Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad by Scarlett Rossi

Весса.

After gelato, James escorted us to a nice study lined with books and scattered with comfortable furniture. James poured us some after-dinner drinks-grappa and we sat on two sofas, James next to me, Sofia across on another loveseat. "Are you ready to get up and do all of this again tomorrow?" Sofia asked, winking at us. "There's a wake at the Cathedral before mass, is there not?"

I groaned and leaned my head against James's shoulder. "My feet are never going to survive."

"Might I suggest flats?" James said.

Sofia and I both looked at him in horror.

"Bite your tongue, sir! Flats. At an Italian funeral. My dear mama is probably rolling in her grave," Sofia responded, crossing herself.

"I don't want to shame your uncle at his own funeral by failing to dress appropriately," I added.

James held up his hands. "I give in. Forget I said anything." He leaned in and kissed my temple. "We'll find you a nice chair." "Thank you," I replied with a smile.

Sofia let out a soft sigh. "You two are so adorable together. I hope your father comes around."

"I hope so, too. I wish he could see your better qualities, James," I murmured.

James shrugged. "I'll wiggle my way into his good graces one way or another."

"I have no idea how you plan to do that, but I hope it works," I said.

"It will. He'll have to forgive me eventually. And then I'll grow on him. Like moss," James grinned.

Sofia and I both laughed.

"I don't know, Becca. Will you wait until he gets formal permission from your father?" Sofia asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Well, I suppose James would have to ask me first," I said with wide-eyed innocence. "Who knows what I'LL say."

Sofia looked sharply at James and spoke in rapid Italian.

James spoke back, sounding defensive.

"Ack, men." Sofia shook her head. "Always waiting too long."

"Well, in James's defense, I honestly don't know what I'd say if he asked me now," I defended him. "It's all very complicated."

James nodded and seemed about to say something when his phone rang. "Excuse me, ladies. I need to take this," he said, frowning at the screen.

Without saying another word, James rose and stalked out of the study, speaking in rapid Italian over the phone.

"I do not envy the person he is talking to," Sofia mumbled, her eyes wide.

****

James.

"Greg? How did you get this number?" I asked after the Italian switchboard person connected me to him.

"Good evening to you, too," Greg said, sounding displeased.

"What do you want?" I grunted.

"Well, what I wanted was for you to stay in Japan under the name Lester Johnson, but since that doesn't appear to be happening, I am calling to officially tell you that you've been discharged from WitSec." Greg's tone was sour. I sighed. "Greg, I had my family to think of..."

"You had your family to think of. Yes, I understand they've been in a great deal of trouble recently," Greg replied. "And I suppose if I were in your shoes, I couldn't fault you, but your 'returning from the dead' is going to have consequences, James."

"Are you going to try to extradite me and send me to prison?" I scoffed.

Greg growled. "Don't think I couldn't. Italy has an extradition treaty with the United States, after all. But no, that's not why I'm calling. Your 'death' has been 'overturned,' officially, you might say. So now your enemies will know you're alive." "They already figured out I was alive," I grumbled. "I wouldn't worry about that. I can take care of myself and my family, thank you very much. So, if there's nothing else, I'll thank you for trying and-" "There is something else," Greg said.

I paused. "Pardon?"

"I said there is something else. Alessandro, Becca, and you have been summoned in a custody case. It seems Carter and Cecelia Cartwright are suing for custody of Alessandro," Greg went on. "You're going to have to return to New York with Ms. Woods."

"Says who? Chad signed away his parental rights..." I protested.

"They're saying he did it under duress, and they have witnesses," Greg said. "That's about all I know, though. I'd suggest you contact an attorney."

"I can't take Becca and Alessandro away from here! It's not safe!" I gaped at the phone in my hand.

Greg sighed. "I'm not exactly a custody battle expert, but I do know if you fail to appear, it doesn't look good for the home team, you know what I'm saying?"

I banged my forehead against a stone wall and counted to ten. "There isn't anything you can do to stop this?"

"Like I said, James, you screwed yourself out of WitSec. But don't feel too bad. Even if you'd stayed in, this isn't our wheelhouse. So... I just wanted to warn you to get yourself here and get a damn good attorney before you lose another member of your family," Greg said.

My blood ran cold. "Thank you for putting it so bluntly."

"There isn't a lot of time for me to hold your hand and sing kumbaya. Now get on a plane and get your shit in order."

"Gee, thanks," I replied. "I feel all warm and fuz-"

Greg hung up on me.

****

Весса.

