Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad by Scarlett Rossi
Chapter 687 -

*Caterina*

I got off the phone with Elio both excited and scared of what he might say. It had to be big if he didn't want to discuss it over the phone, but it could be anything. Maybe they had located Antonio and were ready to kill him, I thought, or he'd already been killed. I wouldn't be the happiest about that, but I wouldn't complain so long as he was dead for good.

Or maybe he had escaped Italy and they lost track of him entirely. Then we'd have to start the whole search over.

Restless and anxious, I paced the living room floor, staring at my phone and then the door as I waited for him to get home. Endless possibilities of what was so urgent filled my head, and each one was worse than the last.

After fifteen minutes, I'd moved on to wondering if everyone I knew was killed by the motherfucker and Elio was just coming by to break the news. I knew that wasn't likely, or even possible considering that all my loved ones were safe and accounted for, but my brain wasn't exactly thinking rationally at the moment.

I was just about to go out of my mind when I heard the sound of the front door unlocking. I jolted to attention, hovering by the entrance as Elio popped inside, carrying his bag and jacket in one hand.

"Hey." He greeted me casually, a soft smile spreading across his lips as soon as he saw me.

I could do nothing but stare as he kissed me, short and sweet, and then pushed past me before I could even register what had happened.

"How was your morning?" he asked, throwing his stuff down with a patient look. He sat on the couch, untying his shoes and I hovered over him with wide, unblinking eyes. "What happened with Antonio?"

"Leo's finishing the last meeting of the day, so I'm pretty much free for the rest of the night. Did you want to get Chinese for dinner? I know you love your orange chicken-"

"Elio!" I collapsed next to him on the couch, my muscles so tight it was painful as I glared at him and demanded firmly. "Stop playing games with me. What happened with Antonio?"

He chuckled, light and airy as he propped his head up on his fist, looking at me with those sparkling, adoring eyes. Any other time I would've melted into a puddle for him to play with, but this time, it was way too urgent. Seeing I wasn't cracking, he sighed and nodded to himself. "Okay, okay. I'll tell you everything."

I breathed out, trying to relax as I curled into the corner of the couch, my knees propped up to my chest and my socked feet on his thigh as I waited intently for whatever he needed to say to me. Good or bad, I could take it. "Al called," Elio started, a frown on his lips.

My heart dropped at his expression. This wasn't good.

"He had a team watching Antonio," he continued. "We were trying to replace a good place to take care of him quietly but last night, the team went silent. They were supposed to report back but they didn't, so Al launched an investigation."

I shut my eyes, knowing instinctively what he meant.

"They found the team dead by the pier. They'd been caught by surprise and taken out before they could alert us," Elio said, a look of regret on his face. "Unfortunately, we also found out that Antonio had left Italy as well."

"Fuck!" I slammed my hand onto the couch, loathing welling up from the pit of my stomach as I struggled to digest that we had lost him... again.

He was out there now, who knows where, causing who knows what kind of damage, and now we couldn't touch him. It was fucking bullshit.

"I know." Elio pulled me into his lap, running his hands up and down my arms soothingly as I buried my face into his chest, my lips twisted into a deep frown.

"He needs to die for what he's done," I muttered darkly.

"And he will," Elio vowed, gently tipping my face up to meet his eyes. "Because that's not all."

"What do you mean?"

"Al caught on to what happened quick enough that we launched an investigation. Thanks to your brilliant idea, we had people on this side who acted fast enough, and we were able to replace his new alias as soon as he landed. We traced him, and I sent a team to track his whereabouts discreetly."

"We didn't lose him?" My eyes shined with hope.

Elio grinned, pressing a kiss to my lips.

"That's right," he breathed. "We found him in a safe house we had no clue even existed before. He's back here in LA and now, we have the chance to end him for good. Last I heard, Leo had sent a few men to tail him. We've got eyes on him now, and he won't be getting away."

I breathed a sigh of relief, in sheer awe of how quickly Elio and Al had worked together in a single night. It fucking sucked that they'd lost a few good men and lost their tail on Antonio, but I just couldn't believe we still had him.

