Arranged Marriage To The Princess Of The Red Scorpions

Chapter 245 - A Very Mafia Christmas Pt 3

The end of the night rolled over without anything happening. Samuel had planned everything perfectly for the next day which meant that the princess got to enjoy one more night without much of a disturbance except for an overly affectionate night partner who she was still getting used to sharing bed space with.

She wondered how normal couples managed to do it without being driven crazy. Perhaps that was a secret she would never find out.

The only part of the next day that was normal for Lena was breakfast. Samuel had informed Ryan of what his plans were which influenced what he made that morning. He opted for something lighter as he knew of those who were at the breakfast table would be getting very active shortly. Eating too much wouldn't do them any good.

Somehow it didn't surprise Lena that Jovani and Alonso ended up showing up shortly after breakfast was done. The older cousin could have the most impeccable timing when he wanted to.

"Of course, he wouldn't mind coming along for something like this. He's perhaps the most immature one here." Lena remarked under her breath. Samuel had dragged her along with him to go out and greet them even though she had seen no reason to do so.

It wasn't the snow that bothered her as much as the cold. She wanted to avoid spending as much time out in it as humanly possible until her fiancé's 'surprise' schedule started for them.

"What's wrong with keeping in touch with my inner child? I find that it makes sure I stay quite the fun person to be around." Jovani replied with a slight smirk.

"I did bring one more along of course. I thought that he might find this activity to be enjoyable as he's rather fond of snow. I guess they don't get much of it out where he lives." As he was explaining this a young child came running around the opposite side of the car after Alonso had opened the door for him.

"Jovani! Jovani! You were right this place is huge! Maybe even larger than where we live!" The princess stared at the child with an uncertain look on her face. Samuel had informed her that Jovani was going to be bringing one of his younger cousins along. She had been anticipating someone a little more mature, not this strange bundle of energy who was clinging to the older cousin as he chuckled.

"Similar in size indeed, but definitely not larger than where we live." He patted the kid on his head.

"His name is Andrew. A good kid though a bit wired today from excitement. You should remember to greet the hosts though." She reminded gently as he turned the boy around to face his younger cousin and Lena.

Rather than saying anything, he suddenly became very fixated with Lena the moment that he set eyes on her. Something that made the princess uncomfortable.

"You must be the princess that cousin mentioned." Lena didn't move to reply as she kept her gaze fixed on the other. So long as the other was staring at her, she had no intention of looking away from him.

"That's right, she's also my fiancé as well." Samuel replied for the two of them as he took Lena's hand.

"And because I'm related to Jovani as well, that makes us cousins."

"The black sheep cousin." Andrew stated with a nod of his head. Samuel gave Jovani a confused look in response to this comment. The older cousin responded with a wry smile.

"It seems some of the more distant relatives think you're a black sheep because you didn't grow up traditionally with everyone else." The edge to Jovani's voice made it clear that he wasn't thrilled about these comments.

"It's no matter though. I suppose it is about time that we get started?" He asked as he put his hands in his pocket.

"Alonso will be joining as well, won't you?" The other stopped in his tracks as he was making his way to head inside. He looked over at the Vedova Nera boss with an uncertain look in his eyes.

"I had been planning on spending my time inside until this evening." He replied but the other shook his head.

"That's nonsense. I brought you here so that you would get out and have some fun. Not so you could just move to somewhere else to lock yourself away. Forgot the paperwork." He scolded as he snapped his fingers to get the other to come back over to him.

With a sigh, Alonso resigned himself to his fate of being not being able to do finish his paperwork. He could only hope that one day wouldn't put him off too far.

"We need to get ready first if you three want to wait in the guest area. It won't take us long." Samuel told them as he turned back towards the estate. He had wanted to come out and greet them but neither he nor Lena was dressed to be spending a long time in the cold.

"Thank you for your kind offer. Might there be some warm coffee or hot chocolate?" Jovani inquired as he followed them inside.

"Ask Ryan." Was all Lena said as they headed back inside.

The princess hadn't bought any kind of real winter clothes in years. She had no reason to as most of the stuff she wore was professional yet warm enough that she didn't need to worry about it.

For the kind of activities that she was going to be doing with everyone, she knew that she was going to need to wear something a little different.

