Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad

Chapter 820: Chapter 820 : Wrapped Around Her Finger

*Elio*

“I have news about Junior.”

It was only once the words burst out of my mouth in a rush that I glanced at Cat fully, her hair folded into a high ponytail as she was mid-strain on a bunch of spaghetti noodles, glancing at me with a weird look in front of the sink.

Maybe now wasn’t the best time, I thought guiltily, especially as there was a pop from the skillet on the stove and we both jumped at the sudden noise.

“Oh, the chicken–” Cat said, conflicted, still struggling to drain the pasta.

“Here, I’ve got it.” I took over, glancing at the two slices of chicken parmesan in the skillet. I unstuck them from the pan, hearing the oil sizzling with satisfaction.

“Thanks. I’ll hear what you have to say after dinner is done, okay?” Cat gave me a grateful smile, leaning over to kiss me on the cheek before she started plating the pasta.

Emilia was already in her high chair at the table, watching us as she played with her bottle of formula more than actually drank it.

Cat and I worked flawlessly together to finish up dinner. The scent of the food already had my stomach growling as we finished plating the chicken on top of the spaghetti, covering it with the homemade sauce Cat had learned to make from my father.

I served the plates, one for each of us along with the little bowl of side salad that Cat made as well, and we settled down at the table. Cat spared a moment to give Emilia a little plate of plain spaghetti noodles, cut up into tiny bits, and then turned to look at me with a nod.

“Alright, now spill,” Cat said firmly. “What happened with Junior?” noveldrama

Cat took a bite of the food, listening to me intently as I spilled everything I’d learned from Franky earlier.

“Franky called, and he found out that we’d lost the previous tracking due to him switching the cars after he approached you. But this time, Franky managed to find out that while Junior was in hiding, he’d purchased quite a few properties here in the city. We think he’s been here longer than we anticipated, which is going to drive Al nuts when I tell him,” I explained.

Cat scoffed. “Of course he has. He just can’t stand that he lost once. What was doing with all those properties? Can you trace them back to him?”

“Franky already has,” I answered with a grin. “It was just a few random plots across the city months ago, so nobody noticed since it’s LA. But he hired several construction teams to work on the plots, though not for the surface buildings. Leo did some more digging and found out there’s a whole ass tunnel system he’d built under the city that stretches to each of the plots he’d purchased. We’re talking dozens of miles of tunnels here.”

“Tunnels?” Cat asked incredulously. “What does he need tunnels for?”

“Escape routes,” I said pointedly. “He comes to the property in one car and moves through the tunnels with a different one. That’s how he changed from the car we were tracking and how he’s been slipping away from our surveillance all this time.”

“Clever,” Cat snorted, then she frowned, glancing up at me with furrowed eyebrows. “That’s not like him at all. He always relied on intimidation to get what he wanted, not all this sneaking around. He’s not smart enough to come up with a plan like that.”

“He also doesn’t have the funding and resources either,” I pointed out, in line with her thinking. “Someone else has been calling the shots, or at the very least someone has been working with him. On that front, we have nothing about them either. It’s either someone powerful enough to keep themselves hidden or someone who’s a master at concealing themselves. Maybe both. Either way, it’s going to be tough to determine Junior’s whereabouts now.”

“Isn’t there a way to track him though?” Cat asked with a frown. “There are only so many tunnels, and you have a list of the properties he’d bought, right?”

“That’s what Franky suggested too,” I grinned, proud that she’d come to that same conclusion. “We can’t determine which cars he’s using moving forward, but we can track all the cars that go to those properties. If we’re lucky, we’ll catch him using one and be able to track his whereabouts from there. It’ll be a long reconnaissance job, so I’ve sent Franky and his team on it. They’ll be able to pick up the patterns very quickly and from there, we’ll be able to corner and capture Junior before the wedding.”

“Thank god.” Cat sighed in relief, throwing her head back as she slumped in her chair. She sent me a tired grin from her seat. “I’d really like to get married knowing the con artist who tricked me into dating him is in jail and not out on the streets looking for ways to destroy us.”

“Me too,” I gave her a reassuring look. “I’ll make sure it happens, Cat, I swear. He won’t ever be getting close to you or Emilia ever again.”

She smiled, picking up her plate so she could move to the seat right beside me, leaning her head on my shoulder exhaustedly.

“Did my mom tire you out that much?” I laughed.

