Simone Valentino

~~~14~~~

I froze, in stunned silence processing what he just said.

"I want to kill Stephano and I want you to help me. I need your assistance, but I also don't want you to do this because you feel you need too."

"Why"
"My father is not the person who should be running this city underground, he's tricking more and more children into our business, trapping people in his web of debt and he needs to be stopped." Simone balled up his hands, and his knuckles turned white. "I can't have any of my men help me because they all answer to my father. Your smart and cunning and well equipped to help me. So I am asking, if you will help me. Of course you can have as long as you'd like to decide." He pulled out a paper and wrote something on it quickly. "My phone number." He read out the numbers then handed the sheet to me. "Call me when you decide." I nodded and bit my lip. "Would you like me to go or would you like to keep talking."

"Did you ever have pets growing up?" I said, with a nervous laugh, hoping to change the topic. For some strange reason, I didn't want to go home just yet.

"We always had lean house cats, but they never lived very long, so I stopped getting attached. They were more for the girls than me." He said, understanding what I meant and we walked down a residential street. I felt his knuckles graze mine and I wanted to take his hand, but I had my sense and just let our hands bump into each other every now and again. He didn't look at me when he spoke, but I watched him speak as we walked. He told me about his sisters, about his mother and her jewellery collection, which included a stolen crown jewel. He told me about Giuseppe and when he was young and eager to get the bump out of his nose. He set Giuseppe up with a gun barrel and told him to 'knock it back into place.' I laughed until I realised he was serious, but he was smiling too. He then bent over and showed me where the break made his nose bigger. I realised as he pointed to the break, my face going slightly pink, it may be one of his most attractive features. We kept walking and slowly he asked about my family. I felt embarrassed as I explained it was just me now, how I didn't grow up with friends and siblings to play with until John.

"Then tell me about John." He prompted and I smiled, telling the story of the fisherman and when he stole my dress for the first time.

"I figured it out around that age too so maybe it's most common then." He said and smiled, and I deflated. "I like men as well as women though, so not the exact same of course." I nodded and stood a little taller than and smiled.

"Thank you for having the courage to tell me," I said and he looked down at me and gave me a small smile.

"Eleanor, I want to tell you everything." He said and we turned down an ally.