45 Val, Time’s Up

ORIGINAL CONTENT OF D.C. BLU. DO NOT COPY AND/OR REDISTRIBUTE WITHOUT THE AUTHOR’S PERMISSION. PLAGIARISM IS CRUEL. PLEASE BE RESPECTFUL.

45: Val, Time’s Up

Monday came and Val sat in the coffee shop talking to Tiffany about one of their clients when she noticed a long limo stop in front of the cafe window. Val watched men in suits get out to keep guard around the vehicle while another opened the back door. She stopped talking when a tall dark haired olive-gold skinned hunk of a man got out. And unfortunately Val knew that beautifully sculpted face.

Her first love. Good thing her heart didn’t skip anymore. At least not for him.

“Tiffany, let me call you back in about…fifteen minutes. If I don’t, you call me. If I don’t answer, call Roger and tell him I need that favor.” Then she hung up.

She finished the last bite of her scone the moment he walked into the cafe.

That charming smile lit his face the moment he saw her.

“Mi amore.”

His love! No the hell he… The audacity. Val packed up her laptop, and pulled cash from her purse before she stowed it in the same bag, just in case she needed to run.

“Valeria? You’re not going to greet your husband?”

Ignoring him, Val went back to her tea and sipped keeping her mind focused on a singular point in the room — her reflection in the window. Though on the inside she felt like destroying something, on the outside she remained the demure presence her mother trained her to be.

Domenic took a seat across from her and began speaking in Italian, “When I heard you were in the states I knew I had to come and see you. It’s been so long. I’ve missed you.”

Finishing her tea, Val stood to her feet.

“Val? Where are you going?” he asked looking around, making sure no one saw. He was always so concerned about what other people thought.

Instead of answering, Val put the cash on the table then turned toward the door.

Domenic stood getting in front of her. “Sit down.” He warned.

She stepped up to him to tell him about where he could stick his command, but two of his guard that she never seen before got between them. Not wasting her breath on his goons, she walked around them.

“Val!”

Two more of his guard that waited outside the door stepped in her way.

“Move.” Val said calmly, then prepared to take them out herself if they didn’t.

One of the guards at the limo called a warning. “Don’t get in her way.”

She knew that voice. It was one of the guards she used to manage for Domenic. But she didn’t look back to acknowledge him. She continued walking.

She didn’t walk fast enough. Domenic was right behind her.

“Val, I just want to talk,” he said in Italian.

So she responded in kind. “Talk.”

“Did you get my gifts, my love?”

“I am not and never have been your love. You made that clear the night you threw me away. Goodbye.” She turned away from him.

“Val, I regret-“

“Too late for regrets, Domenic. Far too late,” she said, never stopping to look back. She was not the abused dog that came back for more. She’d had enough.

Val got back to her hotel room and began pacing. When her phone rang it was Tiffany.

“Everything okay?”

“Domenic.”

Tiffany got quiet. “What do you need?”

“I need you two to be careful. Remember our plan?”

“I assume control and the head, all activities go through me. Roger is my second.”

“Good. The only new business is consultant work that doesn’t involve me.”

“I remember.”

“I’ll call you when things get better.” Val assured her.

“Be careful.” Was the last thing she heard before she hung up.

Then she destroyed her phone to destroy the traceable link between her and her company not wanting her people getting hurt because of Domenic’s moods. Val made sure that Tiffany had the resources on her end to keep the phone networks from logging their calls.

Staring at the disassembled phone floating in a clear container full of corrosive household cleaner, Val took in slow deep breaths. She could do this. She could stand against him…

So why did the thought of going to war with him hurt?

Ten years of marriage. And I knew him way before then. He’s family…a part of me whether I like it or not. That’s the problem. She groaned wiping her hands over her face remembering the boy that used to tease her harmlessly.

Val went to her emergency phone. She pulled it out and dialed. The other end picked up. There was no hello, no greeting at all, just as they rehearsed. “I’m destroying this phone. I won’t get another one. I’ll find you.” Then she hung up.

And destroyed that phone as well.

Taking a deep breath, Val went to a suitcase in her closet. She pulled it out and sat on the carpet in front of it. Folding her legs, she put in the combination. Then she opened it to stare at the vials of liquids and powders.

“I won’t let emotions rule me. Think logically, carefully. He wants to talk. Then we’ll talk. I am not an assassin until I’ve been given the order. I am just the tool. A tool that does not think for myself. I am just the tool.” She closed the top and put the combination back on the case.

Then she sat and remained quiet staring at nothing as she remember her years of training. Memory after memory played through her mind. She would not let him pull her down. Nor would she stoop to undignified levels.

“Remember, the person who lives and smiles is not the same person who kills.” Her mother once told her. “The person who kills is not a person. It is a mask you wear only when called upon. Never on your own terms. Never on your own decision. Let someone else pull the trigger. This is the code.”

Then she remembered Radford’s head in her screen. For an instant, before she pushed the button executing the kill, she had been happy to be the one to end him. He killed her parents. Destroyed their lives. He was the reason her father made a rash decision to have her marry into Ricci. Her father had wanted her to be taken care of after he died. So she had wanted Radford to suffer, but instead it was a quick clean death. Probably didn’t even know he was dead until he woke up in hell.

For that instant, she had been a murderer. No longer the tool. She had taken satisfaction in ending his life. Then she cursed Domenic for the truth. She wished he had never told her. If she had been operating rationally, she’d never have agreed to the order. Radford was Walthour’s man. They should’ve never touch him.

If he found out, what would happen? Would he hunt her then Domenic? Would he tell the alliance?

She took in a deep breath and grabbed her purse from her laptop bag. She needed a new phone. And she needed to warn Matt.

ORIGINAL CONTENT OF D.C. BLU. DO NOT COPY AND/OR REDISTRIBUTE WITHOUT THE AUTHOR’S PERMISSION. PLAGIARISM IS CRUEL. PLEASE BE RESPECTFUL.