"Just me, Val," he assured her, though she had nothing to go by but his word on the subject. He fucking wished Coulson was here but you couldn't always get what you wanted and coming with backup wouldn't have endeared him much to Valentina or got him what he came here to get. Even if he managed to get her to agree, her cooperation would come with all kinds of strings attached and the threat of betrayal. It was a risk he had to take.
There were a lot of other people, people who he genuinely trusted, who could do what he meant to ask of her but he wasn't willing to risk those assets just yet, not so early in the game. This was more of an insurance measure and if it worked, great, if it didn't well he'd deal with that later and the whole arrangement would benefit him regardles. More to the point, anyone else he asked this of wouldn't have quite the flare for it that the Contessa had. Nick had to respect someone who'd pulled the wool over his eyes- back when he still had 'em both- for ten years and even got him to fucking love her in the process. There was also the advantage of Val's lack of moral qualms and, of course, the added bonus of pitting his enemies against each other.
"How do you feel about S.H.I.E.L.D. these days?" he asked with something near to a genuine smirk. No sense wasting anymore of what was obviously her precious lounging around in a nightie time. "Because I'm thinking you and I might be on the same page right about now."