<h4>Chapter 234: Chapter 234 : Mafia Monkey Business</h4>


    James.


    “I’m surprised to see someone so young and vibrant with someone so set in his ways,” Sylvio, the butler was saying to Ba around the corner. I listened to the conversation while gritting my teeth. Wedding prep had been going phenomenally aside from this bastard and his piss-poor attitude toward me.


    Now, he was clearlying on to Ba. At the moment, I was setting up some art pieces I wanted to be disyed in the halls when I overheard this entire conversation. I wondered if I should butt in, but I told myself that Ba could handle it.


    This was very true; I heard herugh as if the man was joking. “Oh, he’s not like that at all!” Ba said cheerfully. “James is a family man. Sure, we had our conflicts in the past. I went back and forth for a bit. But we are very much in love and happy.”


    I smiled to myself, feeling my heart warm at her words. Not that I had any worries otherwise, of course. This butler, however, seemed to think she needed to be with someone else. Namely him. Who would leave someone like me for a butler? Sure, I’d made mistakes in the past, but I had changed for the better now. I was ten times the man this ridiculous Sylvio was.


    The butler was persistent, apparently, causing me to clench my jaw even tighter and shake my head. Perhaps I should just go ahead and fire him, even if he was good at his job and was getting things done quickly. I would have sent him packing a long time ago. But I promised myself I wouldn’t interfere with Giovani’s choices.


    And well, the wedding was tomorrow, and he wouldn’t be able to pester either me or Ba after that.


    I couldn’t shake the dread that I would still have to deal with him during that time. He got along with Ba well, though I had a feeling he was making extra effort to do so. Oh, well. I trusted Giovani, and this was his call.


    My gut instinct told him that my cousin kept this douche around for a reason. I tolerated him because of that, and because, well, he really was good at his job. Everything was being handled very efficiently, something that did relieve a bit of stress from Ba.


    Today’s preparations for the wedding wereplete, and I walked over to check on the kids. They were in the designated y area, squealing and fumbling around with so much excitement. They really did like getting out to see ces, I could tell.


    I resolved to bring them to a restaurant sometime soon and maybe the movies. Alessandro’sst restaurant experience hadn’t gone well, what with the death of my uncle, the Don. But Alessandro would have to go back to a restaurant again someday. They would need to learn how to behave well in public. I was hoping they would be naturals at it, but even if not, I would remove them from the premises if they were throwing tantrums and wait until they calmed. That had always worked well for Tally.


    I was often reminded of how much of a monster I was as a child, so I hoped they took after Ba as opposed to me. If Ba was an angel as a child,e to think of it. I would ask her father that, but he was still close-minded to the idea of me being a good person.


    I felt my heart clench at that but shook my head. Best not to dwell on things. Some people never actually came around, and that was alright.


    There wasn nothing I could do about it now, anyway. I couldn’t change the past.


    After giving both Alessandro and Dahlia a hug, I bid Madeline farewell. I would see her in the nurseryter and hang out with the kids again. For now, I eyed my phone. The inner-family newswork had been going off like crazytely. What was it this time? I had handed off most of my Don work to Giovani, who epted the burden happily.


    That didn’t mean all of it. I was stuck practically herding cats still with the position I had in the family. When I got home and parked the car in the garage, I greeted security quickly and let myself inside. Ba would still be at the hall for another half hour, approving some final touches.


    Sitting in my office, I got set up in front of myputer, gazing at the various articles essible to the public and growing. One of the headlines read ‘Organized Crime Violence on the Rise in Florence’ and ‘Heist Breaks Bank of Over a Million.’ The mafia was being med for that, no doubt.


    My family, rather. Even though I knew we hadn’t nned a heist for ages, and never under my order. We dealt in a lot of shady businesses, but bank robbing wasn’t one of them. That, or moneyundering. I’d already spoken to Giovani about the possibility of cleaning our hands, slowly.


    We could be plenty rich with proper investments, especially given the old money we had flowing in the family. My attempt to convince people was going well, but the general public perception would never fade away. Sure, the mafia didn’t have the power it once did.


    General fear and conspiracy, along with past crimes, didn’t help the perception at all, and made it easy for copycats trying to rise up toy the me on us. Which consequently led to violence from us. The Valentinos didn’t sit there and take it.


    Giovani covered most of that aspect, but I had to approve of his ns. I went through some of them, sighing at the violence on disy. I was perfectly capable of handling it but getting frustrated with having to constantly do so.


    The feeling of ‘being watched’ applied here too, though in a different sort of manner than what I’d told Giovani about. This dread of constantly having it all hang over me because I was now Don took its toll.


