Page 21 of The Agreement

“You are a strong woman Val, and very independent. You know how to be the bigger person.” Val tilted her head slightly, not liking the sound of that simple comment.

“Are you saying I play nice with Celeste?”

“And Sofia. I heard the guard in that woman’s voice. She didn’t like that Celeste left after you talked to her.”

“It’s my life; it’s my wedding day, the only one I will ever get. Why would I invite someone who clearly hates me as much as I hate them?” Valentina was furious. She stared at her mom, not believing that her mom would take that woman’s side.

“You are right, Valentina. You won’t get another day like that one.”

“Thank y….” Her mom held up her hand to stop Val.

“However, you are aprincipessa mafiosa(mafia princess) marrying the future Don of the family. So, do not think for one moment that your wedding does not have some type of political power behind it. You are bonded by a contract, an agreement, to stop this war, to put an end to it, not to keep it going in a different way.” Val’s teeth clenched as she looked at her mom. She yanked herself out of her mother’s grip and took a few steps back. “Valentina….”

“I understand it mom; my day is not my day. It’s just another way of pushing me back down to my respectful place. I understand it all too well. And you will have the proper princess that you need.” Her tone was hard and there was no way of mistaking the anger that laced her words.

“Valentina,” her mom tried again but Val ignored her as she grabbed a business suit.

“Please let dad know I will be here tomorrow after school for his meeting. Unless something changes or he no longer wishes for me to be here; and in that, have him call or text me.” With that, Val grabbed her suitcase and her book bag and walked out of the room, her mom following close behind.

“Wait, Valentina, you know….”

“I will see you for dinner on Friday night if you like,” she told her mom, cutting her off again. She quickly put everything in the car and then climbed in, taking off to Giovanni’s house.

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She stripped down in her bedroom and pulled her bikini on. She needed to vent and doing a few hundred laps in the pool sounded quite amazing to her. Val let out a breath as she grabbed a towel and her sandals and then headed down to the pool

Sure, she wasn’t a fool, she knew who and what kind of people would be at her wedding. It was the coming together of two major crime families in the Chicago area. There was no doubt in her mind that many other Mafia families would be there. She knew, as well, that there would be all kinds of other people she didn’t like there. She just hadn’t thought that she would have to have people she detested in her own damn wedding party; that was the damn killer to her.

She let out a curse and dove into the cool, clear water, grateful for the gorgeous day. However, her mind was still going around in circles. Sure, Celeste was close to Vinny, but maybe he wouldn’t want her in the wedding party either?

And to top it off, her friends would be in the wedding and most already wanted to kill her. And then her own family? How in the fucking hell was she to keep the peace on her wedding day if she was only going to piss people off? And how was this even fair to her?

She paused in her laps and rested her arms on the wall, her legs kicking under the water. Political stuff to her was bull shit; all of this was bull shit. Did she piss off his mom? Did she piss off her family? How the fuck did she stop the brewing war that she knew would happen if she pissed off either side?

“Maledetto(fuck),” she mumbled, resting her head on her arms. She knew the right road was required of her, but fuck if she knew what road that was.

“My, my, my, such language.” Her head snapped up and she stared into the eyes of a laughing Salvatore.

“Oh, please, I’ve heard worse from you.”

“Oh, I’m sure you have. What are you doing out here, Val?”

“Clearing my mind,” she said as she hauled herself out of the pool. She turned to walk to get her towel when she saw Vinny walk out, his heated gaze trailing over every inch of exposed skin to his view.

~ Chapter 18 ~

“Is everything ready for tomorrow night and the gun drop?” Vinny asked as he glanced over at Salvatore. “My dad is leaving me in charge of this run and I want to make sure it’s good.”

“As far as I know, everything is on course. The truck should be in at 11:30, we have a crew of six unloading and dispersing.” Salvatore stopped talking as Sofia’s name popped up on the caller ID in the car, which Vinny quickly declined. He was in the car, driving home and talking business, the last thing he wanted was to talk to his mom right now.

“Good, and you will be overseeing everything?”

“Like I always do, boss.” Vinny shot a look at Salvatore and he laughed. “Everything is set up and ready to go as planned.”

“And we have eyes on Dante?”

“You trust him so….” Before Salvatore could finish the question, there was another incoming call from Sofia and once again, Vinny declined it.

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