Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad-Chapter 735 : In the City of Angels

*Elio*

Never in my life had I wished that the world would stop turning.

I had always been impatient, even as a kid, wondering what the next adventure would be. The future couldn’t come fast enough for me as I drew up plans and rushed toward my goals like a marathon sprinter.

I’d never thought before, ‘If only time moved slower.’ I’d never wanted to grab the hands on the clock and make them stop ticking. I was always ready for that next tick, that next second.

But that moment probably comes to everyone, I assumed.

The glow from the TV as it played an old black-and-white western movie was the only light in the whole house. I was barely paying attention, mostly because I knew all the words. It was one of my dad’s favorites, and I’d spent many movie nights as a kid watching it.

I relaxed, my limbs stretched out on the couch with a pillow propped up behind my neck. It was uncomfortable after so many hours in the same position, but I didn’t dare to move because this moment was too precious to break.

I breathed in the scent of Cat’s shampoo, her wisps of hair tickling my nose as she lay curled up on top of me, her stomach pressed against mine and her hands clutching my shirt even in her sleep. I couldn’t suppress the silly grin on my face even if I had wanted to as I lazily watched her sleeping away.

She was vulnerable here, and I was thankful that I was the only one she allowed to see her in such an unguarded moment.

She had stayed up for as long as she could. The contents of the file I had given to her for her new task were laid out all over the coffee table. Eventually, her exhaustion had won out.

I gently played with the ends of her hair as it spilled over her back onto my shoulder. Much to my chagrin, time continued to move forward, ticking away the night and the time I had left holding her like this.

If I could, I would have smashed the clock and kept us looped into this moment for as long as I could.

But it wasn’t up to me.

I sighed, deciding that I had kept her long enough, and as much as I wanted to continue locking her up in my arms all night, she wouldn’t be comfortable for long. And she would wonder why my neck and back were sore in the morning.

Then she’d scold me for it.

I took my sweet time, gently and quietly untangling my arm from around her so I could sneak it behind her knees, cradling her head with the other as I slowly slipped my feet onto the carpet below.

I moved as little as I could so as not to disturb her. Luckily, she stayed asleep as I lifted her easily into my arms, cradling her like the queen she was to me. I ignored the TV playing the credits to the movie, slipping into the hallway and heading upstairs to our bedroom.

Cat stayed fast asleep, her mouth a little bit open as she breathed softly. I took it one step at a time until we reached the top and I slipped through the open door of our bedroom. But picking her up was one thing and laying her back down was another.

I knelt down on one knee, gently placing Cat on the bed before pulling my arms out from under her. There was a slight hiccup when it came to her fingers still clutching at my shirt, and after only one slight tug, her brows furrowed and she shifted in her sleep, gripping on tighter as she moved instinctively toward my chest.

She was most likely just searching for my body heat to keep her warm. I fumbled with the blanket underneath her, pressing my lips together as I held back from telling her how adorable she was.

I loved how much she wanted me by her side, even when she wasn’t fully conscious.

I decided that waking her up wasn’t worth it, so I just slid out from under my shirt, letting her clutch it tightly. I got to my feet, tucking her arms into the bed and then folding the blanket over her to keep her warm.

As soon as I turned away, intending to go to the balcony, I heard a very groggy, “Elio?” from behind me.

I sighed, smiling a bit but mostly disappointed that my efforts had been in vain. Of course, she would wake up after everything I had done to keep her asleep. That was just Cat.

“Hey, baby,” I said quietly, turning back to her.

Her eyes were slit open. Clearly, she was not fully awake and was fighting off sleep, but she reached out her arms, my shirt falling to the floor.

I chuckled, stepping close so that she could wrap her arms around my chest for a hug, clinging to me tightly.

“Why aren’t you in bed too?” she asked quietly, her eyes falling shut once more.

I rubbed my hands down her bare arms, hoping to soothe her back to sleep, and it looked like it was working as she yawned, curling her face into my neck. I could feel her melting into my embrace, limply letting me hold her.

“I’ll be here soon,” I promised her, laying a kiss on her forehead.

“Okay.”

She yawned, tucking herself into a little ball under the covers and within minutes, she was fast asleep once more. Part of me wanted to stay in bed and hold her, let the night pass by, but I knew there was no way I would be able to sleep.

My thoughts raced in my head louder than a jet engine as everything that had happened came flooding back like a typhoon. The stillness of the night wasn’t enough to get my mind to rest. I disentangled myself from Cat one more time, making sure she was really asleep this time before I headed out of the room.

