Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad by Scarlett Rossi
Chapter 714 -

*Caterina*

Son. Of. A. Bitch.

'You've got to be kidding me,' I snarled to myself.

I should have known that something else was going on with this business dinner the moment I stepped into the restaurant. Apart from the owners, there were a suspicious number of other men that were present with us. I couldn't possibly fathom why their presence was considered mandatory when this was supposedly meant to be just a real estate expansion deal.

Something from the dark recesses of my mind told me that this wasn't the case.

While Elio was speaking closely with one of the owners, I'd taken the time to study each and every person who sat around the table. Each guy carried a lethal air about himself and gave no doubt that they were carrying some concealed weapon on their person.

And if it weren't for the way they looked, then it was certainly the way they spoke to one another that made me suspicious. Nothing they said sounded as though it was real. It was all coded and meant to mask the truth. It didn't take long for me to grasp the truth of the situation, and by God, was I infuriated.

I'd lost whatever appetite I came in with and merely picked around my plate once dinner was brought out. Most of the people I sat around ignored me as if I wasn't even there, which left me to nurse the glass of wine I refused to let go of. I treated it like it was the only thing that kept me grounded. Otherwise, I would have simply gotten up from the table and left. It wouldn't have been difficult for me to be taken back to the hotel, considering this entire meeting was nothing but a complete fucking ruse.

I struggled to keep my expression as neutral as possible, but the second Elio turned to glance at me, he was quick to pick up on my mood.

Dinner was all but done and everyone left the table to continue their conversations in the main lounge area. Elio excused himself from the conversation he was in the middle of and brought us off to the side.

"Are you alright? What's wrong?" he asked.

He reached out to rest his hand over my arm. I tensed under his touch, causing him to stiffen in alarm.

I narrowed my eyes and spoke as calmly as my anger would allow.

"Expanding the real estate business? You must think I know nothing if you thought I'd believe that."

At first, Elio seemed taken back by my remark. He blinked several times and took half a step back from me.

"What do you mean?"

"Do not treat me like I'm some kind of idiot, Elio," I hissed under my breath. I narrowed my eyes and squared my shoulders back. "I know that this has nothing to do with your 'regular' business. But I just can't seem to wrap my mind around why you chose to not tell me the truth about it."

His guilty gaze dropped to the floor while he gently shook his head in denial.

"Cat, it's not what you're thinking. Believe me," he said. "Alessandro knows the owners of this place and knew they were looking to either sell or co-sign with another potential owner."

A sour grin curved my lips. "Yeah, that's right, isn't it? 'Alessandro' is the one who told you about this place."

"I'm telling you, it's not what you're thinking."

'No. He's lying,' I thought bitterly to myself. 'He's not even willing to look me in the eyes and tell me this.'

The muscles in my stomach continued to twist and churn with dismay. My vision was on the brink of turning red from all the rage that started to flare up from beneath my skin.

Elio persisted on with his farce excuse until I reached a point where I just couldn't stand to hear another word of it. I swiftly held up my hand, causing him to come to an abrupt stop in his useless rant. "Stop," I demanded.

I kept my voice quiet, not wanting to draw any further attention to us than we already had.

"I'm not going to cause a scene. But you can best believe that I am not going to stick to the sidelines while you proceed to act like you're the only one who's involved in all of this."

The look in his eyes was pleading, begging me to understand why he chose to, yet again, keep me in the dark. But I had truly believed that we'd moved beyond this issue.

It was clear now that we weren't. No, instead, I felt like I'd been dragged all the way back to the very beginning of it all. "Caterina

"

"Valentino!" a deep voice called out from across the room.

We both turned our heads to see one of the restaurant owners gesturing for us to come over and join the conversation.

"How about we get to know this fine young woman who's accompanied you this evening?"

Elio shot me a warning look, telling me to politely decline the invitation to further socialize. The man looked as though he were seconds away from telling everyone we were leaving and heading back to the hotel. But I wasn't going to give him the chance to make that decision for us.

I gave him one last glaring look before slapping on my most convincing, pleasant smile and headed off to finally speak with some of the other people who had come out for this unlawful meeting.

I never turned back to glance at Elio once.

