06. The Agreement

"Bad decisions make good stories."

~Unknown

A note.

Of course, how cliché. I grab the note and make a dash straight to dad's office. I know Everett and dad would be there. I barge inside, the door slams on the wall with a loud 'Thud".

"Rose ran away!!'' I say frantically. It is too late to realise. Angelo, Antonio and some of their men are also present there.

"TROVALA!" (FIND HER!) Antonio roars. I can't understand what he said, but his booming voice doesn't fail to make me tremble. Without wasting a second Angelo and his men run past me, speaking frantically in their earpieces. He must have ordered them to find her. I hope they don't hurt her, please be safe Rose. Everett sits on the couch that is present in the office with a loud thud, his hands in his hair.

"What is that in your hand?'' Antonio asks coldly, eyeing the note in my hand. Dad and Everett quickly look at me then to my hand that is clutching the note tightly. I totally forgot about it, I try to hide it behind me but Antonio's sharp stare makes me hesitate.

"Ahh.. I.. It..'' I begin to stutter, so I take in a deep breath, "Rose, left a note behind.'' I answer, not making eye contact. Antonio walks towards me in two long strides. He takes my hand and snatches the note rather harshly, I am too scared to say anything.

He observes the contents of the note. After a moment, I hear him chuckle mockingly "your daughter ran away with her lover'', he stares at Everett. "Want to know what this says?", he waves the note in the air, despite receiving no response, he starts to read it out aloud.

"When you find this note it means I'm long gone. I want to apologize to all of you. Especially you dad, I'm sorry. I can't sacrifice myself because of your mistakes. I have dreams, ambitions. I have a whole life ahead of me, I just can't get married to a mafia lord and be a polite trophy wife whose whole life is spent raising his children. I'm sorry, but this is not me! I have dreams which I'm not ready to give up because of YOUR MISTAKES. Children don't pay for the mistakes their parents make. I want to tell you that I'm safe where ever I am. I'm with the love of my life, we will be getting married soon. He understands me and supports my dreams. I just hope you guys find it in yourselves to forgive me.''

~Rose

Antonio finishes reading the note with a mocking tone. We all stand there shocked, not knowing what to do next. I think, I am the one who is the most shocked. Alessandro.. Mafia leader?? Everett's mistake? Everett what did you do? How did he get involved with the mafia out of all people? I am both scared and confused. They all are related to the mafia??

"Tale padre, tale figlia" (Like father, like daughter) Antonio's voice brings me out of my thoughts. 

"Antonio'' says Everett in a warning. 

"Non provare nemmeno a mancarmi di rispetto, traditore" (don't even try to disrespect me again, you traitor) Antonio fumes. Even though I am unable to understand a single word I still step away from him because he looked like he'll kill anyone in sight. "Non do una seconda possibilità, sai che sei un bastardino. Ma te l'ho comunque data, e tu, figlio di puttana ingrato, mi hai tradito entrambe le volte!" (I don't give second chances you know that, you mutt. But I still gave it to you, and you, ungrateful motherfucker betrayed me both times!) Antonio says with rage. How I wish I knew Italian at this very moment."Indovina il tuo tempo scaduto. Completerò ciò che ho lasciato 2 mesi fa. Sei un traditore morto e anche la tua famiglia" (Guess your time's up. I will complete what I left 2 months ago. You are dead, traitor, and so is your family) Antonio suddenly pulls out his gun from his suit jacket.

I freeze at the sight of the gun. "Antonio please! Forgive my family! It's all my fault, leave my family. Give me another chance'' Everett is now on his knees, shaking, begging for his life, for our lives. Dad shuts his eyes, a lone tear escapes from his left eye. My heart clenches, I cannot see my family like this. Tina, do something! You can't just stand here and let your family die.

‘DO SOMETHING!’ my subconscious screams at me.

I come out from my trance. "A.. Antonio'' I say mustering up some courage. He has a gun in his hand for God's sake. Of course I am scared. He turns to me. He makes a face as if he just realised at that moment that I am also present in the room. He doesn't say anything, just stares at me intently. That's my cue to continue. "Please.. Don't do this'' I whisper as a tear rolls down my cheek.

"TINA!'' dad yells. 

"Tina stay out of this, this is none of your concern, leave!'' Everett glares at me warningly.

