Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad-Chapter 787 : Just a Grain of Sand

*Cat*

It was silent as the car rumbled up into the driveway, only one light was on in the whole house. The living room’s curtains were drawn but it couldn’t hide the light from the lamp nor the glow of the TV that I knew better than anybody meant somebody was waiting for your return.

“Thank you,” I said quietly to my driver, who nodded to me as I stepped out of the car. I took a minute longer than I usually would to untangle Emilia from her car seat–she was still fast asleep, knocked out like a light from the big day she’d had.

My lips quirked upward as her little head rested on my shoulder, instinctively curling up closer to me as I kept her covered with her blanket with fishies, making sure to grab her fox plush as well.

Our driver was kind enough to grab the bags we’d gotten from our shopping spree, most of it things for Emilia or practical items we actually needed. I’d only splurged a little bit when it came to Anna, as I knew the both of us could go overboard when it came down to it.

The sky had darkened with the sunset, a gorgeous violet scorching across the sky and melding with the pink of the clouds. The sun was barely peeking through the west skies, just a hint of its light to guide me as the garden lamps lit up one by one as they sensed movement.

I hesitated at the front door, only for a moment though before I straightened my back, took a deep breath, and prepared myself for whatever was coming my way before opening it up. The driver set my bags in the hallway where I knew one of the maids would come to bring it upstairs once they saw it and then left.

But the movement caught the attention of the one person I wasn’t quite sure I wanted to see right now. Leaning one shoulder against the wall, his curls were freely run through as though he’d spent the day running his hands through it over and over. His eyes were gentle with a happy smile on his face, as I spotted him, he called out to me, “Welcome home,” in that honey-dripping sweet tone of his.

I stiffened as he approached, all of the feelings I had from before I left rushing back, and I remembered Anna’s words about letting it go, but that stubborn voice in my head whispered back with thoughts I didn’t want to have toward the man I loved and the father of my child.

“We’re home,” I hummed, trying not to fall apart in the hallway of our home.

Elio’s eyes turned to the sleepy Emilia in my arms, having woken up to the sound of her daddy’s voice and now grubby hands reaching out even with her eyes still closed. She whined and I gently passed her to Elio, who beamed like a shooting star across the night sky.

The love he held for our little girl softened me and I swallowed, following him to the living room as he cooed at her, asking her all about our day and what we bought. Emilia sleepily babbled to him for a bit, hands finding their way into his curls as she pulled on them tightly.

He didn’t mind, he never did, even laughing as she tried to eat one, drooling in her half-sleep.

“It’s bedtime,” I told Elio. “I fed her dinner already, so let me put her to bed.”

Elio glanced at me, still holding out daughter and for a moment, I couldn’t read his expression, a completely neutral searching look on his face as he stared at me. Finally, though, after several heartbeats of waiting, he pursed his lips and nodded.

Despite agreeing, he didn’t hand over our child, instead dodged my attempts to grab Emilia back from him and instead headed up to her nursery himself. I sighed, not wanting to push it, especially since I’d just spent the day with her and he hadn’t seen her until now.

I trudged up to the nursery after them, listening as Elio brightly chatted to our daughter, who answered in a way only a baby could–just soft hums and babbles. She was exhausted, it was clear to anyone who saw her and I felt bad for keeping her out so long.

She’d napped several times in the car seat but not for very long, always wanting to people-watch and see what she could. She’d cried anytime I put her back into her car seat, and I was thankful to Anna who carried her around though it meant I became the moving luggage for them.

As I stepped into the nursery, I gave Elio and our daughter a few minutes, watching silently as Elio put her to bed, tucking her in playfully and giving her a good night kiss on the forehead. He waited until she fell asleep, letting her clutch his finger in one small hand before her breath evened out and I knew she was out.

I swallowed, letting Elio untangle himself from her tight grip as I headed to our bedroom. There was a strange tension that I had never felt before in our relationship as I heard him following me only a moment later.

I headed to the closet, where I neatly grabbed a new pair of pajamas, lining them up and folding them in a way that I never bothered to on a normal day but felt necessary now. Anything to keep my hands busy and away from what I really wanted to say. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

The bedroom door shut and I heard him call out to me.

“Cat.”

Just my name, and in any other time I would’ve adored the way he called my name, melting from the low tone that somehow made my own name sound so mesmerizing to hear.

But not now.

Now, it left a bitter taste in my mouth.

“I’m going to take a shower,” I declared firmly, with no room for arguments as I grabbed my pajamas and pretended like it didn’t feel like I was fleeing as I rushed to the bathroom. I locked the door behind me and breathed out a heavy sigh as I stripped myself of my now dirty clothes.

I took my sweet time under the hot water, trying to figure out what I was going to say but all of it sounded wrong in my head. Eventually though, as the water turned to lukewarm and then cold, I knew had run out of time.

There was no point in stalling any longer.

I dressed in pajamas, my hair still dripping wet onto the floors below as I stepped outside, a determined look on my face as I decided to face this the way I did everything–headstrong.

Elio was waiting for me, lounging on the bed, and only looked up once he heard me enter. He raised an eyebrow at me, and right as I said, “Okay, let’s get this over with!” all determinedly, he just laughed.

