Forbidden Arrangement, page 1
FORBIDDEN ARRANGEMENT
J. S. COOPER
Copyright © 2022 by J. S. Cooper
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Editor: Jenny Sims of Editingforindies
Proofreader: Marla of ProofingStyle
CONTENTS
Blurb
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
CONTENTS
Blurb
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
BLURB
The Case: Casually bump into Valentina Ford. Take her out. Be a jerk. And then she’ll go running off to Daddy’s perfect match. Easy peasy.
The Mark: Valentina Ford, 28, headstrong, too beautiful for her own good, enjoys trashy reality TV shows. Has a wild side.
The Problem: The second I meet Valentina Ford, she kisses me. And I realize nothing about this case will be easy.
I’m Sam Valenti. The eldest of the Valenti Four. Yes, I have three other brothers who are even crazier and hotter-headed than me. The teachers just loved us in school. I run The Valenti Brothers Fix-It agency. There is no problem too big or small that we won’t attempt to fix. I’ve found cheating husbands, lost dogs, and even procured a recipe book from a little old lady for a large culinary corporation.
But now I’ve gotten my weirdest case yet. I have to date an impertinent sassy brunette. But there’s a twist; I have to be the biggest jerk she’s ever dated. It’s an unusual case, for sure, but I’m willing to take it on for the money he’s offering. It should be a piece of cake.
But then I meet Valentina Ford, and I know instantly that nothing about this case will be easy. Not one single thing.
CHAPTER 1
“I can’t believe Dad has another new girlfriend.” Sergio, my best friend and brother, rolled his chestnut brown eyes as we made our way up the stairs and out of the subway.
“I’m surprised his dick hasn’t fallen off,” Stefano, another one of my brothers, commented, and we all laughed. I saw a cute blonde in the corner, staring at us all with a small smile as we made our way down the street. I supposed we were a sight to see. Four tall, handsome Italian American studs who were all obviously related. My brother Santino winked at the blonde, and she blushed as she licked her lips.
“I’m surprised your dick hasn’t fallen off, Santino,” I ribbed my brother, and he just grinned at me. None of us took anything too seriously. We were each other’s best friends and endlessly poked fun at each other.
“Don’t be jealous that I get all the ladies, Sam. Maybe if you weren’t such a stick in the mud, you’d be getting some p …” His voice trailed off as my phone rang. I answered it immediately. A phone call meant potential money, and we Valenti brothers needed money.
“Thanks for calling the Valenti Fix-It Agency. Sam speaking, how can I help you?”
“This is the detective agency?” a deep, gruff voice asked, and I held a thumb up to my brothers. Not only were my brothers my best friends, but we also worked together. We were private detectives at our family business. My father, Lorenzo Valenti, started the Valenti Fix-It Agency before we were born, but that was back when he was in the Mafia. He was a fixer for a couple of mafiosi and lived a life of crime until he got shot and nearly died. Then he turned legit and transformed the agency into a private detective firm, with no case being too small. He always reminded us that he did it for us boys because if he died, then we’d have no one.
“Yup, we are all private detectives. No case is too big or too small.”
“I need your help with my daughter.” The man sighed, and I wondered what his daughter had done. Had she stolen his life savings? Run off with his business partner? Maybe she was engaged to some banker who was cheating on her, and he wanted me to provide proof.
“And how can I do that, sir?” I could see my brothers watching me as I spoke. I knew they were all hoping this would be a big case. The sort of case that would put us on the map and have the big bucks rolling in. We needed more business. We weren’t exactly broke, but the income from the agency was supporting the entire family, and we didn’t have much left in the bank after all expenses were paid at the end of each month.
“I’d rather talk to you in person.”
“Um, okay.” I looked at my brothers and held up my hand for them to stop. “If you want to meet us at The Toad’s Hole, my brothers and I will be there in about five minutes … until about midnight.”
“Okay, I’ll be there.” He hung up, and I shrugged as I placed my phone in my pocket.
“So we may or may not have a new case,” I told my brothers as we continued walking.
