Arranged Marriage To The Princess Of The Red Scorpions

Jovani tried to cover the laugh that wanted to burst out behind a rough cough. He couldn't honestly believe what Sammy suggested. His dear younger cousin wouldn't quite understand what he was volunteering for.

"Why not? He's a Vedova Nera. It would be a good experience for him to gain now before he has to deal with similar situations in the future." Emily approved without a second thought. First-hand experience was the best kind of experience, after all. The amber-haired girl grabbed Samuel's hand and pulled him upright.

"Of course, I wouldn't expect you to involve yourself in this without understanding how the family rules worked in this situation." Family rules? Samuel had heard them mentioned before, but Jovani always acted as though they didn't apply to him. Being a member of the main family exemption sort of thing.

"Can't I be the one to show him how everything works? I don't think that you would be the best person in your current mood to go through with it." Jovani took umbridge, to his cousin's words. He huffed under his breath as he cradled his injured arm. His bad mood didn't have anything to do with his ability to explain the rules to Sammy. He could do that thing in his sleep if he wanted to.

"I don't care how we go about it. You're not dragging Sammy off tonight, though. You're also not going to do this until you agree to help me out with what I asked you about before. This must be taken care of before we drag him further into family matters." Jovani's desire to do as he pleased could only extend so far. There were still shitty rules he had to follow, even if he disagreed with them. Otherwise, people would be breathing down his neck in no time flat for bending the wrong rules and causing problems.

Too many old men still ruled the world in places where they didn't belong. Pity they couldn't go about dying sooner so that a newer generation could take over and give the mafia world the much-needed makeover it was far overdue for.

"I can tell you're already thinking too hard about matters that aren't important right now. Don't stress yourself out; I will agree to help with whatever you need. It's part of what I signed up for in my role within this family anyways." Emily gave Jovani a thumb's up. The slight motion did little to clear his head of all the thoughts swimming around.

"Good, because if you didn't, I might have to consider disowning you if I were to be stuck doing the whole ceremony on my own again. We still need a few more people before we have enough. I'm putting that in your lap as well." Jovani felt the strong urge to swear when his pocket began to vibrate, indicating that someone was trying to call him. Really? Couldn't they leave him alone for a little while?

Jovani scowled down at his legs. He would leave his phone on the wrong side of his pants. Damn, and blast everything. Jovani turned his attention to Emily rather than trying to struggle with this phone.

"Do you think we could step outside for a quick chat? I have one more favor for you." For once, Emily caught on rather quickly when he shot a glance in Samuel's direction.

"Since the two of us have to discuss a few matters, why don't you take the chance to try and call the princess again? I'm sure you'll have more success talking to her now that it has been a few hours." The suggestion made his cousin's face drop, but Jovani hardly had time to think about it. The Vedova Nera boss could only encourage his cousin to do the right thing even if the princess didn't want to talk with her fiancé.

"Can't you talk about it here?" Samuel offered despite the room's other two occupants already making their way over to the door. Surely after everything they'd already discussed around him, this couldn't be too different, could it? The shifting glances between the two told him otherwise.

Jovani mostly ignored the fact that he didn't want to discuss it. The man had his reasons, and that was supposed to be enough for his younger based on the blank expression on his older cousin's face.

Samuel didn't want to admit it, but Jovani's mood had been all over the place since he'd shown up with Jovani. Jovani couldn't be called anything other than irritable, but Samuel didn't notice any twitches or other indicators of withdrawal. Did it have something to do with the fact that the other hadn't had any alcohol to drink? Indeed his cousin didn't drink enough to be that impacted when he went a few hours without liquor in his system.

"Later, we can come back to talk about it. A few matters are still left in the dark for the time being. Once we get you firmly into the family, it won't matter what we talk about around you anymore. Seriously though, you should take this chance to try and talk with your girl. Even if she hangs up on you again, leave her a message." Jovani would've ruffled his younger cousin's hair if they were closer but stepping across the room to do it in his current state felt like too much trouble.

He settled for a brief two-finger salute to the forward with his good hand before leaving the room with Emily in tow. The amber-haired girl didn't leave the room without turning around to mouth a quick 'don't worry about it' to Samuel and an assurance that she would come back to talk with him later.

Samuel's eyes drifted towards his phone, but his hands remained on his lap. Lena suggested calling his family, but that felt like a lot. Surely his mother would know about the events taking place but his father? He'd still not getting his head wrapped around the secondary identity that his wife had kept from him.

He somehow thought it to be worse in some respects than selling their son into the underworld life.

Samuel lost track of how long he stared at the phone in deep thought, his hands rubbing his jeans absently in an anxious manner that wore away at the fabric. The lump in his throat didn't decrease in size, no matter how long he tried to figure out what to do. If anything, it only worsened the longer he went without making a decision.

Surely one more call wouldn't hurt. Lena would have to pick up the phone and answer him if he kept trying long enough.

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