Return of Mafia Billionaire: Gabriel 'The Saint' Cotugno

Romantic music played amid the laughter and chatter of people at their tables. It was a lively garden party, a celebration of a wedding event. Ideally, a wedding party is a gathering of relatives, friends, and colleagues. But there was one exception, Gabriel's. Gabriel Cotugno, to be exact. The 23-year-old groom's brother-in-law was busy in the kitchen. Since "Till death do us part" had been pronounced a few hours earlier, Gabriel hadn't stopped washing dishes. As a member of the groom's family, Gabriel, nicknamed Gabe, had his own special uniform. A white shirt and black pants. Plus an apron, of course. "Gabe?" The man in the bandana turned around. Behind Gabriel's black bandana, he had beautiful cinnamon-brown wavy hair. "Hi, honey." Gabriel's face immediately looked twice as happy. No matter how sad and difficult Gabriel's life was, seeing the smile on Julia's face—his wife—always lifted his spirits. This time, however, Julia's face looked sad and worried. Julia hastily approached Gabriel and held her husband's arm. "Your hands are so cold; how long will you be washing dishes?" Julia asked. Gabriel's only response was a charming smile. Getting a little attention from Julia was enough for him. "Why are you smiling?" Julia's eyes welled up. "Stop it, Gabe. It's not your duty." Julia felt like crying right then and there, frustrated by her family's behavior, especially her mother's. Petunia Roussel had never approved of Gabriel and Julia's marriage a year ago. Petunia's dislike of Gabriel had infected Julia's brother and sister, who didn't like Gabriel at all. "Julia!" Came a sharp voice from the kitchen door. Petunia's high heels approached hastily. "What are you doing here? There are important guests you need to meet," Petunia said impatiently. Julia rolled up the sleeves of her dress. "I have to help my husband with the dishes," Julia emphasized her last words. "It's his duty to help with Jonathan's wedding," Petunia shook her head. "As a dishwasher?" Julia looked at Petunia incredulously. "Don't you dare defy me, young lady!" Petunia pointed her finger. Gabriel grabbed Julia's arm, trying to keep her calm and non-emotional. Because it would be useless. Petunia, Jonathan, Percy and Jennie were toxic family types. Somehow Julia was different from her mother and siblings. "Julia will be returning to the party soon, Mrs. Petunia," Gabriel interrupted. The woman didn't even want to be called 'Mom' by her son-in-law. Before the little argument could end, a man in a navy-blue suit arrived. He had a handsome face and short, honey-brown hair. At first glance, Julia saw a resemblance to Percy. "What's going on here?" Percy, Julia's older brother, asked. The man held a plate with half a slice of chocolate cake. He stood next to Petunia and chewed on the rest of the cake. "As usual, Gabe must have asked for Julia's help to finish his chores," Petunia scoffed. "Washing dishes?" Percy's mocking question didn't provoke Gabriel. As much as possible, Gabriel stayed calm because he didn't want Julia to feel any more pressure from the family. "Gabe was part of our family! He belongs with us, in the wedding party," Julia pointed at the ongoing party, "not in the sink!" Percy grinned cynically. "Well, didn't Gabe agree to help out? Because he couldn't contribute to Jonathan's wedding expenses." Julia fell silent immediately, her face turning pale. "I even generously offered to pay him $20 an hour," Percy continued, his eyes fixed on Gabriel. Gabriel's response was just a cold stare back at Percy. "Five hours washing dishes, at least you have a hundred dollars, right, Gabe? That's more than your $9 an hour salary," Percy sneered. Percy's hand suddenly placed the empty plate on Gabriel's chest, quickly caught by his brother-in-law. "Clean it," Percy hissed. Petunia immediately nudged her son's arm. "You're being too generous. He'll get spoiled, Percy." "Thank you, Percy," Gabriel replied with a smile. Percy, however, completely ignored his brother-in-law's kindness. He freed himself from Petunia and left the kitchen. Soon