Page 20 of The Agreement

“Yeah, I’m fine, thank you Izabella. Just my accident-prone self.” Valentina glanced at her mom out of the corner of her eye and saw the frown. Shit, she should have known that her mom would know the truth about it.

“Do you have any idea about your color theme?” Sofia asked, taking a sip of her drink as she looked at Val.

“Uh, yeah, I do. I love the more evening wedding ideas, so I’d love my bridesmaids dress to be more of a sunset color. You know the oranges, pinks, and purples.”

“That sounds amazing,” Delfina said, quickly clutching Val’s arm. “I’m guessing most of your wedding party would be of Italian descent, so the coloring on them would be just gorgeous.”

“Yes, most would be. And I hope all of you would be willing to be my bridesmaids; I couldn’t picture not having Vinny’s sisters as part of it.” All the girls squealed softly and Val had to smile. It was times like these that she hated not having siblings, especially sisters.

“Well, I think you made their day,” her mom said. “Do you have any idea when you want to start looking for dresses?” Val took a sip of her water.

“I know I need to start soon but I also have some upcoming major exams that I have to study for.”

“Oh, that’s right, Vinny did tell us you were in college and getting ready to graduate soon. What was your degree to be in?” Mar asked.

“Finance, as if that’s going to help her with anything of importance.” Val froze as she heard that voice. ‘She couldn’t be here, why would she be here?’ her mind questioned.

“Celeste, that wasn’t very nice to say.”

“My apologies, Sofia.” Val finally turned and looked over her shoulder at the woman who appeared. “I heard there was a wedding discussion and thought I would come. You know, help the couple in love to find their happily ever after.” Val could do nothing but stare at the woman.

“Well, if you want to join us, Celeste, I’m sure Valentina wouldn’t mind another head for ideas; besides, you know Vinny just as well,” Sofia offered as she waved for another chair to be brought over.

“Actually, Sofia, I’m sorry but I do mind.” Celeste’s eyes’ flashed and Val stood up. “And if you excuse me, I need to talk to Celeste in private.” Val turned to walk away, but her mom grabbed her arm and gave her a warning look. At least if anything happened here, Val had people who would step in; rather she truly hoped so. Val walked out the door, not even glancing back to see if Celeste was following. Although the clap of heels as she walked was proof enough that she had tagged along as well. Val turned around, her arms crossed, and glared at Celeste, who only shrugged. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m here to help.”

“Do you think I’m a fool? You would ruin everything if you could. I don’t want you in a five-mile radius of anywhere where I am discussing my wedding to MY fiancé!”

“He isn’t yours!”

“Non hai più scelta(you don’t have a choice anymore)! Now be the bigger woman and stop being acagna(bitch)!”

“Bitch? You’re the one who is! You stole the man I could only ever be with. And make no mistake, Valentina,” Celeste said as she walked right up to her and got in her face,“Non ho problemi a rivendicare ciò che è mio, in qualsiasi mezzo necessario(I have no problem claiming what is mine back, by any means necessary).”

~ Chapter 17 ~

Val watched as Celeste left in a huff and she let out her own groan. She had guessed, without a doubt, that Celeste would be a problem for her but she wasn’t aware how bad of one. And she had no idea what to do. She could handle it, or maybe she could talk to Vinny? He could suggest something, as this was his family. Hell, for all she knew, maybe Celeste did something for the family, besides being a bitch.

She shook her head, composed her nerves, and walked back in. Not that she had any real burning desire to want to deal with this now, sadly. Celeste had left a bad taste in her mouth and she just wanted to get away. But, she wasn’t raised to be rude and wouldn’t dare do that to her mom or her future in-laws.

“Where is Celeste?” Valentina glanced over at Sofia, her brown eyes watching Val closely.

“She sends her apologies but realized she had somewhere else she needed to be.” Val sat down and reached for her water, her eyes still locked with Sofia.

“Shame. I do love that girl; I hope you would consider having her in your wedding party? Celeste is rather close to Vinny and I’m sure he would love it. Let me tell you about the time when they were kids…” Val quickly tuned the woman out and locked gazes with her own mom.

She had no interest in listening to that damn story. Nor did she have a care about having Celeste in any part of the wedding; hell would freeze over first. Val took another sip of her water, wishing for something stronger.

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“So, I take it she didn’t know?” Val stopped her constant walk to her closet and looked at her mom who stood in the doorway.

“Who didn’t know what?” Val resumed her walk, grabbing a few more items to place in the suitcase. It had been an unspoken rule, it seemed, but Val was staying at Vinny’s. And hopefully, this silent, unspoken truth between them would hold steady.

“Sofia doesn’t know about Celeste’s attack.”

“I gather not mom.” Her mom walked into the room, stopping Val by grabbing her shoulders.

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