Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad by Scarlett Rossi
Chapter 659 -

*Elio*

'Well, at least I was able to overcome one problem,' I thought tiredly to myself.

I hated fighting with Caterina. I knew, deep down, that her heart was always in the right place, even when the two of us would fall into an argument. She hated secrets, and being kept in the dark on matters that would ultimately affect her... and rightfully so.

I knew for a fact that a part of her would still never truly forgive me for lying about her father and my family's past. It had been months since Cat found out the truth, months since she became entrusted in the mess that was my family business. That awful night between Alessandro and Antonio was still burning in the back of my mind. I was well aware of the nightmares that Cat suffered from as a result. All that time she spent in the hospital looking after her mom never failed to remind me how close we came to losing everything that night. Had Matilde died from that gunshot, I knew that Cat would have never recovered from the loss.

Thankfully, this dark scenario never came to fruition and her mom was on the slow, but steady, road to recovery. Having Matilde back at the house and finally out of the hospital brightened Cat's mood tremendously.

But the guilt that pooled in my stomach drove me to work even harder to replace Antonio and Junior.

I was hell-bent on taking them both down, even if it meant scouring every corner of the earth to replace them. They were going to pay for what they did.

Because of this mind-numbing guilt that was eating away at me, I fell back into the habit of wanting to keep Cat at a distance from the ugly business. I couldn't risk her safety, not again. I knew there was only so much I could control in life, but when it came to her, I was willing to push the boundaries of possibility.

Yet, I should have known that my feeble attempts at keeping her at s distance were bound to burn me in the end. Cat's eyes were filled with fiery disdain when I insisted on taking her home after I got the call from Leo.

Her telling me not to bother coming home had felt like an equal slap in the face. She didn't want to see me. I'd angered her, hurt her, to the point of her pushing me away. But the problem had to be dealt with. And it was.

In the end, I was glad to have come back to replace Cat willing to talk. Granted, she did most of the talking, but it was an enlightening conversation, nonetheless. I was glad to know that the day finally came to an end on a high note.

I told her that I would try to keep her in the loop about what was going on. Even though the thought of dragging her into danger left me feeling sick and irritated, I wasn't going to run the risk of hurting her again. For the remainder of the night, Cat and I got into a discussion about replaceing a way to tell everyone about our moving in together.

"How about we invite everyone over to my house and we tell them then?" I asked.

Caterina practically jumped at the idea with exuberant interest. I told her to leave all the finer details to me and just focus on her mom and schoolwork. At first, she seemed a little hesitant by my insistence, but she ultimately agreed to let me handle getting everyone together.

I could tell that she was a little worried, which was why I'd graciously stepped up to take care of things. I may have had my own reasons for wanting to plan the evening.

It had been a while since I'd actually stayed at my house that sat next to Caterina's old one, the very house that was broken into and vandalized thanks to Antonio's goons.

I'd had a cleaning service brought out to my old place to make sure everything looked orderly and somewhat lived in. I then instructed them to stay at the house as well as drive the cars that were left behind there. I wanted to give the illusion that the house had life in it on the off chance that Antonio would try and make another attack. This plan served as both a possible trap... along with a basic cover-up for my father's perception.

For the past few months, I'd been doing everything in my power to keep my business with Alessandro under wraps. I hadn't told my father much about any of it, aside from the literal business expansion end of it all. But I couldn't stop him from replaceing out some of the details after the incident with Cat's mother.

***

Dad and Mom were the first ones to arrive tonight. My mom came in with a glimmering smile on her face, happy to see everyone, whereas my dad appeared more reserved and on guard than usual.

I felt like nerves twisted every time I noticed him glaring at him. His eyes were like two hot pokers, burning in the back of my head.

I didn't need to be a mind reader to know what he was thinking.

"I want to know what happened, Elio," he said to me coolly.

I poured the man a glass of wine and put on my best stoic face. I gently shrugged my shoulders and shook my head.

"Antonio must have seen Alessandro spending time with Matilde," I told him calmly. "He must have thought that by going after her, it would have been a good way to get to Aless."

My dad narrowed his eyes as he took in my explanation.

"What about you?" he asked firmly.