Julia was forced by Petunia to follow her eldest son, leaving Gabriel alone. A long sigh could be heard from Gabriel's nose, but he didn't want to complain. What he was doing now was just part of everyone's normal life. It wasn't a big deal. Before meeting Julia, Gabriel's life had always been on the edge of death and danger. Washing dishes wasn't the end of the world. More than forty minutes later, Gabriel was done with the dishes. Of course, there were more dishes to wash, so he left the kitchen to fetch the next basket of dirty dishes. With his head bowed, Gabriel walked past the side of the white tent to the corner where the baskets of dirty dishes were stacked. As Gabriel picked up a basket, a woman in her mid-twenties approached. It was Jennie, Julia's second sister, who had as many bad habits as her other siblings. Jennie was very cunning and somehow enjoyed embarrassing Julia. Gabriel couldn't avoid her, though, as Jennie immediately grabbed his arm. "What are you doing here? Come on, I have to introduce you to the important guests!" Jennie said. "But..." "Hurry, Gabe." Jennie's devilish smile appeared. With a basket of dirty dishes in his hand, Gabriel was half dragged towards the group of guests. "Hello, everyone! I want you to meet Gabriel, my sister Julia's husband," Jennie exclaimed in a flirtatious and cheerful voice. Everyone stared in surprise at Gabriel's appearance. Disheveled, half wet and looking worried. Petunia looked furious. The middle-aged woman rushed over to Jennie, glaring angrily at her. "What are you doing?" Petunia hissed in annoyance. Jennie looked foolish. "Was I wrong? He is my brother-in-law, isn't he? The construction worker who doubles as the dishwasher." Some of the guests couldn't hold back their laughter, their eyes mocking Gabriel. Never would they have thought that Julia's husband, who was always covered by Petunia, turned out to be a poor man. Julia pushed her way through the crowd and approached Gabriel. With gentle eyes, Julia looked at Gabriel, her hand holding the basket of dirty dishes. "Come on, Gabe, let me help you take this into the kitchen," Julia whispered. Gabriel shook his head and answered with another whisper. "Don't worry, I can do it, honey." "Yes, that's his job, Julia! Let him go back to his natural habitat!" Jennie commented. Jennie pushed Gabriel's basket of dirty dishes so hard that it fell over. The plates scattered to the floor and shattered. "Oh my, Gabe! You're so clumsy!" Jennie pointed out. This made Jonathan, the groom, very angry that his wedding party was being "disturbed". Jonathan rushed over and, pointing his finger, exclaimed, "Damn you, Cotugno! You useless imbecile!" Gabriel crouched down and picked up the scattered plates. Julia tried to help, but Jennie held Gabriel's wife's arm back. "Let your husband clean it up," Jennie hissed. "Are you trying to ruin my marriage, you i***t?" Jonathan snapped. Gabriel lifted his head. "I apologize, Jonathan." Everyone laughed at the situation unfolding before them. But Gabriel remained calm as he cleaned up the remaining shards of the plates. "My goodness," a man shouted from behind Julia's back. Confidently, a well-dressed man in a white suit approached. His eyes looked down at Gabriel. "So he's your husband, Julia? Oh my, this is a joke, isn't it?" Kenny chuckled. Percy stood next to Kenny. "Well, he is just a joke. We'll get him dumped soon enough." "Julia, if you leave him now, I'll give you more than a basket of dirty dishes," Kenny said. Everyone laughed except for Julia and Gabriel. "Are you sure you have a future with a construction worker, Julia?" Kenny continued. Julia just froze, her body shaking. "Of course not. This punk couldn't even replace the broken plates," Jonathan scoffed. "Clean up quickly, Gabe! You're embarrassing my family!" Petunia exclaimed, her face flushed. Suddenly, everyone was surprised by the arrival of eight men in black suits who looked like bodyguards. Everyone backed away as the group of men in black approached Gabriel. Gabriel looked at them warily. One of them cleared his throat and said, "Gabriel Cotugno?"