Sofia talked about anything and everything under the sun, especially about the children. By the time we'd been talking for half an hour, I no longer felt threatened by her. I felt silly for even thinking this woman wanted something else with James, and I could see why he liked her so much. She was very fun and easy to talk to.

When we hit the one-hour point, I realized she really did regret not having children.

At two hours, however, I began to get worried. "James has been gone a long time."

"Mhm," Sofia agreed, also looking concerned. "Maybe we should go find him. I imagine he is in his office. It sounded like a work call to me."

I rose from the sofa, and so did Sofia. We made our way quickly towards James's office.

Tony was standing in the office, shaking his head at James and speaking in quick, clipped Italian.

"He's telling James he cannot go somewhere," Sofia whispered to me as we stood away from the open door. "That the climate of the family is bad, and he cannot be gone while there is war brewing."

"Gone? Where's he going?" I whispered back.

Sofia listened a while longer, frowned, then paled. "Oh dear. Becca, you must speak to James right away."

"What? Why? He's talking to Tony. He won't want me interrupting their business—"

Sofia interrupted me. "This is much more important than business." She took my hands and gave me a long look. "Becca, James is a good man. A good man. You must trust him. And accept him. He will make a good husband." "What...?" I asked, confused.

"I must go make some phone calls." Sofia propelled me towards James's door. "You go in and speak with James."

Taking a deep breath, I squared my shoulders and walked into James's office, startling both him and Tony. "What's going on?" I demanded. "Sofia said you're going somewhere, James?"

"Yes," James said.

"No," Tony replied at the same time. "No. He cannot leave. We will triple the guard outside. Let's see them try to extradite you."

"Extrad-James, are you in some sort of trouble for leaving Witness Protection?" I gasped.

James shook his head. "No. That's not the problem. It's a different problem. I'll be talking to you about it shortly. I just need to impress upon Tony that I'm NOT TAKING ANY CHANCES with regard to my family..."

"You should be worried about the greater family. Ronaldo is still out there, gathering followers. If you leave now, it will weaken your position," Tony argued.

"Why do you need to leave?" I asked again.

"WE need to leave," James said. "With Alessandro. The Cartwrights have come up with some bogus custody hearing scheme, and now we've either got to produce Alessandro and go to the hearing, or he's going to be taken from us." "WHAT?!" I shrieked.

Tony winced, and I realized I was standing so close to him that I may have blasted out his eardrum. "They won't be able to come in here and take him. I'm telling you, James, this is the worst possible move you could make right now." "It's the only possible move," James replied. "I won't have Alessandro given over to those abusive bastards, even on paper. No. I'm going, and that's final."

"Go back to the part where the Cartwrights-where Chad is suing for custody of Tally's child? OUR child?" I wheezed.

James grunted. "I made some calls. Apparently, the dipshit managed to make himself into a quadriplegic by playing Russian roulette on some rich kid's yacht. The Cartwrights are now concerned they don't have an heir and have decided, even though Chad signed his rights away as a father, they're going to sue for custody of Alessandro now."

"They can't do that, can they?" I whispered.

"Apparently, they can." James pounded a fist on the desktop. "Goddamn those bastards!"

"Don Valentino..." Tony tried again.

"I'm leaving right after the funeral with Becca and Alessandro. I am going to trust you, Tony, to handle things here to the best of your ability. Can you do that for me?" James barked.

Tony must have seen it was a losing battle, because he sighed and nodded his head. "I will do what I can, Don Valentino."

"Thank you." James raked a hand over his hair. "Shit. F*ck. Goddamn."

"I'll tell Layla to get Alessandro packed." I swallowed, then asked, "Should Layla and Dahlia come with us?"

James thought for a moment, then shook his head. "Much as I hate for us to be separated from our baby girl, I just don't think it's safe to bring her to the States right now. I have an awful feeling about this custody thing."

"Me, too." I kept my composure, however. Nothing was going to be solved by me falling apart. A deep, dark part of me wondered if I should have asked James to kill Chad instead of Ronaldo. But then, I'd never imagined that asshole would ever come back into the picture.

"Go make sure you and Alessandro are packed. And... I'd make sure to pack for a few weeks, at least. I think this might be a tough battle," James muttered. "Why do you say that?" I asked.

"Because they're alleging we're both unfit parents and that I coerced Chad into signing away his parental rights," James said.

I looked at James for a long moment, and my stomach twisted. "Oh God, James, DID you?"

"Did I what?" James responded.

I put my hands on my hips. "Did you coerce Chad into signing away his parental rights?"

"He was more than happy to do so," James said defensively. "I may have given him a little added incentive..."

I groaned and dropped my face into my hands.

"James," I mumbled, "just how f*cked are we?"