Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad by Scarlett Rossi
Chapter 693 -

*Elio*

'It's almost over,' I thought pointedly.

"Come on, let's go," Cat said hastily.

My body was still buzzing from the adrenaline that cycled through me from earlier. When that text came in, it was like I was hit with another jolt of energy.

'We picked up our friend.'

A rush of exhilaration that could only come from the business that my family had always been involved in. Knowing that we were finally the ones that held all the cards. Our long-standing problem was finally going to reach its end. I couldn't keep the corners of my mouth from curving upward into a prideful smile. I knew it was far too early to jump to any sort of conclusion, and that anything could happen to screw up the plan, but I was ready for this to be over. Cat was quick to grab her bag and follow me out to the car. We headed straight to the warehouse without wasting any more time. I could tell that Cat was just as tense as I was.

I occasionally glanced in her direction to check to see how she was holding up. Her hands were folded gingerly in her lap, as though she were trying to hide the fact that she was anxious. Who could blame her?

The last time she'd gotten a real glance at Antonio was all those months ago when Alessandro was here with us. I had no doubt that among all the anger Caterina must have been feeling, there was also an underlying sensation of fear. This unfortunate business she'd been dragged into since the death of her father had gone on long enough. For the mere sake of her and her mother, I was finally going to see that it all came to an end, regardless of how violent it needed to be. Cat and I spoke little to nothing as we pulled into the long, narrow dirt path that led to the opening of the hidden warehouse. Before I pulled the car over to park, I noticed the van Franky must've used to bring Antonio in... and right next to it was Leo's car.

Suddenly, the reality of it all was truly beginning to hit me. This—all of this-was finally going to end. I was ready to get justice for the chaos and pain both Antonio and Junior had inflicted on my family. Antonio man was nothing but a walking plague that was only capable of spreading death and misery. And I was more than happy to see that it would come to an end.

I parked the car and turned to face Cat.

"Are you ready?" I asked her.

She slowly turned to look at me. Her eyes were filled with determination, with a slight hint of worry that made me reach for her hands. I covered them with my own and gave her a gentle squeeze. "Yeah," she said quietly. "I think so."

I offered a small smile. "It's almost over," I assured her. "We have Antonio... all that's left is Junior."

Cat nodded her head in agreement and the two of us made our way into the warehouse.

"I think I'm just ready for this whole thing to be done with," she said under her breath.

I reached for her hand and enveloped it within my own. My eyes were instantly drawn to the two men that were standing guard at the doors. I expected Leo had put two men on every possible point of exit on this place, which made me both grateful and impressed.

It was good to see that Leo took his role as my being my second with strong initiative. His tactful behavior was sign enough that he'd had just about enough of Antonio's bullshit like the rest of us.

With a quick nod to the two men, Cat and I slipped through the doors. Leo kept the room as dark as possible, while keeping only one light hovering above Antonio's head.

I did a quick survey around the place to see that the inside was just as heavily guarded as the outside. We weren't taking any chances this time. Even if his mindless goons ended up tracking him here, it wouldn't matter. They would be outnumbered indefinitely.

Yet even with this notion of assurance, my stomach still tensed from the mere sight of him, not out of fear but from pure, unbridled anger.

Thank God I was still holding onto Cat, otherwise I would've likely punched the bastard square in the jaw.

'It's not as though he doesn't deserve it,' I thought bitterly to myself. 'Asshole deserves to be torn to pieces, having hurt so many others.'

The closer I got, the more detail I was able to make out. Antonio was securely tied to a chair and didn't appear like he'd been greatly injured, for the most part, at least.

His nose looked slightly off point, and there was a decent amount of dried blood around the area, signifying that he didn't exactly like the idea of being taken in. He certainly didn't come peacefully. Of course, I expected nothing less from the man who had fled the country like a complete coward.

Even with the dimmed lighting around us, Antonio seemed to recognize us almost immediately. One corner of his mouth turned upward into a crooked smile. He smirked like he knew something that we didn't, making my anger flare. "I see the life has finally pulled you under as well. Welcome," he greeted.

My mouth pulled into a sneer while my free hand clenched into a tight fist. Oh, how I wanted to snap the smug expression clear off the man's face.

