips in a searing kiss. All the anger, sadness, and pent-up passion that I'd been suppressing until now came out in sweeping waves. I swallowed any sound that she made in response to me practically manhandling her. As always, she melted into me.

When we pulled back, I noticed there were small tears dotting the corners of her eyes.

"I'm really scared," she whispered.

My chest swelled in a painful ache. "I know."

I wanted to promise her that everything would be over soon and that it was all going to be okay. But I knew there was no real guarantee of anything at this point.

I helped Cat get into the car and kissed her one last time on the cheek.

"I'm going to be right behind you the whole time, making sure that you'll be okay," I said quietly. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

Without another moment, I watched the car slowly roll down the street and turn to head to my own. We kept a decent amount of space between the cars as we all headed out. I was determined to see this night end in our favor.