**

As the evening carried on, the wine continued to flow. I'd managed to work my way through a majority of the crowd. Once I got past one or two awkward introductions, many of the men I spoke to were rather interesting and were impressed by my involvement.

I certainly hadn't forgotten Elio's failed attempt to try to divert the attention away from me. It only proceeded to anger me further. But by the time our night came to an end, I was sober as a pin, despite all the wine I drank. Most, if not all of it, was clearly burned off from the rage I felt simmering inside of me.

"Well, Mr. Valentino. You and Ms. Caterina, here... it was a true pleasure," one of the owners said.

"Yes, it was," I agreed politely. "Thank you for a lovely evening."

We said our goodbyes and waited outside for the car to pull around to take us back. Out of the corner of my eye, I could sense Elio glancing at me.

Both my hands curled into tight fists at my side. I forced myself to ignore the biting pain of my nails stabbing into the palms of my hands.

'I'm not going to blow up in front of this restaurant where everyone can see me,' I told myself coolly. 'We're going to get into the car and go back to the hotel, where I'm sure Elio is going to try to defend himself yet again.'

The problem was I had zero intention of letting him speak. There was nothing, absolutely nothing, he could say that was going to take away the irritation that his actions had caused. There was no undoing the turmoil that he created due to his choices.

The second I noticed the car pull up, I took off like a rocket to get inside. Normally, Elio would have opened the door and allowed me to slide in first, but I was in no mood for his chivalry.

No.

I didn't want to hear him speak. And I didn't want him to act as if everything between us was okay.

The ride to the hotel was nothing short of unpleasant. The tension between us was so thick that someone could have easily choked on it. I continued to feel Elio's eyes drift back over to me several times, yet he was wise enough to remain quiet.

I silently commended him for it. I truly had nothing nice to say and I think, deep down, he knew that.

We arrived back at the hotel, and Elio was hot on my tail as I made it over to the elevators.

I was purely exhausted. I had every intention of taking off my dress and removing my makeup before falling straight into bed, yet the moment he and I were in the privacy of our suite, those plans were instantly halted. "Cat." He spoke softly. "Can we please talk about this?"

I let out a long sigh. "Elio, there's nothing that needs to be said at this very moment."

Was I being stubborn? Maybe.

I knew that the mature thing to do was to openly give him a chance to explain himself properly. Now that we were alone and away from prying eyes, he had a real chance to talk and, hopefully, tell me the truth.

But the heavy emotions that burned inside of me were a clear sign that now wasn't the time for it.

"Please, Cat. You need to understand-"

"Oh, I understand perfectly," I snapped. "I understand that I will never truly be by your side. You have made it abundantly clear, time and time again, that you are determined to keep me in the dark. I mean... seriously, Elio? After everything we've worked through, we're heading straight back to the original problem."

He shook his head frantically. "You know that's not true."

"Yes, it is," I insisted. "Why try to keep me out of it then? Why can't you trust me?"

"I do trust you. You know I do," he said beseechingly.

I resented the tears that started to prickle the corners of my eyes. On top of everything that I was dealing with, I was not about to let myself cry. But my God, it was difficult to hold back.

Something resembling fear crossed Elio's eyes. He took numerous steps forward, trying to close the gap between us. But my one, single, step back caused him to stop short altogether.

His features grew strained. He pinched the bridge of his nose and bit back a curse.

"I did it to keep you safe."

I refrained from rolling my eyes. Oh, where had I heard that one before?

I slowly shook my head and started to pull the pins out from my hair. "You and I both know that there's a lot more to it than just that. You say you're just wanting to protect me, but I can do that myself. And what I don't want is to continue fighting. I've had enough of this. I'm going to bed."

I turned my back on him without so much as speaking another word. What more was there to say, honestly?

"Cat!"

"We can talk about this another time... maybe."

Our day had started out so wonderfully, but some disturbing shadow in my mind told me that none of it was as it seemed. Had Elio taken me to the art museum because he thought I'd enjoy going? Or did he merely see it as a way of distracting me into overlooking the true business behind this trip?

Was everything just one big cover-up to pacify me?

The more I thought about it, the more my head ached. But nothing could compare to the pain that I had swelling inside of my chest.

'And here I am... right back where I started.'