That was how she ended up wearing a white beanie with an excited blushing cat face with whiskers on it. It wasn't her first choice, but it was the only thing that she had that was warm enough and would fit her.

The expression on her face as she put on her dark red gloves warned everyone that if they made one comment about her attire that she would likely lay into them about it.

The only one who seemed openly okay with fawning over it was Samuel. He even came over to help her adjust it as she tried her hair back so that it wouldn't get in her face. To Jovani, it was another one of those moments where he got to see how gentle and harmless the princess could be when she really wanted to be.

He would have taken a picture of it if he thought he could get away with it. He knew better though than to think that Lena wasn't keeping her eye on him. She had caught in out enough times over the months taking photos of them together that she no longer let her guard down around him as much.

Once they were dressed, it was time for them to head out. Thankfully the estate had more than enough space that they didn't have to go leave to go anywhere else to engage in the game of snowball tag.

Samuel briefly explained the rules and how things were going to work out. The obvious rule was to hit someone with a snowball to tag them. They agreed that because there were only five of them that they would only choose one target.

There was a two-minute wait for the game to start as people made sure they were happy with the positions that they were in. There needed to be enough space between everyone for the game to be fun.

The princess had been fairly certain that with the unspoken feud that was always going on between her and Jovani that she would end up being the target. The older cousin had other plans however. The person he decided to pick on ended up being Alonso. The only one there who didn't have much experience when it came to playing snowball tag.

The poor man wasn't even that thrilled about being there in the first place. His boss only made things worse for him when he decided to hit him with the first snowball. At least it wasn't his face that was struck.

Now that it had started, the only thing that everyone else had to do was make sure they managed to avoid getting hit by him. Something that should have been simple enough to do, except no one knew what a good shot Alonso was.

He may not have been very good at moving through the snow or forming a proper snowball, but he had a good aim and distance when he actually got to throw a snowball. It would have looked more amazing if he hadn't lost his balance when trying to throw it and ended up flopping into a pile of soft now that practically covered.

He didn't miss his mark though and the softball ball of snow bounced off of Samuel's jacket and broke apart.

He initially wanted to hit Lena next because he thought that would add a level of challenge to the game, but opted instead for Andrew as the kid seemed rather eager to bit it next.

His ball ended up short but he called it a hit anyways just so the kid wouldn't be disappointed. After this, though was when things got interesting.

Much to Lena's dismay, the kid was determined to make sure that Lena ended up being 'it' after him. The princess who was good at dealing with other people wasn't completely thrilled about being with the less rational child who was hard to read.

Running around in the snow and dodging his poorly aimed balls (he was only a child after all) wasn't hard, it was difficult to know when to give up the challenge and actually let the kid hit her or not.

She ended up not having to make this decision herself when she lost her footing on a rather unstable packed patch of snow that shifted quickly under her feet causing her to lose her balance. This caused her to swear under her breath at the surprise of the quick movement of the snow under her feet.

She tried to correct her balance which ended up being impossible as she took a tumble backward into the snow as she tried to use her arms to stop the fall. Her movements had been quicker than when Alonso had done this which caused her to become completely engulfed in the fluffy white mass as it fluttered in the air around her.

To add insult to injury when she managed to recover enough to sit up from the tumble, Andrew hit her in the side of her hat with a snowball shouting his victory out. This action resulted in her sneezing not just once, but three times as the snow tickled her nose. The jerky movement caused the snow on her cap to sprinkle down on her face and over the rest of her winter wear.

Despite the fact that she looked wholly unamused about the situation, everyone else was trying to do their best to not laugh at her.

The next war started when Jovani couldn't stop himself from laughing. He was so distracted as he covered his face to muffle his laughter that he didn't see or expect the rather tight snowball that the princess aimed for his face after Samuel had helped her get up.

She didn't do it hard enough to actually hurt but the cold certainly didn't feel that nice against his face. He blinked a few times to get the loose snow out of his eyes and was met by the sight of the princess looking rather smug. Even his youngest cousin was clapping in excitement.

It only mildly helped the princess feel better after her fall in the snow. It was going to have to do for now as the next game had started.

Despite how cold it was and her moderate loss of dignity over falling in the snow, it wasn't as bad as she had expected it to be.