Lena was now going to have to take time to process something else that was shifting for her. The fact that Samuel was the head of the Vedova Nera family wasn't going to change much in terms of their relationship- that was going to be the same as it always had been.
The image change and the fact that he was going to have a lot to do like the princess was what she was going to need to get accustomed to. The fact that he was the head of a mafia family made hiding anything from until after the engagement kind of moot also. Lena was sure that her father was aware of this as well when they exchanged glances. Now though wasn't the time to be discussing any of that with everything else that had been going on.
Glancing over at Jovani, she didn't miss the semi-smug look that was on his face as he leaned back on the sofa with his arms spread out over the top on either side. What exactly had he taught the other over the three-day span that they were gone? Lena figured that she would figure it out soon enough, the important part was that it didn't seem like anything bad had happened to him like she had been worried about.
"What exactly do you need to be around for before the engagement? Is there anything that is missing aside from what you took care of over these three days?" Lena asked. Even though he had kept his word that nothing would happen to her fiance, that didn't mean she liked him any more than before.
"Oh, I suppose that I did forget to include that part.. With the shifting in position and all that, I'm going to be Sam's right-hand man considering I'm the one who's most qualified to teach him everything he needs to know and catch him up at the same time." Jovani replied as he looked over at Samuel who nodded his head.
"So we'll still be getting to see a lot of each other for quite a while. Hopefully, during that time we can work on getting to be on better terms as well." He was probably reaching a bit far to hope that the princess would be so quick to accept the arrangement, but it didn't hurt to extend the kindness first.
"I think it'll be a while before that will happen." The princess replied as she gave him a look that showed the lack of enthusiasm that she felt over the news. She knew that she would have to let it be though because he wasn't wrong about that. Jovani was the one who could teach Samuel best about how to run the Vedova Nera if he had been keeping things steady for however long.
Plus, he was also the only one she knew in the family which meant the only one that she could trust being around Samuel without incident, or at least it seemed so.
"You'll try to be nicer to him for though for my sake though, right? Since this is how things have to be for the time being." Samuel asked as he gently tilted the princess's chin up so that their eyes could meet even though they were already sitting so close together.
Even the charming smile he gave her somehow seemed different from the ones he used to try and fail to use to get her to do something that he wanted on the rare occasions that he had tried to bribe her without using food.
"Maybe." was all the princess replied before she looked away from him. The new change in look also didn't help to settle the strange feeling that she had for Samuel. It was a new look that suited him rather well even if it was vastly different from how she was used to seeing the other.
"We will hold a inter-family celebration for this at a different time." Zane announced as he folded his hands together and rested his elbows on his legs.
"For now, I don't want this getting out either until after the official announcement is made at the engagement party. I think that it would be safer for the time being, don't you agree?" He added the last part while looking at Jovani to see what the other had to say about the matter.
"I do in fact agree. I think we should also perhaps make it a more general announcement as well?" Jovani suggested, the head of the Red Scorpions gave him a look that said he expected the other to elaborate what he meant by this.
"I mean, you can announce that there will be a marriage alignment forming between both of our families because Sam is recognized as being a member of the Vedova Nera. Beyond that though, I think that we should keep the fact that he's the head of the family a secret still." He explained pausing to make sure everyone seemed to be following what he was saying before he continued.
"We will release a statement saying that the new head of the family has confirmed and recognized, but we won't say who it is for the time being. There have been some rumors of who people think that it will be, so I don't think they would speculate that it would be Sam."
"In order to give him enough time to adjust to everything and be ready to official take over during a later announcement?" The princess clarified, not quite following what the point in doing this would be.
"No at all. The reason for not giving such information is simply that it creates the opportunity to do information collecting." Jovani replied with a small smirk.
"If people don't know who he is beyond being a member of the family but not that he's a head- they'll speak freely around him if they think he doesn't hold prestige beyond being a member of the Vedova Nera family." It had worked well for Jovani when he first started to raise in the ranks within the family but no one was aware of it. His cousin was green enough too so that no one would suspect him of holding such a high position.
