Page 24 of The Agreement

“Tomorrow is fine, or the day after. Not like I have any control over this shipment anyways.”

“Well, you two have a good night, I’m getting summoned.” Val scrunched up her nose at that.

“By who?”

“His chick.” Val tilted her head; she couldn’t recall Salvatore ever having a girlfriend for as long as she had known him or of him.

“You’re dating someone?” But Vinny quickly rushed in to answer her question again.

“Salvatore doesn’t date, he fucks. It’s his fuck buddy that’s calling, or texting him because she needs her daily fuck.”

“Oh!” Val’s cheeks heated up and her head lowered. But she didn’t miss the laugh between the two males. Vinny was that way too, always screwing someone. And though she wouldn’t give him that chance, there was nothing saying she couldn’t give in to him now, right? That was something she was going to have to think about at another time. Tomorrow was a long day and she needed to get to bed.

-----

Val rushed into the kitchen, pouring herself a cup of coffee rather fast, and then quickly added the sugar, much to the amusement of Vinny, who laughed as he watched her.

“Running behind schedule,bella(beautiful)?”

“Yes and my professor already dislikes me, so me being late for her class is just not an option.” Val took a moment and savored her coffee all while feeling Vinny’s eyes on her.

“Well, you look beautiful and I’m sure you’ll be fine.” Val couldn’t stop the blush that took over her cheeks. Although she much rather take this reason to have her cheeks red rather than them fighting, like it was before. She only hoped it would remain this way as well.

“Thank you. Don’t forget my meeting so please don’t worry when I’m late.” Vinny merely lifted a brow at her.

“It wasn’t like I flew off the handle last time. I still didn’t take care of it, as I should have.”

“I know, I know, but I promise not to be stupid in the future.” Val took one more long drink and then put her cup in the sink. “Got to jet, bye.” Val quickly tore out of the house and the garage, her eyes checking the time. Although, the one thing she didn’t count on was just how far Vinny lived from her college and how much traffic there was at that time. With a final glance at the time, she knew she wasn’t going to make it.

35 minutes later as she tried her best to walk into the class that she was late for, she cringed as the professor turned and stared at her. If there was anything Val knew, it was how this one professor hated interruptions, but she knew this was a class she just couldn’t miss today.

“You can stay after Ms. De Luca.” It was on the tip of her tongue to object because she just had no time to stay, but she knew the professor just wouldn’t care. Val sat in her chair and crossed her legs, the growing ball in her stomach telling her that today was just going to be one hell of a shit show.

~ Chapter 20 ~

Val gave her mom a look as she ran through the house and to her father’s meeting room. It really wasn’t her fault that she was 20 minutes behind, she had done her best to be here, but she knew that wouldn’t fly with him. So, as she walked in, she was ready for the rather nasty look he tossed her way.

“Mi dispiace papà(sorry dad),” she told him as she took the seat next to him. “Sorry gentlemen,” she told the other four men who were sitting around the table. Joey offered her a smile and she felt better, but it was short-lived as her dad grabbed her arm.

“You think it’s okay to be late and that a fake sorry and some pretty smile will make it okay?”

“No, of course not father, I am sorry, but things happened at school…”

“I don’t want excuses,figlia(daughter),” her dad growled out, effectively cutting her off and making her wince.

“Naturalmente(of course),” she said, rather meekly, her head down, which cut her to the bone. She wasn’t normally the type to be so quiet, but she knew this wasn’t the time either. Nor was her dad like this, he was never quite this upset with her.

“Val,” David said, who was the other financial man for her dad, as he handed her a packet, “this is what we were discussing; the buying of this land to build some high-rise townhomes.” Val opened the packet and looked over the notes along with the graphs and then looked up at her dad. Rafael seemed quite anxious to get underway with this project but Val wasn’t so sure he should.

“Excuse me, I have some questions,” she interjected, causing the tick in David’s jaw to start.

“I’m sure you would. What are they?” Val tried her best not to glare at the man and his condescending tone and instead looked at her dad, who looked just as upset that she spoke up. She couldn’t help but wonder why it seemed like everyone was all of a sudden against her. But if she was hoping from any loving gazes from him, she would find none. She cleared her through and picked up her pen, ready to jot down the answers.

“What’s the return ratio?”

“2.0 percent.”

“Over the course of how many years?” David blinked a couple of times, not so quick with his fire response.

---