Samuel found that during his first two days at the Vedova Nera estate that there were a lot of things that he would have to get used to. Being an outsider to a mafia family dynamic was a lot different from being right in the middle of it. Jovani hadn't been lying when he said that there would be a lot for the other to get used to.
From new family members, the way staff addressed him, to the clothes he wore, and the way that he was expected to hold himself. apparently having too casual of a demeanor was frowned upon for his position within the family which happened to be the thing that Samuel was struggling the most with.
He was a very laid-back person by nature and while he had no problem standing up for himself when situations called for it or changing his body language, it wasn't something that he was comfortable doing all the time. His cousin had told him that was something he would have to wait until they got back to talk with Lena about.
He only vaguely understood why his cousin didn't want her to know to this part yet (Lena wouldn't have allowed him to go back to the estate without her if she knew.). On the other hand, he also felt like it was just something that his cousin was doing to give the princess a hard time.
Jovani even somewhat admitted to this matter when Samuel had brought it up the morning of the second day they were there.. By saying in so many words 'she would be pleasantly displeased to find out about this small bit of information. He didn't agree about his method of handling the situation, but it wouldn't do much good to say anything to his fiance now since she would be finding out the day after next when he got back.
Samuel had been when he had the time texting the princess and sending her pictures of the estate or the people he who were his real family and those considered close enough to be family. His was nowhere as large as Lena's family but it was still a lot for him to get used to.
He was honestly surprised that while Lena asked a few questions about what was going on that she didn't pry too deeply into who people were or what he was expected to be doing there. The most invasive question she had asked which he had to defer to Jovani to get an answer on was about the number of guests who were expected to show up for the Vedova Nera family since they would have to include that for the engagement party and Ryan wanted to know in order to make sure that there would be enough food served.
"Well, that would just be, you, me, Alonso, Jasmine, and Hector." Jovani replied as he sat lounging in his office. He didn't have much to do that day and was considering taking it rather easy since his cousin was there and so much had been going on. He had a lot to teach the younger one even though he was rather quick to pick up on things which was a delightful surprise.
Jasmine was Samuel's cousin from his second uncle's son who reminded him a lot of Lena if she was a more gentle spirit and only released her ire when something upset her rather than being in a bad mood all the time. She was probably the quietest out of the family but whenever she spoke it was always something well thought out and deep. Hector was the cousin that came from his second aunt who had been born three years after his mother. He was considered close enough blood family that he would be attending.
Hector was an interesting person that Samuel hadn't quite figured out yet as he went between rather noisy and fun like Jovani to being quiet and observant the next second. He was quick to welcome Samuel to the estate and didn't have a problem with him from the start despite the position that he would taking, if anything he seemed a bit pleased that someone other than Jovani would be there to help out.
The only reason as it turned out that they were at the estate in the first place was that they were informed that Samuel would be coming and Jovani requested their presence to come and introduce themselves to him because he wasn't certain after this when the younger man would be coming by next time.
"Oh, also my fiance will be coming as well. You have kind of already met her. She isn't here right now though so you'll have to catch her during the engagement party as she should be off work that day all things considered." Jovani added thoughtfully after he considered whether he was forgetting anyone or not.
"I've already met her?" Samuel repeated rather surprised as he tried to think of any women he might've met recently would it could be.
"Yup, but don't think too much about it otherwise you might stress yourself out over it. It'll make sense to both of you once you met here there. She's quite a lovely person though that might be a biased opinion since I love her." he joked with a laugh.
Since there he didn't seem to be anyone else they were forgetting, Samuel sent the list to Lena who thanked him for it.
Even though he had tried to talk with her the night before when it was late and she stopped replying not long after- he got the feeling she still hadn't gotten much sleep. He did hope though that what he was doing would help her to relax though with the updates and messages.
"Should I tell Lena that we've met your fiance before?" He then asked glancing up at Jovani as he continued texting the princess.
"Nah, that can wait." He replied waving off his cousin's question.
"I think we still need to work more on getting you straightened out on how to maintain your authority and the posture that goes with it. I'm sure it'll impress her if you can change that in three days before we head back and figure out how to properly straighten your collar as well." Jovani got up from where he had been sitting to come over and fix his younger cousin's shirt collar.
"Don't wrinkle it and fidget with it so. You'll make the staff frustrated with how often I'll need to be steamed if you need to do that." He scolded as he fixed it along with his sleeves.
Just as he finished there was a knock on the office door which he replied immediately that the other person could enter as he already knew who to expect it to be.
"I brought the things you asked for." Alonso was the one who entered the room carrying a black case in his hand. By the way he held it, Samuel could only assume that it was something important.
"Perfect. I was hoping they'd come back good as new before the end of the time frame. Come in and set them down." He motioned for the other to put them on the table that they were by.
"I know that you're getting jewelry from the Red Scorpion family, but we also have our own that you'll be expected to use for the engagement and marriage. Also the cufflinks that I told you about." Jovani explained as he opened up the jewelry case.
Inside there were two silver cufflinks that looked as though they had been recently polished and cleaned up. The top part had a sleek black spider emblem on it with one small red dot.
Seeing it up close, Samuel could see why the other had said it was a more subtle sign of power. It wasn't that noticeable unless one was really looking to try and see it. It mostly blended in with the color of the suit that he was wearing.
The two rings were silver banded as well. The one which he presumed was for the woman to wear had a ring of white and black stones going around it with one red one in the middle. It looked fancy but not overly done as well. The second one was more plain and only held an emblem of a spider in the middle presumable a black widow but also had writing scrawled around it that said 'Protect what is important'.
"They're the family rings so it's expected that they would be handed down during the next marriage in the family." Jovani explained causing Samuel to look up at him.
"Shouldn't they be going to you instead?" The other just shook his head in response to this question.
"Nope because of the way the rules work which doesn't bother me in the slightest." He replied.
It felt wrong to the younger cousin but he knew that was just one of the rules that he was going to have to get used to.
