Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad-Chapter 729 : Restless Night

*Caterina*

I should have known from the get-go that I wasn’t in for a decent night of sleep. The moment I closed my eyes and felt my exhaustion drag me under, my subconscious was swirling beyond my control.

If I wasn’t dreaming about Junior and his psycho of a father, then my mind was forcing me to relive the night when I’d almost lost my mom.

Each time I felt my chest seize up and my lungs burning for air. I shook myself awake, only to fall back into another nightmare of my mind’s nefarious choosing.

Of course, none of this came as a surprise to me. Certain events in my life were enough to scar even the strongest-willed people.

What I found honestly shocking was that I didn’t seem to suffer worse from these sorts of dreams. It was surprisingly easy to fall asleep, despite the nightmares that awaited me.

That night, I didn’t exactly find it surprising that I would have a night like that. Given all that had been going between Elio and his men at work, I wasn’t shocked in the slightest.

No, not shocked... I was just fucking tired.

I just couldn’t seem to shake myself out of it. Every time I’d start this vicious cycle, I’d check the time on my phone to see if I was any closer to just foregoing sleep entirely just to get myself ready for classes.

Unfortunately, the time on the clock was only two-thirty in the morning.

Damnit.

It was still far too early for me to begin getting ready. So, against my better judgment and basic interest, I closed my eyes and tried to go back to sleep. At least Elio was still peacefully asleep beside me, which let me know that despite all my restlessness, I hadn’t managed to wake him up.

“Mm, Cat?” Elio mumbled.

Guilt at waking him went through me as I felt him reach out for me while he continued to keep his eyes closed. Elio slightly lifted his head off the pillow, while the tips of fingers curved around my waist.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

I struggled to get myself comfortable. I tossed back one of the sheets and laid on my side.

“It’s nothing,” I whispered. “I just got too warm is all.”

Elio made a sound that told me he wasn’t entirely convinced with my answer. But God knows I didn’t have the heart to tell him what I was really dealing with. I knew that if Elio knew that I occasionally suffered from nightmares, he would never let me hear the end of it.

He wouldn’t make fun of me for it, but he’d likely cast the blame on my consistent need for wanting to be involved in his business. All I needed was for Elio to find a real excuse to keep me away from everything, and that would be the end for us working together.

But luckily enough, he didn’t seem to want to press me about it. I felt his body settle back into the mattress next to me, and I allowed myself to relax.

I closed my heavy eyes and curled deeper into the bed. I basked in the comforting heat that rolled off Elio.

Due to my exhaustion, it didn’t take long for me to succumb to another dreamscape. Although this time around, it was actually somewhat normal and calm as opposed to hellish and distorted. I felt like I may actually have had a chance to collect up on the time that I’d lost before.

Of course, then it was interrupted by buzzing.

I had no idea how much time had gone by since I last closed my eyes. But my whole body jerked out of its paralyzed state when I heard the shrilling sound of Elio’s phone going off.

My vision cleared, and I carefully stretched myself to peer over Elio’s muscular form to see who was calling. His phone was on the nightstand, and when I saw the name on the screen, my chest filled with dread. For anyone to be calling him at that ungodly hour was evidence enough that something bad had happened, but Francesco almost certainly brought bad news.

I reached my hand out to gently shake Elio awake.

“Elio... Elio, wake up.”

He started to stir, wearing an equally confused expression on his face. I pointed to his phone.

“It’s your phone. Francesco is calling you,” I told him.

That was clearly enough to shake him out of what little sleep was still clinging to him at that moment. Elio sat up and quickly reached for his phone. He spared one glance at me before trying to get up from the bed.

My nerves jumped to attention, and I scrambled onto my knees. I flung my hand out to grab his arm with the hope of stopping him.

I didn’t want him to leave the room. I wanted him to stay—I needed him to stay. Whatever Francesco needed to discuss with him, it was imperative to me that Elio knew he didn’t have to face it alone.

He turned to look at me where I spoke.

“Stay,” I told him earnestly. “Please stay.”

