Page 13 of The Agreement

“Where to?”

“The office, we need to talk.” Vinny sighed but followed him.

“What?” Vinny roared as they walked in and he sat at the desk, looking up at Salvatore.

“You can’t be pissed at her.”

“Like hell, I can’t. She violated that contract.”

“No, she stood up for herself in a civil way and didn’t draw a scene. And she did it because that’s who we are as the Mafioso; we don’t let anyone talk about us that way. You cannot deny that what Celeste said was wrong and you would have pulled your gun on them had it been anyone else.” Vinny ran a hand over his face and looked at his cousin. He was right, of course. Had that been any of his men, guns would have been out. In fact, had that been any of their women, slaps would have been dealt out. So the fact that Valentina actually kept it civil, and only cut her arm where no one could see, was quite smart and well played; a point to her for being the classy, non bitchy type of female he needed.

“She did well actually.”

“She did, Vinny. You also have to think of something else.”

“Which is what?’

“Celeste maybe Johnny’s and Jay’s little cousin and a long-standing friend here, but she lied to Valentina to make it look like you broke your end of the agreement; granted no one knows of it but us three, but that doesn’t matter. On top of all that, she disrespected your future queen, and you shouldn’t let that slide.” Vinny nodded again in agreement. He knew that, even though he may still have issues with it. This was his future wife; it wasn’t like their engagement was going to end. So people better start respecting who she was. And if truth be told, he wanted more than just an arm decoration, he wanted her to be part of the business where it mattered.

“I suppose I better go down and dance with her.” Salvatore looked out over the dance floor and then looked at his cousin and smirked.

“Carlos seems to be doing a good job with that.” Vinny shot out of the chair and looked as well. Out of the two of them, Carlos was more of a womanizer than Vinny was and there was no way he doubted that Carlos wasn’t charming her.

“Figlio di puttana(son of a bitch),” he muttered before he stormed out of the office and down to the couple.

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“You have nothing to worry about,” Carlos said as he kept glancing back at Valentina, his hand wrapped tightly around hers. Anyone that was up there could feel the tension between the two ladies, but even more so, anyone could tell that Giovanni and she had massive issues. But nothing was wrong that he could tell; she stood her ground and Celeste knew better than that.

Valentina offered him a smile of thanks, but she knew what she saw in Vinny’s eyes. And he had every right to be upset. She acted like a spoiled little girl. Granted, she wouldn’t even start on Celeste’s comment about fucking. Not that she trusted Vinny; she just sure as hell didn’t trust Celeste.

“I know,” she finally said as he spun her around and then back into his arms, his hands resting loosely on her waist.

“Then stop worrying that pretty little lip or you are going to give other men ideas and I will be forced to pull out my gun to protect you on this opening night. And really, that’s not how I want my club to be in the papers.” Finally, Valentina laughed at that. She, of course, knew of all these men, had seen them countless times with Vinny, but never got to talk to them. And she had to say, she liked them, liked their demeanor.

“Point taking. By the way, it’s a very nice club; you two did great on it.”

“Thank you. Actually, Vinny might have let it slip that you are a whiz with numbers.”

“I don’t know about a whiz, but I do handle finances pretty well.” Carlos took her hand and then spun her back around before pulling her back, her back now resting against his chest. His eyes quickly glanced around and his eye caught on to the few stares they were getting. And if he wasn’t careful, men would start to move in on her, thinking she was free. This wasn’t one of the clubs he owned that was geared to the mafia.

“Maybe you should check on the books sometime,” he whispered by her ear, making it seem like the topic of conversation was more than just numbers. She finally looked up and around and then turned around in his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck; he was grateful she was a smart one. But he quickly felt her jump as hands landed on her hips and he looked up and into Vinny’s eyes. And at his nod, he un-wrapped her arms, gave her a wink, and walked away.

“Are you okay?” Vinny murmured in her and she nodded.

“I’m sorry Vinny, I…”

“Hush. I may not like what happened,inamorato(sweetheart), but that doesn’t mean you were in the wrong, because you weren’t.” Vinny ran his hands down her side as she moved with him, listening to him. “You could have made that a lot worse but you didn’t; that shows you have class.”

“Did you…” Valentina bit her lip, not wanting to ask, although she didn’t think he would given what he said about Italian women anyway.

“No, not with anyone actually. I know you know of my past, but I have more respect for my dad, and for you than to do that.” She turned around and wrapped her arms around him while he wrapped his arms around her, his hands resting above her ass. She stared into his eyes, getting lost in their depths while his hands roamed over her lower back, his fingertips barely grazing over the top of her ass.

“This feels nice.” She bit her lip as the words came out without her meaning to vocalize them.

“What does, Valentina?” She let the sound of her name from his lips wash over her and she had to mentally sigh at the jolt of pleasure that rushed through her. “What does?” he repeated, his nose running over her neck and she tried to fight the goosebumps and failed.

“Being in your arms, I like it.” Vinny pulled his head back and looked at her like she was looking at him and he head to agree; he liked being in her arms too.

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