All Chapters of The Agreement: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

"From the first moment that we touched, your arms felt like home." ~ John Mark Green I enter the kitchen, Christine and three other maids are waiting for me. An hour passes by as we decide on this week's menu, I make sure to blend both cultures together so we can experience something unique in our food. I laugh so much with the women present around me, we also get to know each other. The other maids are Lisa, Hannah and Sarah, they are very sweet, we get along very well, Christine works as our official translator, I am trying to pick up a few words. I get to know that these women are in fact good cooks but no one really bothered with the food here so they never made an effort. This makes me think about the women of this house, like who used to run it? Antonio is clearly unmarried and I have never heard or seen Alessandro or Angelo's parents. Apart from the 3 men, I have not encountered any other family member, I make a mental note to later ask Christine about them. My thoughts are c

"I knew who I was this morning; but I've changed a few times since then." ~Alice In Wonderland "Tina, you not join us for pranzo again." (Lunch) Christine says in a worried tone as she tries to form a correct sentence. "Come join us for cena, niente scuse" (Dinner, no excuses) she says sternly this time. The Italian words in-between her sentences make her look cute instead of intimidating. "I'm not feeling well, leave me be." I say for the umpteenth time. She puts her right palm on my forehead to check my temperature, I gently remove it and clasp it in between my hands, I smile as I observe her worried features "I'll eat when I feel well." I assure her. She eyes me, clearly not believing a word "promettere" (promise) I say the foreign word and immediately receive a big toothy grin from her. Spending most of the time with the maids I have started to grasp on to small words, I try to use them in my sentences which in result makes them really happy. After convincing Christine a littl

"Just enough madness to make her interesting." ~Atticus "He what!?" I ask loudly, she leans back in the sofa, I think I scared her. "Mrs. Rom.." "Valentina" I interject, "Huh?" Her face contours in confusion. "Call me Valentina instead of Mrs. Romano" "Oh! Ok, M- Valentina" she corrects herself. "As I was saying that Ca- Mr. Romano has sent me to teach you Italian." she gives me a tight-lipped smile but I don't miss how she almost referred to him as Capo. I get excited at the mention of him sending her for me, that means he actually thought about what I said. It means he cares, I can't stop grinning. "Should I gather the staff?" I ask expectantly looking at her, she furrows her eyebrows. "Why would you gather the staff?" She asks back. This time it is me who is confused, "didn't you say you are a teacher?" I ask a little unsure now. She nods a little too quick at that, "are you not going to teach the staff English? Or there is another teacher for them?" I ask. Cara's f

"You can't stop the waves, but you can learn to surf" ~Unknown "So, he can introduce them to their Queen..." I stare at Antonio's calm face giving him a somewhat confused look, before I can voice out my confusion, he beats me to it. "You, Valentina, are our queen. Alessandro is the mafia king, all these people you see under this roof are his people. They do whatever he orders them to do." He leans in towards me as if telling a secret that no one should hear. Instinctively, I too lean in, getting closer to hear what he has to say. "They can even kill without a second thought, as long as it is an order given by their king" he whispers with an evil smirk. I move away from him and can't stop the dirty look that I throw at him. Was he trying to threaten me? I just arrived at this party but don't feel like spending another minute here. Antonio chuckles at my reaction, "don't worry! after all you are our Queen" he says the word 'Queen' in an awfully distasteful tone. "You won't do anythi

"I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun" ~Jane Austen "Alessandro's mom" I say staring at the picture in front of me. I sense movement from beside me but don't bother to look, Angelo stands in front of me, blocking the picture from my view. "Come, we're getting late for lunch. Isn't that the reason you came here?" He asks getting back to his usual cheery self. I nod, standing up. I follow him out of the entertainment room but not before glancing at the picture one last time. We reach the hall, my mind still on the beautiful eyes. "Do you know where Alessandro is?" I ask, raising my head to look at him. "Maybe in the warehouse" he shrugs. I stop in mid step, Angelo stops when he senses my absence from beside him. He turns around giving me a questioning look. "You go, I'll join you guys, I have to get something from the kitchen" I tell him, he shrugs his shoulders and walks away to the dining room. "Christine!" I call her, within a few seconds she is in front of me. "