The Agreement (Complete)

~ Chapter 10 ~

                    It was simple and sweet and it sure as hell caused her heart to start doing double time, which was something she didn’t like and refused to examine why.  But the sounds of cat calls and whistles soon broke them apart and as they did, she stared into his eyes.  And she blinked as a flash captured her attention and she turned, seeing a cameraman there.

                “Thanks for that shot, Vinny; the readers are going to love it.”  Val quickly took a step back, her teeth grinding against each other.  She should have known better!  In fact, she would do well to remember that all of this is for show that Vinny would never care for her like she would want.

                “Glad you got it, Nico.”  Nico smiled at Val but she couldn’t return it.  ‘This is just a job, grin and bear it’, she kept repeating to herself.  The pinch on her arm caused her to look at Vinny with a raised brow.

                “What?”

                “Remember, no bitchiness.”  He handed her the drink and she took a sip, her eyes moving around the club in the VIP area.

                “Remember, you are mine, so no playboy moves.”  His lips, those so f*****g soft lips, slowly lifted up and his hand rested on the small of her back.  He leaned closer and the breath he released tickled her ear.

                “Mi piace come hai detto 'mio' (I like how you said ‘mine’).  Promise, no playboy moves.  Unless,” he paused, looked around and focused right back on her, “it’s on you.”

                “Oh really?”  She just looked at him and slowly shook her head at his chuckle.

                “Come on, since you are part of my world now, you must meet some of my friends, and those within my family.”  She swallowed at that.  She knew of most of his friends and family, and she fought the feeling of being like she was in enemy territory.  “Of course you know Salvatore.”  Val offered him a smile, which he returned.  “He’s my underboss, or will be.”

                “Hello again.”  Val tried her best to ignore the hand that was resting on her back.  In some ways it would seem gentlemanly; in others, a sign of possession, so that no one around got the idea they could have her.  And she would have thought that big shinning rock on her hand would have been enough.

                “Those are the twins, Johnny and Jay; they help me run the streets and keep it clean.”  Val smiled at them both.

                “Pleasure to finally meet you Valentina.”

                “Likewise Johnny.  Seen you around of course, but never really introduced.”

                “Such a shame; maybe I could have caught your eye before Vinny did.”  With that, she glanced at Vinny.  Seems like even his closet friends didn’t have the whole truth behind this agreement, and she was okay with that.  And she knew exactly what these introductions were, these were his closest circle, those he trusted most and who she could trust if she needed.  And only these people.

                “I don’t know Johnny, I remember hearing things around school and I’m not sure you could be what I needed you to be.”

                “What a burn,” someone else said which caused Johnny to laugh but nodded at her, a sign of respect and Vinny chuckled next to her.

                “And that loud mouth is Francisco, but we all call him Frankie.”  She held out her hand to the man who made Johnny laugh, his build giving him away as to his job in this inner circle.  He took her hand and placed a kiss on the back of it.

                “Ciao a una bella donna, sei sicuro di voler rimanere con lui (hello to a beautiful woman, are you sure you want to stick with him)?”  She laughed and looked at Vinny who was glaring at Frankie. 

                “He is also a major flirt,” Vinny grumbled.  She put her hand on Vinny’s arm.

                “I can tell, Vinny.”

                “Where is Carlos?”  Vinny kept looking around before looking back at the guys.

                “Who is Carlos?”

                “The other half of this club owner, Vinny’s right hand man, and a dear business partner for him, magnifico (gorgeous).    And you,” the young man said as he walked up behind them and took her hand, kissing the back of it again, “must be his fiancé.”

                “Valentina.”

                “I’m Carlos.”

                “Pleasure to meet you.”

                “Believe me, magnifico (gorgeous), the pleasure is all mine.  We all wondered who would make Vinny take the plunge.”  Someone snorted from behind them and she turned to look at the woman who was standing up and walking over to the group.

                “You all make her sound like a saint, but you all were just talking about her not long ago.  In fact, Carlos, wasn’t it you, who just the other day, was sending your condolences to Vinny about having to marry the De Luca snob.”  Valentina stiffened at those words.  “And wasn’t it you, Frankie, who told Vinny that you would buy him a heater so he could thaw Valentina’s frozen heart?”  If it was possible, Valentina’s back got even straighter.

                “Celeste!” Carlos said, walking over to her, trying to get her to shut up.

                “No, don’t tell me to shut up.  You can all pretend to her face that you think the De Luca w***e is prefect but you all don’t like her anymore than I do.  She’s not anyone that will demand respect.”

                “She’s my future wife, so yes, she will demand respect.”

                “Does your precious wife need to be told that you were in my bed last night, f*****g me?”  And before anyone could to stop her, Celeste flew at Vinny, wrapped her arms around his neck and shoved her tongue in his mouth, claiming his lips.  Everyone stood shocked for a moment, trying to process what they were seeing, but it was Valentina who finally moved.

                Valentina was not going to take being disrespected; especially to her face.  And even if her words were true about last night, that was not something that needed to be aired.  But before Vinny could shove Celeste off, Valentina had roughly grabbed her arm and hauled her off, spinning around so she was looking at Val.               

                “I don’t care who you think f*****g are, Celeste,” her nails digging into Celeste’s’ arm, blood slowly oozing out, “ma io sono una dannata principessa mafiosa (but I am a God damn mafia princess) and don’t doubt that I have the means and capabilities to make you disappear.

                “You don’t have to like me, which is fine because I don’t f*****g like you, but you will not, and I mean EVER, disrespect me again.  Mi dico chiaramente (do I make myself clear)?”

                “You’re hurting me.”  That only made Val dig her nails in even more, a brow slowly being raised in threat.

                “Do I make myself clear?”  Val repeated the question, her voice dropping lower and there was no mistaking the threat that was there and only a fool would disobey.

                “Yes.”

                “Good, now go.  I don’t want to see you at the moment.”  Celeste looked from her to Vinny and Val followed her gaze and she swallowed hard at the cold face of Giovanni.  s**t, did she mess up by not being the proper woman like he wanted?