I raised a brow. "I didn't have any part in it."

Something in the back of my mind was screaming that my father didn't believe a single word of what I was saying, and rightfully so. The man once led the Italian mafia with such skill and precision that it came as no shock that he'd be naturally skeptical over something like this.

He was smart, to say the very least.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a few car lights beaming from outside. People were starting to arrive. I happily excused myself from the living room and headed into the kitchen to help Cat.

"Is everyone here?" she asked.

I nodded my head. "I believe so. I just saw a couple of cars pull in and people are starting to filter in."

Cat went to grab the stack of plates to place on the counter. I stopped for a split second to admire just how beautiful she looked.

Caterina was dressed in a simple dark purple dress that went as far as her knees. As usual, she kept her makeup light and chose a pair of silver hoop earrings. But underneath it all, she looked as nervous as I felt.

For a brief second, I snaked my arms around her waist and pulled her into me.

"Everything is going to go smoothly," I assured her.

"I know," she whispered under her breath.

When I first told her about hosting the dinner here, I could tell that she was slightly uncomfortable with the idea. Considering all that had happened, I wasn't surprised by her reluctance. But I quickly assured her that the entire place was secure and guarded.

While she dealt with the utensils, I handled uncovering all the trays of food I had catered for tonight-chicken parmesan, rigatoni, a fresh green salad, and garlic bread. It all smelled and looked fantastic. "Alright, everyone! Dinner is ready!" I called from the kitchen.

While everyone started to make their way into the kitchen, I weaved my way through the group and said my hellos to those who'd just arrived. My sight caught Leo hanging toward the back of the line. My feet instantly pulled me to him out of habit and I gave him a silent, questioning look.

He nonchalantly shook his head, which translated to, 'still no word from our lovely captive.' I let out an indignant breath and refrained from sneering in frustration.

"Thanks for the invite, man," Leo added.

I rolled my eyes and playfully patted him on the back. "Oh, please. You know damn well that you're as much family as everyone else."

***

The evening carried on with dinner and light conversation. I noticed Cat making her own rounds around the room, trying her best to say hello and catch up with everyone. Of course, they were all curious about how she was doing with her new courses at school.

I loved watching her light up with excitement whenever she talked about her classes. She truly loved her new school.

But between her and myself, I knew that she was mostly grateful for the chance of still having the ability to see and be close to her mom.

As soon as she finished making her way around the room, Cat came to stand at my side. She leaned into me and spoke into my ear.

"Do you think we should tell everyone now?"

I glanced down at her and smiled. "Well, now might be as good a time as ever." I cleared my throat loud enough to grab the attention of just about everyone in the room. "Everyone, allow me to just steal your attention for a moment, please." The second I had everyone's eyes on me, I stole another quick glance at Caterina and smiled.

"First, I want to thank you all for coming here tonight. It's been a long time since the group of us have come together like this. But the real news that we wanted to tell everyone is that... Cat and I have decided to move in together to an apartment in the city."

Matilde and my mom were the first to gasp and speak out their cheerful congratulations. It was easy to tell from the wide grins and tearful eyes that they were exceptionally happy for us.

"Oh, Cat, Elio! That's fantastic!" Matilde said. "I'm so happy for you two. Cat, this is wonderful."

I felt Cat slip her hand into my own and give it a slight squeeze.

"Well, Mom, the other piece of news is that there's an apartment right below ours for you," Cat said. "It's so that I can still be close by while you're recovering."

Matilde looked utterly taken back. She let out a quiet gasp and wiped the corners of her eyes. "You two," she chuckled. "That is so thoughtful, thank you."

While everyone began to circle around congratulating and wishing us the best of luck, I noticed that my father remained as reserved as ever.

The evening came to a graceful close. Most of the people waved off their goodbyes and headed home. I walked my parents to the door, thanking them for coming out.

"Go on ahead to the car, love," my dad said to Mom. "There's something I need to tell Elio."

My stomach flipped, yet my expression stayed neutral.

He leaned over and spoke softly so that no one else could hear us.

"I know you haven't been staying here. I know more than you think. Really consider this... once you commit, there's no going back."

Without another word, the man glanced at me with an icy glare and turned to leave.