Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad by Scarlett Rossi
Chapter 698 -

*Elio*

The warm sun had begun to fade away, casting a twilight glow across the sky as the black sedan rumbled down the beaten and bumpy path. In the setting sun, it was even more obvious just how much nothing there was around us. The warehouse loomed in sight, the same one we'd used to hold Antonio, with only a few cars waiting silently outside as we pulled up.

The engine cut off, the keys jingling as I pulled them out of the ignition. The click of the seatbelts was the only sound in the quiet desert before us and I got out, tucking the keys into the hidden pocket in my suit, brushing down my blazer for imaginary dust.

I spared merely a moment, glancing at the leftover police tape that had been brushed aside. A few strands swayed as a hot breeze brushed across the rocky terrain. I rounded the car, the rocks under my feet crunching with every step and I grabbed the door, opening it with a quiet click.

Her eyes met mine, bright and warm, and I smiled on instinct, stepping to the side like a chauffeur. She was gorgeous-her long legs sexy as hell under the short black dress she had worn, and her face gleamed with red lipstick and shadowy eyes.

I shut the door after her, offering my arm with a grin and she smiled, her eyes twinkling like the colors of the sky above as I escorted her along the walkway up to the warehouse.

"Has it been cleaned up?" she asked cautiously.

"Spotless, as much as it could be, anyway." I shrugged, remembering the last time we'd been there. My men were good at what they did, but not even they could destroy every piece of evidence of what had happened there. There may be a few stains left over, I thought, but nothing major. At least we took care of the body.

"And Alexi... what happened to his "

She spoke quietly as we approached the side door. "Did you bury him?"

I paused outside the door, my hand on the doorknob as I wondered how to answer her. I knew from working with Franky and Al that protocol would be returning the body to the family, or if there was none, a simple burial at Eterna. But that was for those who were part of the family.

Alexi was not.

Plus, being overseas, there was no way we would spend the resources and money to ship his body across the ocean to give him a proper burial.

Truthfully, his body had been taken, burned, and thrown into a pauper's grave.

I felt no remorse over that decision, considering that he had betrayed our trust and worked with the enemy. We did give out a proper notice and even gave him a simple headstone. That was the least bit of consideration I could give him for ratting out his boss and leading us straight to him.

Truthfully, I didn't want to tell her all of that, mainly for her own peace of mind and mine.

But I also was not going to lie to her.

"Don't worry about it. I made sure he's been taken care of," I told her vaguely, tucking her to my side a bit more closely as I pushed open the doors.

I held it open, allowing her to head in first, and she gave me a knowing look, a frown on her lips like she knew I wasn't telling her the entire truth.

But she said nothing, giving a little nod as she headed past me. The concrete floors were much better to stand on than the gravel paths outside, and the whole place smelled of bleach and dust as we entered.

As we turned the corner, I almost expected to see the dead body lying there, blood pouring around it and officers standing around, just like a few days ago.

But there was nothing.

Leo and Franky sat at one of the tables pushed against the wall, a really crappy plastic one with equally crappy chairs. Leo had his feet propped up on the table, while Franky sat still and proper as always, a scowl on his face, which only deepened when he saw Cat and me.

Cat, for her part, ignored Franky's hostile gaze, but Leo waved to us with a lazy grin.

"Hey, late-night appointment, eh?" he chuckled. "Always nice to see you, Cat."

She took a seat beside him, the farthest from Franky, and I didn't blame her. I grabbed the seat next to her, in between her and Franky.

"What's this all about?" Franky said roughly, giving me an expectant look and discarding Cat's presence altogether.

It really was the best we could hope for from him. He was a misogynist piece of shit, but he had his uses, so if I had to be in the same room as him, I would have at least prefered he keep his damn mouth shut about Cat.

I understood that he was old school from the old country, but I was really tired of his attitude.

"Junior called Cat's number last night," I said grimly. "Luckily, she was quick enough to get me and put it on speakerphone. I tried to record what I could, but the audio was short and not the best quality."

"Junior?" Leo raised an eyebrow, glancing at Cat. "How'd he get your number?"

She shook her head. "I've switched phone numbers, so I'm not sure how he got my number."

"That's awfully suspicious," Franky said, glaring at Cat accusingly.

But I wasn't having any of it. "Cut that shit out," I snarled, then I turned back to Leo. "I'm not too worried about it. It seems like he got the number from Alexi when he had him killed. He's the only one who had her number, and his phone was missing when we found his body."

