Groomzilla?

Gio was not one for bragging, but he knew that in his life he had accomplished many great feats, such as running legal and illegal business at maximum profitability. Having an entire criminal organisation answer to him while he was still years away from forty. Those were great achievements, and if he were the showy sort he would have written countless books on them (not the mafia part, that would just be asking to get arrested). 

But now, as Gio stood in his living room, his phone in hand, he realized that if he were to write a book it would be:

How To Plan a Wedding in a Few Hours and Get Married the Next Day, by Giovanni Romano.

The first sentence in the book was, do not panic. Followed by, do not panic. Then, do not panic, and then do not panic.

When Gio had asked Elle to get married the next day, and she had agreed, he had been elated. Past Gio had thought that, with Elle agreeing, the rest should all just fall into place.

Past Gio had gotten present Gio into a mountain of trouble. If he could, present Gio would punch past Gio. But given that that would have meant he would also suffer from a black eye, he was glad he could not.

The only thing he could do, was keeping ploughing ahead. His first idea had been to hijack someone else's wedding. He knew for a fact that plenty of couples would even sell him their future spouses for the right price.

But the thought of Elle getting married in someone else's dream had stopped him. He was already taking so much from her, by literally shackling her to him. He could not take away her chance to have an original wedding, and he also did not want anyone else to handle things. So Gio had decided to things himself, his thinking being that he negotiated with the most dangerous men and women in the world on a regular basis. Surely planning a last minute wedding could not be that difficult.

It turned it really was not that hard… it was worse.

It took him two hours of being on hold to learn that almost every single venue worth looking at was taken. And then he had learned that the chipper man on the other side was immune to threats and bribery.

"Bridezillas and Groomzillas will be bumped to the bottom of the list," He had been cheerfully informed before he'd been hung up on. Gio'd had half a mind to put a hit out on the man before he had stopped himself, choosing instead to focus on the task at hand.

His lack of threats had apparently worked in his favour. Thirty minutes later, the same young man had called a panicking Gio back. Informing him that an old church, as well as a hall had opened up after the bride to be and the groom's brother were caught in bed together. Gio had instantly snapped up the spot.

From there things were easier, decorators were more willing to work when they had a place to work in as well as being paid double their fee.

Location… done.

Decorations done.

Next came the food.

"Mario, if you do this for me… aunt Sofia will never know what happened to her prized four hundred year old vase," There had been a long pause on the other end of the line. Mario, no doubt remembering the vase he had thrown up in while drunk, and then thrown into the fireplace where it had exploded and drenched the living room in vomit. An incident which had occurred while a young Gio'd happened to be filming his cousin's shenanigans.

"Cuz, you had better give me the original video, or I'll fill your wedding cake with rocks," Gio let out a relived breath. If Mario was making threats, that meant he was going to do it.

"Thanks for this Mario,"

"Hey! I have not said yes yet!" Gio hung up before his cousin could waster time denying a decision both of them knew he had already taken.

After that, it was time for the outfits. The tailors Gio chose were a married couple. They came in person to take Gio's measurements, which he did not know. But when they asked about Elle, Gio did not want her bothered. And the couple let it go, smiling softly to each other when Gio told them Elle's measurements from memory.

For the three ladies Elle had chosen as her bridesmaids, Gio pulled their measurements from their resumes. His men, all of them owning several suits, were all set. 

Gio was certain there was more to it. But he had left the theme to the decorators, his only input being that Elle liked nature and for them to work from there. He had hung up before they could complain.

Food wise, his input had been…

"Make enough to feed an army. I do not want starving guests…and make sure it's tasty, no finger food," The woman his cousin had selected for the job had cursed up a storm. 

 For the cake, he had ordered a seven tier one, with everything organically sourced. His cousin had cursed up a storm too. The two experiences leading Gio to believe people in the food industry had very short tempers and swore like sailors.

With the preparations set, Gio ticked one last task off his list.

Getting the guests there without sending out invites.

Benji was particularly gleeful when informed of Gio's invitation method. And when he and Big L made their way out, Gio resisted the urge to fist pump, finally, everything was in motion and in a few short hours, his Elle would have his name.