Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad-Chapter 1004 : At all costs

*Leo*

Barely an hour had passed since I’d torn myself away from Bianca’s side and I already regretted every second. My thoughts were stuck around her, unable to focus on the pile of work in front of me.

I had put the real estate business on the back burner lately, focusing more on getting affairs in order with the Valentinos so quite a lot of work had piled up for me to handle. I sighed, leaning my head on my hand as I casually signed paper after paper, barely even skimming what it was.

If I was being honest, I wasn’t really interested in this company at all. I’d rather be home, cuddled up with my future wife. I knew Bianca missed me. She’d been trying her hardest to hide it, but she’d never been a good liar.

I felt the same. Longing for her at every moment of the day, distracted as I thought of what she was doing now, whether she was feeling as lonely as I was. It was maddening. But there was nothing I could do but hold it in and keep going to work.

It had taken three months of work to get to where we were with the Angels. The gang had splintered after Andre’s arrest and we had spent so much time and resources tracking down its most dangerous members. But the small splinter groups we thought we could annihilate easily suddenly came back together.

We knew now that their bounceback was due to the new leader they had. The mysterious head pulled the strings but we still knew nothing about them.

It felt like we were trapped in a cold war between the two forces. A rush to gather as much force and information before the other side, a tense drawn-out conflict about whether neither wanted to make the first move.

I knew better than anyone how fragile tentative peace could be. One wrong move on either side and we’d launch LA straight into hell.

For now, though, all I could do was wait for Franky’s men to gather the information we needed, and to wait for the next move of the Angel’s new head. I had no idea if they were going to sign the new treaty after all or if they were planning a different move under the surface.

Either way, I could do nothing but sit and wait.

I sighed as I stretched out my cramping hands, dropping my pen as I leaned back into my office seat. My mind couldn’t help but wonder as I stared at the ceiling, procrastinating my work.

What would happen to this company if Darion took over?

I’d approached him before about taking control of this company since its primary duty was to be a cover for our sect but he wasn’t interested at all. Instead, he’d regaled me of his own ideas and plans.

Darion had worked hard to build up his own connections over the past few months and had formed a plan to turn the mafia itself into a legal and legitimate business, at least on the surface. I was surprised, to be honest at how many loopholes in the law he’d been able to come up with, but I guess that was nothing for a genius with three degrees.

Sometimes I forgot that he was actually smart considering how reckless and stupid he acted most of the time.

It was an ambitious plan he’d come up with, one I wasn’t sure would even work but he seemed determined to try. But that leaves the question of what to do with the real estate business after he takes over.

The responsibility would probably be transferred to me since I’m currently the CEO but I was never interested in the business in the first place. Maybe we could sell it? Outsource the labor and pocket the profits?

I gave a wry smile at the thought. It’d be nice if I could find someone who actually wanted it to take over for me. That way I could spend more time at home with Bianca and the baby once it’s born.

I groaned as just the thought of Bianca sent another pang through my heart. The insane driving need to see her, to hear her voice was more than I could bear, especially in moments of silence like this.

“Fine, you win,” I gave a helpless smile as I grabbed my phone, ready to call and check on her when before I could, the phone lit up with an incoming call. I frowned, not recognizing the number but I cautiously answered anyway.

“Hello?”

“Hello. Is this Leo Wilson?” The pleasant female voice was one I hadn’t heard before but the sound of beeps and other strange noises raised my guard up.

“Yes, this is he,” I said, politely, my mind racing through options of who would be calling me and who knew my name like this. I only gave this phone number out to a select few- mainly for Bianca’s sake.

“Yes, well this is the UCLA Medical Center. We have you down as the emergency contact for your fiance–”

I didn’t hear anything else. My mind went blank as she recited the same monotone spiel that she gave out to all loved ones who received the same heart-wrenching call. Panic filled me as I threw myself out of the chair.

“I’ll be right there!” I ended the call in a hurry, immediately dialing Franky to have someone cover the area. She hadn’t said what Bianca was admitted for but the worst case scenarios raced through my mind.

Did the baby come early? Was she suffering in pain right now or worse, what if I arrived just to find her completely cold?

“Fuck!” I screamed the anxiety and fear consuming me with every moment of not knowing. All I could do was get into my car and race down the streets as fast as I could. I didn’t worry about red lights or traffic stops because my fucking fiance was waiting for me. There in the hospital, she was hurt and she needed me.

I clenched the steering wheel hard enough that my fingers turned white and I was trembling by the time I pulled into the emergency parking. I barely remembered to take my keys with me as I fled out of the car and into the hospital.

It was white, completely sterile, and smelling of cleaning products. All the things I hated the most. But I stormed up to the desk, bypassing the person already talking, and slammed my hands on the desk as I spouted out her name.

