Chapter 197 - Trouble

The staff was rather kind about taking care of the floor before the food could come out. There wasn't much to do about the wet clothes and hair except wait until after the meal was over. They waiters had offered some damp clothes in order to help get rid of the champagne that had landed on skin and was starting to get sticky as it dried. 

Even though the princess didn't say anything to Jovani, she did fix him with a rather harsh glare that he returned with a small smug smile. He was obviously pleased over what he had done. Perhaps more so because no one had really tried all of that hard to stop him. Of course since he had been in control of the bottle, he hadn't completely spared from the spray of the bottle. 

Samuel was better natured about it than his fiancé had been. Since there wasn't all that much that he could do about it, he just laughed it off and did his best to try and get Leo back for what he had done. Leo didn't do much to resist on this point, being a mildly childish person, he didn't mind the fact that the other had managed to get him back for what he had done. 

He already knew that his suit was going to have to be dry cleaned, the only thing that he had been thankful about was the fact that he hadn't chosen to test out his suit for the actual engagement event. He wasn't sure that with the mess that had been made that it would've been dry cleaned in time for the actual engagement.. 

"Let's try to avoid doing such a thing at the official event." Zane remarked, once everything had been cleaned up and the food had arrived. He didn't look at anyone in particular when he made this comment, but the remark was directed more at Jovani than his own son. He knew that Leo knew better than to do such a thing in a more official event such as the engagement where so many other people would be attending. 

He wasn't quite sure about Jovani though since he didn't know how things worked within the Vedova Nera family. There were groups that took such events as a more light-hearted mattered compared to how the Red Scorpions handled things. The only reason for this however came down to the difference in reputation and the image that they had to keep up with. 

"You don't have to worry about anything from me if that might be a concern. I save such thing as this for close family events only." Jovani replied as he took a sip from the glass of champagne in front of him. There had still been enough left in the bottles that everyone was able to get a half-glass. No sense in letting good alcohol go to waste. 

"How about not all next time?" Lena remarked, not bothering to glance over at the other as she continued eating. 

"It makes things more interesting though. I can't deny that your reaction was priceless. Never thought that the princess would've really been that much of a cat." The older cousin replied. 

Personality-wise, a cat was what he thought best fit Lena's attitude and personality. The touch-me-not personality that only seemed to change when she was the one initiating the contact and affection paired with how much she seemed to dislike like almost everyone and preferred to be alone reminded him quite a bit of cat that he used to have growing up which had a very similar attitude towards her. 

The only person that the princess at this point didn't seem to mind being in her personal space aside from family was Samuel. From what Jovani had been able together, this seemed to be more due to the other inviting himself into rather than the princess accepting it. 

"Anyone would react that way if they had been unexpected sprayed with something cold from behind." She retorted, defending her response. She knew that she had flinched in response to feeling the cool liquid make contact in response to her clothes and skin. She hadn't though that it would've been that noticeable. 

"Jovani, try not to antagonize people while we're trying to have a friendly dinner." Samuel reprimanded lightly. He couldn't deny though that he had also found the princess's reaction amusing however. 

He knew that she had mentioned something about not liking water when they had been previously gone to the water park. He didn't realize though how much she really seemed to hate getting wet. If it wasn't for the fact that it was a family event occurring and she had just been proposed to, Lena would've left the restaurant as soon as she had gotten wet. 

The only thing was keeping her there was the fact she was trying to be good natured about everything since it hadn't been done with malicious intent. It was a celebratory action even if she wasn't that thrilled about it. She could suck it up for one night and enjoy the rest of the meal with her family. The ring on her finger kind of helped as a pleasant reminder as to why she was doing this. 

"Dear cousin, I was only trying to add a little bit of entertainment to the event. Nothing harmful." Jovani told the other. He of course knew that there was little reason to take Samuel's reprimand seriously, he had only said what he did for Lena's sake rather than really being bothered by what had taken place. 

"A little bit of entertainment ended up turning into trouble. It seems that is something that your personality is good at attracting." Lena commented glancing over at the other. She would get back at him later for this when the time was right. It would just be when he least expected it, or else it wouldn't be worth it for her. She just didn't know when that would happen to be, yet.