My concern? Really? I can't take this anymore!! "Then who's concern should it be Everett?? Huhh?? Tell me?? I don't know what the hell is going on here! no one wants to tell me what happened. How did you get yourself involved with the mafia?? Why did you force Rose to marry that man?? She ran away for God's sake”, my eyes practically bulge out at the last sentence. “We don't know if she is even safe! And you say this is none of my concern!?? This is my family too as much as it's yours. So, I don't care what the hell you say, because this is my concern and will be until everything doesn't settle back to normal." I am more than angry and don't care about how I just spoke to my elder brother. I am breathing profusely by the time I am done talking. I am sick of this hide and seek game. I want to know what is going on. I'm grown up, I'm not William. I'm Valentina. Everyone is staring at me with shock evident on their faces.

"Tina'' Everett starts to speak but is cut off by me.

"Please Everett, please tell me the truth." I beg as tears start to form in my eyes. "What is going on here? Why do we have mafia people in our home?? What did you do?" My shoulders slump as I ask the last question. Everett inhales a deep shaky breath. A tear slips from his left eye.

"Tina, it all happened so fast, I don't know myself." He starts to cry, as if he can no longer hold it in. I thought he won't continue but after a moment he speaks up. "I.. It all started 6 months ago." He gulps, "I wanted to start a new business, one of my friends suggested some ideas, he proposed that we both add equal share for the business. I didn't have that kind of money, I should've had asked dad for help, but my plan was to surprise him and make him feel proud of me, But..", he sobs, "..I was trying really hard to get the money and during that time I met Antonio at a bar." He glances at Antonio who looked like he was ready to get this all over with as soon as possible. 

"Antonio said he can easily provide me the amount but I have to sign an AGREEMENT." Everett pauses as if contemplating his next words. "It said that I need to repay the money I borrowed within the next four months, and that I will have to return double the amount. If I fail to do so, I must then serve the mafia or face death alongside my family at their hands. I was in urgent need of money and my friend told me we would become millionaires in a short time. I blindly trusted that cheater and thought that returning the money won't be an issue, I agreed to the agreement" Everett glances at me briefly.

"My partner, he was a cheat, a liar! As soon as I handed him the money he vanished into thin air, I searched for him everywhere", he starts to sob again. "I really did. 4 months passed away too fast and the next thing I know, Antonio was standing with a gun on my head in my house, ready to kill me because I asked for more time and refused to join the mafia, but then Rose came home early that day. Antonio asked about her and said he will let me live in peace if I agreed to marry my Rose to Alessandro." He shudders at the mention of the groom's name, "Alessandro is a heartless beast, everyone in the underworld knows about him. I could never hand my flower to a beast. I would never do that to her" he shook his head furiously and starts to cry hard, he kneels down. "He.. He threatened me that he'll kill me and forcefully take Rose and my family with him. He said they'll have the worst fate. So, it was better for me to agree to the marriage, he assured me of Rose’s safety that way”, he glances at me, "you know the rest" he says with his head hung low.

I am speechless. This is too much to handle.

"I suppose story time is up, now say your goodbyes." Antonio says in a bored tone, he aims his gun on Everett's head, he is about to pull the trigger...

"Antonio!" I scream. 

He shuts his eyes tightly in annoyance, he turns to me "what now?" He glares at me.

"You want a bride for Alessandro, right?" I ask shakily. He gives me a skeptical look then slowly nods his head in affirmation. "I'll marry him." I announce quickly so I don't back off my decision. Antonio's eyes widen and before he can react, Angelo enters the room.

"Immagino che il problema sia risolto giusto? Perché non siamo riusciti a trovare la ragazza." (I guess the problem is solved right? Because, we couldn't find the girl.) Angelo says something to Antonio.

"No, not my sister!" Everett is quick to protest, his eyes look at dad in panic. Antonio is in deep thought, he assesses me from top to bottom.

"How old are you?" He asks.

"18."

"Get ready, you have an hour.'' He orders and storms out of the office with Angelo in tow. I put a hand over my trembling heart. I take a glance at Everett and dad, both of them are staring at me in shock. I exit the office, if I stay, they'll try to stop me. Mom and Bridget are standing outside, they heard everything. They hug me as soon as they see me exit the office. Mom holds on to my tightly.

I feel numb. Everything seems heavy and I feel it hard to breathe. I part myself from them and head to the guest room. Where the bride was supposed to get ready. I push open the door, the dress is laid on the bed, untouched. I stare at the dress. 

I never thought while selecting it that I would actually be the one wearing it instead of Rose.