Luckily, it seems the receptionist had been notified ahead of time. All the money we put into this hospital was worth it, I thought as she let me through, giving me the number as I dashed through the emergency room.

Her number was at the end of the hall and I swept past the rushing nurses, ignoring the sounds of everything around me. All that mattered was her.

I would never forgive myself if something had happened. I never should’ve left her there.

I threw open the privacy curtains, revealing the form spread out on the bed. Bianca looked pale, her skin almost translucent but she perked up as soon as she saw me, her belly still safely plump.

“Leo–” She muttered in surprise and I fell over to her bedside, folding her into my embrace as I held her as closely to myself as I could.

“Thank god you’re alright,” I breathed out in relief. The fear released from my body all at once and I put all my weight onto my hand on the bed so I didn’t crush my pregnant fiance.

“I’m okay,” Bianca’s hands wrapped around my neck, patting me softly as she whispered to me comfortingly. My hands were still trembling when I let go of her and though I wanted to pick her up into my lap right away, I knew I needed to make sure she was really okay first.

“Ahem!”

I glanced over at the pointed look Amara sent me from the chair beside her. She crossed her arms, looking rather annoyed.

“I’m still here, you know,” Amara said annoyed. “You’re lucky I was there to call 911 and get us here so acknowledging me is the least you can do–”

“What happened?” I turned to Bianca, ignoring Amara’s little “Rude!” comment as I held my fiance’s pale cheeks in my hand. My heart ached to see her so pale, especially as I saw the IV hooked up in her arm. A bruise was already developing around the area, ugly vicious red and purple. “It’s been less than two hours, Bianca.”

Bianca’s face flushed a bit, and the small sight of red on her cheeks was a relief to me.

“I was trying to clean up when I slipped. I caught myself before I hit anything but then I felt pain in my belly and I thought...” She trailed off, flushing even more as she embarrassedly avoided my eyes.

“Cleaning? I told you— Wait, Are you in labor?” I demanded, alarmed, glancing down at her belly.

“Luckily, no,” A voice chuckled from behind us and I glanced around as a smiling nurse in purple scrubs came in. She glanced at Bianca warmly, “How are you doing, dear? Any more pain?”

“No,” Bianca said, relieved.

“Good,” The nurse came over to check the IV and then the many machines. “Looks like you should be good to go soon. You must be Dad.”

Amara scoffed. “That he is. Unfortunately.”

I shot Amara an annoyed look but let it go as I nodded stiffly at the nurse. I was still taken aback by all this, the adrenaline having only just faded away now that I knew Bianca and the baby were safe.

“The Miss panicked a bit due to having what we call phantom contractions, Braxton-hicks. Some can be quite painful so it can mimic labor sometimes. The real one is going to be a lot tougher though, but with such a doting husband and a diligent and caring best friend by your side, I have no doubt you can handle it.”

The nurse shot Bianca a knowing smile as she talked, already moving around the equipment. “Now, we just need to get one last ultrasound of the baby and then you should be good to go.”

“Okay,” Bianca said hesitantly then exchanged a look with me. I smiled, nodding in approval as I kissed her hand and she beamed, turning back to the nurse. “We don’t want to know the gender though. We want it to be a surprise.”

“That’s perfectly fine,” The nurse laughed, “I won’t mention it then.”

The ultrasound didn’t take long, though I held Bianca’s hand as she shivered from the jelly. Seeing the black and white pictures, the first images of our baby on the screen was always something amazing.

“Is that the baby?” Amara asked, starstruck. Her eyes filled with wonder and awe then turned to us in excitement. “If you guys don’t want to know, then can she tell me? I won’t tell a soul I swear!”

“I guess not,” Bianca shrugged. I didn’t really care either so I just nodded. Amara squealed in happiness and the nurse leaned over to whisper to her. Amara’s whole face lit up with excitement, but that wasn’t really telling of anything.

She’d be excited if it was a unicorn. After the ultrasound, the nurse confirmed the baby was healthy and left to fill out the release paperwork. Amara also went down to the cafeteria for a coffee which left me with the perfect chance to talk to Bianca.

As soon as I turned my hardened look on her, she sunk into the bed.

“I told you not to push yourself too much, Bianca,” I scolded her gently, brushing her hair from her face. “You’re eight months pregnant. You need to rest some more.”

“I know, I’m sorry,” she sighed. “It’s just frustrating sitting around all the time. I’m bored at home all by myself.”

I frowned, realizing that this was partly my fault. If I had been there and hadn’t left for the office, then I could’ve stopped her before this happened. Things could’ve been much worse if she had really fallen or if Amara hadn’t been there to take her to the hospital.

There was only one clear solution then.

I laid a kiss on Bianca’s forehead, ignoring her questioning look as I steeled my heart with determination. I had to be there for Bianca and the baby. At all costs.