Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad by Scarlett Rossi
Chapter 696 -

*Caterina*

I had a dream that night.

I was standing in an empty room, with walls that seemed to reach upward to impossible heights and no windows or doors. It was dark, no lights around me, and I was alone.

I knew it was a dream, but I couldn't move, like there were chains that had come from the ground and wrapped around my body. I kept struggling against the invisible hold, but it was useless. I was trapped.

Then I began to hear gunshots, loud and abrupt, coming from everywhere around me. I heard screams following them, banging against the walls like someone was screaming for help. I struggled to move, to do anything... but I was stuck in place, feet planted to the ground.

And then my feet began to slowly sink into the floor, dragging me underneath.

I tried to call out for help, to replace out who was screaming, but I was mute. My mouth opened and closed but there was no voice. All my words had been taken from me.

Then the walls lit up in brightness and I could see faces behind the wall, crying and begging for me to help them, faceless nobodies but scattered within were silent statues. My waist had sunk underneath the floor now, and I threw out my hands to grab anything to pull myself out.

But like a sticky tar, it clung to me, only pulling me down faster.

I saw people I knew-Alexi, a corpse pale and bloody, stared at me with lifeless eyes... my mother, pale and weak in her hospital gown... and someone I had not seen in years.

My father was in between them, standing there with a tilted head, watching me sink lower and lower. His eyes were glued shut, his whole body unnaturally stiff and he took a step forward, body flopping like a boneless marionette. He opened his mouth, showing the bolts keeping it shut, and whispered one thing as my head sunk beneath the floor.

"Why?"

And I woke up.

Soaked in sweat, my heart racing and pounding in my chest, I jolted up in bed, the images I had seen burned into my retinas. I swallowed, my throat parched for water, and I automatically turned beside me, my hands searching the sheets for comfort.

But they met emptiness.

"Elio?" I asked, throat scratchy but I was relieved nonetheless that I had my voice back.

As my heart calmed down and the nightmare began to fade from my forefront, I remembered that Elio had gone to help in the search for Junior.

I took a deep breath, grabbing my phone from the nightstand. My heart leaped to my throat as I saw I had a missed call from my mom. I turned on the lamp, rubbing the crust from my eyes as I called her back.

It rang a couple of times and with each one, a seed of anxiety grew larger and larger, quickly morphing into panic when I went straight to her voicemail. Mom always answered her phone. Always.

I dialed her back, biting my bottom lip as I tapped my foot impatiently on the floor. I was going to head down to her apartment if she didn't answer this time, and I would force myself in there if I had to.

I was just thinking of raiding Elio's toolbox for a hammer to break open her door when she finally picked up with a strange sounding "Hello?"

"Mom, are you okay? You didn't answer and I was worried."

The words burst out of my lips, but Mom only chuckled.

"I'm fine, sweetie, I promise. I was just doing my exercises. I called you like two hours ago, but I guess you were still sleeping. Just because you're on vacation from school doesn't mean you should sleep all day, you know." I smiled at the same old lecturing from the same old Mom. "I know, Mom. What did you call for?"

"Oh, I was just wondering if you wanted to go to dinner later. My doctor says I'm healthy enough to get off the crutches now, so I figured a little celebration should be in order."

She laughed, sounding bright and happy like I hadn't heard from her before all of this mess started.

My eyes watered at her words. After months of physical therapy and going back and forth to the hospital, she was finally feeling good enough to go out, to get back to her normal life. It was a relief to hear Mom was recovering. As I went to answer, I heard the front door opening, shuffling in the entrance, and someone heading straight for me. Elio was probably back, I thought.

"Yes, of course, Mom. I'd love to. Where do you want to go?" I asked as Elio entered, giving me a surprised look as he saw me.

"Hm, haven't decided yet, but meet me at my apartment later, sometime around five-ish, and we'll figure it out, okay?"

"Sure, Mom," I smiled and waited for Mom to end the call before I turned to Elio.

"You okay?" he asked, concerned.

He had a brown bag and coffee cup in his hand, which he handed over to me before sitting down beside me. I grinned, inhaling the familiar scent of freshly brewed coffee.

I took a sip it was just the overload of sugar and whipped cream I wanted. I ruffled through the bag, pulling out a bagel and a side of cream cheese to go with it.

"Thank you, Elio," I told him with a big smile. "And I'm okay. I'm just happy. Mom wants to go out to dinner to celebrate getting off her crutches. I feel like things are finally starting to look up."