“I might have to leave early tonight.” Stefano clenched his fists, and I nodded. Stefano worked with us by day, but he was an underground fighter by night. He usually didn’t come to the bar with us on fight nights, but this was the first Friday of the month. On the first Friday of every month, my brothers and I held a meeting in a local bar called The Toad’s Hole. We did it for several reasons. One, we loved to hang out together. Two, we loved to hang out in bars, and three, we inevitably found new clients at the bar, so it was also a way to drum up business. As the eldest, I was in charge, and being in charge came with a lot of responsibility. We called it a Fix-It Agency because we considered ourselves Mr. Fix-Its. However, some people would classify our company as a detective agency. However, none of us Valenti boys liked the word detective. It was too close to the word cop. And one thing we Valentis didn’t like was cops. Well, I liked cops, even went to the police academy, but I had to drop out. The family dislike was more than likely born from the fact that our great-grandfather, who had been a little bit of a criminal, had been in and out of jail so many times that he’d hated them first. He’d taught our grandfather to hate cops, who had taught our father, and our father had taught us. It didn’t help that our father had spent most of his life working for the Mafia, but he was retired now. At least that was what he told us. Half the time, he was at the bar or the office with us. He was the kind of guy who always had to have his say in something. It drove me crazy. But I loved him. He raised us four boys by himself when our mom left. While he wasn’t perfect, he did his best.
“That’s fine.” I nodded as I hit him on the shoulder. “I’m surprised you’re willing to bruise your pretty face.” My brothers all laughed at my joke. Stefano was the best-looking of all the brothers, even though we were all pretty handsome. Something about the way his dark hair flopped over his bright-blue eyes made the women drop their panties faster than they swiped their credit cards at a Kate Spade sale.
“You guys gonna come?” Stefano asked as we walked into the rowdy bar. The Toad’s Hole was dark, smelled of beer, and was full of criminals and tourists, but it felt like home. We’d been coming here since before we could legally drink.
“I don’t know.” I shrugged. “Depends on how much business we drum up.”
“Isn’t Elise going?” Santino asked Stefano. Elise was Stefano’s best friend and like a sister to us all. Her mom, Sienna Dane, had been our dad’s first girlfriend after our mom left. Even though she and he had only dated for a year, she’d stayed in our lives. Sienna took care of us as a surrogate mom, and I always wondered how she had remained such good friends with my dad, who was a serial womanizer.
“Yeah, probably.” Stefano nodded. “And Betsy too.”
“Oh boy.” I rolled my eyes. Betsy was Stefano’s trophy girlfriend of the month.
“Don’t be jealous, Sam.” Stefano winked at me. “You don’t have your next twenty-nine-dayer?”
I glared at him and headed toward the bar to order the beers. I always got the first round. As the eldest, I was responsible for taking care of my brothers. I looked around the bar as I waited to be served to see if I saw any potential clients. I wasn’t picky about the cases we took, just so long as they were on the up-and-up.
“Hey, Bruno,” I greeted the old Italian bartender.
“Valenti.” He nodded, then grabbed a glass and started filling it with beer. He knew us well enough to know what we wanted without even asking.
“Busy night.” I made small talk with him.
“Yeah, I heard Lorenzo’s got another new lady.” He handed me a glass, which I passed to Stefano.
“You know Pops.” I grinned at him. “He loves the ladies.”
“This one’s young, though?” Bruno raised a bushy gray eyebrow.
“Yes.” I nodded. “Annie used to be an actress … in an Off-Broadway show.”
“Hmm.” Bruno pressed his thin lips together and handed me another glass. “He never did get over Patti leaving.”
“Yeah.” I nodded. Patti was my mom. My brothers and I hadn’t seen her in twenty years. I didn’t like talking about her, but I didn’t mind Bruno bringing her up. Bruno and my dad had grown up together. “Thanks.” I placed a twenty-dollar bill on the bar top and grabbed the last beers. My brothers and I headed to the corner of the bar near the dartboards and started drinking. I sipped on my cool brew and licked the foam off my lips. Someone changed the jukebox to the Rolling Stones, and I nodded my head in time to the beat.
“So, I got an idea,” Stefano said, beer in hand, looking around at us. Stefano was the second born and my second in command, though he liked to act like the boss.
“What’s the idea, Stefano?” I didn’t really think it would be a good one. Stefano’s ideas were hit-or-miss. Though now that I was in charge, I was trying to listen to my brothers and not just boss them around. They didn’t like being told what to do, which was one of the reasons my dad had finally retired.
“Let’s have a bet to see …” He paused for dramatic effect. Stefano should have been an actor. He had the looks for it. Though, to be fair, all of us brothers were pretty fit. Our father was considered an Italian stallion in his day, and our mother had been an English rose. Though she’d wilted pretty quickly.
“Come on, Stefano.” Sergio groaned at the theatrics as he downed his beer. “Santino and I want to play darts, and we don’t have time to listen to you—”
“If you would shut up, I could tell you what I was going to say.” Stefano looked over at me, and I shrugged. Sergio had a point. Stefano could be long-winded, and we weren’t here to listen to one of his crazy-ass ideas.
