Page 51 of The Agreement

"She does make sense Boss, for once," Frankie chimed in and Val laughed, smacking him.

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The plane landed and Val grabbed her bag, following Frankie down the stairs. But once she got on the tarmac, she stopped, causing Vinny to run into her.

"Val, what is it?" He followed her gaze and just lifted a brow in return for the glare Val was getting. She cleared her throat and took his hand as they started the walk to the car, where her father was currently, his eyes blazing in anger at the two of them.

~ Chapter 39 ~

"Dad, what are you doing here? Better yet, how did you know where we were landing?"

"Non essere una ragazza stupida(Don't be a stupid girl). Do you think I wouldn’t have some type of knowledge of what would be going on? What was that stunt you pulled in New York?" Val crossed her arms and lifted a brow at her dad.

"What stunt would that be exactly?"

"Bomba atomic(a bomb), Valentina."

"Oh mio Dio, mi stai prendendo in giro(Oh my God, are you fucking kidding me)?" Vinny put his hand on her back and she took a deep breath. "Do you think I planted that? Because I can’t really see why you would be mad at me when someone tried to kill me."

"I'm mad at the fact that you would be so careless, childish, and downright stupid to put yourself in that type of position where something like that could even happen. I thought you were smarter than that." Val’s jaw dropped as she looked at her dad and it took her a moment before any words could even come out.

"Are you saying I'm not smart, dad?"

"I'm saying you were foolish and you know better than to do things like that." Val shook her head as she took a few steps towards her dad, her eyes glinting in anger, and Vinny almost smirked at how sexy she looked when her anger came out. He had to remember to not be on the receiving end of it though.

"I am going to refuse to believe that you would be so cold-hearted to your own flesh and blood to not care that she is alive and well rather than condemn her for something she had no control of."

"And that is where you are wrong. You had control because you went out to more functions and displayed that pretty face. What were you hoping to accomplish by doing something so foolish?"

"I was trying to draw out the person who seems fucking hell-bent on killing me, not that you seem to care. God damn it, that wasn’t my first attack and yet you still want to say it's my fault?"

"Valentina, if you are going to make irrational decisions, then yes, I will blame you. You may not be the one causing harm but you aren’t acting smartly. I know that is not the daughter I raised." Val's eyes flashed even more and her nails dug into her hands.

"No, you didn’t raise me as you thought, my mom did. You sure raised Joey though. I asked you not too long ago if I was a disappointment and you said I wasn’t, however, I'm starting to think you lied to me. You let me be on the sacrificial table to end a war you could have ended at any time and I will bet you didn’t blink an eye."

"Vuoi che io lo neghi(Do you want me to deny that)?" Giovanni watched the blow those simple words caused to his fiancé and he knew the man had crossed a line. De Luca had no right to talk to his daughter that way and that was uncalled for.

"I think this is enough De Luca, I don’t like seeing my woman be hurt over someone's bull shit." Vinny stood straighter as the old man turned his hard gaze on Vinny.

"Do not get me started on you, Giovanni. I trusted you to take care of my daughter and instead I hear about a bomb that could have taken her out."

"I also told you, old man, that Valentina was no longer under your care, she's undermine. So your anger and your words have no meaning on her right now." Vinny lead Val away but Rafael grabbed his daughter's arm.

"Non ho finite(I am not done)." Vinny turned around, saw the hand on her arm, and he saw red. He quickly pushed her behind him and had his gun drawn on her father faster than either of them could blink.

"Do not ever lay a hand on her like that again. I told you, Valentina is with me, I will watch over her, protect her, care for her, and defend her. I don't care if it's against her own flesh and blood or not," his voice was soft, deadly, and carried more weight than anyone would have thought. Rafael chuckled and shook his head.

"Non mi sparerai(you won’t shoot me)."

"I don’t mean to shoot you; I mean to tell you to back the fuck off. Valentina doesn’t need this and if you can’t be the loving, caring father that she needs then I suggest you leave." He felt Val's hands around his arm and he was glad he could be the one to stand up for her, even if it was against her dad. She didn’t deserve that and it angered him greatly.

"Can we go home, Vinny?" The softness in her voice triggered a tender note within him. Without looking back at her, he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her tighter to him. He would be the man she didn’t know she needed, even if that was never the first thought he had when he agreed to this.

"Yeah, bella." He watched as Rafael got in his car and left before he walked to his own car and climbed in after she did. On the ride back to the place, her head rested on his shoulder and as he held onto her hand; he could feel her slight shakes and it bothered him greatly. He needed to let De Luca know that he had no more control of his daughter and that it was final.

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Three days later, Vinny was watching some footage of his clubs with Salvatore, making sure everything was okay on this side while he had been away. If nothing of his was personally targeted then they could assume it really was more geared to taking them out. Not that there were any leads on who was behind it. And that bothered him more than he liked it to admit. He was half tempted to point the finger at his soon to be father in law but he couldn't see De Luca killing his own daughter, no matter how upset he was with her.

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