"That's gruesome," Leo made a face.

"The main issue," I said, turning to Franky with a stern look, "is that this isn't going to go away. Junior knows about his father's death now, and he's not going to let this go. We need to arrange for more guys to replace him and more guards on our assets. I don't want a repeat of the Alexi incident on one of our sites."

"And does the Don know of these plans?" Franky shot back, crossing his arms with an unhappy look.

"Really? You gotta be difficult?" Leo shook his head in exasperation.

Cat rolled her eyes but they both looked expectantly at me. I sighed, putting out my phone from my pocket. I had Al on speed dial.

I put it on speaker, right when Al answered with a sharp, "What?"

"Oh, bad day?" Leo joked..

"Your subordinate was worried that you weren't updated on the situation, so I'm calling to rectify that so that he'll follow my orders," I said annoyed.

"If he's being a problem, kill him and send back the body. I have enough on my damn plate," Al snarled out.

Franky's eyes went wide, a look of hesitance crossing his features. I smirked, sending him an I-told-you-so look.

"Nah, too much paperwork." I shrugged nonchalantly.

Franky's look of relief was worth it.

"Fine, what's the damage? Antonio?"

"Dead," I answered quickly. "But his son got away. He's on the run. I wanted some more men so we could organize a search for him and guard our shit. They left us a present in one of our warehouses a couple of days ago. It was a bitch to clean up, so we don't want any repeats."

"One of ours?"

"Informant... he seemed to be playing both sides," I said coldly, "at least until he wound up dead. We think they used him to get a hold of Cat's number and threaten us. Junior wasn't too happy to learn of his father's fate." "He should've thought of that before turning on the family," Al said, more bitter than the blackest coffee. "I'm flying to the States anyway, so I'll be there sometime tomorrow. We'll discuss the next steps then." "And in the meantime?" I prompted, giving a pointed look at Franky, who was scowling in his chair like a child scolded by their parents.

"Your idea isn't bad. Keep looking for the runaway and add some more security, especially around your apartments. That's the first place they'll try to hit, so keep a careful eye out. I can't help you if you end up getting taken hostage... or worse."

"Will do. Thanks, Al." I barely waited for his annoyed goodbye before I hung up, turning to Leo, Cat, and Franky with a confident smirk. "You heard the man. Teams of two from now on, nobody is left alone. One team to Leo's apartment and one team to ours for extra security. Get a search team out there to keep looking for Junior, and make sure any spies and informants are aware of the danger. If they want to be pulled out, make it happen."

"And go where?" Cat spoke up with a frown. "Do we have any safe houses in the area to use?"

I opened my mouth to reply but nothing came out. I hadn't thought about that, to be honest. I turned to Leo, who nodded.

"I'll get on it. We had a few, but they've all but been abandoned at this point. I'll get them restocked and new security measures updated once I contact the informants. I can also start looking for a few promising locations, just in case," Leo said, then he gave Cat a grin. "Excellent suggestion, Cat."

She crossed her arms, staring at Franky. "What about the security and search teams?"

We all turned to Franky expectantly, and he frowned, but the fight he'd had in him from before had left. With Al on our side, there was no excuse to go against my word now.

"I will do as you say," he said reluctantly. "I can get the security there in an hour."

"Perfect. Like Al said, keep your eyes peeled," I said as I got up from the table, with Cat doing the same half a second later. I waited until she came to my side before giving both Leo and Franky a warning look. "Things are about to get messy, and we need to be prepared."

We all got up from the table, eyeing one another before splitting ways. It was quiet, eerily so, as we left the warehouse and got into our cars, with Leo and Franky driving off first and then me and Cat.

It was a long drive from the endless nowhere back to the city, and Cat dozed off as we listened to the radio.

I taped my fingers on the steering wheel, humming to myself as I drove into the night. It was almost too dark at night to see any longer. Once we pulled into our complex, it became obvious to me that Cat was not going to wake up. Exhausted, she slept soundly against the window, and I took my time to unbuckle her and pick her up, carrying her inside. The doorman gave me a nod as I passed, not even questioning the woman I was carrying as we headed up to our penthouse.

I shifted Cat in my arms, relying on the automated door sensor to get inside without waking her. It took a bit of maneuvering, but I laid Cat gently onto the bed, taking my time to take off her heels before I tucked her in.

After I straightened, pulling off my jacket and throwing off my shoes, my phone lit up with a silent call, and I glanced at the number with questioning eyes.

It was Alessandro.