    My thoughts went to Tally for a moment, which caused a tear to trickle down my cheek. I shook my head, wiping that away quickly and telling myself to focus on the positive future we had ahead. Ba and I were going to be married tomorrow, and it was going to be wonderful.


    A notification came up on my screen, causing me to furrow my brow. Someone had attempted to ess one of my many bank ounts but failed. I began looking into it, sending the situation to security and furrowing my brow.


    How could I be happy with all of these odd going-ons? I swallowed, satisfied that everything was being handled, but still feeling my emotions start to billow into negativity once more. Little things like this, though I knew no one had the power to get away with it, poked at my subconscious.


    A few minutester, security got back to me that all was well. My funds were in no danger. I let out a sigh of relief even though I knew this would be the oue. Shaking my head, I sent Giovani a text exining what just happened.


    ‘Not good, but not a problem,’ Giovani sent back. That text was followed by another. ‘Don’t stress about it, James. I have it covered. Is your tux squared away? I know there were dys on that end, and I tried to get it situated.’


    ‘Yes, it was taken care of. Thank you, as usual, Giovani,’ I sent. That had been a headache once again avoided by my cousin. The tuxedo in question was of unique design, with ck roses that would shine into view when the light hit it just right.


    The tux was very pristine and made of incredibly expensive material. Everything had been squared away until some dys came up, which no one could exin to mepletely. I wanted that tuxedo to surprise Ba because I knew she’d love it.


    Dys like that were a constant. First the tux, then the cake. The bakery had been having some sort of issue I hadn’t heard the details about. Some decorations that had been there before were no longer in ce. Some chairs went missing; some people didn’t get their invites. It was all very suspicious, but so far, everything had been corrected as it came up.


    I sighed, stress weighing me down. Ba, at least, was happy. Speaking of which, I heard her enter thepound and got up from my chair to leave my office and greet her. Unlike me, she was a ray of sunshine, a huge smile stered across her face.


    “James!” she said, rushing over to give me a huge hug. I swept her into my arms and left a soft kiss on her lips, holding it for a moment before pulling away and smiling at her. “Everything is going so well. All of the details are finally falling into ce.”


    She began to tear up, and I reached up to wipe away one of them, giving a wide smile. “That is wonderful to hear, love,” I said, giving her a squeeze before putting her down. “Want to get some lunch? We can talk about the final touches for tomorrow over some food.”


    “That would be lovely!” Ba said, causing my smile to widen. She studied me for a moment, however, and tilted her head. “Have you been alright? Giovani mentioned you were a little bit stressed, so I got worried. You’re doing a wonderful job, James.”


    “Oh, you know how it goes,” I said softly. “Weddings can be both wonderful and stressful. I want our day to be perfect.” Granted, most weddings didn’t include having to worry about the family as the Don and their mafia dealings, but Ba didn’t need to worry about that.


    “You definitely should rx too, though,” Ba said, giving me another kiss before going to sit at the table. I wished I could take her advice seriously, that was for sure. Rxing at a time like this, with all of the odd going-ons piling up, was difficult.


    Still, I nodded and went to the kitchen to ask the chefs to prepare some lunch for us. The smell of tomato-based sauces filled the air, making my mouth water and distracting me from the many woes weighing me down.


    Eventually, one of the maids delivered a couple of tes to the table. We sat side by side, enjoying our pasta, and chatting about the wedding. Ba dived into the hallyout and what we’d gotten done today, which was quite a bit. I nodded along, letting her excitement take me away from my worries.


    “Tomorrow is going to be so perfect,” Ba gushed. “We have an open bar during reception, too. The kids have their own little y area. Can you believe we even got a mini roller coaster for the older ones? Alessandro and Dahlia are too young, though.”


    She went down her list, then said, “We also have a photo booth!” Looking up at me and grinning, she said, “I know we have a wedding photographer and everything, but booth pictures are fun for memories too. Less pristine, perfect, professional photos, too, you know?”


    I nodded in agreement, saying, “Maybe you can start a scrapbook and put some of those in there.” Then, I said, “We can bring the kids in and take some really silly shots. Wonder if we can get Dahlia to stick her tongue out with us.”


    “Maybe if we take away her pacifier, just for a moment, she will make a funny face,” Ba said, causing me to chuckle. She could be a bit dramatic when that was taken away, so there would be a lot of squawking from the booth.


    As Ba went over more ns and activities for the reception following the wedding, I smiled at her, letting myself rx, just as she said to. Letting stress rule me right now would just make me miserable, and this was supposed to be a happy time.


    I pushed my worries to the back of my mind, telling myself Giovani would indeed take care of everything. For now, my focus was the wedding and family. Everything would go perfectly, I was sure of it.