I was beginning to understand just how difficult Antonio had been to replace after all these years, but whether it was a slip-up on his part or the sheer competence of the team Elio and Al had set up, we still had him right where we wanted him. It was a relief, especially since Junior had already found out about us. I'd figured it would've made things more difficult, but it seemed that wasn't so. Antonio must not have realized that we had gone to Italy after him. He may have been expecting Alessandro, but certainly not us.

He would pay for his crimes this time for killing my father, all those years of grief my mother and I had suffered... for tearing my family apart and showing no ounce of remorse for it. Antonio was a monster and he deserved to die for everything he had done.

But as happy as I was with this news, I still remembered that I had a bone to pick with Elio. I pulled out of his embrace, giving him a fierce look as I scooted back to the other side of the couch.

Despite my glare, Elio just glanced at my pajamas and socks printed to look like cat paws and gave a look like I was just adorable to him.

Grumpily, I crossed my arms and said very slowly, "You left me out of the meeting."

Elio, for all his part, didn't make any excuses. He nodded his head, a flash of guilt in his eyes. "I did. I'm sorry for that. I should've told you, but-"

"No buts," I snapped. "This isn't the first time we've been through this, but it will be the last time. Do you understand me? You promised to include me in everything, and that means meetings too. Unless you have a very good reason-" "I do, I swear."

He grabbed my hands, pulling them from the clenched balls they were and intertwining our fingers together. He gave me a sad look, and I could almost imagine puppy dog ears flopping on his head.

I pursed my lips, trying not to fall for his sad eyes and pitiful look but ultimately, I couldn't help but cave. He just looked too adorable.

Elio beamed once he knew I had let it go, gently tugging on me so he could plop me right into his lap and encircle my waist in his arms.

"I hadn't planned on making the meeting anything too important, but I needed to talk to Franky-that's what we're calling Francesco now."

He grinned as my lips twitched upward at the nickname. That ice cube of a man was being called something like Franky to his face?

I could only imagine the scowl he would wear.

"What did you need to talk to Franky about that was so important I couldn't come?"

"Well, I first had to let him know how things were going to be," Elio said calmly. "I'll be running the operation over here ultimately, and it's his job to deal with that or get the fuck out."

"But he was friendly on the plane," I said. "It was like he calmed down from how he was in Italy. That's not the case?"

He shook his head. "He probably has a problem with women being in leadership roles. But that's his problem, and I needed to tell him that. I needed to do that without you there so it wouldn't slam him into a wall might make things worse." I opened my mouth to refute that, but then actually thought about it for a second. I knew Francesco didn't like me at first. He'd made that clear at that first meeting. But he'd seemed to change on the way home, but maybe that was just to keep the peace so we could get through the plane ride together.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized it would have been awful if he had been confrontational the whole way home.

I stared into Elio's eyes and remembered how fragile male egos could be, though that didn't seem to be the case with Elio, thank God.

I nodded understandingly.

"Good point," I said, relaxing in his arms now that I knew he did actually have a reason other than his stupid overprotectiveness.

"I should've told you my reason for leaving you out before I left, but I was only thinking about getting it over with so we could focus on Antonio," he admitted, giving me his wide puppy-dog eyes. "I also was pretty pissed off about Antonio and what he'd done. If I'd been thinking straight, I would have reconsidered leaving you at home."

I nodded. It made sense, though I still didn't like being left out. "Well, it can't happen again, and you're sure to get pissed off at these people again, or someone else once they're out of the picture. What's to stop you from leaving me out again?"

"My love for you," he said softly.

I nearly melted under his gaze.

"Forgive me?" he asked.

I pursed my lips, as if I was thinking about it, but then cracked a smile when he added a very soft, "Please?" as he laid kisses on my hands.

"Fine, fine," I laughed. "I forgive you. And thank you for thinking of me. You were just trying to protect me. Though the next time something comes up, you have to tell me before you do it, okay? We're a team." "Deal," Elio grinned, kissing me on the lips.

His hands wandered under my shirt, hot skin burning as he trailed up my back. I sat on my knees in between his long legs, and I threw my arms around his neck, fully putting my weight on him as I enjoyed his lips on mine. "Don't you"

I panted as I briefly pulled away, suppressing a moan as I bit down on my lips as his hand snuck up to my breast, eagerly pushing it away as he teased the nubs there.

"Don't you have something else to do with Leo?" I asked.

"He'll just have to wait," Elio smirked. "This is much more important."