Arranged marriage to the princess of the Red Scorpions
Chapter 209 - Small Talk

"Aha, no I assure you he isn't a long lost brother. He's actually a cousin for a very dear cousin of mine whom I reconnected with recently. She's here somewhere as well."

"He's quite charming right? New to this side everything, but I can assure you that looks can be deceiving. He has a lot of potential under that charming face of his."

"He'll be working closely with me for now. Best way to make sure he understands the reigns. The gifts are well appreciated by the way."

"Who is marrying into to who's family? Well Zane was the one who set up the marriage initially before we reconnected. So I suppose we would be getting married into the Red Scorpion Family. The rest of the family is as great as the princess. Especially the younger brother."

The people and the conversation kept flowing almost in an endless way. Jovani did most of the talking as he introduced Samuel to a number of different people, some who where more outwardly polite than others who looked like they were already judging the younger man.

Which is one of the reasons why the older cousin took care of most of the talking, he knew that people would treat Samuel differently most likely assuming that he held a low position within the family since he was new.

Samuel took it as an opportunity to both understand better how communication worked between the mafia families. He also decided it would be a good way to gauge other's personalities and unspoken opinions of him.

Being a person of power within the Vedova Nera family, Jovani knew that if he personally introduced Samuel to everyone and kept him close, it would be a sign that he already accepted the other and it would be wise for others to accept him as well if they didn't want trouble.

In some families, it took more than just sharing blood to get people to respect someone. Especially if they weren't part of the main line of succession.

"So does that make you a lapdog within that family then?" Ah, of course the snide remarks would come from some who didn't quite know how to hold their tongues.

"Cristobal, that isn't a very polite thing to say." Jovani scolded the other, his tone was light but the look that was in his eyes gave a clear warning to the taller, heavier set mafia man who had his arms crossed as he sized up Samuel.

Cristobal belonged to one of the smaller families who had recently been working really hard to get their position and status more recognized through the work that they had been doing.

"I'm just saying what others are thinking, you know that Jo." He said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"He's new to this work yet marrying into a prominent family. I don't imagine that he has any useful skills to offer, thus it's likely he's going to end up just being some spoiled lapdog who that princess everyone speaks so highly of will have to watch out for." He of course also happened to be one of them who wasn't the brightest no cared much about what he said out loud in the presence of others.

Jovani was about to say something to reprimand the other man, but Samuel held up his hand to stop him. The younger cousin might not have been saying much until now, but he thought that it would be a good time to speak up.

"Cristobal, I understand that this is our first time meeting and I'm sure as someone who has put in a lot of effort to earn your status that it's a joke that someone such as myself got the advantage of jumping into a higher position compared to your own." Samuel told the other.

"I would petition though that you watch before you assume. I have no intention of becoming anyone's lapdog or not working to earn my position as well since my position is one that I am marrying into. Not now considering the occasion, but at a later date, perhaps you'd like to set some time aside for a sparing match?" Samuel held out his hand for the other to shake when he offered this.

"Don't blame if you can't handle it." Cristobal said before he shook hands with the other but he left to go get food. The force behind Samuel's handshake was stronger than he expected, but his words and actions did little to change the other's opinion of him.

"You know that I can easily have something done about that if you would like me to?" Jovani told his younger cousin as they moved through the crowd where they knew the next group of people would be. It was getting closer to the time when the announcements were going to be made.

"No need. It wouldn't look good for you to something too drastic for someone who's just joined the family even if we are blood related, right?" He asked as he glanced over at the other who had a somewhat pleased smile on his face.

"You do learn quickly. Even if it didn't look good though, I wouldn't mind doing it for you. After all, you're one of the few family members that I'm rather fond of."

Since they had been taking so much time to talk with everyone, they decided that it was time to get something to eat as well and see where Lena and the rest of her family were so that they could catch up with them for a few minutes.

Jovani checked his phone on the way over in order to make sure that he didn't miss any important updates. He stopped though when a glint of something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye.

He stepped in front of Samuel and put a hand in front of his own face before the camera flash went off, blinding him slightly due to how bright the light was. Who had been responsible for letting a member of the media?

"Excuse me, you need to delete that and any other photos that you've taken, press aren't authorized to take photos at this event." Jovani told the older journalist who seemed rather putout that he hadn't been able to get a clear picture of Samuel's face.

"I have a press pass though. Cleared to take photos for mafia events in the past." The older man told them as he rummaged around his pocket until he found the pass that he was referring to. The older cousin took it and looked it over, it did indeed indicate that he was cleared to be at such events.

"Who did you clear this through? Usually these things have to go through me first." He asked with a frown. He remembered clearly telling Jovani to make sure the press knew not to show up since it wasn't going to be his family at the event.

"Uhh, His name started with an n or m." The man replied, scratching the back of his head while he tried to remember the name.

"He told me that it wouldn't be a problem as long as I had this with me. In fact pictures would be welcome to be released to the press since it's supposed to be some kind of big event going on here." The man explained.

"Well, I'm sorry to tell you but since you didn't go through me or my assistant, you're not really authorized and cleared to be here so again I would ask you to leave and delete the photos. The man grumbled when he heard this, but quickly shut up when Jovani reached into his wallet and pulled out a fifty to give the other. The reporter even willingly showed him that he had deleted the pictures that he had taken before he left.

"Harmless bribe." he told his younger cousin as he put his arm over his shoulder when he saw the look that the other was giving him.

"Little things you have to do in order to survive in this world. Now let's get some food before we got mobbed again."

When they had reached the area where Ryan had set up all the tables with the assortment of appetizers, desserts and refreshments, Lena happened to be there as well. By the way that she was looking out into the crowd, her mood seemed dampened. Perhaps not such a surprise with all of the people who had shown up.

"See princes, as promised, I have brought your darling fiancé back in one piece with minimal trouble." Jovani told the younger woman as he gave his younger cousin a little push to go and stand next to the other.

"The reporter." was all Lena said when she turned to look at Jovani. That explained why she was annoyed.

"One of ours, but he certainly wasn't authorized by us to come here and take photos." The older cousin replied.

"It's not a worry though, I already sent him out after making sure he deleted the pictures that he had taken." he assured her.

"Speaking of pictures though. Let me take a quick one of you two. I didn't get a chance when everyone was taking the family photo. I want to keep one on my phone to commemorate this moment." Lena was about to protest when Samuel hugged her to his side suddenly.

"One picture can't hurt anything." He replied. Pictures weren't that big of a deal to him and he thought it was only fair since his cousin didn't have a chance to have any photos of him together.. Later, they would have to get one of the three of them together.