Chapter 207 - Unexpected Guest

Ryan had really outdone himself with everything that he had gotten together. The venue had been completely transformed from the empty room that they had first seen just a few days ago. 

The way he had organized where everything would go and scattered out the accents of rose gold and emerald made the room light up in a different way. He had requested for a change from the curtains to a different color since they would be relying on the natural light for most of the day and only need the lights that he had put in place for the evening when it got darker. 

Jovani was the only one who was inside when Lena and her family entered. They were talking with a few men she didn't recognize. They all stopped paying attention to Jovani for a moment to offer a polite nod of their heads out of respect. Samuel was the only one who recognized as some of the men that had been on duty at the Vedova Nera manor. 

"And here are the amazing VIP themselves." The older cousin gave a soft round of applause when he saw them. 

"I must say that you both look amazing. Great choice for today. And what are these?" He asked his younger cousin as he approached and noticed that the set of cufflinks that he hadn't seen before. 

"An engagement gift." The princess replied as he looked them over. 

"Quite fitting." Jovani admitted as he looked over at the princess. 

"I see you have one as well. I can't wait to see what to expect at the wedding considering how amazing this looks like it is going to turn out to be." He remarked as he met the princess's eyes. 

She still didn't like him all that much, but she was warming up to him slowly the more that she had interact with him. At least it didn't seem like he was hiding anything else unexpected up her sleeve that she would have to worry about. She quickly changed her mind on this however after what he said next. 

"Oh. There is someone that I want you to meet. A plus one who happens to be my fiancé. Since you both know he though, I don't expect that it will cause much of a problem for her to be here today." Jovani said as he walked back towards the back of the room where for the first time they took notice of a woman who was wearing a plain baby blue dress was standing and talking with Ryan. 

"Dear, would you mind coming over here so that I can properly introduce you." Jovani called out to the other causing her to turn and look at him. She turned to say something to the chef before she turned to come over to where Jovani was. 

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize that everyone else was arriving already." She apologized as they both walked back over. Even though there was a bit of a distance between them, Lena recognized her face almost instantly. 

"Eve?" Samuel asked confused. He had only seen the other a handful of times as well but she did look familiar despite the change in appearance. She wasn't in her typical business attire and had her hair pulled back rather than straight. Her expression was also less stiff and formal than when she was working at the office with Lena and Samuel, she was still recognizable. 

"What is this exactly?" Lena asked not quite sure how to feel about the current turn of events. She looked at Eve more than Jovani for an explanation since she never mentioned the fact that she was engaged to a member of the Vedova Nera family. 

"I never brought it up as I didn't think that it had any relevance with the job that I was doing." She replied honestly. 

"I don't allow conflicts of interest or personal matters to affect my work ethic. The only reason why you're finding out now is because Jovani insisted that I showed up since his younger cousin was getting engaged." She further explained. 

"She's amazing at what she does, isn't she?" Jovani added, seeming more than a little proud of his fiancé. 

"It was only pure coincidence that she happened to respond to the job call that your secretary put out. Turned out to be a good thing though." his comment somehow bothered Lena who didn't quite think that it was a just a coincidence. 

There wasn't much she could do about this though since things were already at the point they were. It was undeniable anyways that Eve was good at her job and was proving to be more than a little useful so the princess really couldn't consider firing her over something as small as this. 

"Small world it would seem." Samuel remarked with a slight laugh. He wasn't quite sure what else to say consider the tension around the situation and the fact that this was an unexpected twist on today of all days.

"Nothing for it except to let it be." the princess said as she waved it off. 

"Since she already knows us, there really isn't a need for any kind of formal introductions. Enjoy the event and just make sure you keep him in line." Lena told the other woman as she indicated to Jovani who looked rather taken aback in mock offense that she was already singling him out as a potential problem. 

"Until he's needed, I'll make sure that I keep him by my side. There will be a lot of people that he needs to talk with today anyways and I won't have him leaving me to do it for him." Eve replied as she grabbed her fiancé's hand. 

"You really shouldn't worry too much. Its is both of yours big day. I wouldn't even consider doing anything that might ruin that for the both of you. Enjoy it and we'll be here just to make sure that everything goes smoothly." Jovani assured. The conversation ended after this as he still had to make sure that everyone knew where they needed to be before the rest of the guest started arriving.. Even on this day, unexpected things were happening.