Page 68 of The Agreement

“You want to explain to me, Giovanni, why I got a call from my airplane captain saying he was in Vegas, filling up when I asked for him to have the plane ready for me to go away on business?” Vinny snorted at that. They had a company that had various captains and they also had a few planes, so if his dad did call, there would have been someone around for him to use.

“You’re going to throw that at me as if I don’t know what this family has or does?” Vinny asked, rolling his eyes at his dad. “Why don’t you tell me what has you so pissed off?”

“You disobeyed us! What did you do in Vegas? You eloped! You broke the rules and now you’re going to have everyone in an uproar,” his father said and Vinny wrinkled his brows.

“The rules stated we were to be married, there was nothing of how. So what if we fucking eloped? Maybe you were adding too much pressure for us to follow what you THOUGHT was best for us. We had the permission we needed!”

“You didn’t have mine! You didn’t have her families,” Donatello roared and Vinny shook his head at that.

“I’m your underboss,padre(father), I don’t need it, remember? You keep pushing me along so I made the call myself. As for Valentina,” he glanced at her and she smiled, “she got her bosses. Any underboss is just as important as the boss, right? That’s what you throw my way every chance you get.” Vinny watched his father, his face red with rage. There was nothing that could be said at this point because anything his dad wanted to toss out would only go against something or other, and they both knew that.

“This cannot be valid,” his mom said and Vinny just shrugged.

“But it is. The license states it. Deal with it, mom. This may not have gone down the way you wanted, but it happened. We’re married at the treaty stays intact.”

“I didn’t realize that Valentina had become such a whore that she couldn’t wait for a proper wedding,” Sofia said and Val bristled at those words. Vinny watched as Val looked at the woman and shook her head.

“Whore, no, I’m not that. However, I am a bitch enough in my own right to say to hell with your thoughts and wishes. This was my wedding, our wedding, and you wanted to do as you saw fit. But I refused to even think of the notions you wanted to put on our heads, so I asked Vinny to run away with me.

"Yes, Sofia, this wasn’t your sons doing, but mine; because there was no way in hell I was going to let you control my wedding. And I refuse to have another one just to appease your God damn nature right now.” Vinny couldn’t help but snicker as he watched his mom close and open her mouth several times. He wasn’t sure she had ever been put in her place and he was glad to see that Val was the one to do it. Not that she was wrong, but that was the reason why they did it. Their wedding wasn’t theirs, it was everyone else’s, and they both felt it was wrong to let everyone else control the one thing that they had control over.

"How dare you speak to me like that," his mom huffed and he grinned as Val crossed her arms and lifted a shoulder.

"And what are you going to do about it, mother?" He never heard that word drip with so much disdain, and there had been plenty of times that his sisters had gone toe to toe with their mother.

"I am not..."

"Not what, Sofia," Val asked, cutting the older woman off, "my mother-in-law? But you are. Legally too. However, I'll make sure to never address you as such; you can take that to the grave with you. Would you prefer wicked witch?" Vinny almost choked once he heard that. He knew his wife was heated, and with just cause, but even still, that was some dark words.

"Are you going to let her talk to you this way, Sofia? It’s obvious she’s not meant to be with Giovanni with that temper and foul mouth." Val turned on her heel and looked at Celeste.

"You are so right, except...I am with him and you aren’t. So, what the hell are you even doing here because you are not important to any part of this conversation? In fact, you are the biggest reason why I wanted to elope."

"Celeste is the choice for my son, Valentina, not you." Val turned back around and shrugged her shoulders.

"If you wanted your precious son to marry someone else, perhaps you were willing to sacrifice yourself to end this war rather than the two of us." Vinny wrapped his arm around his wife and drew her to his side. He could feel the tension rolling through her and he didn’t blame her one bit. He hadn’t expected this all-war zone when he walked through the door. In fact, given his attitude about the whole contract at the start, he thought his dad would have been a little happier to see that his son went through with it. But instead, they both found fault with this and he didn’t approve of their actions or comments.

"You have some nerve, Valentina, talking to my wife...."

"No, Donatello. There were four of us that signed a contract saying that we were okay with Giovanni and Valentina getting married to call a truce to a long-standing war that had nothing to do with either Giovanni or Valentina. Your name was signed right next to my father's. And yet you are going to allow this woman, your wife, to disrespect you, your son, and myself, with just a few words. Her pick for a daughter has no bearing on that contract. Or did you forget this whole thing came about when you and my father had your pistols pointed at each other’s heads?"

"You knew about that?" Val glanced at Vinny and shrugged.

"I made my dad tell me how he could even think of sacrificing his only child. Given the moment, that sort of made sense to me. I still find that, and all of this, rather disrespectful, personally."

"You find it...I've seen how you act with your group, Valentina. If there is anyone in this room who has been disrespectful it is you." Val glanced over her shoulder at Celeste and made a face.

"I'm sorry; I forgot you were still here. Your words, your whole person, bears no importance to me." With that, Val turned back around. Celeste narrowed her eyes and shook her head.

"Look at me," she whispered quietly and both Val and Vinny glanced at her.

"What Celeste?" Celeste’s eyes flashed to Vinny's and for a second he could see all the craziness swirling around in those depths.

"Giovanni was to be mine, no matter what. Even married, he was to be mine! I am not the bitch to cross. And mark my words, Valentina; I am not the bitch you ever want to turn your back on."

~ Chapter 53 ~

She stared at her phone as she walked into the bedroom and shook her head, her stomach twisting at the thought of seeing her own parents for breakfast. She really didn’t know if she had it in her to go for another round. Dealing with his parents was enough, and then she fought the urge to not turn around and slap the shit out of Celeste for her God damn threat. But, she had to be a little nice. Not like she was the greatest daughter-in-law tonight anyway. She threw her phone down on the bed and flopped down next to it. Vinny walked in behind her and lifted a brow at the action.

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