Page 50 of The Agreement

"When Dante came shortly after with a plan like Vinny’s with less than half the payout than Vinny’s plan, I told Dante no, told him I was already partnering up with someone out of Chicago. He knew it wasn’t your dad Val, so he assumed it was Vinny. That made Vinny pretty well off and it pissed off Dante enough. And there's been bad blood ever since. So yeah, when he came to town, hell when he comes to town, I don't care. I'm cordial for family reasons and that's it."

"You never even told me about it," Vinny told him and Enzo shrugged.

"I didn’t see the point then, hell I still don’t. I have your back, you know that. I'd never betray you, even now. And you know you and I have been through some shit."

"I know Enzo. I trust you more than I trust some of my own family."

"Same, as it stands. You can see I don’t trust my own blood. I'm just sorry I never said anything. I just didn’t see a reason too." Val watched the two men and had to nod to herself. She believed Enzo as well. Over her dealings, she learned to weed out the snakes and the scorpions amongst the men she worked with or talked to and she could see Enzo was right. And yeah, she could see why it wouldn't have come up: why when it was obvious Enzo and Dante had issues.

"Thanks for everything Enzo. I'll call you when we get back home to work on the deal." Val looked up and noticed they had arrived at the hotel.

"Of course. Valentina, it was a pleasure meeting you and working with you. I hope the next time you grace my city with your presence it won’t be with too much trouble." She smiled as she climbed and tossed back over her shoulder.

"Noi siamo la mafia, c'è sempre un problema(we are the mafia, there is always trouble)." Vinny laughed, along with Frankie, as they walked across the lobby and to the elevators. She didn’t quite realize just how tired she was, how the events over the last few days had gotten to her. She wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed at the moment. Frankie bid them a good night and went to his room while they went to theirs.

Val twisted her lip at the doorway to her room once they got in the suite and Vinny lifted a brow. She wasn’t scared but she didn’t want to be alone. And okay, fine, she would openly admit that being in his arms was one of the best nights of sleep she had.

"Something wrong, Val?"

"Yeah. Can you help me with my dress? The zipper is lower and I can’t reach it. I have a device that helps pull it up but not take it down."

"Of course." He walked to her room and followed her in, stopping in the middle of the room after she did. She held the dress against her as he worked the zipper down. And she could feel his eyes on her exposed skin and she wasn’t positive if that was heating her up more or if it was something else. "Something else on your mind?" he asked amusement in his tone.

"Yeah." She turned around to look at him and gave him a small smile. "Can you sleep with me tonight? I don’t recall the last time I have slept so peacefully." His knuckles brushed over her cheek and he grabbed her chin softly to pull her in for a kiss.

"You are to be my wife, inamorato (sweetheart). If you want to make the sleeping arrangements more permanent and sleep in my bed, I have no objection and you don’t have to ask."

"I do want that now. However, I'm asking you to sleep in mine." He chuckled and nodded.

"Yeah, let me go pack up everything since we leave rather early in the morning and I'll be back." She nodded as he left and started packing up her things. She was just changing into her pajamas when he walked back in and nodded to the dress that was hanging up. “Not packing that?”

"Enzo bought it and I thought he might want it back?"

"No, he got it for you so it's yours. And I loved the color on you, would love to see you pull it out again for another function." Val pulled back the comforter and climbed into bed, Vinny right behind her. She curled up to his side and laid her head on his chest.

"I'll make sure to have it cleaned when we get home so I can wear it again." She stayed silent for a moment and played with the sheet that was covering them. "Vinny, about Dante and Enzo..."

"No Val, don’t get into it now, go ahead and sleep. Tomorrow on our flight back home we can talk, not that I believe there is much to discuss." Val looked up at him and smiled. She leaned up and gave him a sweet goodnight kiss.

-----

They boarded the private plane again, however this time no flight attendants was hitting on her fiancé and she was glad to see that, much to Vinny’s amusement. She rolled her eyes at him and took a seat.

"Depending on when I leave, crews get switched out. So the pilot is the same but the attendants are different." Val nodded her head but she still had questions. "What is making those wheels inside your mind turn?"

"I get you have a couple of different teams working for you, it would make sense. But you've never had a problem with trusting them? I'm going to say business is conducted on here."

"For the most part, yes. But it’s never the bigger plans. And most everyone we have hired has been okay and trustworthy. They know who they work for so it's not a good thing to cross them." One of the key rules is you trust very few people because even the staff will betray you if you didn’t watch your back. "You don’t think they had anything to do with the bombing?"

"No, not at all. Merely thinking. Don’t forget. I wasn’t subject to half this stuff. And though that makes me naive, it also means I'm learning. Sure I have a mind and can obviously deduct a few things myself but that doesn’t mean I know it for sure."

"You seem pretty confident in knowing Enzo," Frankie said taking a seat next to them.

"Knowing someone and reading someone are really two different things, Frankie. I just read Enzo really well. It's not some superpower but anyone with a business degree behind them will tell you that as well." She smiled at him and looked between him and Vinny. "Neither one of you knew about the connection to Dante?"

"Not a clue. I can see why he wouldn’t say anything though. He has no ties to him and I know his loyalties lie with me."

"Which is great but still felt he should have said something, especially knowing you were two of the most powerful families in Chicago."

---