All Chapters of 365 Days With My Dad’s Bestfriend: Chapter 161 - Chapter 170

171 Chapters

160: Unexpected Call

ELENAI woke up feeling cold. I rolled over in the massive bed, my hand reaching out to find Julian, but his side of the sheets was already empty."Julian?" I called out, my voice loud and shaky in the quiet bedroom.No one answered.I threw off the heavy blankets and walked out into the living room on bare feet. The apartment looked exactly the same as last night, but Julian's backpack was gone from the kitchen island. My heart started beating fast against my ribs. Did he leave? Did he change his mind about everything we talked about at the diner?Then I saw the kitchen counter. A small white notepad was sitting right next to the sink, with Julian’s messy handwriting scribbled across the top sheet.My father’s security team came to my campus apartment early this morning. He knows I used his name against Dominic on the sidewalk. I have to go to his office midtown right now to handle this before he sends his people here. Stay inside. Lock the doors. Don't answer for anyone. I'll call y

161: Worshipping Her Body

ELENAThe sound of the elevator doors shutting left a deep quiet in the room. Julian stood by the edge of the bed, his chest still moving fast from the fight with his brother. He looked completely drained, but when he looked up and his green eyes met mine, all that anger went away."Elena,I meant what I told them. I'm not letting anyone take you. You're safe here." he said, his voice dropping into a low, rough whisper.He stepped closer, losing all his hurry. He reached out, his warm hands gently catching the bottom edges of the heavy gray hoodie I was wearing. He paused for a second, looking into my eyes to make sure I was ready. When I nodded, he slowly lifted the thick fabric up and over my head, letting it drop to the floorboards.I stood there in just my jeans and a simple black bra. For a second, the old habit of wanting to cross my arms and hide myself flared up.I was so used to men looking at me like an object or a prize to be won. But Julian didn't look at me like that. His

162: Golden Noose

ELENAThe back seat of the yellow taxi cab felt really small. Julian sat right next to me, his long legs bent in an awkward way as he held the massive, six-foot canvas steady against his knees. We had spent the last two hours in the penthouse carefully wrapping the wet oil painting in thick brown paper so the edges wouldn't smudge on our way down to the campus.Every single time the taxi hit a bump on Broadway, my heart did a scary little flip inside my chest."Hey," Julian said softly, breaking the long quiet inside the cab. He let go of the canvas with one of his hands and reached over, sliding his warm fingers right into my cold palm."Stop biting your lower lip like that, Elena. You're going to make it bleed.""I'm just really nervous, Julian," I said, looking out the window at the busy city sidewalk."What if the gallery committee rejects the piece at the front door? What if the art professors think it's just a messy bunch of lines?""They are not going to reject it," Julian said

163: Dinner Meeting

ELENAI didn't tell Julian where I was going.I waited until the heavy front door of the penthouse clicked shut behind him as he left for his afternoon lecture.My chest felt tight as I walked down the sidewalk, because I was finally going to see Riley.The diner on 4th Street was loud and cramped. It was the exact same place we used to go every single Friday during our freshman year.I walked past the front cash register, my eyes scanning thebooths Riley was sitting there alone, aggressively tearing a paper napkin into tiny, neat little pieces. A half-eaten plate of cold French fries sat right in front of her."Riley," I said quietly, my voice cracking a little bit as I reached the edge of the table.She looked up instantly. The second her sharp eyes hit my face, she stood up so fast her knees banged hard against the bottom of the table, making her water glass rattle. She didn't say a single word. She just stepped right out of the booth, threw her arms tightly around my neck, and squ

164:

ELENAMy conversation with Riley kept looping in my head. For an hour, I had gotten to pretend I was just a normal twenty-one-year-old girl with a normal life. A familiar dark sedan pulled up to the curb right in front of me, its brakes squeaking softly.Through the tinted glass, I saw Julian behind the wheel. He must have gotten my text the second his university lecture ended. He reached over and unlocked the passenger door from the inside."Hey baby, was your dinner okay with your friend? Had fun catching up?" Julian asked softly."She's exactly the same. She has no idea what's happening..."Julian let out a low, breathy laugh, trying to ease the tension. He reached up, his thumb gently smoothing over my cheek to wipe the wet tear away. His touch was incredibly warm against my cold skin.I reached across the console, my fingers tangling into the collar of his shirt. I pulled him toward me, my lips meeting his in a sudden, deep, and completely desperate kiss.Julian let out a sharp

