Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad-Chapter 809 : Late Night Cuddles

*Elio*

The sky was dark by the time I left the warehouse. It was a long drive back home and the nightlife of LA didn’t make it any easier. Honking was a language all on its own here in LA, and the radio could only do so much to drown it out.

I was exhausted by the time I pulled into the driveway. The house was already dark as I’d texted Cat not to wait up for me and have dinner by herself. I sighed, rubbing the back of my sore neck as I stepped out of the car, the gravel crunching under my feet as I parked too close to the front garden.

I was too lazy and tired to move, so I just decided to leave it, the lights on the car flickering as I hit the button to lock it. I headed inside, using my thumbprint on the doorknob to enter.

It was soberly quiet inside the dark house, almost like I was returning to nothing. Cat’s shoes were put up in the shoe holder, lined up neatly as they’d never been used, and as I glanced in the living room as I passed by, I saw all of Emilia’s toys put away in her chest.

It felt empty in a way. I was usually greeted by Cat’s sweet smile as she and Emilia stood at the door to welcome me home.

I stopped in the kitchen for a moment, finding the meal Cat had insisted on leaving for me in the microwave. It was cold by now, but after a couple of minutes spent heating it up, it was back to usual, if a bit stale.

I ate mechanically, not even tasting the food as I sat at the table, glancing across from me at the empty chairs. The food, which normally tasted delicious, now felt like ash in my mouth. I ended dinner early.

In the silent and empty halls of the normally busy house, I slunk upstairs, entering our bedroom suite and stopping quickly at the nursery to check in on Emilia. She was fast asleep as usual, none the wiser of the waking world as she cuddled her fox plush, snoring lightly.

I smiled, brushing back her messy brown hair. She was adorable, enough to melt away the loneliness I’d been feeling since arriving home to a dark house, though I knew it had been my own fault for staying out so late.

“Sweet dreams, princess,” I whispered to her, carefully sneaking out and shutting the door behind me.

As I approached our bedroom, I saw the golden light from under the door spilling out. I chuckled, knowing that despite what I said, Cat had waited up for me still.

That was just like her.

I turned the doorknob, stepping inside as quietly as I could, but there was no reason to. Cat was lying in bed, reading a book I couldn’t see the name of with a deep focus. I stood there for a moment, just watching my soon-to-be wife with the sound of the pages turning in her book every so often.

I cleared my throat after a while and she looked up with a flinch, her eyes meeting me in surprise. I watched as her face melted into happiness, shutting her book immediately as all her attention fell upon me.

“Elio, welcome home!” She smiled, reaching her hands out for me.

I didn’t hold back in the slightest, speed-walking over and crashing into her arms. I held her tightly, breathing out a sigh of relief once she was in my arms.

It was only now that everything else faded away and the sound of her heartbeat had me relaxing finally.

I crawled into my side of the bed, turning on my side as Cat cuddled up into my arms, entwining our bodies together until I didn’t know where I stopped and she began. But it didn’t matter in the slightest.

I brushed my hands through her soft hair and she chatted about her day, about meeting her designer, Simona Greco, and how excited she and Anna were to see all her past works. She told me about the dress Simona was going to make for her and how she’d get sketches tomorrow.

I was relieved to know she thought highly of the designer chosen by my mother, but I never had any doubt that she was good. She was a high-caliber designer in high demand. Despite being a fashion mogul, she was one of the few down-to-earth people from the fashion industry I’d met.

Though she could be rather harsh toward her assistants, from what Cat told me about Rory. Still, being talented enough to be her intern and designer at such a young age meant he had a lot of talent, which was probably why she was so unforgiving of him.

Sometimes that push was what kids like him needed to succeed.

But what made me the happiest was seeing how excited Cat was for the wedding. She chatted with me about all the plans she’d double-checked and went through with Anna.

I was ready to marry this beautiful woman, and it felt nice to know she felt the same way. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

She’d been talking for about an hour, her eyelids sliding closed as she sleepily started to drift off. She yawned as she asked, “What about you? How was your day?”

I chuckled, kissing the top of her forehead. She was always a stubborn one, and I knew she wouldn’t go to sleep without me telling her everything.