“Hey, boys.” A sexy redhead walked up to Stefano and looked around at all of us. There were two other women behind her. They weren’t as cute, but if the way they were fucking me and my brothers with their eyes was any indication, they looked just as easy. The sexy redhead pouted and leaned into Stefano, pressing her bust into his arm.
“Hey.” He grinned at her. “How can I help you, ma’am?”
“I seem to have an itch.” She licked her lips. “And only you can scratch it.”
“Oh yeah?” He laughed as he looked her up and down. I could tell that the girl thought she had him, but she didn’t know Stefano. He liked women he had to chase. The more a woman pursued him, the faster he ran. Even if it was easy sex.
“Yeah, you want to get out of here?” She grabbed his hand and placed it on her breast. I looked over at my other brothers, and I could see them laughing.
“My trophy girlfriend wouldn’t like that.” He chuckled as he gave her breast a quick squeeze and winked. I didn’t know how Stefano got away with his antics, but he always did. The redhead pouted and then looked at me.
“How’re you doing, blue eyes?” She fluttered her eyelashes, and I tried not to roll my eyes. I hadn’t had sex in two months and was starting to get fed up with the morning and evening jerk, but I wasn’t about to accept my brother’s sloppy seconds.
“Not tonight, love.” I shook my head and looked over at Stefano, who was trying not to laugh.
“Your loss.” She looked at her friends, who both seemed disappointed, and they headed to the next set of guys, who seemed much happier to see them.
“Really, Sam?” Stefano grinned as we took a seat in one of the booths.
“Really, what?” I took another chug of my beer.
“You didn’t want a redhead for the night?”
“I’m not in the habit of taking my brother’s rejects.” I stared at him and watched as he threw his head back in laughter. “Are you ready for the fight tonight?”
“As ready as I can be.” He nodded, and his expression immediately became more serious. “If I win this fight and the next three, I can get entry to the World Underground Fighting Championship, and if I place, well, I could bring home millions.”
“Don’t people get seriously hurt, though?” I frowned as I stared at him. He looked away and over at Sergio and Santino, who were throwing darts right next to us.
“Hello, are you the Valentis?” A deep voice sounded from next to me. It was the voice from the phone. I looked away from Stefano and up at the tall, distinguished man in a suit standing next to me. His piercing blue eyes looked Stefano and me over. I could tell this man was made of money. His suit cost ten grand, easy. I looked down at his shoes and knew the fine Italian leather cost another fifteen hundred. My eyes made their way to his cuff links, which were definitely twenty-four-carat gold and another two thousand dollars. And then I saw his watch and felt the excitement bubbling up inside me. It was a Patek Philippe, and if I wasn’t mistaken, it cost about three hundred grand. I sat up a little straighter and gave him a cool smile.
“I’m Sam Valenti, head of the Valenti Fix-It Agency. This is my brother Stefano.” I pointed at Stefano and then at my other brothers. “And those two knuckleheads are Sergio and Santino. We run the agency. How can I help you?”
“I spoke to you on the phone earlier.” The man took a seat next to me.
“Yes, I believe so. I don’t believe you told me your name?”
“Hamilton.” He didn’t blink. “Hamilton Ford.”
The name sounded vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t place it.
“And how can we help you, Mr. Ford?”
“I have a problem.” He frowned and sat back. I watched as he played with his cuff links. Whatever the problem was, it was causing him distress.
“And that problem is?” I raised an eyebrow as I waited.
“Valentina,” he said, pressing his lips together.
“Oh.” I nodded in understanding. “Your wife? You think she’s stepping out on you?”
“My wife?” Hamilton frowned and then started laughing. “Valentina is not my wife … she’s my daughter.”
“Oh, I see.” I stared at him, not seeing at all. “And what’s Valentina done? Stolen from your safe and run away?”
“Stolen from my safe?” Hamilton rubbed his forehead and started laughing again. “I give her everything she wants. She doesn’t need to steal from my safe.”
“I see.” I waved Sergio and Santino over to join the conversation. “So what happens to be the problem, then?”
“She’s dating an idiot.” Hamilton let out a huge sigh. “I need one of you lot to date her.”
“We’re not a dating agency.” I shook my head. “Sorry.”
“I don’t want you to marry her.” He sneered. “I heard you boys were good-looking, and I heard right. I just need one of yous to flirt with her, so she’ll dump the loser she’s dating. Then, when the time is right, you’ll dump her, and I’ll introduce her to Connor.”
“Connor?” I wondered if the man was high or something.