I shut the door quietly, not wanting her to wake up again, and I stopped by the living room long enough to turn off the TV, which was beginning to play another long black and white film, this one a classic mystery noir.

The screen turned black, plunging me into total darkness, but I didn’t mind. I made my way to the kitchen on muscle memory, dodging the furniture and papers strewn along the floor. I pulled a glass from the bar, picking a random alcohol bottle to go with it.

It splashed on the counter and my fingers as I poured, but I didn’t bother to clean it up. Instead, I headed back upstairs, bypassing the bedroom and heading to the balcony. It was a hot evening, showcasing the continued march to summer.

I sighed, leaning against the railing as the lights of the city burst across my eyes. From here, the city seemed so big and so small at the same time.

The City of Angels was a place that never stopped turning. On the surface, it was a city of dreams, one that took the smallest flames of hopes and turned them into wildfires. So many had made their marks upon the pavements, leaving handprints on every street corner if you knew where to look.

It was a city that seemed to have wings that stretched across the entire world. It was ironic that such a glorious and beautiful name had been given to a city with such a dark history—those same wings that lifted some to the highest peaks of fame had swallowed so many others, devoured them entirely until not even a speck of them could be found any longer.

LA was not full of angels, but demons that rode upon her inhabitant’s backs. From the most esteemed celebrity who thought the world was in the palm of their hands to the lowest scum who slunk through the back streets snatching up fragile creatures for their entertainment, there were no angels in this city.

I swirled my drink in my hand, then downed it in one gulp. The sour burning liquid hit the back of my throat with a familiar ache. I sighed, wishing I had thought to bring the whole bottle up here until I heard the familiar buzz of my phone in my pocket.

I pulled it out, glancing at the name, Leo, before answering.

“Hey, Leo. I have something—”

But Leo cut me off with an urgent tone.

“We found something.” He paused. “Sort of.”

I straightened and I peeled myself from the railing as I turned to head inside.

“What happened?” I demanded.

“Just get to the warehouse now.”

The call went dead and I cursed, stuffing my phone in my pocket. I glanced at the bedroom door, wondering if I should wake up Cat and let her know, but I shook away that thought. She needed to sleep. She had class in the morning.

I headed down the stairs two at a time and I threw my empty glass into the sink, grabbed a pen from the dining room table, and wrote out a note quickly.

‘Emergency came up at work. Be back later.’

It was so early that I was sure I’d be back in before she got up but just in case I wasn’t, I didn’t want her to worry. I left the silent house, heading to the warehouse. It would take a while to get there, so I prepared myself for the long drive and pulled out of the driveway.

When I arrived, the whole place was dark. I raised an eyebrow as I got out, wondering where everybody else was if this was such an emergency. The gravel crunched under my boots as I approached, and the side door was locked as usual.

I input the key code, sidestepping inside. Despite the near pitch-black warehouse, the upstairs room was full of artificial light, and I made my way up the metal staircase. As soon as I entered, I was understandably surprised by the transformation.

The back of the room had monitors lining the back walls, and computers of all shapes and sizes had been installed. There was surveillance footage on them, showing all different angles of the same footage.

I frowned as I approached Leo and Franky, who stood in the middle of the surveillance area talking quietly to one another.

“What’s this?” I demanded as I approached. I recognized one car in the footage as Teo’s car, with him still driving it.

“Glad you made it,” Leo smirked. “This is huge.”

“One of our tech guys found out that Teo was being stalked,” Franky explained, hitting the space key on the keyboard.

The footage on the monitors played out, showing Teo’s car passing by the street corners. Looking at the different monitors, they were timestamped on different days and times.

But I perked up as I noticed that in every clip that played, only a minute or two after Teo passed by, a black SUV would follow. It was subtle, several cars away, but it followed the exact same route Teo took.

Some of the footage was weeks apart, I noted, so that explained why he hadn’t caught on to it. Nobody could’ve.

“Who is this?” I turned to Leo.

“Dead license plate so no tracking, windows are blacked out. Whoever it is, they are very, very careful,” Leo explained, an excited look at him. “But look at the day he was killed.”

Leo leaned over to my side, pointing out one of the monitors. I watched the route with a frown, my eyes widening as I noticed it went on for much longer than the others, from the moment Teo left the warehouse he was guarding, all the way to the last turn before he entered the slums.

The SUV was following but slowly crept closer, overtaking a car every turn or so until on the last frame, it was right behind him. It turned in the same direction, right after Teo, and then the footage restarted.

I couldn’t fucking believe it.

“The Ghost.”