“You’re getting the floors all wet, Cat.” He grinned, rolling to his feet as he gestured me forward. I frowned, caught off guard by his leisurely manner but found myself obediently listening before I even realized what I was doing.

I settled on the bed, my back to him and wondering what the hell was going on as Elio grabbed the towel from my hand and gently pulled my wet hair away from my back. I stiffened, unsure but gradually relaxed as he patted my hair down with the towel, humming softly as he gently and carefully dried my hair for me.

It felt nice–like being pampered and my eyes slipped closed as I fully relaxed, taking advantage of the sweet moment. I didn’t know how long it was but eventually, Elio pulled back.

“There we are.”

His hot breath brushed against my neck, and I shivered as he pulled my hair over my shoulder, exposing my neck to him. Gently and ever so sweetly, he leaned forward, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me into his embrace as he cuddled his head into the curve of my neck, his lips just barely brushing against my skin.

“Elio?” I asked, caught off guard by his reactions. I had been prepared for a fight, but all I had gotten was a soft attentiveness, one I hadn’t felt since I had been pregnant.

“I love you,” he whispered, so quietly I wasn’t sure I heard him properly but the warmth of him cradling me was more than enough to show how much he meant those words.

“I love you too,” I whispered back, my throat choked with emotion before I took a deep shuddering breath and turned around in his arms so I could see his face. There was a tired look to him but he looked as wary as I did, both of us holding back the words we wanted to say.

“So why did you lie to me?”

Elio took a deep breath, pursing his lips as he truly thought about his answer and then ultimately he sighed, giving me a wry smile.

“I didn’t mean to. I knew I should’ve told you and I knew I fucked up as soon as I said it, I just... I was so ready to get it all over with, to focus on you and Emilia and have you back safe and sound and everything back to normal. I just wanted to go home with you. I didn’t want to involve you if I didn’t have to,” Elio explained calmly. “Not if I could solve it by myself.”

My mood soured and as much as I believed that that was part of the reason, I knew he wasn’t telling me the whole truth. Maybe he didn’t even know it himself but I did. There was more to it than that and I realized as I glanced at Elio, that all I wanted was his honesty with me.

“You’re still trying to protect me, Elio,” I said disappointedly, “hiding things and keeping it from me because you don’t want me to get involved. It’s frustrating and frankly insulting that you keep doing this over and over no matter how many times we argue about this. It’s like you want to keep me locked up in this perfect little suburban bird cage, a happy life without any of the bad things our life entails but I chose to be with you even after knowing about the mafia stuff. I chose this myself, knowing there would be danger and chaos we couldn’t control. I’m not some helpless little bird you have to keep safe. I’m your partner, the mother of your child. Of all people, you should be able to trust me the most, yet it feels like you just don’t.”

My frustrations and anger poured out one by one and the more they did, the better I felt. It was a relief like the pressure in a valve finally releasing inch by inch.

Overwhelmed with emotion, tears sprouted in the corners of my eyes despite me not wanting them to and Elio quickly held me in his arms, as I tightly clung to his shirt.

“I just... I want you to trust me,” I sniffed, burying my head into his neck.

“I do, Cat,” Elio reassured me, over and over until my tears began to dry, leaning back to cup my cheeks in his hands. “I trust you more than anyone else in my life, Cat. You are the love of my life, and you and Emilia are the only reason I get up in the morning and work so damn hard. I never meant to make you feel isolated or trapped and you’re right, that’s what I’ve been doing. I want so damn much to keep you safe but you are the most badass woman I’ve ever met, you are stronger than me in so many ways and I just want to be a man worthy of you. I’m trying, Cat, to keep you included and I swear I’ll try harder and harder until I get this right because I love you, and you deserve to be the happiest woman in the world.”

“You’re already worthy of me,” I gave a wet laugh, beaming as I grabbed his hand, laying a kiss in the center of his palm. “You’re the man I chose, after all. I love you.”

“I love you so goddamn much, Cat,” he beamed, and our lips connected in a sweet reassurance, all of my previous anger and sadness fading away as Elio proved to me that this stupid fight was just a grain of sand compared to each other.

I would always forgive him, and he would do the same because that’s how much we mattered to one another.

Our kiss turned from sweet to passionate in an instant and soon enough, we couldn’t keep our hands off each other. I savored every taste of him I could, separating only to breathe as his lips moved to my neck. My ragged breaths heaved and I moaned as he roughly threw off the nightdress I had just put on, hands trailing across my bare skin anywhere he could get to.

Nude in front of him, I pushed him onto his back, biting his lip between my teeth and kissing him senselessly until both of our lips were swollen. Elio wasted no time, roughly finding each spot he knew like the back of his hand and as soon as I was wet enough, he was thrusting up into me with everything he had.

This wasn’t the sweet love we normally had–this was rough and harsh and passionate and I could do nothing more than moan as he pinned my hands above my head, switching position so he could thrust into me even harder and faster.

All the while he whispered sweet nothings in my ear, making his mark up and down my neck and collarbone as we breathlessly swallowed each other’s groans. And when we climaxed, it was messy and all at once, riding out the high until both of us were left shivering.

But even then, there was no end in sight, not for us.

The night lasted longer and longer as we reaffirmed our love over and over again.