"She's a strong woman." Elio grinned. "She's been putting so much effort into getting better, so she deserves to celebrate. I know how proud you are of her."

I took a big bite of my bagel, happiness fluttering like butterflies in my stomach as Elio got on his phone, scrolling through with a thoughtful look as I ate. After my coffee was down and my stomach filled, I finally got the courage to ask about what was on my mind.

"Any sign of him?"

Elio sighed. "Unfortunately, no. His father taught him well about hiding his tracks, but we're still searching. We're not going to give up."

I couldn't help but be disappointed at the news, even though I knew it was still early. It had only been two days since he'd escaped, and these things took time.

"We found him once," I said confidently. "We'll do it again."

"Well, if you say so, then it must be true." Elio grinned, leaning over to kiss me.

I stretched up to kiss him back, happy to have him with me. My dream was long forgotten, but I still felt uneasy from the nightmare.

"Do you want to come to dinner with us?" I asked, glancing up to see his face as I hugged him around the waist.

He kissed the top of my head with a soft smile. "No, I've got more work to do tonight. Besides, I think you two are overdue for a mother-daughter date. I think she'll appreciate that."

"You're probably right," I grinned. "I love you."

"I love you too." He kissed me.

Elio and I spent the rest of the afternoon just lazing around together. We hung out on the couch, watching TV and scrolling on our phones. I showed him some funny videos and we watched a few movies. Elio even made popcorn with some chocolate to munch on before dinner.

I enjoyed just spending this time with him with nothing else to get in between us, just me and him together.

Once five o'clock rolled around, I got dressed and ready for dinner with Mom, double-checking with Elio that it was okay if he didn't come, but he just waved me off with a laugh, typing away on his computer.

I headed downstairs, texting Mom to let her know I was there before I entered. The place was pretty quiet, and I found Mom in her bedroom, trying on a few different dresses. It brought tears to my eyes to see her fully upright, healed, and walking on her own two feet like she had never been injured.

She beamed when she saw me, folding me into a hug and roping me into helping her choose her dress. We decided to go with a modest blue one and finally, we headed out. It felt good to be with Mom and I held her arm around mine, happy to see her so full of life as we headed to the restaurant.

We decided to go to Saffy's because it was within walking distance, and it felt good to get out of the house, strolling down the streets of the commercial district. The warm air felt good on my skin, and it was nice to see Mom so enthusiastic. The restaurant was pretty busy, but we had a reservation, so we got in early and chatted about school as we ordered drinks. We both ordered a few cocktails before dinner since we had walked, but I made sure not to drink too much just in

case.

I told her all about what Anna was doing. "Ever since her boyfriend came back, they're practically joined at the hip."

Mom laughed. "Well, that's normal for your age when you have someone close. Speaking of that, how had it been, living with Elio?"

"It's like heaven, Mom."

She seemed to understand with just that short answer, and the conversation moved to which classes I was going to attend when the semester started.

It felt a bit weird to talk about something so normal after everything that had been going on, but I was happy to put everything else out of my mind for a moment. Plus, if I wanted a life that I created for myself and not what I gained by relying on Elio or my mom all the time, then I needed to go back to school.

Learning about the world and replaceing out what I could do to make it a better place was crucial to becoming independent. And that was the kind of person I wanted to be. Mom gave me some advice, and we just chatted about random things until the food came.

We shared a platter of Saffy's wood-fired shawarma, lamb, beef, and chicken with some vegan options too. I was in love with it.

I got the banana cake for dessert, and Mom wanted the pecan apple crisp. She did end up stealing a few bites of my cake anyway, but I didn't mind at all. By the time dinner was over, it was already dark out and I supported Mom, who had a healthy red glow to her cheeks as we walked back to the apartment.

She leaned on my shoulder, beaming brightly as it seemed that with every step, the four cocktails she'd had came back to bite her. The doorman was kind enough to help me and Mom get into the elevator, and we stopped on her floor. Lauren wasn't there tonight, so I helped Mom get into her pajamas and sent her to bed. As she snored face-first into the pillows, I covered her up with the blankets and made sure to put some Advil and a glass of water on her bedside table before heading to my own apartment.

I rubbed my sore arms, sighing to myself as I stepped inside the darkened house. Elio wasn't to be found, probably in the bedroom or on the balcony. I poured myself a glass of water, sipping it slowly as I came down from the alcohol. I had just set my phone on the counter, leaning over to take off my heels, when I heard it ring out loudly in the quiet penthouse. I frowned, glancing at the caller ID.

My heart leaped to my throat.

It was a number I knew well.

Junior's.