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Home / Romance / Falling For My Father's Best Friend / Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

All Chapters of Falling For My Father's Best Friend : Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

164 Chapters

CH 1

**Chapter 1** **Isabella's POV**I stepped off the plane in New York last night, jet-lagged and hollow, but I still couldn’t bring myself to face my father. Not yet. Not when I had nothing to show for the last four years except a useless degree, an empty bank account, and the ghost of a boyfriend who vanished the moment I stopped being convenient.Ethan had controlled everything...my schedule, my friends, my dreams. He made sure I never worked, never partied, never even breathed without his permission. Then one afternoon I came home from lectures to an empty apartment. His clothes, his cologne, his half-hearted promises—all gone. Just like that.And my father? Nathan Hartley had made it crystal clear over the phone months ago: “You’re not a child anymore, Isabella. I’m done carrying you.” “Haven’t you taken enough from my life already?”Those words still burned behind my eyes every time I closed them.I checked into a cheap midtown hotel because I had nowhere else to go. The pla

CH 2

"Home sweet home" The apartment smelled the same—coffee grounds, faint cigarette smoke from years ago, and the metallic tang of old pipes. Nothing had changed in four years except the tension that now lived permanently in the walls.I’d dragged my single suitcase inside and left it near the door like it was ready to bolt at any second. Which it was. I stood in the hallway, heart hammering, waiting for the explosion I knew was coming. Waiting for Nathan to storm out, point at the door, and remind me—again—that I was no longer welcome.“I never asked to be born,” he’d snarled over the phone once. “I never asked to raise you alone. I’m done carrying dead weight.”I’d replayed it so many times the words had carved grooves in my brain.I tiptoed to the dining table, pulled out a chair as quietly as possible. It still squeaked like a betrayal.“Sorry, Dad,” I called, forcing a bright laugh that sounded hollow even to me.He appeared from the kitchen carrying two plates—scrambled eg

CH 3

Last night I barely slept. The walls in Dad’s apartment were thin, and they didn’t even try to whisper. “She’ll be fine, Nathan,” the girlfriend said in that syrupy voice. “She’s a big girl now. Let her go figure it out.” Dad grunted something I couldn’t catch—probably agreement. Probably relief. Who knows?I lay there staring at the ceiling cracks until my eyes burned, then gave up and scrolled flight confirmations on my phone for the hundredth time. Anything to drown them out. Anything to pretend I wasn’t already gone in my head.Morning came gray and cold. I dragged my suitcase to the door without knocking. No one came to see me off. No hug. No “good luck.” Just the echo of the front door clicking shut behind me like a period at the end of a sentence nobody wanted to finish.At the gate, I whispered to the empty seat beside me, “To your face, Mom.” Then I closed my eyes and let the plane carry me away.I slept the entire flight—deep, dreamless at first, then softer. In the haze

CH 4

I sank into the leather chair across from him, pulse roaring in my ears. Mateo’s gaze swept over me, slow, deliberate, like he was cataloging every detail: the way my dress clung slightly from nerves, the faint tremble in my hands pressed flat against my thighs.“Most employees start at nine and leave at five,” he said, voice low and even. “You? Ten to six. I don’t want you wandering the streets after dark.”I managed a tight, polite smile and nodded. Ten to six. Safe hours. Protective. Almost fatherly.Except nothing about the man in front of me felt fatherly.I kept my eyes on the edge of his desk, terrified that if I looked too long he’d see the recognition flash in my own. The memory was still too fresh: his weight pinning me to silk sheets, the way he’d growled my name while he thrust into me, the way I’d begged without shame.If he remembered—if he put it together—that one reckless night could ruin everything. My father’s oldest friendship. My fragile new job. My last shred of d

CH 5

I woke up alone. Sheets tangled, body still humming from yesterday, but the space beside me was cold. Mateo was gone-no note, no text, no lingering scent on the pillow. Just silence.For a second I let myself wonder if he had regretted it. If the taste of me on his tongue had turned sour in the daylight. If he'd decided one slip was enough and I was now just another favor he'd done for my father.Was I? No! I refuse to believe myself.I shoved the thought away. We weren't anything. One night in New York. One afternoon here. No promises. No labels. Overthinking would only make me stupid.I dragged myself to the bathroom, stood under the shower until the water ran lukewarm, then figured out the coffee maker. Microwaved leftover fish and chips from the delivery he'd sent yesterday. Ate standing at the counter, staring out at the gray London skyline.By the time I flagged a taxi to work, I'd convinced myself yesterday was a fluke. A moment. Done.Done! I really want to believe it was done

