Page 7 of The Agreement

“You called her that! You know….” She rambled on but he ignored her. Yes, he had called Valentina a prude the last night he was with Jennifer and that’s because he thought she was. Hell, he knew plenty of men, his own friends included, who wanted to fuck her. But he now knew why, and that didn’t make her a prude. By rights, that made her the perfect Mafia princess actually, doing what was asked of her and respecting the men who asked it, father or not.

And in fact, looking upon it now, he was quite happy to awaken her sexual appetite. And truth be told, he really couldn’t wait to see how un-prudish she could be; even if he had to wait till their wedding night to see that. Although, he didn’t want to think about going that long; he was hoping she might give a little prior to that.

“Just stop!” He let out a breath as he looked her over before shaking his head. “What we had was fun, sure, but it’s done. It was never going to be more. And whether you want to believe it or not, I’m not cheating, now or ever. There are some things that are done in our culture you will never understand.” Her eyes narrowed at him.

“You’re a prick!”

“Never claimed to be anything else, darlin’.”

“Valentina better be forewarned just how much of a dick you are.”

“Oh, she already knows.” He pointed to a door that was behind her. “Leave through there. And for your safety Jennifer, I suggest no one sees you, you don’t talk to anyone and you never come back here again.” She glared at him, slammed her glass down on the table, and left as he told her. He watched her go, something telling him to be wary of her. Damn, his dad would hate to put anyone on watching her, so he was going to have to be careful, maybe find someone himself to watch her.

He opened the door to the hallway and paused before he walked out, the scene he saw a punch to the gut. He saw Valentina in the arms of one man, the man he hated with a big passion. Oh, he was well aware of the man’s feelings for Valentina, he used to think him a fool for them as well. But, seeing the look in the man’s eyes as he steadied his fiancé, Giovanni wanted nothing more than to punch the son of one of the other major families.

“Dante DeLaurentis,” Giovanni growled out, causing both heads to turn and look at him. He made a point of looking at Valentina’s hands on his arms, which quickly made her drop her hands from him.

“Giovanni let me offer my congratulations on snagging one of the most gorgeous ladies around.” Giovanni held his hand out to Valentina, who walked over and placed her hand in his.

“Thank you, we are looking forward to our engagement.”

“I’m sorry again, Valentina. As always, a pleasure,” he said, walking past her. “State attenti con il suo Constantini(be careful with her Constantini),” Dante muttered low enough for only him to hear. Was that a God damn threat?

~ Chapter 7 ~

Giovanni and Valentina watched the retreating back for a few moments before Giovanni turned to look at her.

“One of your many admirers, huh?” Valentina rolled her eyes and stepped away from him. With his loud mouth, she recalled Jennifer and his wonderful conversation.

“Yes, Dante had tried to get me to go out with him plenty of times. In fact, I think he was waiting for me to graduate before talking to my dad about pressing for my hand.”

“Ha, your dad wouldn’t have aligned with that family.”

“Yet he aligned with the Constantini’s, go figure.” Valentina shot him a glare and all he could do was smile. Yes, it was still amazing to him, and many others, that those two families had called a truce and were actually marrying.

“Dimmi, mia cara(tell me, my dear), what were you doing down this way?”

“Well, since our host,” she shot him a nasty look that rivaled the tone in her voice, “left us without a word, I was stuck finding the bathroom on my own.”

“My apologies, I had something come up that needed my attention.”

“Oh, lo so, quel buono per niente zappa(oh, I know, that good for nothing hoe),” she muttered, turning her head away from him. “If you excuse me, I do need to get back to my parents, since they have been so rudely ignored all night.” He watched her go, a smile tugging at his lips. He didn’t always like feisty women, rather have someone a bit more demure and refined, but he was enjoying that little spunk in her.

“You like her.” Giovanni slowly turned around to stare at his cousin who only shrugged. “It’s me,cugino(cousin), you don’t have to lie.” Salvatore laughed at the look on Vinny’s face. “Fine, I won’t go there. How did things go with Jennifer?”

“I believe she has the understanding now, but I don’t trust her; I need to find a way to keep an eye on her.”

“Good luck. Your dad won’t allow that.”

“I know.” Salvatore sighed.

“I’ll see if I can find someone to keep a discreet eye on her,” Salvatore offered his next-in-line boss.

“Thank you. As well, check the catering staff. She managed to sneak in with them and I am not happy with that.”

“Yes, boss.” They both shut up as Sofia Constantini stepped into the middle of the room, a glass in her hand.

“Excuse me guests, please, may I have Giovanni and Valentina join me.” The couple walked up to the woman and Giovanni took Valentina’s hand. “Thank you all for coming to this little get-together. We are offering our congratulations to these two newly engaged young people,” she said, lifting her glass in a salute to them. They glanced around the room as the air filled with many toasts. Yeah, according to his mom, this was not an engagement party, but he should have known better. And as he could feel the waves of annoyance coming off of Valentina, he knew she was not happy about this, and to be truthfully honest, he didn’t blame her.

---