Page 3 of The Agreement

“Me, why…I’m to marry her?” Giovanni bellowed as he got off the stool, his eyes wide. “Non puoi essere fottutamente serio? Preferirei prendere un proiettile alla testa.” (You can’t be fucking serious? I’d rather take a bullet to the head.)

“Fermarsi!” (Stop). Giovanni’s nostrils flared as his dad yelled, but he shut up. “You have no choice son. This truce falls on the heads of you and Valentina. You are to make the next world better.”

“Or she and I could start the war all over again. Don’t you see that we don’t like each other?”

“Is that you or years of hate?” Giovanni went to open his mouth to answer, but couldn’t. Could they really make an alliance work? Would that even be possible? Could their streets finally see peace? After all, these were the strongest families who were drawing the lines and calling a truce; on the heads of their kids, of course.

~ Chapter 3 ~

They sat outside in the car, looking at the restaurant and Val’s stomach was in knots. She hadn’t spoken to Donatello before and it had been four days since she had seen Vinny since her dad told her the news. And here she was, meeting them both so they could talk about contracts, about what each party wanted or would like. Here, she was going to have to be the perfect mafia princess; her father had already warned her. No yelling, no acting bitchy; she promised. But would Vinny hold true to not being an asshole? That part to her was doubtful.

“Are you ready,bella(beautiful)?” Valentina glanced at the building and then at him.

“No, but I don’t have a choice, right? Let’s go.” He helped her out of the car and she took his arm as they walked in, quickly spotting the single table. This was Donatello’s place and they didn’t open for dinner until six, so they had the place for the next two hours.

“Rafael,” Donatello said, shaking the older man’s hand before looking at the young lady. “Valentina, you are absolutely stunning.” He took her hand and placed a kiss on the back of it.

“Thank you, Mr. Constantini,” she smiled at him.

“You know Giovanni,” he said, waving his hand at Vinny who stood behind him. Like any Italian greeting, she walked over and barely pressed her cheek to his, giving him an air kiss. She stepped back and allowed her dad to shake his hand before Donatello told the group to have a seat. All three men took off their jackets and she watched Vinny silently.

She hated to admit it, but he was a good-looking young man. Stood about 6’1, with black hair, deep chocolate eyes, was rather muscular, and had quite a few ink marks on him. She could say their kids would be gorgeous, and yes, she loathed the idea, but she was a practical person; Italians didn’t believe in divorce, so this union would be an all-out stop for them. Huh, one heir; the question that comes to mind is, would their son take over both families? Would he take it away from her cousin? Probably something to ask about; and if that got a rise out of Vinny, all the better.

“Would you like anything to drink, Valentina?”

“A wine would be nice, thank you.” Donatello nodded and waved the server over, quickly ordering a round of drinks.

“We all know why we are here, should we get down to business?” Rafael asked, resting his forearms on the table. And with that, the topic turned to business. They discussed what the terms were to be, how each party would stop hunting and hounding, and how no word was to be breathed about this until each family was ready. All basic and all fair of course.

“I don’t want a wife who will be a bitch all the time, who will fight tooth and nail to get her way,” Giovanni spat out and Val gritted her teeth. She wasn’t always bitchy, but he always lit a fuse under her. In fact, he was probably one of the few who really ever saw that side of her, and that’s just because he had a tendency to push the buttons.

“I wouldn’t want a husband who slept his way through half the female population either.”

“Kids,” Donatello started, “we will say that Giovanni can’t sleep around or have any mistresses until five years in if he chooses. And Valentina, while out in public, must be a dutiful and respectful wife.” She stared at Vinny but nodded.

“And if those are broken?” Valentina asked because she had a very rough faith that Vinny would stay loyal through those five years.

“They won’t, we will make sure of it,” Rafael said, grabbing her leg under the table roughly. She got his meaning loud and clear, stop pushing!

“Don’t worry Valentina, Giovanni will remain faithful.” They stared at each other, both letting out a breath and nodding. Honestly, there was no choice in this; they just had to be the respectful kids.

“I have one more question.” Giovanni lifted a brow as she glanced from his dad to hers. “Our first male child, would it be the heir to just the Constantini family, or both families?” Giovanni spat out the wine he had just taken a sip from and the look on his face was so worth it.

-----

Giovanni stared at the woman as he slipped out of the bed to get dressed. In a few days’ time, they would be signing that damn alliance and he would be forced to sleep with only that woman. Not that she was ugly, but he wasn’t a one-woman type of man. He loved the ladies and they loved him. But he knew his father and if he broke that rule, he would be in trouble. Giovanni wouldn’t quite know if his father would kill him, but he wasn’t ready to test that.

He had family that could fill his spot as the leader if need be. So, there wasn’t that as an excuse to not harm him. He knew his dad though, knew his temperament; he had already experienced that anger once, and still had the mark to prove it. So, yeah, he was better not to test it again.

His eyes trailed over the woman again and he grabbed his jacket and left the room. Everyone he went to bed with knew he would never stay the night. And he never took anyone to his house. In fact, when they got married, Valentina would be the only woman that wasn’t family or staff to have slept in there, let alone set a foot in.

His thoughts turned back to her. His dad had told him that when they got together, he would like Giovanni to have a ring for her. And hell if he knew what to get. Sure, she was attractive and he saw that, but beyond her snotty attitude, he didn’t know a lot about her. So, what the hell would he know about getting something that she would wear for the rest of her life? He could call one of her friends, but that would raise way too many questions. So, he would have to ask his mom. Maybe she would like a red stone to march her firey spirit.

~ Chapter 4 ~

Valentina stared out over their pool, her hand playing with her long black hair as she thought over everything. When they had gotten home, Rafael had made it known to his daughter just how she was to be, how she wasn’t to make scenes, something she didn’t normally do and it only led to a fight. The pair of them hadn’t spoken in three days, and that was unlike them.

But with her dad’s outburst, she couldn’t help the thoughts rolling around in her mind. She was a duty-bound daughter, behaved how she should, and respected those who respected her; which Vinny didn’t, so, therefore, she struggled in giving him the proper respect when they had run-ins. She had followed her dad’s rules, and in fact at 22, had never had a boyfriend, even being in her senior year of college. So, why did he feel the need to yell at her? Was Vinny right? Did he hate having a daughter? Her mom was unable to have any more kids after her; did her dad blame her for that?

---