“Sorta,” she said stiffly, not giving me much more than that and I sighed inwardly. She still wasn’t ready to talk to then, I thought disappointedly. “She and Emilia fed the koi fish in their pond. Emilia was in love.”

“Was she?” I chuckled, imagining how cute that would’ve been. I glanced at our daughter, pasta stuck to her face, her plate empty and the pasta just everywhere else as she blinked at us slowly, clearly tired from her big day.

I had fond memories of the koi fish my mom always raised.

“Her naming sense still as bad as when I was a kid?” I asked with a grin, remembering some of the horrible names she’d come up with for the koi fish.

“Emilia’s favorite apparently was named Sprinkles,” Cat said.

I burst into laughter, my whole body shaking at the ridiculous name.

“Mine was Filet,” I told her with a wide grin, and this time she laughed, relaxing against my shoulder. “What? He was the best fish ever. Mom loved him too until Dad really took his name too seriously.”

“No!” Cat gasped in horror.

“I’m kidding,” I laughed, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “Koi fish aren’t very good to eat but they are pretty, aren’t they? Besides, you think Mom would still be with him if he cooked one of her beloved fish for dinner? That divorce would’ve been messy.”

“I can’t imagine it,” Cat giggled. “They seem so in love, even after so many years together.”

“Yeah, well, that’s because Dad knew better than to piss her off,” I said grinning, remembering the few times they’d fought when I was a kid. It was mostly over stupid things that never lasted more than five minutes before Dad sweet-talked her into forgiveness.

“Maybe you can take a lesson from him then,” Cat said pointedly.

I laughed, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. I caught sight of her plate then, only a few bites taken despite how hard she had worked on it.

I frowned. “You need to eat some more.”

“Feed me then,” she pouted. childishly, but I couldn’t deny her when she hit me with those wide sweet eyes, the look that matched our daughter when she wanted someone that was just out of reach.

I caved in five seconds, sighing as I pused my own plate away. Cat grinned happily as I twirled up the pasta and cut up her chicken, feeding her bite by bite. I knew this was something Cat only allowed me to do to pamper her when she wasn’t feeling up to it.

It made me proud that she could relax and play around like this in front of me, not caring about what it looked like to others. I smirked as I watched her slurp up a long piece of noodle, getting a hint of the sauce on her cheek.

I had to admit it provided me with some great opportunities.

I wasted no time licking up any little mess she left behind, happy to hear her giggling, eyes bright as she stared at me like I was the entirety of her world. Cat didn’t mind at all though as she wound up sitting on my lap, our lips pressed together sweetly as my hands dove under her shirt, fingers spread across the skin of her back.

I’d just unhooked her bra, one hand on her thigh when Cat moaned, turning me on even further. My lips hit her neck and she breathed heavily, lifting her neck to give me better access as I showed her just how much I appreciated her.

We were so entwined with one another that neither of us noticed Emilia’s little head nodding more and more until we heard a loud clunk.

Emilia’s face hit headfirst into her messy plate, and Cat suppressed her giggles behind her lips.

“You got morning, so my turn,” Cat said, slipping off of my lap and I reluctantly let her go, sulking now. She gave me a sly look. “You know Emilia has to go to bed before anything you want can happen.”

I cursed under my breath, but seeing the still tired look in Cat’s eyes, I got to my feet, immediately gathering up the plates as Cat unhooked Emilia from the highchair, taking her for a bath.

Since she’d obviously sent the servants away, I did the dishes easily, hurrying impatiently as I cleaned everything and left it on the drying rack. As soon as I was done, I hurried up the stairs two at a time right as Cat came out with a freshly clean Emilia.

“Here, you take a bath and I’ll come get you when Emilia is down for the night,” I told her with a smile, reaching out to pluck our daughter from her arms.

She pursed her lips but smiled as Emilia’s head thunked against my shoulder, eyes closed as she was one lullaby away from passing out.

“Alright then,” Cat leaned up her tippy toes, pressing a gentle kiss to my lips before she pulled back with a smirk. She turned her back to me, hips swaying as she walked straight into the bathroom without a change of clothes or a towel.

“I’ll definitely be thanking you soon then,” Cat flirted, then she shut the bathroom door, leaving just a crack open behind her.

I swallowed, my desire growing, and I practically scrambled to get to the nursery to put Emilia down for the night.

Fuck, Cat sure knew just how to wrap me around her finger.