CH 6

Sunday dragged by in silence-no calls, no knocks, no unexpected deliveries. Just me, the apartment, and the growing certainty that Mateo had already moved on. Monday morning came too fast. I dressed in the same cautious outfit-black blouse, yellow skirt, brown jacket-and headed to the office with zero expectations.The elevator ride started the same way. Aisha stepped in on the lobby floor, today in a tailored emerald-green blazer and wide-leg trousers that made her look like she owned the building. She smiled the second she saw me."Morning, Isabella. Survive the weekend?""Barely," I admitted with a small laugh. "You?""Family calls from Port Harcourt. Always chaos." She leaned against the wall. "You should come out with me sometime. Girls' night. No pressure, you know." she wiggled her brows sheepishly.The invitation warmed something inside me. "I'd like that."We rode in comfortable quiet until her floor. She squeezed my arm before stepping out. "See you around, newbie."The rest

CH 7

**MATEO'S POV**Isabella.That girl has no idea what she does to me.Since that night in the Velvet Room, she's lived rent-free in my head. Every curve, every gasp, every time she looked up at me like I was the only thing that existed. When I learned she was Nathan's daughter, it felt like fate handed me the perfect excuse to pull her close. To keep her. To make sure no one else ever touched what was already mine.I went to her apartment that day telling myself it was just concern-she looked wrecked at work, pale and unsteady. But the second I saw her in that towel, hair dripping, skin flushed... all restraint vanished. I told myself she was too drunk that first night to remember me. That's why she never brought it up. That's why I never pushed. I wanted her to come to me on her own. Wanted her to crave it the way I did.Dang it. I shouldn't have gone.Shouldn't have looked at her body. Shouldn't have touched her. Her soft, wet heat under my tongue. Her lips parting on a moan. Those

CH 8

By the time I returned from the board meeting, Isabella was gone.The office felt emptier without her-chair pushed in neatly, laptop closed, no trace of the faint vanilla scent that clung to her skin. I hadn't asked her to stay. Hadn't told her to wait. But part of me expected her to read the unspoken command anyway. She didn't.I grabbed the flash drive I'd left on the desk, locked up, and headed home.The shower hit first thing-hot water pounding my shoulders, steam filling the glass enclosure. My mind went straight to her. Isabella in the rain, dress clinging, hair plastered to her neck, lips parted as I backed her against a wall and-There's no such thing as warm rain in London.Frustrated, I shut off the water, stepped out naked, and froze. My son, Lucian stood by the bed, staring down at my phone.I didn't speak. Just crossed to the towel rack, wrapped one low around my hips, then cleared my throat.He turned. Flat expression. No guilt. No surprise. Just that blank, unreadable l

CH 9

Two days without seeing her felt like punishment. Business pulled me to other offices, meetings stacked like bricks, but every quiet moment my mind went straight back to Isabella...her soft smile, the way her thighs trembled when my tongue found her clit, the perfect arch of her back when she came on my fingers. I needed her under me again. Needed her begging. Needed her to remember who she belonged to.This morning I dressed without enthusiasm-charcoal suit, no tie, sleeves rolled to show the ink curling around my forearms. Dissatisfied. Restless. I slid into the back of the Bentley and waited. Nathan appeared seconds later, expression neutral, keys in hand. Good. Today he was driving. Today we were alone."Good morning, Sir. The Fadex meeting is canceled. Their CEO was in an accident. Still alive." he added.I smiled. Not because I wished the man harm, but because the sudden free hours felt like a gift. No obligations. Just time. Time I intended to spend with her.From the rearview,

CH 10

**Isabella's POV**The spa smelled like eucalyptus and expensive candles. Soft music played somewhere overhead while a woman with gentle hands massaged warm oil into my face, neck, and shoulders. Mateo had booked the full facial without asking-had simply told the receptionist "everything for her" and then disappeared into a private suite for his own treatment.I lay there with cucumber slices over my eyes, trying not to melt into the table, but my mind kept drifting back to the car. To the way he'd kissed me like the world could end any second. To the desperate edge in his voice when he said "Come here, Angioletto." I still didn't know what the word meant, but the way it rolled off his tongue-low, possessive, almost reverent-made my thighs clench every time I replayed it.What would my father do if he knew? His best friend's mouth on mine. His best friend's hands guiding me. His best friend making me ache in ways I'd never felt before.Did Mateo feel the same? Or was this just... conv

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