165

ELENAJulian was standing at the counter. He was typing fast on his laptop with his phone pressed between his shoulder and his ear. His voice sounded flat and tight as he argued with his father’s lead campaign aide about the guest list for the VIP hour. He looked totally exhausted. His hair was messy and his green eyes were bloodshot because he spent the whole night looking at the gallery maps.My phone buzzed on the coffee table. I picked it up right away to see a text from maya asking me to meet her behind the gallery loading dock in ten minutes.I didn't interrupt Julian's call. I knew if I told him I was leaving the apartment alone, he would drop everything to follow me down to the street. He was too protective right now. I grabbed my denim jacket, slipped my phone into my pocket, and took the elevator down to the lobby.I walked to the back of the fine arts building. I kept my head down, pulling my collar up over my cheeks. I kept looking at the parked cars along the street to

166:

DOMINICThe rain outside the fine arts building was heavy. Marco stepped out into the pour, opening my door and holding a black umbrella over my head mThe main lobby was very bright. Cameras were flashing everywhere and the rich donors were talking loudly. The moment I walked through the glass doors, the whole room went quiet. People stopped talking. They looked at the way my suit fit my shoulders, and they started whispering. They looked at me with fear and want. That is what money always buys.The university president almost tripped over his own feet as he ran toward me. He had a big, sweating smile on his face and held his hands out."Mr. Moretti," the older man said, shaking my hand with a weak, shaking grip."We are so glad you are here tonight. The money you gave completely changed our gallery space.""The pleasure is mine, Mr. President," I said. My voice was smooth, low, and polite. "I like raw talent."He kept talking and talking about the school, but I stopped listening. I

167:

SEBASTAINI was pacing a path into the hardwood floor of the penthouse, the pain in my hand entirely white-hot and blinding. But the physical pain didn't mean anything compared to the absolute panic turning my stomach inside out.Elena was sitting on the very edge of the leather sofa. Her face was completely white, all the color drained from her cheeks, and her eyes were totally blank as she stared down at the floorboards. She hadn't moved a single muscle since we ran out of the school into the freezing rain. She looked like a ghost waiting for the floor to drop out from under her."We have to go right now, Elena," I said. My voice sounded tight, scraping against my throat as I stopped right in front of her. I reached down with my good hand and grabbed her shoulder, my fingers digging into her denim jacket to try and force her to look up at me."My father's people can have a car here in five minutes. We can head up north to the cabin. Dominic doesn't own every single highway out of Ne

168:

ELENAThe sound of Sebastian’s head hitting the marble edge was a sound I would hear for the rest of my life. It was a wet, heavy crack that stopped the whole world. Then came the blood. It came out fast, a thick, dark red puddle spreading across the floorboards, soaking into his hair, ruining the kitchen rug.Something inside my brain just broke.I let Dominic build walls around me because I thought his money made him a god. But looking at Sebastian lying there completely still, his eyes rolled back and his life leaking onto the floor, the fear didn't just leave me—it turned into a burning, white-hot rage.I jumped up from the floor. My hands were covered in Sebastian's hot blood. I didn't care. I turned on Dominic like a wild animal."Get away from him!" I screamed, my voice tearing in my throat. I didn't just yell—I flew at him. I slammed my blood-covered palms straight into his chest, shoving him back with every single bit of strength I had.Dominic didn't move much, but his face

169: Breaking Apart

ELENAThe hospital hallway was dead quiet. The big double doors at the end had shut a while ago when the Senator and his people went into a private office with the head doctor. That just left Julian and me sitting on those hard plastic chairs under the bright, buzzing white lights. Maya was down in the basement trying to find some water bottles, so nobody else was around to watch us.The red light over the door was still burning. It looked like a small, bleeding eye in the dark hall.Julian sat right next to me, leaning his shoulder against mine. His right hand was completely covered in a thick white splint from the ER doctor, resting uselessly on his lap. His other hand—his good one—was rubbing my back in slow, warm circles, trying to stop me from shaking. He looked so tired. His hair was a mess and his green eyes were full of worry for his brother, but he kept looking down at me just to make sure I was still breathing.He was being so good to me. He had been a solid wall since the v

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