“Come celebrate with me that everyday something has tried to kill me and has failed.” ― Lucille Clifton
Background:
To really know who Valentina Ricci is, you first have to know that she loves her mother. Born to Beatrice and Giovanni Ricci, Valentina was certain that she had been born to the best parents in the world. As a child she always felt like the sunshine of their lives and it was easy to feel that way when it was just the three of them. Before the empire had been built, before she realized that the love between her parents was fading away. Before her brother was born and all the love in her father started to shift.
Valentina was a happy child. Always by her mother’s side wherever she went. She was a curious child, always interested in asking questions and getting her facts straight. She was always butting into adult conversations and from an early age she was determined to hold her own. She spent weekends in the library filling her mind and school days running around the gym, so active that her teacher eventually recommended she join the track team. A good student who behaved well, joined all the clubs and still managed to break at least two school records for the 100 meter sprint and long jump. She wasn’t wildly popular but she had a great group of friends, some flings here and there and managed to graduate at the top of her class, something her mother always let her know she was proud of. And even with adolescence brattiness, Valentina remained close to her mother. She was always her confidant and though she spent plenty of time with her father, the more he worked, the further the divide between them began to grow. Especially when her brother was usually his first choice for any outing. But she was fine with that because it meant that whenever the boys were out, she and her mother could order out and sit on the couch watching trashy tv without they boys judgement.
Things were normal, sweet even. Until they weren’t.
When Valentina elected to follow in her parents footsteps by attending Stanford, she started to finally understand where her father was spending all of his time. Her proximity to home made it easy for her to go back and forth and every time she noticed just how much their life was changing. Suddenly money was flowing, the house was getting more additions and without a doubt, her mother was becoming more and more depressed. But nothing made this more clear than when she begged her father to let her intern for him during the summer before her junior year at Stanford. She was a journalism major and she had wanted to do a story about life in Vegas beyond the glitz and glamor. And boy did she get a story. That summer was the first time she had really seen her father in action with her Uncle Jacque. And she knew that she undoubtedly wanted to be involved.
She also knew that the Enterprise was undoubtedly contributing to her mother’s declining mental health. Which was why the divorce came as no surprise but still stung more deeply than Valentina would ever be willing to admit. It would have been easy to pity her mother. To side with her powerful father and become the kind of lapdog her brother had. She knew she had the brains and the dedication, she knew that the same ruthlessness that her father had was already developing in her as well but she just didn’t know what to do with it yet. Until she came home to find her mother crying over the divorce papers. Then everything became abundantly clear. She would be the one to show the world that the only thing more powerful than a Ricci man, is a Ricci woman.
Since college, Valentina has dedicated much of her time to learning the ropes from her father. After her undergrad at Stanford, she went on to receive her Masters in Communications and soon after started her first real reporting gig with a local paper in Vegas. When she wasn’t working at her day job, she was with her father or having dinner with her mother in her new apartment which she helped her find. She enjoyed all the luxuries that her father provided willingly and even dedicated herself to being the kind of big sister her brother deserved. Even if he was a brat. She approached this the same way she approached her schooling: don’t be a problem, don’t raise suspicion, and always let them underestimate you.
To date, Valentina has published three fiction novels, all somewhat related to stories about espionage and political turmoil of some kind. She hopped around from paper to paper before deciding to strike out on her own and has recently been putting plans together to open her own media company. She’s proposed to her father that it would be another way for them to control the narrative, which is something she’s done often with the pieces she’s written for local and national papers. She’s absolutely been accused of being bias towards her father but it’s all part of the plan. She knows that the Enterprise is her birthright and she intends to make good on that promise, no matter who stands in her way. Especially her father.
Headcanons:
Still very athletic, definitely a 5am at the gym kind of person because she’s an early riser and always trying to tune into the new cycle ahead of time. Her morning routine is her favorite thing about her day because it usually involves writing time and outdoor time.
Lives alone in a big ol house in Glenn Estates, though she’s been in the process of convincing her mother to move in with her. Her friends think she should get a pet but she’s adamant that she would forget to take care of it properly.
A woman with expensive taste for sure. All of her clothing is top of the line, she drives an aston martin and cycles out so many designer bags depending on the season. She will proudly take her father’s money and is big on investing it to make even more money.
Generally an outwardly decent person though she doesn’t have the largest amount of patience. She’s less of a “treat waitstaff like shit” person and more of a “treat powerful men and people who act like assholes towards retail workers like shit” kind of person. She’s very clear on her ideals and has no qualms about making that known.
Since she does most of her work remotely, her schedule is usually all over the place, especially when she’s called about for Board business.
Is not a big fan of any of the Enterprise Board members and constantly lets her father know. She’s worked hard to earn his trust and she’s bent on keeping it until she can use it. She’ll play nice but makes her disdain very apparent.
But she does love a good time!! She’s big on keeping up appearances so she loves to host dinner parties, take trips, she often goes back to California to see her friends and last year was a guest lecturer at the journalism school.
As Meg THEE Stallion says: “I'm that bitch, Been that bitch, still that bitch, Will forever be that bitch!”