"How amusing," I drawled. "It looks like my men ended up hitting you a little too hard. You seem to think that you're the one who's still in control."

The men around us all snickered. Antonio's look of amusement dampened. He curled his brow and tilted his head.

"You of all people should know that if and when I die, there will always be someone else to fill my place," he said confidently.

The venom in his voice caused my entire body to spike with several waves of fiery rage. I felt Cat tense up beside me, indicating that at least a small part of her actually believed him.

If that was the case, then when all was said and done, we'd never be free to live our lives without having to glance over our shoulders. Just the thought of there always being someone who was determined to make our family suffer was enough to make me grab for my gun.

I refused to let him instill that kind of fear into her after all the hell he'd put her through.

"Well, now that you've got me here," Antonio started with an easy smile. "What is it that I can do for you?"

I hummed with amusement.

The man was under the impression that I wanted to interrogate him.

Seriously?

We were beyond the point of meaningless conversation and equal exchanges. Did he think that he was going to offer up some priceless piece of information to weasel himself out of this?

This wasn't going to turn into another trading ordeal. We'd reached the end of line. This ongoing game of cat and mouse was coming to a hard, unforgiving ending.

His previous comment held very little weight. If there was any sense of truth around it, then it was obvious that Junior would have been the one to take his father's place, technically. But not even that possibility truly bothered me.

I had every intention of taking them both down.

"We don't want anything from you," I told him coolly, "but your password."

Antonio drew his brows together in question. Leo stepped forward and presented me with the man's phone. I held it up to his bruised face to show him that we needed the password to get into it.

Antonio scoffed. "As if I'm going to just give it to you boys," he snapped. "Sorry to break it to you, but I've got nothing valuable in that thing."

"Oh, believe me, I don't doubt that remark for a single moment," I said. "You've been running for your life for the past several months. I replace it hard to believe that you of all people could possibly have something simmering in that old head of yours."

I watched Antonio's eyes narrow in disdain while I leaned my hip against the table and tilted my head down to glare at him.

"However, there is something that I want. So, I suggest that you give me the password."

Silence.

I knew he wasn't going to be easy about it. The man was nursing a bruised ego. No doubt he was being stubborn out of sheer spite, but I had fully anticipated it.

A devious smile curved my mouth. My eyes flickered toward the two men who were guarding Antonio. Without a single word being said, they quickly untied the ropes that were bound around his wrists. The other guy snagged both his arms and slammed them down on the table in front of him.

"You're a lot of things, Antonio. Dumb was never one of them," I explained. "You're not the kind of man who would simply set a password that anyone could figure out. You're the kind of person who would link their fingerprint to their phone for an extra bout of security. Too bad that security is about to bite you in the ass."

One of the men snagged Antonio's right hand and forced him to press his forefinger against the phone screen.

"You son of a bitch!" he snarled.

The phone opened and we were successfully in. I chuckled to myself as I maneuvered my way through the dozens of contacts to get to Junior's number. My fingers scrawled across the keypad to send him a message to come out and meet us under the guise of sounding like Antonio.

I attached the address and sent the message out.

"Well, now we can all wait around till your son joins us," I said.

Antonio fumed with rage. He struggled against the two guards that were still holding him against the table.

"Why drag him into this?" he shouted.

"You know fully well why," I spat back with indignation. "He's as guilty as you, maybe even worse. You had him implant himself in Caterina's life and terrorize her. He's as much a monster as his father." He rolled his eyes and grimaced.

"But don't worry. By the end of the night, none of it will matter anymore."

He and his son would be moving on from this world for good-no more chasing, no more deals... and no more negotiations.

I was satisfied with my time with Antonio. I had gotten what I needed, and he was no longer the center of my attention. I turned my head to glance back at Cat to see how she was fairing with all of this.

Much to my pleasure, she didn't seem frightened or upset, but rather, she was plainly furious. I got up to stand by her side again and draped my arm around her waist.

I instructed Franky's men who were planted around the room to remain hidden around the warehouse, knowing that Junior was soon to arrive. I expected he'd arrive with backup, and I had every intention of being ready to take them all out if need be.

It was time.