I didn’t care how vulnerable or desperate I sounded. Because, in all truth it was how I felt. Each one of my nightmares had left me feeling weak and slightly shaken.

“I’ll be quiet,” I said promisingly.

A short moment passed when Elio nodded his head. I hid my giddiness and eased myself back into the mattress while hiding the fact that I also wanted to know what was happening.

Elio answered the call and slipped back into bed beside me. While I chose to turn over and lay back down, he decided to keep himself upright with his back against the headboard.

I could barely hear bits and pieces of what Francesco was saying to him. Nonetheless, Elio only decided to respond in one-word answers.

His expression remained tight and closed off, making it all the more difficult to distinguish what exactly was being discussed.

“Alright, fine. Yes. I’ll be there tomorrow.”

Elio ended the call without so much as another word. I slowly turned back to face him. My eyes peered up at him expectantly as he stayed pressed and sullen in a deep train of thought. He pinched the bridge of his nose and squeezed his eyes shut before sinking back down into the bed to lay beside me.

I hesitated to even ask about what was said. I figured when he was ready, Elio would open up and talk. A few minutes went by where I genuinely thought that he was going to stay silent on the matter and possibly fall back asleep. I couldn’t blame him if that was the case.

What we both needed was some serious rest. But really, we both knew that the chance of either one of us getting any sleep rested solely on whether or not he was going to tell me what was going on.

Elio let out another long sigh and raised his brow.

“He said they found another body. But it’s not one of his men. It’s one of Alessandro’s men. They killed him in Italy just to bring him here,” he said.

My jaw fell open before I had a chance to stop it.

“Why? Why would they even do that?” I asked incredulously.

What was the point of killing a man in one place only to have him relocated to another? Was it meant to send some kind of messed up message? ‘Seems like a lot of trouble to dump someone in the US when Alessandro could’ve found them in Italy just as easily,’ I thought to myself.

So, why bring the body here? Maybe it was because it was more imperative that Elio’s men discover the body as opposed to Alessandro... and to go through all the trouble of moving a body for the sake of it being found by someone in particular came off as personal.

But part of me still couldn’t grasp the connection of why it was one of Alessandro’s men.

Elio shook his head. “I think Junior wants me to know that this is between us, no matter who gets in the way.”

Oh God. Well, that answered that question.

Yet regardless of the reason behind it, it was still a terrible business. My heart clenched in my chest with sympathy for Alessandro’s loss.

I slowly closed what space was left between us and shimmied closer till I was able to rest my head over his chest. Elio was quick to wrap his arms around me once more and enveloped me in a blanket of protection.

I happily melted into him.

“Whatever happens, we’ll be okay. We’re going to protect each other,” he told me firmly.

I nodded my head in silent agreement. He placed a quick kiss to the top of my head and lulled us both back to a peaceful sleep. I didn’t remember falling asleep or even dreaming again, for that matter.

All I knew was that the next time I was so abruptly woken up, it was by my own alarm on my phone. My eyes slowly blinked open, and I found myself still resting against Elio’s chest.

I had no desire to move. After the night we’d both endured, getting up felt like torture. I reached for my phone to at least turn off the alarm then debated about staying where I was, especially if it meant spending just a few more hours with Elio.

I had zero doubt that he was in for a just as hectic day as me, which was why I kept wavering on the idea. But ultimately, I decided to get up. I wasn’t too fast or enthusiastic about it, that was for sure. But I did.

As quietly as possible, I went into the closet to pick out my outfit. I chose a simple dress, paired with a denim jacket.

I made sure to keep quiet for Elio’s sake as I finished getting ready in the bathroom. I pinned a few parts of my hair back and gave myself a slight brush of blush and some simple mascara.

Right as I was about to leave the bedroom, I glanced over at one of the school notebooks and decided to write something out for Elio once he’d woken up.

With a smile on my lips, I stole one final look at him before slipping out of the bedroom to get my bag together. Right as I was about to leave, I noticed that I’d received a text message from my mom.

“If you want to talk today, call me. I have some news for you too.”

My brows drew together with curiosity. I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it, but I knew I’d address it once I had time.