I assured her that Leo and I had finished the handwritten invitations and sent them out to the guests. The digital ones were convenient, but Cat appreciated the hand-written ones. I had to agree. It made it feel more personal to write down the name of every guest.

I told her about my conversation with Al and the huge list of people coming to celebrate our wedding. I could see she was a bit nervous, especially since her side was so small, but I reassured her that all of my family already loved her. They’d long considered her family, and there was no need to be nervous.

It seemed to work a bit as she relaxed, yawning a bit more as she shut her eyes and curled into me sweetly. I told her about Al’s surprise and she frowned a bit at that, spouting out a few random guesses as to who he could be bringing as a surprise, but much like me, there wasn’t much information to go on.

It could be anyone, I thought.

But the topic of Al led me to one I didn’t really want to talk about but I knew I had to.

“Cat,” I said hesitantly, waiting for her little hum before I continued, hoping just blurting it out could make it less painful. Like ripping off a bandaid. “I know how much you hate it and I do too but while Al is here, we need to make it seem like you’re not as involved in the business as much as you are.”

“Excuse me?”

The sleepy note in her voice was gone, replaced by a dangerous light that was warning me not to proceed any further. I gulped but knew that this needed to be done.

“Al and the rest of the family are more traditional, Cat. You know that. I’m not saying to shut you out like before, I just mean we need to make sure none of the family finds out.”

“I thought we were past this, Elio!” Cat sat up in bed, fixing me a deadly glare. “You promised, and now because you’re so scared of what your family will think, you’re trying to distance me again? Hell no!”

“That’s not what I meant, Cat.” I tried to calm her down but I could see it wasn’t working.

She was like a tiger, hair raised and teeth bared as she snarled at me, going off on a rant that I knew would last all night if I didn’t stop it.

So I did the only thing I could think of to shut her up.

I grabbed her cheeks, slamming my lips onto hers, and sure enough, she fell silent, her anger still there as she bucked down on my bottom lip, hard enough to leave an indent, cracking the skin as the taste of irony blood mixed in with her.

I took it all, only pulling back once my lungs were screaming for breath.

She still looked like an angry kitten, but more subdued than before. She looked more cute than scary, though and it took all of my self-control not to take her lips again. I licked the wound on my bottom lip, brushing off the little bit of blood that remained before I held her, deciding just to go for straight honesty at this moment.

“That’s not what I’m saying, Cat,” I lowered my hands to her neck, gently holding her as I searched her eyes pleadingly for understanding. “I think you are the most capable, amazing woman I’ve ever met, and I love having you there for me as a partner. Al thinks differently, but I believe in your abilities, and I know if he just gave you a chance, he would too.”

She frowned, a guilty look in her eyes now as she glanced at the small wound, but I didn’t care in the slightest. It was more hot than painful, if I was being honest, though everything Cat did turned me on more than it should.

“I’m sorry.” She sighed, leaning forward to pull me into a hug. “I know it’s not your words. I just... I don’t want you to feel like I’m a burden or that I can’t hold my own.”

“You know I don’t think that. You’ve saved us so many times, Cat,” I reassured her, rubbing her back in slow circles. “You could honestly make a better Don than me. I swear the men are more terrified of you than of me.”

She chuckled. “It’s only ‘cause I always win at poker.”

I laughed, remembering the guys’ looks of dismay as she walked away with all of their loot in the last game. Her smug little grin had been everything as she swindled my guys out of everything they owned.

One guy went home in nothing but his underwear and socks, though I had no clue what she even did with the rest of his clothes.

Knowing her, she probably donated it to a charity or something.

“You are the master,” I chuckled, kissing the top of her head in pride. “In return for keeping your involvement on the down low, I’ll trick Al into challenging you to a poker game. Take him for everything he’s worth. Would that make you feel better?”

“It might.” She giggled and I held her, laying us back down.

But right as we were both ready to go to sleep, my phone began to ring.

I frowned, exchanging a wary look with Cat before I answered.

“What is it now, Franky?” I demanded, a bad feeling in my gut.

“I’ve got news.”